Wishbone Ash

Honesty is always refreshing and Andy Powell is to the core when he says in his excellent interview on the second disc of this package, that Bare Bones was recorded at a time (1999) when it was the thing for rock bands to do. Nirvana had set the fashion off with their MTV Unplugged set, and others followed.

Bare Bones includes new material as well as re-arranged older songs for the mostly acoustic format. It also gave the band the opportunity to experiment as on Errors of the Way and Masters of Disguise, with the introduction of the fiddle, this giving the latter a more Country flavour.

Elsewhere, (Won’t You Give Him) One More Chance drifts into Midwest soft-rock, as does Baby Don’t Mind, the accordion is a nice touch too. Of the reworked songs, the hard rock of Living Proof, now acoustic, is almost unrecognisable, but brilliant. Strange Affair is given a similar reworking though not quite as extreme, retaining its driving groove, though maybe wandering off into America’s (the band) territory.

Wishbone Ash picking up acoustic guitars was not a 2001 moment for them, as the band close the album with Everybody Needs a Friend, which in its original form is acoustic for most of its length. Here it is shorn of around 3 minutes and is stripped back to basics though there’s still that wonderful guitar solo.

Personal taste will determine what the listener will think of these versions but it can’t be denied that the band sound relaxed and enjoying themselves. The live tracks on the accompanying disc are interesting though hardly essential. And that’s pretty much were Bare Bones itself sits within in the Wishbone Ash back-catalogue, a curiosity but not an immediate go for album.