Live Dates II

When band has not one, not two, but three releases entitled Live Dates, it's a pretty good bet that the band in question is pretty good in concert. And in the case of Wishbone Ash, that's an understatement; various line-ups of the group have been rocking the globe with their patented brand of twin-guitar hard/progressive rock for 40 years now. Though Live Dates (1973) charted, and Live Dates III (2001) is well thought-of by their fanbase, it s Live Dates II (released in 1980 and assembled from various 1976-1980 shows) that's considered the real gem of the three; it's a much better quality live recording than its predecessor, and it ranks as probably the key document of the Wishbone Ash Mk. II line-up of guitarists Andy Powell (he of the Flying V) and Laurie Wisefield, bassist Martin Turner and drummer Steve Upton. This album never came out in the U.S.; what's more, only the first 25,000 copies released in Britain included an extra bonus LP, the contents of which we've included on this 79-minute CD (Live Dates II was only briefly available on CD before in a Japanese limited edition that came out last year and is already fetching triple figures online). A wish (sorry) come true for Ash fans and for '70s rock guitar fans, too check out "F.U.B.B." and "The Way of the World" for some serious axe-slaying.