Wishbone Ash
No Smoke Without Fire

Before this ninth album, Wishbone make some wise decisions, leaving the American sirens behind and returning to reside in their native England, then topping it off by entrusting the production once again to Derek Lawrence, the mastermind behind the Rossinian crescendo of their first three career albums, by then a half-decade away.

The sounds finally become rich, with the "base" of bass and bass drum capable of adequately supporting the evolutions of guitars (two) and voices (three), thus nourishing the rock belly of the listener, as well as the mind. “No Smoke Without Fire” is indeed a fully-fledged hard rock album by Wishbone Ash, the first one! Always melodic, but finally resonant, tough, booty-shaking.

The first seconds of the record are enough, with the robust guitar, drum, and cymbal breaks over which lays a three-part harmony featuring the group's characteristic traits, to feel the "jump" in sound compared to everything recorded before. “You See Red” however isn't much… better is the second track “Baby the Angels Are Here,” with an uninteresting verse but a juicy chorus, and of course, the usual great solos by both guitarists, the curly Laurie Wisefield and the greying Andy Powell.

“Ships in the Sky” stands out! It seems like it could come from a David Crosby record: hypnotic and clean arpeggio, Californian choirs in America style, the dual leads harmonizing vaguely Celtic melodies. Even Wisefield, who sounded terrible singing the bridge of the initial “You See Red,” does more than fine here. The next track “Stand and Deliver” is quite rich since it goes over seven minutes, during which many things happen, from a very predictable riff to a nice melody in the chorus, to a frenzied progressive middle section, with temporary changes in tempo, guitar tones, and instrumental call and response.

In “Angel in Harmony” the harmonized guitars blatantly mimic the Allman Brothers, and both the singing and solo exchange have the scent of southern rock, as Wisefield enjoys himself here with the very American slide guitar. “Like a Child” however is cumbersome, starting with the instrumental intro and then with that semi-acoustic sauntering and relatively uninspired choir, something they've done a thousand times before. Even the final solo is of no interest, which is rare with Wishbone.

A true concession to their early days and early-hour fans is the concluding “Way of the World,” a bipartite composition of over nine total minutes. The first part begins with the usual arpeggio here and whining lead there, in counterpoint: a trademark, always effective when melody and chords are as savory as they are here. Between singing parts, a much more determined and rock instrumental section inserts itself, following the most exquisite dictates of progressive, a musical genre often visited by Wishbone at the start, which essentially determined their success (those were good years for that stuff… the early seventies).

With unexpected acquiescence and resolved in a very clever manner, the second part of the composition comes, with a brisker and more epic pace. Something else to sing for bassist Martin Turner, then an endless festival of all kinds of guitar convolutions explodes, with no shame! In short, this track stands alongside the ancient and glorious “Phoenix” (from the first album “Wishbone Ash”), “The Pilgrim” (from the second “Pilgrimage”), and “The King Will Come” (from the third “Argus”) in the collection of epic, progressive moments of the band. And it certainly doesn't pale in comparison, as a bonus.

As always in those years, the cover is by the legendary studio Hipgnosis, the same as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, 10cc, Alan Parsons' Project, and many others. Only it seems Wishbone only get the leftovers from the warehouse… even this creation, like the previous ones, says little: a confused and unimpressive patchwork of black and white photos, geometric lines, and color spots. Who knows if it was the limited budget or they were just easily satisfied… we will never know.

An extra half star for finally effective production in the bass, thus a four-star rating for this 1978 album by the Wishbone Ash, the one with the chickens.