Today's album
Argus
Wishbone Ash
Before Iron Maiden made twin guitars a metal commandment, Wishbone Ash put two lead players in one band and avoided a spectacular traffic accident.
02
What Shaped This Album
Wishbone Ash made the personnel decision that defined it: hire Andy Powell and Ted Turner, then let both men play lead. By the third album, heavy touring had turned their handoffs and harmonies into a shared reflex.
Argus joined that guitar language to British folk, hard rock, and medieval imagery. It was not planned as a concept album, yet its second side sounded like one. Engineer Martin Birch captured a template he later carried into heavier rooms with Deep Purple, Rainbow, and Iron Maiden.
03
The Album Title,Dissected
Argus
In Greek myth, Argus is the many-eyed watchman who can sleep without ever becoming blind. The cover replaces him with one armored figure staring across a valley.
The name also fits the music's vigilance. Powell and Turner keep monitoring each other, matching a phrase, splitting apart, then meeting again without either guitarist becoming the permanent leader. Four hands behave like one nervous system.
04
What to Listen For
The patient ambush
“Time Was” spends minutes as a folk song before the electric guitars reveal what has been waiting.
The second launch
“Sometime World” appears to finish, then the bass restarts everything and the guitars take the hint.
The future metal hymn
“The King Will Come” turns harmonized leads into a procession Iron Maiden could recognize immediately.
The surrender
“Throw Down the Sword” lets the twin guitars mourn together instead of fighting for the final word.
05
Why It Matters Today
Twin-lead guitar became central to Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. Steve Harris has said anyone seeking Maiden's early harmony-guitar sound should start with Argus. Wishbone Ash supplied the grammar, then watched louder bands become its most famous speakers.
That makes this more than homework for metal completists. The album shows why the technique worked before it became a cliché. Powell and Turner are not doubling lines for size. They separate, negotiate, and reunite, making harmony feel like drama. Listen once, and half the next decade of hard rock starts leaving fingerprints.