There's the Rub is the fifth studio album by rock band Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...

. It is the first album to feature guitarist/vocalist Laurie Wisefield

Laurie Wisefield

Laurie Wisefield is an English guitarist, known for his contributions to Wishbone Ash during the 1970s and 1980s.-Early career:Prior to his stint in Wishbone Ash, Wisefield performed with the progressive rock band, Home...

, who would be a major part of the band's creative direction for the next 11 years.

The title is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

; "To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub."

The track "F.U.B.B." caused controversy because of the acronym's meaning ("Fucked Up Beyond Belief") upon the album's release. Moreover, the haunting ballad "Persephone" would go on to become one of the band's most popular live songs. The lyrics of "Lady Jay" are based on the Dartmoor

Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...

 folk legend about Kitty Jay

Jay's Grave

Jay's Grave is supposedly the last resting place of a suicide victim who is thought to have died in the late 18th century...

.

The cover shows a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er rubbing (in effect, polishing) a cricket ball

Cricket ball

A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...

 on his trousers - a common practice by fast bowlers

Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...

 who do so in order to make one side of the leather ball shinier than the other. This helps the ball to 'swing

Swing bowling

Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...

' as it travels through the air after being bowled, so making it harder for the batsman to play it.

Track listing

All songs composed by Wishbone Ash

1. "Silver Shoes" - 6:36
2. "Don't Come Back" - 5:12
3. "Persephone" - 7:02
4. "Hometown" - 4:48
5. "Lady Jay" - 6:00
6. "F.U.B.B." - 9:33

Wishbone Ash

• Martin Turner
  Martin Turner
  Martin Turner is the bass guitarist, lead vocalist and a founding member of the rock band, Wishbone Ash.-Career:...
  
   - bass, vocal
• Andy Powell
  Andy Powell
  Andy Powell is an English guitarist and songwriter, and best known as a founding member of Wishbone Ash.-Early life and career:...
  
   - acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  , vocal
• Laurie Wisefield
  Laurie Wisefield
  Laurie Wisefield is an English guitarist, known for his contributions to Wishbone Ash during the 1970s and 1980s.-Early career:Prior to his stint in Wishbone Ash, Wisefield performed with the progressive rock band, Home...
  
   - acoustic, electric & steel guitar
  Steel guitar
  Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
  
  s, banjo
  Banjo
  In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
  
  , vocal
• Steve Upton
  Steve Upton
  Steve Upton is the former drummer for the British rock band Wishbone Ash. He was with the band for two decades...
  
   - drums, percussion

Additional Personnel

• Albhy Galuten
  Albhy Galuten
  Albhy Galuten is a Grammy Award-winning American record producer, composer, musician, orchestrator and technology executive.He produced 18 number 1 singles with songs and albums selling over 100,000,000 copies...
  
   - organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  s
• Nelson Flaco Padron - conga
  Conga
  The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
  
  s and additional percussion