From the start they were always hard to categorise, shifting through different genres with different line-ups. Bill Nelson’s first record was a brief contribution on the album A-Austr: Musics from Holyground and for. Lightyears Away on Astral Navigations released in 1971. His solo debut Northern Dream in 1973 was on his own independent Smile label. But Axe Victim seemed to try for a glam image, judging by the back cover photo. But for the middle part of their career, they fitted an art rock definition,
Futurama and Sunburst Finish were brilliant releases. Crying to the Sky on the latter featured searing, emotional stand out guitar solos. Nelson didn’t look like a guitar hero of the time but the Live In The Air Age live album showed him as exact;y that. Adventures From a Yorkshire Landscape was the track we used to play as loud as we were allowed at school lunchtimes with its extended dexterous guitar solos. If you've never heard it, or not for a long time, there isn't a better example of how moving a guitar can be.
It’s a stunning album and at #10, their highest charting. But at that point, Bill took things in a different direction with Drastic Plastic which left the rock behind with a more new wave sound. They broke up and he formed Red Noise, who I saw at Newcastle Poly, a more electronic project. At that point he lost me because their approach had been so interesting and eclectic and still sound great today, 50 years on.