1977 was in fact the second album that Ash released, their first was a mini-album Trailer. That brought them some recognition and their talent and potential was starting to show through, but they got very little wide publicity. Their latest release Free all Angels has been their biggest success, ... Read review
Written and recorded while a teenage Tim Wheeler was doing his A-levels,1977(named after ... more
the yearStar Warswas released) made Ash bona-fide indie starlets overnight, largely thanks to the quality of the singles it contains. Their timing couldn't have be...
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Written and recorded while a teenage Tim Wheeler was doing his A-levels,1977(named after ... more
the yearStar Warswas released) made Ash bona-fide indie starlets overnight, largely thanks to the quality of the singles it contains. Their timing couldn't have be...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Written and recorded while a teenage Tim Wheeler was doing his A-levels,1977(named after ... more
the yearStar Warswas released) made Ash bona-fide indie starlets overnight, largely thanks to the quality of the singles it contains. Their timing couldn't have be...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Written and recorded while a teenage Tim Wheeler was doing his A-levels,1977(named after ... more
the yearStar Warswas released) made Ash bona-fide indie starlets overnight, largely thanks to the quality of the singles it contains. Their timing couldn't have be...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Written and recorded while a teenage Tim Wheeler was doing his A-levels, 1977 (named after ... more
the year Star Wars was released) made Ash bona-fide indie starlets overnight, largely thanks to the quality of the singles it contains. Their timing couldn't hav...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: Great songs, real taste of Ash at their best Disadvantages: None
1977 was in fact the second album that Ash released, their first was a mini-album Trailer. That brought them some recognition and their talent and potential was starting to show through, but they got very little wide publicity. Their latest release Free all Angels has been their biggest success, while for me it is a very close thing for 1977 and that for my favourite Ash album. Those two great albums were sandwiched between a minor disappointment. ... ...to the standards set by 1977.
Ash really are a teenage band. Literally they came to the music business straight from school. Tim Wheeler the lead singer/songwriter and lead guitarist, Rick McMurry on drums and Mark Hamilton bass were at the same school in Northern Ireland when they formed and realized they could make some pretty good music together. Since then they have gone from strength to strength and built up a real fan base and ... more
1977 was in fact the second album that Ash released, their first was a mini-album Trailer. That brought them some recognition and their talent and potential was starting to show through, but they got very little wide publicity. Their latest release Free all Angels has been their biggest success, while for me it is a very close thing for 1977 and that for my favourite Ash album. Those two great albums were sandwiched between a minor disappointment. Nu-Clear sounds had a few decent songs but on the whole did not live up to the standards set by 1977.
Ash really are a teenage band. Literally they came to the music business straight from school. Tim Wheeler the lead singer/songwriter and lead guitarist, Rick McMurry on drums and Mark Hamilton bass were at the same school in Northern Ireland when they formed and realized they could make some pretty good music together. Since then they have gone from strength to strength and built up a real fan base and a reputation for good music and a good attitude.
Ash have been classed under Brit-pop with all the coverage and hype that comes out when a half decent British band comes out with a fresh new sound. Their music is a great combination of real rock with a softer twist to it to make it very listen able. There are some very catchy melodies without being too manufactured or commercial. There are some real pop moments and light hearted songs that make this a great album and shows the best of Ash and their music.
1. Lose Control A great start to the album, showing all the fast paced guitars and action packed from the start. Start as you mean to go on, it is a good way to start off the album. Guitars keep the song going after a good solo intro, bursts into life with the lyrics picking up about halfway thorough, a lot of guitar solos and on here.
2. Goldfinger Slower than the opening, and not my favourite song on the album. Builds up to a good enough base to the song, but takes a long time to get there. Quieter and more laid back in both the vocals and instruments though a below average song on this album is not a disaster.
3. Girl From Mars The best track on the album so far and one of the best on the album in general. One of the released songs and a recongised, this is one of the songs on here that is very relaxed. They are just having fun and the result is an upbeat and amazing song. Great guitar solo in the middle of the track, and just a great song.
4. I’d Give you Anything Strong guitars and a more coarse song in general. Very good guitars that add a backbone to the song while the vocals are more angry and there is a very electrical feel to this track. A good number none the less.
5. Gone the Dream I like this track, it is much softer and laid back. No roaring guitars, this is another side of Ash. Very mellow and nice and easy to listen to.
6. Kung Fu The best song on the album in my opinion. Starts off by listening to a funny fight scene, then turns out to be a real rock song with fast moving and superb guitars all the way through. One of the best lyrically here as well, it is all talking about the great kung fu movies and people and comes up with some great quotes. ‘I haven’t been the same since my teenage lobotomy’, ‘last nigh Jackie Chan came round we played pool and we hung out’ Marvelous.
7.Oh Yeah A really good song that brings back memories of long summer days and young love. Very good lyrics again and more instrumental and relaxing song. Also a very remising song and looking back on good times. A great song and up there with the best on the album.
8. Let it Flow Takes a little while to get into life, though when it does it is a great song. It flows nicely with a good and catchy beat to it. Upbeat vocals and very happy, poppy. Lovely to listen to and one of the best on the album.
9. Innocent Smile This track has a very nice beat too it, and like the one earlier it has a great way of flowing through the song from start to finish. Not as instantly catchy as some of the others on the album, but very easy to listen to. Some great guitar work towards the end as well.
10.Angel Interceptor Released as a single, though not my favourite of the ones they released. Still a good track it gets going well and keeps going with a fast beat and guitars.
11.Lost in You Slower than some of the other tracks on the album, but loses none of the quality. A very good song, it has a real quality to it. Great lyrics tell a story of being parted from loved ones, and very well sung showing changes from real rock to this. A really good song, really well sung.
12. Darkside Lightside Starts out well enough, the drumming is good on this track as are the guitars. Falls away to the end though, and a bit of a let down the album end. Almost like they got tired and gave up, does not do the ending of this great album justice.
There is a ‘bonus’ track on the end of all this. A few minutes after the end of the final track the CD cuts back in with several minutes of sound effects of some people throwing up with others laughing. Very disappointing, I first realized this was on here when I fell asleep listening to this on a train and I was not a pleasant awakening. May be considered funny, but it was a pretty sick sense of humor.
Overall a great sound and top music from Ash. An other album that I have gone back to discover and I have not looked back. This is Ash and their best album, though newer stuff comes close. It is a relief to see Ash back to their best, and this is well worth a listen to.
Oh, and sorry about the title. It was a reference to a certain football event that happened then, not to take anything away from the album at all. Chris
Advantages: Summery Britpop greatness from Irish kids Disadvantages: Can't stop playing it dammit!
Hello there! Like most others, I feel compelled to review this as I grew up with the singles playing at school disco's and the like. Aah....nostalgia! They don't build 'em like Ash anymore!
First up, I own all Ash albums bar 'Free all angels', so a quick comment on the group. In the summer(s) of 1995 (when most singles came out) and 1996 (when album was out), Ash were playing Glastonbury while finishing their exams! Two budding young guitarists, ... ...the only drummer they knew, and formed Ash by looking at the first word in the dictionary that 'sounded cool' according to Mark Hamilton (bassist).
'Trailer' their 'mini' 1994 debut spawned three singles, despite only having seven tracks on the whole record! A sign of things to come....
Wheeler had a knack for sugary hooks, and great hard-rock riffs. So the long-haired Irish brats who liked booze and drugs, and idolised Metallica and Nirvana made ...
tonguelessghostofsin 01.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 1977 - Ash
Advantages: A mix a fast and mellow Disadvantages: Nothing that will stop you wanting this album
...with Star Wars (the date 1977 relates to the release of Star Wars and also the birth of Tim Wheeler (lead singer) and Mark Hamilton (Bassist)).
~Goldfinger
This song brings the tempo down to a more mellow level with an amazing symbol build up for the intro. I bought this single on 7” vinyl; it was clear with gold speckles and is one of the favourites of my collection. Also the lyrics talk about drinking wine and listening to records during ... ...I made a tape of 1977 I had to leave off a couple of tracks to make it fit and this was one of them. I have long since lost the tape (hence my jubilation at re-discovering this album) and after listening to it again perhaps I was a little harsh, but I think this is about the weakest song of the lot, while still being fairly good.
~Kung Fu
Another of the ‘stick out’ tunes; ‘Kung Fu’ is along the lines of ‘Lose Control’ ...
jameshale 20.02.2001 (22.02.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 1977 - Ash
Advantages: varied, original, great music!! Disadvantages: ummmm
1977 - What can I say, it’s magnificent. I really do love this Cd so this is likely to be quite a biased, but then that’s what opinions are about I suppose. It begins pretty heavily with “Lose Control” . Ash I find is about the heaviest music I can listen to. This all seems a bit crashier than som eof the newer stuff i’ve heard from them and it really is what Ash means to me. Squealy guitars, drums, bass lines and a ... ...mad bit)
GUIDE TO 1977 - Songs to go mad to - Lose Control, I’d give you anything, Kung Fu, Girl from Mars, Angel Interceptor, Darkside Lightside.
Something a bit lighter- Goldfinger, Gone the dream, Oh Yeah, Let it flow, Lost in you. It’s a hard one to sum up. There’s a great deal of variety and it’s raelly hard to pin down a specific style but Ash are definately a band with their own sound so i’d definately recommend ...
emuku 02.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 1977 - Ash
Advantages: Their best album Disadvantages: It's not all great songs
...the hype of Brit Pop, 1977 (Named so because that’s when the first Star Wars film came out and they’re big fans) isn’t all that bad. True, it’s not ground breaking rock music. Compare it to the likes of Faith No More, later Metallica and the Foo Fighters and it starts looking slightly tired and a touch clichéd. But it doesn’t look that tired most of the time and it’s not that clichéd all of the time, that job is ... ...album, not 1977. Luckily they turned themselves round for this album. Let’s take a quick look through some of the more interesting tracks.
The opening track, Loose Control, is one of my favourites, starting with the sound of a Star Wars Tie Fighter flying past – great stuff before breaking into a fast strumfest of a song. Goldfinger, a song of contrast. A rocky thumping chorus and a verse that alternates between delicate strumming and ...
yhwman 24.07.2000 (26.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 1977 - Ash
This was one of the first CD albums I bought. It isn’t, as I thought at the time, Ash’s debut album, but their second after the less memorable Trailer Park. Including the hit singles ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Angel Interceptor’ and my personal favourite ‘Kung Fu’, this is an album of variety. If has some pop, some rock, some madness (attitude, not the 80s band!), and also some very dark moods. The album was named after the year ... ...The first track kicks the album off with a band, a largely instrumental piece with some brilliant filtered guitar and samples. I also like ‘Gone The Dream’, quite a mellow song as far as Ash go, but pleasant nonetheless. And ‘Innocent Smile’ is a whole lot darker and more interesting. Altogether, it’s a great album, especially when you need a good bit of stress release – I recommend it heartily. ...
Excelle 04.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 1977 - Ash
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Advantages: A reasonably solid effort... Disadvantages: ...but it lacks any real stand-out, Girl From Mars-esque face-melters.
Following the departure of Charlotte Hatherley, I had high hopes for this latest offering from Irish rockers Ash. Would the return to the original trinity mark a return to form? It was undoubtedly in the early days that they produced their finest material - particularly in '1977'. For me, though, this album flatters to deceive. Opener 'I Started a Fire' holds promise, but lacks the killer punch. From there, it's hard to find a stand-out track. 'Polaris' is a decent enough ballad, and 'Ritual' and 'Palace of Excess', once it gets going, make a fair stab at emulating past glories, but somehow it all leaves me a little cold. The more I listen to this album, the more I sense that Ash have grown up (they are nearing 30, after all!). Let's face it, '1977' was a long time ago. ...
Advantages: every track is fab, cheerful and uplifting Disadvantages: sometimes the lyrics are a little...erm...well it can't be perfect can it?!
I pretty much loved 1977, the thing about Ash, they aren't depressing they're just quirky. As soon as I heard the first track of Free All Angels I knew this was an album that was going to see as much of the insides of my cd player as 1977. One listen had me hooked, and just to see this fantastics album hit the top spot on its first week of release renewed my faith in music, which had previously been dashed by the likes of ummm...you probably know who I mean.
Ash are an Indie band with an energetic cheeriness about them, and the lead singer Tim Wheeler always puts his heart and soul into the songs, although not quite to the extent of a certain Mr. Yorke(who, let's face it, rips out his soul and shoves it into the microphone). Their versatility and variety is refreshing, some tracks are reminiscient of the shouting and screaming ...
Ash: Tim Wheeler (vocals, guitar); Mark Hamilton (bass); Rick McMurray (drums). Additional personnel: Lisa Moorish (vocals). Recorded at Rockfield, Wales.
Album Reviews
Q (12/99, p.90) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s." Melody Maker (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #34 on Melody Maker's list of 1996's `Albums Of The Year.' NME (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #25 in NME's 1996 critic's poll. Spin (7/96, p.96) - "...at their best...these Irish teens are power-pop heartthrobs..." Q (7/96, p.112) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Words informed by Star Wars, Jackie Chan and fancying girls, Wheeler's voice imbues a Ramonic sneer with playful elasticity....1977 is rich with cherishable brio and bluff romanticism..." Melody Maker (5/4/96, p.54) - "...`Honestly,' you sneer, before going all funny. 1977 never aspires to be anything beyond `My Guy' indie, boys-next-door making music for girls-next-door. It's as exciting as school discos promised to be, but ultimately as fulfilling..." NME (5/4/96, p.54) - 7 (out of 10) - "...a happy-go-speedy thruzz and thrumble....vaguely charming [with]...simple, honest, priceless standbys--top-hole tunes..." Alternative Press (8/96, p.70) - 3 (out of 5) - "Ah, so someone else has been at the Black Sabbath albums, and Ash's true intentions are finally laid bare....Ash remain all chirp and charm, but that guitar presages something more than a simple hankering for volume...."
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