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
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1977
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...
1977 - Ash
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...
1977 - Ash
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 have been better: the summer of 1996 belonged to the Union Jack guitar, and Ash were free to ride the wildsurf of the Britpop tsunami, electrifying everyone with the quirky ("Girl From Mars"), the funny (the Jackie Chan comedy of "Kung Fu") and the best Christmas song ever written by a guitar band--the heartwarming mixture love and science that was "Angel Interceptor". It is unfortunately hindered by the trademark duvet production of Oasis man Owen Morris, which muffles Rick McMurrey's thunderous drums and does nothing for Wheeler's uniquely flat voice (one of the album's major shortcomings in itself). It also suffers from a monotony produced by its constant full-on nature which a couple of acoustic (or even slower) numbers would have fixed and balanced the album better. If these had replaced some of the more forgettable album tracks here ("Lost In You" and the needlessly bombastic "I'd Give You Any Thing"), then so much the better. Come to reminisce not just for the pubescent memories it evokes within the songs, but also the memories of the time it was released. Or, as Wheeler laments on the teenage love anthem "Oh Yeah", "I sometimes wish it was that summer again". --Ben Johncock
1977 - Ash
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 have been better: the summer of 1996 belonged to the Union Jack guitar, and Ash were free to ride the wildsurf of the Britpop tsunami, electrifying everyone with the quirky ("Girl From Mars"), the funny (the Jackie Chan comedy of "Kung Fu") and the best Christmas song ever written by a guitar band--the heartwarming mixture love and science that was "Angel Interceptor". It is unfortunately hindered by the trademark duvet production of Oasis man Owen Morris, which muffles Rick McMurrey's thunderous drums and does nothing for Wheeler's uniquely flat voice (one of the album's major shortcomings in itself). It also suffers from a monotony produced by its constant full-on nature which a couple of acoustic (or even slower) numbers would have fixed and balanced the album better. If these had replaced some of the more forgettable album tracks here ("Lost In You" and the needlessly bombastic "I'd Give You Any Thing"), then so much the better. Come to reminisce not just for the pubescent memories it evokes within the songs, but also the memories of the time it was released. Or, as Wheeler laments on the teenage love anthem "Oh Yeah", "I sometimes wish it was that summer again". --Ben Johncock
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 a reputation ...
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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 ...
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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’ ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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