Free All Angels [ECD] - Ash

...consumer.

Free All Angels is the third album from Ash and it does not fail in pleasing me. Released on the back of the success of their first album Trailer and their second 1977 with the mediocre reception of the third a few years back it has to be almost as good as 1977 (in my view their best album) and this is why. At the £11.99 that I paid for it, it is great value for money.

~ History ~

I have no ...
...before. Their first album was a mini-album that consisted of 7 tracks (with two interludes) at a length of about 24 minutes, called Trailer it was released in 1994. The band released their second album in 1996 called 1977, in 1998 they released their third album called Nu-Clear Sounds and this album is their forth. The four-piece band usually produces memorable material and is known for there clean but rocker type look.

~ The Tracks ... more

For many of you who have been a regular reader of my opinions I go for the softer music types of Travis, Coldplay, Starsailor, and so on but I am also a fan of the slightly heavier sounds of bands such as Ash that we have here in this opinion. The one reason that drives me to listen to Ash is the mixture of the softer and heavier sounds. Although I first found Ash when they released there second album 1977 (there best to date), I was never put off by the rubbish sounds of there third album as I knew a band with the character of this one would come back and this is where I pick up on, so what has this album got for the potential consumer.

Free All Angels is the third album from Ash and it does not fail in pleasing me. Released on the back of the success of their first album Trailer and their second 1977 with the mediocre reception of the third a few years back it has to be almost as good as 1977 (in my view their best album) and this is why. At the £11.99 that I paid for it, it is great value for money.

~ History ~

I have no information on when the band was formed or what came before. Their first album was a mini-album that consisted of 7 tracks (with two interludes) at a length of about 24 minutes, called Trailer it was released in 1994. The band released their second album in 1996 called 1977, in 1998 they released their third album called Nu-Clear Sounds and this album is their forth. The four-piece band usually produces memorable material and is known for there clean but rocker type look.

~ The Tracks and features ~

The version of the album that I have is the special addition with Ash Video Mixer (Version 1.0). Although I have not watched the video mixer it promises over 100 exclusive clips and stills (I am assuming this means of the band).

Here is the full listing of tracks on the album:

1. Walking Barefoot (4.13) – A sound that will remind me of summer 2001 for the next few years if not more. A light vocal introduction enters into a slightly heavy song that is fast paced, easy to sing along to, as the words are not to fast. 8.5/10

2. Shining Light (5.09) – One of the singles of the album. A catchy tune that is certainly a little slower than the first song. One to swing your arms and bop your head to at gigs. This is not heavy for this album. Again after a few listens you will know the words to this one, thoughtful lyrics and very catchy guitar playing. 9/10

3. Burn Baby Burn (3.29) – The album will be most remembered for the single that came out of this one. If you have heard anything by Ash then in many cases this song will come to mind. Thoughtful lyrics with a fast pace, again slightly heavy, certainly the best track on the album. The drum playing in this really helps the song as it comes more than inmost of the other songs on this album. 9.5/10

4. Candy (4.52) – The softest song on the album, one the Ash hardcore didn’t like much from what I heard. Drum and what appears to be an orchestra taking the key role in this song, beats along slowly with kindness. The lyrics are sublime and help you bop your head along during this one once again. Personally I liked this one, mainly because the softer sound here is too my taste. 9/10

5. Cherry Bomb (3.17) – This one is another fast one although sometimes it sounds slower than it actually is, I can’t explain this experience. Key electric guitar playing provides great interludes to what is a repetitive sound from the instruments involved, again great lyrics really do help the song achieve my personal score. 9/10

6. Submission (3.33) – Great introduction with the echo of ‘you turn me on’ which has to be the most times I have a phrase used in a song with out the song being just that phrase sung. Great use of said phrase around the key lyrics with the guitar and drums is a class act once again. Fast paced with great effects used with the voice. 9/10

7. Someday (4.32) – Unusually soft contrast the previous sound, giving the ears a rest assuming the album is played in order. Use of the violins and guitar plucking at the beginning lead into a louder sounds with the drums coming more effectively and the violins and guitar do later in the songs become effective when the guitar makes it’s key appearance. The lyrics playing an important role in emphasising the music later in the song but could be lost or forgotten at the beginning of the song. 9/10

8. Pacific Palisades (1.57) – Here we go again to wake up those who might have fallen asleep with the last ones. Fast paced songs. As drums tend to do, the use of drums really helps the pace of this one. Lyrics are sung just as fast and are good but not as great as previous song. 8.5/10

9. Shark (3.18) – A moaning guitar starts this one then the drums and main guitar peace kick in, the fastest music on the album but not necessarily the fastest lyrics, some sounds from the 1977 (the album that is) help this, classic Ash, nice. One to move your head to really fast. Great lyrics, one that true rock junkies might like. 9/10

10. Sometimes (4.07) – Another lighter track, some real Ash of old. The music makes it mark but the lyrics are more emphasised in this one, quite slow in terms of Ash. Guitar is key in the heavier parts. I love the lyrics in this one. They are sung as if they mean something. Fairly continuous throughout the track. 9.5/10

11. Nicole (3.25) – Don’t ask me who Nicole is/was, maybe someone out there knows. Any way the track in question. The last song leads into this one, which is a problem when I came to record this the track mark between the last one this was not recorded so I got on song. A heavier track once again. Kids don’t be influenced by the lyrics; buy the album if you want to know what I am on about. Guitar and drums (as if you hadn’t guessed) take a key part in this one, great lyrics and beat. 9/10

12. There’s A Star (4.20) – Softer once again. That orchestra sure got earned their cash here as it plays a key part in the first part of the track. The lyrics are great and sung with meaning once again. Although a bit heavier further into the song the lyrics are sung softly and the violin helps to tone the music. Bop your once again and you will be at that gig, one travelling type of song that could be playing in the car. 9/10

13. World Domination (2.17) – Obviously something they had to get out of them while it was there, really fast this one. Heavy and some reasonable lyrics but fail to impress me on this one. The guitar is really impressive, one of my favourites and not a bad end to the album, short in length but that is how this one should be. 9.5/10

Quite a list there, 48 minutes and 30 seconds of it to be exact (track lengths in brackets). Shinning Light and Burn Baby Burn are the best singles off the album and are both amongst my favourite tracks on the album along with Shark, Sometimes and There’s A Star.

My favourite track of that lot has to be Burn Baby Burn although almost on the par with that is There’s A Star. Basically I have chosen Burn Baby Burn because it is one of those tracks that the album is famed for and it is a fast rocking beat that you can bob your head to.

As for the Ash Video Mixer (CD-ROM required for this), I have seen this the trend these days is to put extra features on CD’s in special editions like this one and sometimes on the normal version of the albums and this nothing too different, if you’re a fan of Ash one to get your eyes onto I am sure. This certainly gives great value for money and an excellent edition to a great special edition package. I am assured by friends who have bought the album and seen the Video Mixer that it is quite good.

The album is published on infectious recordings and their web site is www.infectiousuk.com and the bands web site can be found at www.ash-official.com although I have not been to these sites yet but they will probably be worth looking at.

~ Packaging and CD design ~

This special edition package is very good that includes a fold out cover with booklet in a booklet slot. The design of the fold out cover and the rest of the album cover is design in yellow and green amongst others with a scribbled style track list inside. The front cover that has the ash logo on as well as the title of the album also includes a figure of some sort (possibly a depiction of an angel). The reverse of the package has also the usual track list there this time in plain type. The full list of lyrics is included in the booklet as well as photos of the band. The artwork on the album is by some people called the ‘Deceptikons’ who ever they are. I love a lot of the wonderful artwork on the album packaging; the thought was definitely there for this album. Sophie Howarth has taken some excellent photographs of the band and the illustration ‘macha’ by Jim Fitzpatrick is wonderful as well, great stuff.

~ The band and production team ~

Ash are made up of four members who are:

Tim Wheeler (Guitar and Vocals)
Mark Hamilton (Bass)
Rick McMurray (Drums)
Charlotte Hatherley (Guitar and Vocals)

The album was produced with Owen Morris (as well as Ash themselves) to very good effect, I must add. All of the songs where published by Island Music Publishing except for Candy which was originally published by Universal (and Island Music, originally sung by The Walker Brothers) and Shark which was published by EMI (and Island Music). There is also an assortment of people backing the band such as string accompaniments that make up some of the songs and many of these where arranged by Tim Wheeler (and associates such as Oil Kraus), this also includes the several backing vocalists (can’t forget them).

The album was recorded at El Cortijo, Puerto Banus, The Wool Hall, Beckingham and Rak Studios in London in the year of 2000. Management by Tav @ Out there.

~ How does this compare to their other albums ~

Of four albums so far this album is almost a return to the original Ash sound of 1977 (the album, not the year) and I would personally rate this as their second best album only just after 1977. I found Nu-Clear Sounds drowned out a lot of the vocals that would have been good if you could hear them to there full potential, unfortunately this spoilt what might have maintained the Ash sound in this album, pity (it still was an alright album). I prefer 1977 overall because it had a lot of memorable sounds on it and mostly original stuff. The new album has a lot of original stuff but I simply find their second album a lot more entertaining to listen to. I will say well done to them for keeping up with tradition and changing their logo for this album again (all four albums have some sort of variation on their logo (don’t be fooled by the logo on Trailer and 1977, it is the same unless you count the fact the border is not always present on material for Trailer), don’t know why they do this).

~ Price~

As with many of my album purchases I bought this from HMV although I have seen the prices at www.cd-wow.co.uk and without a doubt is the cheapest place to get this album known to me. The normal version of the album retails for £9.99 in HMV but you don’t get all the features on this version and it comes in the normal plastic case as is so common with the majority of albums.

~ The final verdict ~

Great album for the summer and one of the best on offer this summer, a great success and a favourite album of mine to put on after a day at work. At the £11.99 price tag it is about the usual price for albums these days and I think it was worth every penny that I paid for it. Well done to them and the rest of the team at Infectious UK that put the album together, clearly a lot of effort and time was put into the album and it is one album that sticks out in my CD collection. Ash type stuff can be found at www.ash-shop.com if you wanted to know.

In the words of Ash (at the back of the booklet):

‘Free the fallen angels of devils bar, Puerto Banus
Have a nice day.’  

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