- Artists:
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Here it comes... Can you hear it... As Free All Angels is about to hit the shelves its almost time for Ash to be named the most exciting and exuberant fuzzy-poppers on every magazine in town (again). "A return to the days of 1977" shall front countless reviews by journo's everywhere and everyone will say; "Have you heard the new album, its just like their early stuff". Well, it seems right to revisit this album to just see how good it was...
And it starts well. Very well. Lose Control's rawkus, quiet/loud punk action almost smells of packed out youth clubs with Tim Wheeler at the mic, losing his heart to teenage love and its naïve charm. He even then, in a whirl of sexual frustration, gives us sensational wanky-lead and wah pedal action to volcanic effect. Put up the parasol...I'm in heaven...
Oh but there's more...Goldfinger's majestic and almost Stone Roses (well...the beginning reminds me of them...) like pop swagger jumps into your arms like the lovely 16 year old damsel you always dreamed of. The sappy imagery of "Listening to the rain" is just fantastic. Never has music sounded so damn young and with the prospect of sex always looming. When Girl From Mars comes in, the question must be; Could these boys ever survive out of the sixth form college? Could their little hearts really handle it? Angel Interceptor is the icing on the already heavily tiered cake. Sweet and seducing cute-punk as only Ash seem to deliver. Teenage girls everywhere are swooning to the pop screwing sensitive types and the boys are just rocking along with their invisible low slung Flying-V's (especially to Kung Fu).
This album still does have its faults. For a man who lusts after The Pixies sometimes the album just is too... soft. "Always on my mind" totting Lost In You is like a tear stained Shed 7 in slow motion. Gone The Dream's polite indie is just a space filler along with Let It Flow's samey pop rotation and Innocent Smile's slow build-up frankly is too slow for me. Harder tracks like Darkside Lightside and I'd Give You Anything are fine but are not what Ash do so well.
This album is an album by the young for the young. And as that it is almost out on its own. Though it is by no means perfect or complete, the severe hooks of the best of the Brut smothered tunes will always get 1977's name mentioned. This the perfect album to bring back all those memories of early Moshing experience, crop tops and countless cold showers.
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Ash - 1977
I'd go along with this review totally, with one minor issue. 'Innocent Smile' is almost my favourite track on the album, I think it's superb in a similar way to 'Lose Control' and 'Darkside/Lightside'. It *is* slow, but I think that's part of the quality of it. Anyway, everyone has their own favourites... :-)
Martin.
Martin.
Re: Ash - 1977
oh totally...everyone is bound to latch onto different songs.
human nature and all....
human nature and all....
Re: Ash - 1977
Oh i remember rushing down to Woolworths on the day of release, not knowing then that i was about the purchase the soundtrack to my early teenage years! Goldfinger was the first song I ever learnt on guitar....awwww...
ah...happy days
yeah - they were my first favourite band - my sister got the tape on day of release for £4 - £4! At a big store as well! Ah well - it's the only album I ever 'wowed-out' by playing it too much.
Re: ah...happy days
I fell for the £4 tape thing. Because obviously i ended up loving it so much, i had to have it on CD. That and the tape wore out...
Damn capatilist bastards, making me buy the same record twice. Hmm.
Damn capatilist bastards, making me buy the same record twice. Hmm.
Re: ah...happy days
Yeah I also got the tape, but I mean, I HAD to get the CD as well, coz it's got Sick Party on it hasn't it?!?
Ash - 1977
are you taking the fucking piss? ash a 'classic' album? it has 1 good song and a bunch of MOR lightweight punk shit. a classic album is one that should be just as relevant (if not more)in 10 years time than it was upon relase. you fuckwits may have enjoyed wanking to 1977 a few years ago but thats all it will be remembered with nostalgia. plus there is the fact that the same thing has been done hundreds of times before. symposium? idlewild? 3 shitty colours red? fucking wheatus!!
oh btw. burn baby burn is great.
oh btw. burn baby burn is great.
but then..
Well I 've still gotta get the CD, cos I got a tape version that was proper as opposed to the blank tape version I pinched via my sister. And today, I but the new album from Our rice, only to go to woolies and see that I coulda got the 1977 album for £3 with Free All Angels! Damnation and Brimstone..ragh.
Re: Ash - 1977
you should see that Pennybridge Pioneers by Millencolin is up as well - this is barely a year old, and whilst its ace, I don't think ists ready to be a classic.
However I think this is, because it was part of the whole Brit-rock/whatever you call it explosion of the mid 90s - Blur, Supergrass and stuff like that. This has now gone by the by pretty much, and as this album was one of the best ones, and the most higly selling, I think it's a classic album.
However I think this is, because it was part of the whole Brit-rock/whatever you call it explosion of the mid 90s - Blur, Supergrass and stuff like that. This has now gone by the by pretty much, and as this album was one of the best ones, and the most higly selling, I think it's a classic album.
Re: Ash - 1977
i take it your being funny with the B.B.B line? no..a classic album has no real definition dictionary boy. i wrote it because this generation of late teens who OWN indie in there own way are about to go and buy ash's new album and to them 1977 is more important than shit like pink floyd's The Wall. name any pop punk album thats been so widely bought/liked by the current generation? some might say symposium are better but who the fuck bought it?!! in this respect it is a classic despite the fact it is a still newish mini-album with some dodgy b-sides. if your gonna argue, think about it....
Re: Ash - 1977
1977 outsold Parklife? Parklife may be awful as it may be is undoubtedly a 'classic'. it had influence and will continue to do. britpop should be treated with the same sort of remembrance as the holocaust anyway.
there is no justification for laddism or ocean fucking colour scene
there is no justification for laddism or ocean fucking colour scene
Re: Ash - 1977
i am gonna argue and i have thought about it. the people who are going to buy the new ash album as the same people who bought the old ash albums. nobody gives a shit anymore, that generation has passed. the current generation are buying linkin park and papa roach. they are not going to buy the new album and trace there way back to the buzzcocks album by album.
nobody cares anymore. that album is irrelevant to anyone but the people who already know and like it.
i wasnt being sarcastic about bbb. there have been a recent stream of great summery pop singles and that is one of them along with nelly fortardo (sp?) and the avalanches.
nobody cares anymore. that album is irrelevant to anyone but the people who already know and like it.
i wasnt being sarcastic about bbb. there have been a recent stream of great summery pop singles and that is one of them along with nelly fortardo (sp?) and the avalanches.
Re: Ash - 1977
sorry - missed a coupla words - I meant one of the most higly selling albums - I should check my messages afore I send em, I guess.
Re: ah...happy days
But did you get the "limited edition" version with Jack Names The Planets and.. that other song hidden at the beginning?
Cunning bastards they were...
Cunning bastards they were...
Re: Ash - 1977
...you did almost make a pretty damn good point but for 2 problems...
1- almost every good album becopmes irrelevant. albums like frank sintra's "in the wee small hours" and even newly acclaimed albums like the verves "a northern soul" are all genuine classics....but how many young people give a shit about them now? now joy division are IN along with nick drake... fads come and go...but for how long? bands like the jam are entering peoples collections less and less (until they become chic and everyone buys them..ie a few years ago) but this takes nothing away from the music. the jam meant something to the people of the time...they mean nothing much to the new generation. ashs 1977 encapsulated the whole teeny punky poppy music that so many people like and still like today...the fact it is still relevant to people proves its got some staying power and that it was well liked. plus...musically, it had lots of highs.
2-burn baby burn is the track 1977 never had. it might as well be on the album. if you like that then what the fuck are you complaining about?
end
joss
1- almost every good album becopmes irrelevant. albums like frank sintra's "in the wee small hours" and even newly acclaimed albums like the verves "a northern soul" are all genuine classics....but how many young people give a shit about them now? now joy division are IN along with nick drake... fads come and go...but for how long? bands like the jam are entering peoples collections less and less (until they become chic and everyone buys them..ie a few years ago) but this takes nothing away from the music. the jam meant something to the people of the time...they mean nothing much to the new generation. ashs 1977 encapsulated the whole teeny punky poppy music that so many people like and still like today...the fact it is still relevant to people proves its got some staying power and that it was well liked. plus...musically, it had lots of highs.
2-burn baby burn is the track 1977 never had. it might as well be on the album. if you like that then what the fuck are you complaining about?
end
joss
Re: Ash - 1977
1) no GREAT albums will always be great. when has velvet underground and nico ever become irrelevant? i see the point about joy division but before mogwai came along and were responsible for making them popular again they were still influencing people.
the jam were never that great and weller seems to want to destroy any musical legacy he once had by releasing album and album of the worst music imaginable. my main problem is with this comment and general assumption: "ashs 1977 encapsulated the whole teeny punky poppy music that so many people like and still like today" i just do not believe it, its just a very small amount of people, you could say the same for almost any band that released what was considered a decent album a couple of years ago. dodgy for example!! no one is going to hear 1977 and on the basis of that start a great band, just yet another dull teenage pop punk band.
they were the zeitgeist for a tiny minority of people into the scene at the time this does not make them great, at best it makes them a cult.
saw theres a new joy division live album out today. thats nice anyway.
the jam were never that great and weller seems to want to destroy any musical legacy he once had by releasing album and album of the worst music imaginable. my main problem is with this comment and general assumption: "ashs 1977 encapsulated the whole teeny punky poppy music that so many people like and still like today" i just do not believe it, its just a very small amount of people, you could say the same for almost any band that released what was considered a decent album a couple of years ago. dodgy for example!! no one is going to hear 1977 and on the basis of that start a great band, just yet another dull teenage pop punk band.
they were the zeitgeist for a tiny minority of people into the scene at the time this does not make them great, at best it makes them a cult.
saw theres a new joy division live album out today. thats nice anyway.
Re: Ash - 1977
oops i forgot:
2)BBB is a good single, its inclusion on 1977 would not have made it a great album. it would have made it a shit album with a good song on it.
but still oh yeah and goldfinger sound pretty awful now anyway.
2)BBB is a good single, its inclusion on 1977 would not have made it a great album. it would have made it a shit album with a good song on it.
but still oh yeah and goldfinger sound pretty awful now anyway.
Re: Ash - 1977
i never did like oh yeah..and i agree that no REALLYREALLY album will be forgotten..(sgt. peppers, nevermind etc) but that would mean only a very small amount of great albums. i could even argue that VU and nico is actually not really regarded by many thus its inclusion in almost every high street store sale....and if you really don't think The Jam and even the white soul of the style council weren't important in music then you just don't know what your talking about.the problem with this is defining classic and the way your describing it then no album for the last little while has been included on this site. but people can only hear about revolver for so long, and this review has showed a lot of debate and mixed opinions. i take that to be a good thing. also, there will be people who generally love this album..in the same way some love the proclaimers or pantera. 1977 is not a classic. but, at this point in time, and in a certain context it does?
do we have some common ground....(for my next trick i will review a real classic. i'll be interested in your opinion...)
joss
do we have some common ground....(for my next trick i will review a real classic. i'll be interested in your opinion...)
joss
the jam
i would not count the jam as important to music as they may well be influential but they've generally influenced shite the world would be better without. the only decent thing they achieved is ideological, perhaps if oasis had ended it at knebworth they could have been remembered as fondly as nirvana.
i would definitely disagree about VU, to me that is the most influential album ever and will continue to be. ive never given a shit about the beatles and the defining album of the 60s will always be VU & Nico.
im not sure why i started argueing at the beginning anyway, i think i was just in a bad mood and would hate it if people went away thinking 1977 is an all time great album. spose feeder are worse.
i would definitely disagree about VU, to me that is the most influential album ever and will continue to be. ive never given a shit about the beatles and the defining album of the 60s will always be VU & Nico.
im not sure why i started argueing at the beginning anyway, i think i was just in a bad mood and would hate it if people went away thinking 1977 is an all time great album. spose feeder are worse.
Re: the jam
all fair comments mate. the only thing to say is that if you ask the people most peopl will name check Sgt pepper's as one of the best albums ever...also a joy division album would get a mention because it is now popular. if i asked you you would say the VU album....now who is correct? it one of those litle problems...but i do agree that the thought of 1977 as one of the BEST ever albums is not a good one.
bobby..you've put up with me well...what would your top 5 albums be..i'd be interested to know...
joss
bobby..you've put up with me well...what would your top 5 albums be..i'd be interested to know...
joss
Ash - 1977
Right
Letstry this one last fucking time shall we?
The classic albums is for albums that were overlooked and we want to introduce others too. Ash sold loads of fucking copies, a review is not necessary... Foo Fighters to an extent (but at least the first album was choosen which was KINDA over looked and not Colour & The Shape)
OK, hope that gets through now
Letstry this one last fucking time shall we?
The classic albums is for albums that were overlooked and we want to introduce others too. Ash sold loads of fucking copies, a review is not necessary... Foo Fighters to an extent (but at least the first album was choosen which was KINDA over looked and not Colour & The Shape)
OK, hope that gets through now
Re: the jam
i would say VU because they have had a more direct influence on the bands that i like.
top 5 albums would be a bit tricky. not sure about order or anything apart from the top one.
1. Slint - Spiderland
2. Godspeed - Slow Riot...
3. Mogwai - CODY
4. Rodan - Rusty
5. Palace Brothers - Days in the wake
6. Low - Secret Name
by no means a list of all time great albums as they mean fuck all to anyone but anoraky post-rock types. currently listening to papa m (not sings), red house painters and the nation of ulysses a lot.
top 5 albums would be a bit tricky. not sure about order or anything apart from the top one.
1. Slint - Spiderland
2. Godspeed - Slow Riot...
3. Mogwai - CODY
4. Rodan - Rusty
5. Palace Brothers - Days in the wake
6. Low - Secret Name
by no means a list of all time great albums as they mean fuck all to anyone but anoraky post-rock types. currently listening to papa m (not sings), red house painters and the nation of ulysses a lot.
Re: the jam
spiderland is very exceptional and the low album is great...whats your verdict on things we lost in the fire...+i see no sonic youth there?!!
Re: the jam
I would say the Jam were pretty influential, not paul weller but the jam
I couldn't pick a specific album as influential because I think that their singles were their strong point.
"perhaps if oasis had ended it at knebworth they could have been remembered as fondly as nirvana"
Jaysus snappin arseholes, what have Oasis ever done? sold shitloads of crappy illiterate shite to a bunch of pricks yeah, but so has Bryan Adams. Fuck off
The Velvets Rocked, though at the moment their influence isn't as strong as say five years ago, but it will return. (oh yes it will)
For classic (overlooked) albums
Try "Giant Steps" by the Boo Radleys (before their wanky Britpop excursion)
"Psychocandy" Jesus & Mary Chain
any Pavement album
any Pixies album ( I know you've done Doolittle)
try those for size
I couldn't pick a specific album as influential because I think that their singles were their strong point.
"perhaps if oasis had ended it at knebworth they could have been remembered as fondly as nirvana"
Jaysus snappin arseholes, what have Oasis ever done? sold shitloads of crappy illiterate shite to a bunch of pricks yeah, but so has Bryan Adams. Fuck off
The Velvets Rocked, though at the moment their influence isn't as strong as say five years ago, but it will return. (oh yes it will)
For classic (overlooked) albums
Try "Giant Steps" by the Boo Radleys (before their wanky Britpop excursion)
"Psychocandy" Jesus & Mary Chain
any Pavement album
any Pixies album ( I know you've done Doolittle)
try those for size
Re: the jam
i thought things we lost in the fire was the best yet but i listened to secret name a couple of days ago and realised that very few albums have ever managed to be quite so claustrophobic and just so overwhelmingly miserable. things we lost in the fire is perhaps much more listenable as you dont have to be suicidal to fully appreciate it, but where's the fun in that. the "I fell down the stairs" line is a pretty gorgeous though.
as for Sonic Youth in these days of Trail of Dead i never seem to listen to them. Daydream Nation is an undoubted all time classic but perhaps as a band there influence is greater than the tunes. still sonic death is still the best noise ever created in one track. even better than the ATR live album.
as for Sonic Youth in these days of Trail of Dead i never seem to listen to them. Daydream Nation is an undoubted all time classic but perhaps as a band there influence is greater than the tunes. still sonic death is still the best noise ever created in one track. even better than the ATR live album.
Re: the jam
we have a deal....surfer rosa/come on pilgrim (may as well do both together)
it is then..see it here soon
it is then..see it here soon
Re: the jam
*rushes to get sonic death*
nice talking to ya bobby. i'll suspect i'll see you on another thread.
take it easy...and raise those skinny fists
nice talking to ya bobby. i'll suspect i'll see you on another thread.
take it easy...and raise those skinny fists
Re: the jam
cool
Man I'm developing a fuckin horrid theory, maybe I'll unleash it maybe I'll take my valium
Man I'm developing a fuckin horrid theory, maybe I'll unleash it maybe I'll take my valium
Pixies
Good choice, but do you reckon you should wait a month or so, since 'Doolittle' was posted not long ago?
Martin.
Martin.
Re: Pixies
yeah...i've got other stuff to do anyways...
keep well mate
joss
keep well mate
joss
tell me!!
this sounds intriguing....
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