Sounds of a lost youth (1977 - Ash)

Member Name: hugon

Product:	1977 - Ash
Date:	15/12/00 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great catchy tunes, great writing, loads of memories for me

Disadvantages: None

This album is filled with memories for me. It can out in the summer of 1996, just as I was finishing fourth year (so work out how old I am from that!) and it was never out of my CD player. It was the album I listened to revising for my exams, when I was with friends. When I was down I listened to it, so you could imagine there is quite a lot of emotion wrapped up in all the songs.

Although I prefer the more recent Nuclear Sounds album, this album runs it very close. It is very good, but in a different way than Nuclear Sounds is. It sounds a whole lot brighter, the songs are a lot more uplifting than the later album. Considering Ash where just about to hit 20 when this was released it is a testament to thier talent that it was so good.

It's regarded by many as Ash's best (even though I'm awkward!) and it was Ash's most popular album, topping the album chart in it's week of release.

LOSE CONTROL
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The sound of a Start Wars TIE fighter swooping buy opens the album, launching into some extremely fast 100mph playing, for a belting opening track that will leave you gasping for breath. The song is about "Losing Control" over a girl and the sound is great, getting faster and faster and bursting into chorus.

GOLDFINGER
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Ash's most popular song to date, reaching Number 3 in the charts. It's a slower number, it's all about a girl Tim knows and it seems to be all about her life. It has a very distinctive riff, that stops and starts and is very catchy. The drums really drive the song, clattering between the loud and quiet bits to great effect.

GIRL FROM MARS
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This song was the first song that really broke Ash and was the first song I heard and knew was Ash. Originally to be called "Girl From Ards" (a town in Northern Ireland), because that's where the girl in the song lived, it's a brilliant pop-rock song about the l
ove, Tim wishing the subject was there with him, having met her and doesn't even know her name. It's fast, really catchy and upbeat, with a great little solo. I challenge you to hear it and explain why you don't like it.

I'D GIVE YOU ANYTHING
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A louder, rawer more basic sound with a fantastic riff and some great feedback. Put the volume up and rock out to this one, about encouraging someone to take notice of his feelings. Not one of the strongest tracks on the album but still listenable.

GONE THE DREAM
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A slower track, the first with strings, about lying down at the end of the day and remembering all the things that have happened and where things have gone wrong, dreams that haven't come true. The music, being quieter, reflects this well, you can feel yourself reflecting on you own dreams. A perfect song for the end of the day.

KUNG FU
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The cover of this single had Eric Cantona indulging in his Kung Fu antics, and it's a fun song. Complete with Kung Fu "Oww-ya" samples, it's a song about the bands love for Kung-Fu movies. Fast, hand-claps, it's a song that says "Look we're teenagers and we're having fun!" Put a smile on your face!

OH YEAH
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"I don't know why these things ever end" - This is the most powerful song on the album, about the break-up of a relationship. Tim is sitting reflecting on the past, and how he didn't see the events happening. It is really sad, he sounds like he really loved this girl, but the song shows that as it isn't bitter, more fond of what's happened between them - "Still I don't regret one thing". The music is rich and string-laden and paints a really good picture of the events. The instrumental verse is really emotional, and sometimes this song even has me close to tears when I think of the same things that have happened to me
.

LET IT FLOW
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This is a great, fast rock song. It's a really happy tune, about someone "blowing his mind". We've all been there, really in love and happy with everything. If you could put that feeling into music, this is pretty much what it would sound like. It sounds like a song he wrote before "Oh Yeah"

INNOCENT SMILE
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This is Mark (the bassist's) song, it a dark song with distorted vocals. It's about Mark's mispent youth of vandalism and drug use. It's pretty bleak and basic, the guitar playing is simple, and well distorted.

ANGEL INTERCEPTOR
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Another song about the positice side of love, and sitting in waiting for that person to come home because you miss them. It's poppy, upbeat, and sounds quite similar to "Girl From Mars" in a way.

LOST IN YOU
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Another deep song, very slow and quiet, about missing someone that's far away. If you've ever been far from the one you love, and it's late and all you want to do is see them or talk to them, you'll identify this song. It sums up the amount of love shown perfectly. It's one of my favourite Ash songs.

DARKSIDE LIGHTSIDE
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The album ends much as it began, with another heavy, 100mph track that shows just how good Ash are at playing their instruments. It gets faster and faster until you think it's going to explode and then it slows right down and mellows, and you reach to put the album on again (unless you quite smartly put it on repeat to begin with!)

HIDDEN TRACKS
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"Sick Party"
At the end, fast forward after "Darkside Lightside", it's a pretty disgusting track taken after they've all had a little too much to drink. Not for the faint hearted at all.

On the first 50,000 copies of the CD, there is also "Jack Names
the Planets" and another track which I don't know the name of. You have to rewind before the start of the CD to hear them.

I love this album. If you're young I suspect it might appeal to you more, it's the sound of young lads having a bit of fun, of the bittersweet emotions that are teenage love. As I said earlier, it means a lot to me. If you're a fan of pop-rock-punk music, you should have no problem picking it up. The music I would most liken it to today is Blink 182 or Dookie-era Green Day. It shouldn't cost more than a tenner to buy it, and you'll be investing in a very good album for your collection.

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