Free All Angels [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
UK edition of the Irish-pop act's 2001 album. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

Walking Barefoot
Shining Light
Burn Baby Burn
Candy
Cherry Bomb
Submission
Someday
Pacific Palisades
Shark
Sometimes
Nicole
There's A Star
World Domination
13th Floor (bonus track)
No Place To Hide (bonus track)
Coasting (bonus track)

Amazon.com

Tim Wheeler is a young songwriter who loves the themes of summer and girls almost as much as the young Brian Wilson did. The difference is Wheeler grew up in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, instead of Southern California. Nevertheless, Free All Angels kicks off with the refrain "We've been walking barefoot all summer," continuing Ash's tradition of what Wheeler has termed "North Irish surf punk." The band have matured since the release of their last couple studio albums, 1977 (named for the year several band members were born, as well as the musical era the album emulated) and the more rock-heavy Nu-Clear Sounds (which often out-Stroked the Strokes), but they still deliver a sonic summer pop-rock delight here. "Candy" unashamedly samples Scott Walker's version of Burt Bacharach's "Make It Easy on Yourself," and Ash's pop culture references also include the Buzzcocks, John Barry, Phil Spector, Nirvana, T. Rex, Dr. Dre, and the Jesus and Mary Chain, to name only a few. "Pacific Palisades" (which name-checks Brian Wilson and all things Beach Boys) is almost self-explanatory, title alone, while the delicious "Shining Light"--a huge hit in the U.K.--should warm its way into the hearts of all guitar-based power-punk-pop aficionados after only several listens. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews:

Burn Baby.......2004-04-20

I have liked Ash for many years now. I even saw them play in late 1998 during CMJ. This was during the time of Nu-Clear Sounds which many people now think is they worst album. Ash was formed in Belfast around 1993 when the three fellows were still in school: Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton, and Rick McMurray. Their first mini-album Trailer was released in 1994. The band released their best album two years later called 1977 when they were all still teenagers. They were called Bratpop. Songs like "Kung Fu" and "Girls from Mars" made them famous. They got much more attention in 1998 when they added guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. Their record Nu-Clear Sounds tanked and their fans moved on to JJ72. Their experiment with being into New York City and heavy rock and being like an Irish Jonathan Fire Eater failed. They were quiet for three years. The drug addiction then started and Ash was getting calls from Behind The Music. They have come back with one of the biggest albums of the past year with Free All Angels. It beat out the new one by Janet Jackson in the UK charts.

"Walking Barefoot" still reminds us of Ash's fascination with NYC punk. It's a return to their earlier sound and is a very good summer song. Once you get to "Shining Light" you know that the excitement is back and all is forgiven. A catchy tune that is certainly has thoughtful lyrics and very catchy guitar playing. The big chorus of "Burn Baby Burn" reminds us of all we loved about Ash in the first place. "Candy" is a slow song that samples Scott Walker. It is really a step forward from heavy rock. "Cherry Bomb" and "Submission" are other songs that name checks some past punk songs like Runaways and Sex Pistols. It is classic Ash. The latter is the closest thing to a Primal Scream track I have ever heard them do.

"Pacific Palisades" is like a punk Beach Boys. It is about their experiences in California and sort of an echo of the opening tack. "Shark" is like The Ramones or The Damned. Apparently as a live act they are much like those early punk bands. Bring out the leather jackets and Flying V's please. "There's A Star" is another great slow song. Tim Wheeler has taken the reigns of the band's songwriting and has made something beautiful and lovely. Some bands get to their fourth album and it's a public burning. Ash has evolved. The album ends with the all out rocker "World Domination" which sums up all their last album in one song. The American release also includes a DVD and three bonus tracks. The tracks add nothing and are probably B-sides. I haven't seen the DVD but that sounds like a treat. We can all look forward to seeing Ash on this year's Area 2 tour.

I strongly recommend it.......2004-02-20

This CD is something new and it is brilliant! i strongly recommend it, at least listen to the sample tracks on amazon and see what ash are like...

This is a great CD.......2004-01-27

Ash is a great band that hardly receives the recognition they deserve here in the U.S. They erupted right out of high school with their debut, "Trailer". Their follow-up, "1977" was semi-successful here in the U.S., possibly due to the supporting tour with Weezer. Their third release, "Nu-Clear Sounds" was almost completely ingored here in the States with the execption of the title track to the film "A Life Less Ordinary."
"Free All Angels" is the fourth major album from Ash. On this album they have really come into their own. Tim Wheeler wrote so many great songs for this CD, practically every one of them has also been released as a single. Charlotte, Mark, and Rick have also matured very well as musicians, and the band sounds as good as ever.
Nearly every song on this album is a masterpiece. If you love finding albums that may have been overlooked by mainstream America, this album is a good place to start. Actually, any album by Ash is a great place to start, but this album is probably their most accessable and listener-friendly album to date. Give it a spin and you will probably end up buying the rest of the Ash catalog.

Rock, Baby, Rock!!.......2003-12-08

Strong pop roots are obvious, but this band knows how to rock. I saw them live over the summer, & the energy never let up. They played all the good songs I knew of them at the time... many of the good ones off of here plus "Girl from Mars", "A Life Less Ordinary", & "Goldfinger", a song that I didn't even know they did cuz I hadn't heard it in ages! I was also impressed that Charlotte actually does a lot of the major guitar work, plus a lot of backing vocals. I left pumped up, knowing I HAD to get
one of their cds... so I got this one, since it was the most recent, & the one they were touring for. I have the DVD, which has videos & cool footage, but my cd copy only has 1 bonus track "So the story goes", so you may get one with slightly different tracks.

With catchy melodies, soaring guitars & basslines, you're missing out if you don't have this. "Walking Barefoot" is a GREAT opener... I especially like the way it starts off kind of soft & laidback, but then the guitars come blaring in. "Shining Light", "Burn Baby Burn" (my favorite here, & a cool video too), "Submission", & "Nicole" are personal favorites that they played live. "Shark" & "World Domination" rock out, while "Sometimes" & "There's a Star" change to a slower mood. "Candy"'s the most pop track on here, & though not my favorite track, it's still catchy. Here's another good example of a band that I'm glad I made myself go see, even though I only knew a handful of their songs at the time. I can't wait for a future release, plus I'll definitely look into their past albums. I agree with another reviewer: this cd IS very addictive, "Nicole" is a very addicting track, & WHY oh WHY aren't there more modern bands in the US that honestly rock like this?!?!!?!

Good Stuff.......2003-11-30

The CD is complete. Ash has delivered a stunner. Burn Baby Burn, There's A Star, and Walking Barefoot are standouts. Shining Light is such a beautiful, positive song and it isn't difficult to see why it was such a hit in the UK. It would be fair if Ash got a little more spotlight in the states, but who cares? If you listen to the music, its those people missing out that don't know about this awesome, awesome band.

Average customer rating:

Family Carols

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Lullabies & Berceuse | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Noels | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Opera & Vocal | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music

Opera & Vocal | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000VM3X6
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Average customer rating:

Free All Angels
Ash
Manufacturer: Edel Germany
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Punk-Pop | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000060P70
Release Date: 2002-05-07

Average customer rating:

great album best ash album yet
Return of the pop-punk rock and roll superstars.
Tasty pop with flavour and fizz
superb
Like all albums, the best songs are near the beginning.

Free All Angels
Ash
Manufacturer: Mushroom Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Punk-Pop | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005B9L2
Release Date: 2002-07-09

Tracks:

Walking Barefoot
Shining Light
Burn Baby Burn
Candy
Cherry Bomb
Submission
Someday
Pacific Palisades
Shark
Sometimes
Nicole
There's a Star
World Domination

Album Description

UK edition of the Irish-pop act's 2001 album.

Album Details

Third album from the Irish indie rockers. The disc is enhanced with hundreds of video clips and an 'Ash Video Mixer', so the ardent fan can edit together their very own video montage. Quite unique!

Customer Reviews:

great album best ash album yet.......2002-05-09

I imported this on vinyl a year ago, and I must tell you, Ive heard all ash records, Im a fan of there work, and I enjoy 1977 alot, but this album, song after song are solid. The songs are so catchy, but not cheesey, I dont know why people label these guys pop punk, to me there a modern day "today! Beach boys era" type band. then again maybe that is pop punk, but dont crowd these guys with the likes of green day and blink 182. All the lyrics are honest, and not in a sappy way either. From the begining of the first track, all the way to world domination. One of the best tracks on here "pacific Pladades" mixes beach boys vocals (hell he even mentions brian wilson) with ramones type guitar work and speed. and then going from the total opposite "sometimes" think beach boys/ gliber o sullivan, but they do it in a way that sounds natural and fits there sound perfectly.
Lyricly this isnt cheesey "guy meets girl" or "im 14 year old teenager and i like to be a brat" type stuff no the lyrics discribe the little things about girls and life, to walking barefoot, to waiting for summer to come again, to a girl making you feel like a bullets in your head when she walks by
the album flows perfect from fast catchy songs to slowl type ballad stuff, but never getting cheesey or too fast.
If you like weezers pinkerton, or even wanted to maybe here what it would have been like if rivers never took those steps back with the green album, pick this up. YOU WONT BE DISAPOINTED

Return of the pop-punk rock and roll superstars........2002-02-16

This album should be played at a high volume in a hot residential area.

After Ash's classic 1977 they decided they wanted a more poptastic sound and here it is, this is their masterwork. From first song 'Walking Barefoot' all the way to the brilliant 'World Dommination' every song encaptulates you and every one could be released as a single and most already have. 'Burn Baby Burn' is the best song on the album and the best single from 2001, 'Sometimes' a nice slow one and Cherry Bomb literely explodes out the speakers. Tim Wheeler used the if it ain't broke don't fix it as far as the songwriting goes and keeps to the unimportant falling in love and Star Wars subject matter which made them great in the first place. Although this is by no means an original album, it is still a brilliant one and captures Ash while their at their best, let's hope that their next album can catch them at their better.

Tasty pop with flavour and fizz.......2002-01-30

"Free All Angels" is driven by the melodic bombast of guitars and fierce, energised drumming all combined with Tim Wheelers vocals which can be rock-star sneer or precocious starry-eyed lad, all within the space of one album track. The sole aim of the songs is to reach inside the back of your head and stay there for days, and most of them succeed. As the members of Ash approach their mid-twenties one would expect them to be going introspective and serious on us, alas it isn't the case. "Walking Barefoot" opens with a line about some girl taking some young lads breath away. That feeling of walking barefoot all summer, romantic connections and chemical reactions, are the themes that dominate this cd. N'Sync with wicked power chords it 'aint, although Ash veer close to the edge with a misguided trip into flavour of the month-pop on "Candy". Ash have always been about the fizz and pop, rather than the meat and potatoes variety of rock, but you only get to be young once, and Ash are in no hurry to grow up.

superb.......2001-12-24

ok forget candy its awful everybody knows it infact to tell the truth it was one of the worst singles of the year but forget it.the rest of the album is brilliant not a bad song on it power pop at its best etc etc.a perfect antidote to the american rock scene of nu-metal mince like slipknot or the overproduced rap/rock of limp bizcuit.

Like all albums, the best songs are near the beginning........2001-11-25

1. Walking Barefoot - This is a good song and i dont get tired of listening to it. A well worth done song. 9/10

2. Shining Light - When this first came out i loved it and always listened to it on Reloaded 2. But when its been out for ages it starts to get annoying. Its a very good song with good chorus but i've just listened to it too much!! Its also a long song so it drags on a bit. 8/10

3. Burn baby burn - Great song and it has to be one of my faves. Really good fast and punky song with a cool chorus. 10/10

4. Candy - This is a song i do NOT like, its a very romantic and love song. I thought Ash were Rock!! 5/10

5. Cherry Bomb - Good start to the song but the chorus isnt the best. Good punky song though 8/10

6. Submission - Loved this song at first but gets aggrivating after a while. Quite slow and different from the band. 7.5/10

7. Someday - Interesting song as it has a slow start but when the chorus comes it starts to get faster. It is a good song but not the best 8/10

8. Pacific Palisades - I really like this song, Very fast and its how Ash should always be! It is only 1:57 but the quality of the song showed me how good it was 9/10

9. Shark - I dont much like this song but its quite catchy and fast 7/10

10. Sometimes - I Love this song and it was the 3rd release from the album. My mate loves this song too and always listens to it! Its quite a slow song but very good chorus 10/10

11. Nicole - Not a bad song and I have been listening to it more lately. A bit like Shark but more catchy 8/10

12. Theres a star - I like this quite a lot and used to always listen to it, it does get a bit annoying after a while, good chorus and quite a mellow one. 8.5/10

Tracks:

Walking Barefoot
Shining Light
Burn Baby Burn
Candy
Cherry Bomb
Submission
Someday
Pacific Palisades
Shark
Sometimes
Nicole
There's a Star
World Domination

Customer Reviews:

Perfect for the inner lovesick teenager in all of us.......2002-04-08

After the frankly underrated Nu-Clear Sounds, which dispenssed with their power pop much of the way through in favour of heavy guitars and mellow balladry, as have returned to their roots. Lyrically there is a strong degree of maturity, but its the tunes that really win it.

Walking Barefoot- 10/10 Why this wasn't a single I have no idea, as its the msot brilliant slice of guitar power pop since Brian Wilson went insane. Harking back to long lost sumemrs in love, this is what as do best.

Shining Light - 8/10 The lead single, a very mellow love song with interesting lyrics featuring a lot of religious imagery for some reason, and a pleasant but unspectacular tune

Burn Baby Burn 10/10 Perhaps the best single of last year, a pounding slice of energetic rock which is miles away from Numbskull, Death Trip and other Nu-Clear Sounds rockers

Candy 9/10 A gamble and a surefire success at once, putting Tim's lovelorn lyrical sensitivity into a new grandiose setting. Uses a sample of Make It Easy On Yourself, and amazingly is the better track

Cherry Bomb - 8/10 Another impressive blast of power pop, as ever about a girl, with more vigour and exhuberance

Submission - 8/10 With grinding programming and vocals in and out in the mix this comes across like a lot of the Nu-Clear Sounds tracks, and shows some aggression and hedonism in amongst the sunshine

Someday - 7/10 Drenched with strings, this is another setting for the melodies, but its not the album's most effective moment.

Pacific Palisades - 10/10 Two minutes of perfection, bursting straight into the vocals and then adding another layer of sound later a la some of their classics like Wild Surf and Walking Barefoot. More blissful power pop

Shark - 7/10 Heavier track which isn't quite as effective, on that front Nu-Clear is better

Sometimes - 10/10 A perfectly executed gem, just the right mix of sentiment, passion and drive, with the guitar in the chorus especially well delivered

Nicole - 9/10 Bouncing along as if the world were about to end, this is a gem cut from the same cloth as so many others.

There's A Star - 5/10 Too syrupy for my taste, and a poor choice of single in a way, but it was a hit. Still, so was Evergreen (puke)

World Domination - 9/10 What a way to close out the album, the kind of 2 minute perfection that leaves you gagging for more. ROll on album 5!
Overall 10/10

One criticism though, but it lies not with the album, but the selections of singles. The use of the lacklustre There's A Star was a poor one - it leaves the selections too biased towards that side of their stuff, especially considering that almost everything except Submission & Shark could make hits. Tracks like Cherry Bomb or Nicole would be more obvious, but for the UK World Domination or Pacific Palisades would have also made perfect singles, as an antidote to Candy, and when stuff like The Hives and The White Stripes are charting as well as to Candy and Sometimes despite being total unknowns releasing heavy chaotic 2 minute blasts

their best album yet..........2001-10-10

A stunning return to form. Cracking pop songs wrapped in grunge, punk rock and garage mayhem....

Amazing.......2001-06-10

Ash return after the questionable "Nu-Clear Sounds" to give us their greatest album yet. From the first chords of "Walking Barefoot" to the moment "World Domination" fades away you will be transfixed by it's sheer power. Ash have moved away from their soft rock roots, and are now very definitely pop-rock, but there is also a new maturity to the band. There is a mix of tracks; the power ballads like "Walking Barefoot" and "Burn Baby Burn" to the calmer, reflective tracks "Someday" and "There's a Star". The album continues to give us what we have come to expect from Ash - a great selection of varied tracks that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike. It's difficult to pick stand-out tracks from an album where literaly EVERY track is brilliant, but "Walking Barefoot" and "Cherry Bomb" are my personaly favourites. I bought this album on its release date and it didn't leave my cd player for 2 months.