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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album of the Year 2001, 23 May 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Free All Angels (Audio CD)
This is quite simply a stunning album, full of incendiary summer-loving pop-rock songs that demonstrate a band doing their utmost to save the world from Westlife and Slipknot. The opening salvo constitutes quite possibly the best three tracks of 2001. Walking Barefoot is a bona fide classic, which epitomises the whole spirit of the album and will soundtrack every summer until the end of time. Shining Light has a wonderfully memorable pop hook, and Burn Baby Burn is as explosive and energetic a track as Tim Wheeler ever wrote. Interspersed between the full-on adrenaline rush of the faster tracks, there are some sublime ballads here too. Sometimes is the best example - a bittersweet summer soft-rock masterpiece. The band have also invested in an immense string section, which features on Candy, Someday and most effectively on the atmospheric There's A Star. The main topics of songwriting are girls, summer and both at once, but variety is shown on Nicole, which, incredibly, is about murdering your girlfriend! Pacific Palisades and the appropriately named Cherry Bomb are two more storming, hell-for-leather pop explosions, with lyrics about Benzedrine and teenage crushes in school corridors. All in all, then, a terrific return to form for Britain's brightest stars.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ash are back and smokin' :), 19 Oct 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Free All Angels (Audio CD)
Sorry, that was an awful one-liner. Anyway, I never used to be an Ash fan, especially after listening to 'Nu-Clear Sounds', but I have to say that 'Free All Angels' has completely converted me. It was the single release of 'Sometimes' that prompted me to buy the album, and I can't say I'm disappointed. Aside from the poor 'Shark' and 'Submission', you will listen to the songs on this album again and again (I know, I listened to it all summer). 'Candy', although a good pop song, does not seem to fit with Ash's usual punky style. 'Cherry Bomb', 'Burn Baby Burn', 'Nicole', 'World Domination' and 'Pacific Palisades' are real rocking tracks, whereas 'There's a Star' and 'Someday' are more ballady, though nevertheless well worth listening to. The first track, 'Walking Barefoot' is a complete Ash classic, as is 'Shining Light'. And then there's 'Sometimes' - quite simply the best thing Tim Wheeler has ever written.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Ash, 11 May 2003
This review is from: Free All Angels (Audio CD)
Free All Angels – Ash’s most recent album and the one that proved to the world that they’ve still got it. That is, the ability to produce songs of the utmost quality, with that Ash vibe that makes you feel like every day should be a summer’s day. This is certainly the case with standout tracks “Walking Barefoot”, “Burn Baby Burn” and “Sometimes”, which are slightly more poppy than Ash’s previous releases, but they make the transition well. There’s still diversity like with 1977 with the more edgy tracks such as “Nicole” and “Shark” for fans who prefer the heavier Ash. There are a few tracks, however, that don’t quite seem to flow – namely “Candy”, and the rushed “World Domination”. Aside from these, “Free All Angels” sees Ash continue to do what they do best, and is a very welcome and much anticipated comeback release – which hasn’t failed to disappoint.
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