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Post by Shireblogger on Sept 2, 2020 7:12:23 GMT 1
Also:-
Yarborough & Peoples Yardbirds Years & Years Yes Yolanda B Cool Young Disciples Young Fathers Young Rascals Yxng Bane Will Young Sydney Youngblood
At least 25 acts beginning with Y in my music collection.
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Post by greendemon on Sept 2, 2020 10:55:05 GMT 1
Time for some sunshine in the morning... 7. Orpheus (Meltdown, 2004)
The second single from Meltdown (reaching #13 in the UK), and the only one that made my top 10, though two others were in contention for the spot that eventually went to 'Walking Barefoot' (I'll post some 'honourable mentions' at the end of this countdown). I love everything about this song: the theme of hitting the road looking back, the fact that it's inspired by a combination of Greek mythology, On The Road and that one time Tim Wheeler did a screen test for Ewan McGregor's part in Moulin Rouge, and especially That Chorus which might be the best one in any of their songs. I hadn't listened to Meltdown in ages and rediscovering it has definitely been one bonus of coming up with this list
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Post by greendemon on Sept 2, 2020 11:07:49 GMT 1
Speaking of big choruses...
6. Angel Interceptor (1977, 1995)Another discovery from 1977, this one actually took a while to grow on me - I wasn't sure about the vocals initially - but it won me round eventually and is a firm favourite now. The guitar solo definitely helps! I just love how upbeat it is. I only found this out recently, but Angel Interceptor is supposedly one of the reasons why Charlotte Hatherley was eventually recruited, as without a female member they were having to sing the high-pitched backing vocals themselves Top 5 starting from tomorrow...
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vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,430
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 2, 2020 11:20:38 GMT 1
Yello Yo La Tengo
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Post by greendemon on Sept 2, 2020 11:29:01 GMT 1
My pick for Y may or may not be one of the many ones mentioned Though as I won't get to Y until August 2021, I do have time to change my mind...
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Post by greendemon on Sept 3, 2020 13:57:17 GMT 1
5. Shining Light (Free All Angels, 2001)
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that there are two singles from Free All Angels that might be expected to finish in most Ash fans' top 5. This - the lead single - is the first of them. Like most of the album, it's one of the Ash songs I've known and loved the longest, though I don't think I ever loved it as much as the other single from Free All Angels which is still to come. It was pretty well-received at the time, picking up an Ivor Novello and reaching #8 in the UK (though I have to say my reaction on discovering this was 'only #8?!' - it is so well-known it feels as if it ought to done better). It is a gorgeous love song and you can tell the band are very fond of it too; Tim Wheeler once described it as 'a breath of fresh air', though to me these days it feels as comforting and familiar as a well-worn jumper.
'Shining Light' has also been covered by artists including Coldplay and Annie Lennox, though I have to say I am not a fan of the latter's effort.
So far this list has been pretty predictable but #4 may surprise a few people...
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Post by greendemon on Sept 3, 2020 14:26:36 GMT 1
No, it's not 'Candy' 4. Petrol (Trailer, 1994)This was the first Ash song ever to reach the top 100 (#98 smash hit ) and predates my interest in them by quite some years - like the other song from Trailer in my top 10, I only discovered 'Petrol' thanks to Integalactic Sonic 7"s. As a best-of album, IS7s is a good collection of singles, but in organisation it's a bit front-loaded, tailing off a little in the second half. The first time I ever played it I was gradually losing interest by the time I got to track 17 of 19, and then 'Petrol' came on and woke me up! If 'Shining Light' represents Ash at their poppiest, this is something from the other end of the scale: grungy, simplistic but full of energy (and fear, if you listen to the lyrics and realise that's about a lynching from the point of view of the victim...) I've been obsessed with it since I first heard it as a teenager. I don't know if they still play it live but if I do go and see them again this is definitely the one I want to hear! Top 3 will be up tomorrow...
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 3, 2020 15:16:21 GMT 1
Candy must be top 3 then
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Post by greendemon on Sept 4, 2020 17:12:38 GMT 1
3. Girl From Mars (1977, 1995)Numbers 3 and 2 on this list were so close that until today they were the other way around... then I played them both again and changed my mind! Anyway here is the highest-placed track from 1977 - an iconic Ash song that again has been with me since my teenage years and has always been one of my favourites. As with many of their songs from that era, it's hard to believe how young they were when they wrote it - I mean yes, it does kind of sound like it was written by a very young Tim Wheeler about a teenage break-up, but not many 17-year-olds can turn that into a song of this quality. My favourite 'Girl From Mars' trivia is that apparently NASA's phone operator used to use it for their holding music I don't know if that's true or not, but as Fox Mulder would say, I want to believe...
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Post by greendemon on Sept 4, 2020 17:37:51 GMT 1
The song getting a last-minute promotion of one place is... 2. Burn Baby Burn (Free All Angels, 2001)(There is a remastered version of this with better sound on the band's YouTube but I wanted to share the video as well!) I described 'Girl From Mars' as iconic, but really this has to be the quintessential Ash song. If I was ranking these on openings alone, this would have come top by a huge margin: you can't hear the first few bars and not want to get up and dance (well I can't anyway ) As the song that introduced me to the band, this one will always hold a high place in my estimation, but unlike many other songs from that time in my life, it still sounds as great today as it did almost 2 decades ago! I was really surprised to discover that this only made it #13: it is undoubtedly one of their signature songs and one of their very best to boot. It's still got the punky energy that made their earlier albums so great but refined into something a bit more sophisticated. Just pure rock brilliance. Stay tuned for 'Candy' I mean my #1... oops did I give it away...
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Post by greendemon on Sept 4, 2020 17:52:18 GMT 1
So Free All Angels and 1977 have both featured heavily in this top 10, but the song at #1 isn't from either album... or indeed any Ash album at all...
1. A Life Less Ordinary (A Life Less Ordinary OST, 1997)
Some might find it surprising that this has beaten all the big hits from Free All Angels and 1977, but for me there was never any competition for this spot. I have absolutely adored this song since I first heard it on Intergalactic Sonic 7"s and it has been my favourite Ash song ever since. I think when I was younger I thought it was just a love song but reading more about its background, the inspiration appears to have come from inspiration itself: the lyrics are kind of a plea to a muse-like figure - 'I'll sell my soul / what is it worth?'. It probably doesn't help that it was written for, and featured on, the official soundtrack of a (mediocre, so I'm told) rom com! I haven't seen the film and I'm not sure I have the desire to, but to me this is nigh on the most perfect pop rock song the band have ever written.
Songs that I wished I could have fit into the top 10 but couldn't coming up later...
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TheThorne
Member
*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
Posts: 27,529
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 4, 2020 23:40:28 GMT 1
Totally agree with your number one
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Post by Panda on Sept 5, 2020 0:07:32 GMT 1
I've always liked Ash though I think for a quite a while, Charlotte was the best thing about the band. I think my top 10 would look a bit different.
Great start to the series!
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 5, 2020 0:16:01 GMT 1
And Ash released an A-Z series themselves, i think from that series True Love 1980 might make my top 10 Ash songs but they've had so many I could easily make a top 20! Envy is maybe one of my favourite Charlotte era songs but my #1 would be similar, A Life Less Ordinary is a banger, Burn Baby Burn maybe just edges it for me but that would be my top 3 too
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Post by Whitneyfan on Sept 5, 2020 9:04:46 GMT 1
Good top ten. What am I missing with 'Candy'? I like that one.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 5, 2020 10:26:24 GMT 1
I think at the time Candy was so different to anything Ash had ever done it was seen as a bit of an abomination
It didn't go down well from what I remember
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Post by greendemon on Sept 5, 2020 11:55:21 GMT 1
Thanks for the comments guys! Happy to see some appreciation for Ash and 'A Life Less Ordinary' in particular Didn't get around to posting my also-rans last night but here they are, in no particular order: Clones (Meltdown, 2004)Lead single from the last album I bought - I had completely forgotten about it until I started listening to their albums again for this! Ash experimenting with a heavier style and pretty successfully too. It can probably be considered my number 11 as it's the one I agonised most about not being able to fit in. Renegade Calvacade (Meltdown, 2004)Another great single from Meltdown, which is a much better album than I remembered! 'Starcrossed' also deserves a mention though I didn't really have it contention. Sometimes (Free All Angels, 2001)This was the only other one from Free All Angels in contention (sorry, 'Candy' fans ) and is again one of their better slow songs. Kung Fu (1977, 1996)I fully expected from my memory of this to fit it into the list, but in the end it wasn't quite as good as the other three from 1977. It is great though! Cocoon (Kablammo!, 2015)I had to catch up on a lot of Ash's music in order to do this properly as I'd missed quite a bit! Out of all the newer material I uncovered, this was by far my favourite. I don't know how I missed it at the time! So that wraps it up for A - one down, 25 more to go! I'll start posting the artist for B the week of the 14th of September. It was another letter for which I had quite a few potential entries in my music collection...
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Post by greendemon on Sept 5, 2020 11:58:20 GMT 1
I think at the time Candy was so different to anything Ash had ever done it was seen as a bit of an abomination It didn't go down well from what I remember Pretty much this! I was speaking truthfully when I said I hated it at the time it came out (and I mean hated) but it did grow on me. Listening to it now, I can appreciate it more as the band just experimenting with a completely different style, but yeah, it wasn't ever really in contention for me.
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TheThorne
Member
*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
Posts: 27,529
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 5, 2020 12:02:18 GMT 1
Best song not here for me is this, showing they already had an eye on Brit Pop with their debut
Ash - Oh Yeah
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Post by greendemon on Sept 5, 2020 12:08:41 GMT 1
Another good 'un; never been my absolute fave but yes, very Britpop, maybe even more than 'Goldfinger'.
There will be many artists in this series for whom I could have done a top 20 easily and Ash are definitely one of them!
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