Ash – 1977 [Vinyl LP Limited Edition Spatter]

Ash – 1977 [Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold, Stereo
• Catalogue Number: BMGCAT711CLP
• Barcode: 4050538785463
• Genre: Alternative Rock / Britpop / Punk Rock / Power Pop
• Label: BMG
• Originally Released: 22 May 1996
• Reissue Released: 1 July 2022
• Vinyl Colour: Black & White Splatter
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

1977 is the debut studio album by Ash — Tim Wheeler (vocals, guitar), Mark Hamilton (bass) and Rick McMurray (drums), from Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland — released on 22 May 1996 on Infectious Records, and one of the defining British rock albums of the decade. Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales commencing New Year's Day 1996, co-produced by the band and Owen Morris — who simultaneously mixed Oasis's What's the Story Morning Glory? — at a cost of £800 per day, it was the formal studio expansion of a sound the band had been building through an extraordinary run of singles since 1994. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one in its first week, and has since been certified Platinum by the BPI. It was included in NME's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and appeared on best-of-the-year lists in Kerrang!, NME and Melody Maker on release. This is the first vinyl reissue of the album since its original 1996 pressing — a gap of 26 years.

The album's five singles span some of the most beloved British rock recordings of the 1990s. "Goldfinger" — which Wheeler initially considered a B-side before Morris heard it and reportedly said "you idiot, that's a single!" — reached number five in the UK in April 1996 and remains the band's signature song: a euphoric, Teenage Fanclub-influenced piece of guitar pop built on an unforgettable riff. "Girl from Mars" (number seventeen UK), "Oh Yeah" (number six UK), "Angel Interceptor" (number fourteen UK) and "Kung Fu" (number one UK the previous year) complete a run of five UK Top 20 singles from a debut album that is almost without parallel in British rock history. Upon release the band drew critical comparisons to the Buzzcocks, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth, while touring with Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins — a billing that precisely captures the album's position at the intersection of American alternative rock and British pop sensibility.

The album's individual tracks reward attention beyond the singles. "Lose Control" opens with a quiet-loud dynamic recalling Therapy?, Wheeler's tremolo-enhanced riff ascending before the full band arrives. "I'd Give You Anything" is among the album's most emotionally direct moments; "Gone the Dream" demonstrates the band's command of dynamics at slower tempos. "Let It Flow" and "Innocent Smile" sustain Side B's momentum before "Angel Interceptor" and "Lost in You" — the latter influenced by the Beach Boys, written under duress at the end of recording — bring the album's conventional run to a close. The closing "Darkside Lightside" — written from the perspective of someone who slept with another person's girlfriend, opening with Iron Maiden-influenced riffs and closing with Pink Floyd-esque guitar work — runs to 16 minutes 49 seconds, with 11½ minutes of silence following the track's end before the hidden track "Sick Party" plays: a piece of studio tomfoolery featuring Hamilton and guitar tech Leif Bodnarchuk, which the band felt was too funny not to include.

This 2022 BMG reissue — the first vinyl pressing of the album in 26 years — presents the 2022 remaster on black and white splatter vinyl; each copy is unique, as confirmed by the hype sticker on the gatefold sleeve: "Black & White splatter vinyl — Each copy unique and individual." The gatefold sleeve faithfully reproduces the original artwork, and the pressing is manufactured in the Czech Republic.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Lose Control
2. Goldfinger
3. Girl From Mars
4. I'd Give You Anything
5. Gone The Dream
6. Kung Fu

Side B

1. Oh Yeah
2. Let It Flow
3. Innocent Smile
4. Angel Interceptor
5. Lost In You
6. Darkside Lightside (contains hidden track "Sick Party" after 11½ minutes of silence)

Credits

• Tim Wheeler – Vocals, Guitar
• Mark Hamilton – Bass
• Rick McMurray – Drums
• Owen Morris – Producer
• Label – BMG