Free All Angels

Free All Angels
Studio album by Ash
Released 16 April 2001 (UK)
7 August 2001 (USA)
Recorded 2000
Genre
Length 48:29
Label Infectious Records
Producer Owen Morris, Ash
Ash chronology
Nu-Clear Sounds
(1998)
Free All Angels
(2001)
Intergalactic Sonic 7″s
(2002)
Singles from Free All Angels
  1. "Shining Light"
    Released: 29 January 2001
  2. "Burn Baby Burn"
    Released: 2 April 2001
  3. "Sometimes"
    Released: 9 June 2001
  4. "Candy"
    Released: 1 October 2001
  5. "There's a Star"
    Released: 31 December 2001
  6. "Walking Barefoot"
    Released: 2002(Australia)

Free All Angels is the third studio album by Ash, which was initially released on 16 April 2001, through Infectious Records. The name of the album is taken from a T-shirt worn by a Hells Angel.

Speaking to Kerrang! in 2008, Tim Wheeler remembered:

I wasn't going to make any old commercial shit, I wanted to write brilliant songs that would actually speak to people. So I went back to Northern Ireland, to my parents’ house away from everything, back to where we were before we had any success. Being in that mindset felt like starting again. We’d met Joe Strummer in Japan and he said, 'I'm going to be in Belfast in a few months, come and do I Fought the Law with me onstage'. And I didn't do it because I was staying home and writing. It's one of my big regrets, but during that time I wrote "Shining Light". We went off to record it in Van Morrison's studio in Bath and then some more in Spain. It was amazing. I was one of the best tunes of our lives. It's ensured our survival ever since. We were still so young we didn’t want to give in. We were determined that wouldn't be the end.[2]

On 7 August 2001 Free All Angels was released in the United States.

The album entered the charts at #1 in the UK, and has won numerous awards, including awards for the singles "Shining Light" and "Burn Baby Burn". It is also certified Platinum by the BPI. The UK version has a (CD-ROM Enhanced CD), the ashvideomixer that allows fans to make and share online their own music video.

The American edition was released on the Kinetic Records label. It includes the bonus track "So the Story Goes" and also a remixed "Burn Baby Burn", which subsequently appeared on Intergalactic Sonic 7"s.

A German Special Tour Edition of the album featured with different artwork and a second CD of b-sides, acoustic tracks and the French version of "Candy".

The Japanese release includes the tracks "Warmer Than Fire" and "Gabriel".

The song "Shark" appears on the soundtrack to the game Gran Turismo 3.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Drowned in Sound(6/10)[4]
NME(8/10)[5]
Pitchfork Media(7.3/10)[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Stylus MagazineC+[1]

Initial critical response to Free All Angels was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 76, based on 11 reviews.[8]

The album has sold 3 million records worldwide.

Q listed Free All Angels as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[9]

Track listing

No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Walking Barefoot"  Tim WheelerWheeler 4:13
2. "Shining Light"  WheelerWheeler 5:09
3. "Burn Baby Burn"  WheelerWheeler 3:29
4. "Candy"  WheelerWheeler 4:52
5. "Cherry Bomb"  WheelerWheeler 3:17
6. "Submission"  Rick McMurray, WheelerMcMurray 3:33
7. "Someday"  WheelerWheeler 4:29
8. "Pacific Palisades"  WheelerWheeler 1:57
9. "Shark"  WheelerCharlotte Hatherley, Mark Hamilton, Wheeler 3:18
10. "Sometimes"  WheelerWheeler 4:07
11. "Nicole"  Hamilton, WheelerHamilton, Wheeler 3:25
12. "There's a Star"  WheelerWheeler 4:20
13. "World Domination"  WheelerWheeler 2:17

Enhanced content

All CD versions of Free All Angels apart from the Japanese release include Version 1.0 of the Ash video mixer software. The German and Australian bonus disc include enhanced videos of Candy and Sometimes.

Personnel

Ash

Additional musicians

  • Oli Kraus - string arrangements
  • Steve Ludwin - additional backing vocals on "Pacific Palisades"

Technical

  • Ash - production
  • Owen Morris - production, engineering
  • Alan Moulder - mixing
  • Raj Das - studio assistant
  • James Brown Geronimo - studio assistant
  • Naughty Laughty - studio assistant
  • Mike Marsh - mastering

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ash - Free All Angels - Review - Stylus Magazine".
  2. Johnston, Emma. Kerrang! Issue #1235, November 2008. Treasure Chest. The Intimate Portrait Of a Life in Rock. Tim Wheeler. P.54
  3. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r526541/review
  4. "Drowned in Sound - Reviews - Albums - Ash - Free All Angels". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008.
  5. NME.COM. "NME Reviews - Ash  : Free All Angels - NME.COM". NME.COM.
  6. "Ash: Free All Angels: Pitchfork Record Review". Archived from the original on 13 June 2008.
  7. "Ash". Archived from the original on 16 August 2009.
  8. "Ash:Free All Angels (2002): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  9. "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q. December 2001. pp. 60–65.
Preceded by
Just Enough Education to Perform
by Stereophonics
UK number one album
5 May 2001 – 11 May 2001
Succeeded by
Survivor by Destiny's Child
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