ARTiST: Ash
TiTLE: Twilight Of The Innocents
LABEL: Infectious / Warner
GENRE: Rock
TiME: 51:36 min
SiZE: 71,7 MB
BiTRATE: VBRkbps
RiP DATE: Jun-29-2007
RELEASE DATE: Jul-02-2007
WEBSiTE: n/a
Track List:
01. I Started A Fire 04:27
02. You Can't Have It All 03:35
03. Blacklisted 03:47
04. Polaris 04:32
05. Palace Of Excess 03:38
06. End Of The World 04:21
07. Ritual 03:44
08. Shadows 03:56
09. Princess Six 03:55
10. Dark And Stormy 04:16
11. Shattered Glass 05:03
12. Twilight Of The Innocents 06:22
Release Notes:
The advance seems to have been more of a sampler
than anything else. Here's what Tim Wheeler says
is going to be Ash's "final album". Enjoy!
---
This fifth studio album could be AshÆs last, of
course, if their new plan of just recording and
releasing singles proves fruitful. When that
announcement was made, it made total sense: Ash have
only really made one album worth bothering with
(debut 1977) and three sub-standard collections of
filler, dotted with occasional singles.
Therefore, since Tim Wheeler has let us down so many
times in the past, itÆs hard to find anyone that
still gives a shit about Ash bringing out a new
album. There certainly isnÆt a frenzy of hysteria.
So itÆs with some confusion and trepidation that we
can announce that Twilight Of The Innocents is
surprisingly, frustratingly, bafflingly good. Yes -
you read that right. It took time, too, which is
reassuring: on the first spin, creaking through
rubbish iPod earphones, Twilightà sounded just as
jaded as most of AshÆs recent work, and the melodies
refused to stick.
But belting out of a proper hifi, Mark HamiltonÆs
bass ramped up, Twilightà sounds rich, like a band
re-inspired. The tunes are fresh and consistent,
breaking out of slightly more complex song
structures than weÆre used to rather than drenching
us in saccharine pop.
While a few tracks such as æYou CanÆt Have It AllÆ
and æEnd Of The WorldÆ fall into that irritating
using-the-title-as-main-chorus-hook category (and
therefore start to drag), thereÆs life to
æBlacklistedÆ, æPolarisÆ and the title track that
suggests Wheeler & Co arenÆt going down without a
fight.
The adjective of the day, though, is ôgoodö rather
than ôexcellentö. Some things never change:
WheelerÆs vocal is still woefully uncharismatic,
even if it does sound older and smoother these days,
and he should have pruned a couple of songs here
rather than over-stretching to 12 songs. Is he
really so much of a 'superstar' that not a single
person involved with the band is prepared to have a
quiet word? The latter part of the album is in need
of attention after the first half works so hard to
regain favour.
Such excess almost undoes Twilightà, but the
choruses of æShadowsÆ and æDark And StormyÆ just
about manage to maintain the momentum. Perhaps itÆs
a shame that Ash may never record another album, but
this is an impressive way to make your exit.