1977

I somehow was completely unfamiliar with this band so another blank slate to begin on... My initial impressions run from *this is fun aggressive rock album with somewhat typical (in a good way) 90s alt-rock progressions* to *...wow this gets a little boring...* And as I'm into my second listen through, I lean heavily towards the second sentiment. It's decent enough but a cynical commenter (me?) might question why this is one of the 1001 albums you must listen to. Not that it isn't fine, it actually is, but it's also...maybe just not that memorable? I gave this yet another spin today to see if something grabbed hold but you could have told me this was _______ [fill in with any of ~25 early-mid 90s bands from Boston or London or Seattle] and I wouldn't have blinked. Loud stereo guitars with a generally non-aggressive melodic vocal track over the top. Again: decent enough. For the most part. Inoffensive but I don't really remember anything about it. 4/10 2 stars for a fine of-the-period rock album but suffers from a sameness and lack of depth.

I absolutely adore this album, always have. Girl from mars to me is the standout track, this sweet little love song poking its head above this sea of chaotic alt rock. Kung Fu is also great, such an infectious and high energy song. But the whole album is just really solid slightly grungy, slightly garagey alt-rock. Brilliant live band as well, so many good times seeing these guys at festivals. Plus it starts with a tie fighter sound, how could you go wrong.

I love that 90s British Rock sound. More "garage rock" than the rest of the genre. Lose Control has Offspring vibes... I like the chaos on I'd Give You Anything a lot. Kung Fu is fun - I remember it from the end of Rumble in the Bronx. It gets more Britpop as the album progresses but keeps the feedback and modulated guitars. Darkside Lightside is a big and awesome ender. Angsty. Young. Gen X shit. Not as catchy and theatrical as Oasis. Not as clever or innovative as Blur. But still a solid effort by a band I've never heard of in a genre I like.

A bit like a more punk Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub with a little Sonic Youth thrown in for good measure. Pretty solid.

Reminds me of the burning issue of the nineties. Who was fitter: Charlotte from Ash or Hillary from JJ72 (it was Hillary). Fun album but loads better from that particular decade

A generic Weezer meets Stroke-9 middle 90's alt rock clone. They probably liked that one high school song by Local H, if I had to guess. It's not that good. It doesn't really belong on a list. Maybe for an angsty 13 year old in 1996? Who was just one album away from finding something with some energy and meaning? Or maybe one album away from the myriad flavors of nu-metals infamous rap-rock-DJ collabs? Can't say. Not good. It's a two because the playing is proficient. It should be a one.

British Popish

For me this album is all the offcut Brit pop music amalgamated into one album. Then they added one straight Black Sabbath rip off and tried to hide it all under a huge layer of fuzz guitar. No thanks

Hello teenage me! What a perfect album. Ash got tighter and more professional as they got older (they were sitting exams when they were on Top of the Pops) but in hindsight it's the naivety and wonkiness that makes this. Every poor decision pays off on this album and adds to it's poppy, punky charm. They still have a few good songs each album, but never the hit rate they had on here. Kung Fu, Goldfinger, Angel Interceptor, Lose Control, Oh Yeah and Girl From Mars - it would be hard to make a Best of Ash without most of this album!

This hit at the right time. Was very pumped for some 90s butt rock. Closest related listening from me is Sweet Apple. Anyone else trying to play some easy rock? Cmon!

uppa norn iron

Is Tim Wheeler a good singer? Not really. Is he a brilliant guitar player? Not especially. But I love this album. It’s a fucking 90’s classic, riddled with great tunes and it was done by lads from just up the road. What’s not to like?

I started listening to this and at first for some reason felt like this wasn’t particularly noteworthy. I was thinking this might be a 3 or so when I had to stop listening. When I picked up listening to it again it suddenly caught fire and I loved the second half. Wondering what had changed I immediately started the album over and decided first-time-listen-me was an idiot. These songs rock! Great guitars and drums and fun songwriting. I love this!

Has an early Weezer "Blue Album" vibe to it, so I'm all about it

I'd never heard of Ash until today, but everything I've read about the band told me I would like them. This proved true! What a great 90's alt rock/grunge/pop rock band. I heard influence from many different sources while listening to them: (1) Goldfinger sounds quite a bit like Nirvana; (2)the vocals on the chorus of Girl From Mars sounds like Weezer; (3)the chord progression in I'd Give You Anything sounds like N. I. B. by Black Sabbath A few songs on the album run into each other seamlessly (notably Girl From Mars into I'd Give You Anything, and Let It Flow into Innocent Smile) I thoroughly enjoyed this listening experience. From the heavy distortion and sludgy guitars to the tight drums this album was great! If I were to have any criticisms at all it would be that sometimes the vocals fall behind the wall of sound and distortion a bit, and the use of static as a backing sound in a section of Innocent Smile was a bit irritating, otherwise a great album. Favourite songs: I'd Give You Anything, Angel Interceptor, Kung Fu, Girl From Mars, Lose Control, Goldfinger, Darkside Lightside Least favourite songs: Lost In You, Innocent Smile 4/5

Had not heard of this band and after listening I am surprised they are not better known. A shimmering example of 90's grunge. Could hear bits and pieces that sounded like other bands - Weezer, Blur, Oasis, Black Sabbath, The Beatles - and anyone else hearing "Strangers in the Night" in "Lost in You"? Yet they still have their own unique sound.

Gotta love an album that kicks off with Star Wars sound effects. This album certainly kicks off with a cracking pace and settles into a nice rhythm. Girl From Mars and Kung Fu are certainly the highlights, not bad for a debut.

Solid. No bad song on this album

This is one of those messy, pop-punk albums that could only be created by teenagers making their first album, but the highs on this record really shine through. 3.5/5

Another Britpop band I’ve never heard of. The first track sounds like Weezer crossed with the Buffy theme song. Cool guitar solo, though. Second track sounds like if Rivers Cuomo became the lead singer of Lit (to be fair, I loved Lit back in the day). Another fun guitar solo. The more this album went on the more I kept thinking about how much they sounded like Weezer, sometimes crossed with a bit of other bands (Oasis, the Beatles, Lit, Travis, Ramones, etc.). Then I got to “Kung Fu,” which I guess is their racist version of “Buddy Holly”? Reading that they in fact opened for Weezer was the least surprising thing I’ve learned all week. Look, this was a catchy album, even if it is repetitive. The lyrics are decently written but trite. Every song is about the same thing — a guy obsessed with a girl who’s not there. The musicianship is pretty good, and there are cool guitar solos on almost every song. The lead singer is good, but he sounds like a carbon copy of Rivers Cuomo. Actually, he’s a little less annoying than Rivers. Is there anything special about this album that I needed to hear before I die? If there is, I must be missing it. To me it sounds like any number of Weezer soundalike bands from the mid to late 90s. There’s nothing memorable about it that would make me want to listen again. 3/5

This is fine. I don't know enough about this band too could have been contacts there's some songs that are really fun and some are doing something interesting

No. 182/1001 Lose Control 2/5 Goldfinger 4/5 Girl from Mars 3/5 I'd Give You Anything 2/5 Gone the Dream 4/5 King Fu 3/5 Oh Yeah 3/5 Let It Flow 3/5 Innocent Smile 3/5 Angel Interceptor 2/5 Lost In You 4/5 Darkside Lightside 3/5 Average: 3,0 Pretty cool album.

"Girl From Mars" is great, and unsuspectingly has the highest play count of any track on the album via Spotify. I really love the melody and the guitar tones. That distortion really is just too loud though.. when it goes away the rest of the song sounds a little weak volume-wise. Solid besides that. "I'd Give You Anything" got Black Sabbath stuck in my head after listening, because the riff sounds just like the song "NIB". Pretty nice album. Not a ton stood out to me though. It's not exactly bad but I don't know if you need to hear it before you die.

Fine. Sounds like a less good Foo Fighters

Great singles - does it work as an album? Hmmm. Quite muffled production. Very impressive for a bunch of 17 year olds though.

The sweet spot between Nirvana and the Jonas Brothers.

Generic 90s alt/grunge rock. There was nothing unique, important, or interesting about the music

"Goldfinger" was a good song. These guys want to sound like Nirvana/Smashing Pumpkins, but were a little too watered-down and late to the party. "I'd Give You Anything" is ripped off from Black Sabbath's N.I.B. Other than that, there wasn't anything memorable about any of these tracks.

Awesome

Banda da Irlanda do Norte. A primeira vez que ouço o som deles. Rock alternativo com britpop (pelo o que li, um movimento dos anos 1990 que exaltava o lado de ser britânico). Som leve, cativante... e pop. Me lembrou as canções do jogo "Tony Hawk".

1977 was the year of cataclysmic change. Two sevens clash, new hopes, disco fever, stiff little fingers, all the bollocks. It was also the birth year of the principal members of Ash and they congregate to make an absolute blast with this album. More aligned with Dookie than Definitely Maybe, 1977 wears its influences on its sleeve, baring its weird, often angular, at times sincere nature. Britpop this is not and, with the way it was heading, it's for the best.

Biased because this is one of my seminal rock records/bands but this is a 5 star from track 1.

Impossible to separate this from the nostalgia I feel for this album. "1977" was the second CD I owned (Dodgy's "Free Peace Sweet" was the first) and it provided the soundtrack to summer of '96, when my 16-year-old self was discovering new levels of freedom in the most inept way possible. Ash were Oasis for sci-fi nerds like me. It's still great, to me, perfectly paced, and Owen Morris' wall-of-sound production makes it a lot rockier than their Britpop peers' albums. Tim Wheeler doesn't always hit the right note, but the boyish charm of his singing means it doesn't matter. The only thing missing is the bonus puke track, which is here (if you dare listen!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYivCDJN9PQ

A banger for sure

Thoroughly joyous mid 90s nostalgia. Packed with great songs

90s Irish rock !? What! How did I not know about these guys? Super awesome and maybe my fave find of this 1001 Albums journey so far.

Outstanding album. Full of youthful energy, timeless. Still sounds perfect more than 25 years on. I remember the sleevenotes from this having a photo of Tim in a bath, pouring a bottle of vodka into his face and thinking that was the most rock and roll image, and being so happy that kind of slightly intimidating excess was still a thing.

An album I loved at the time, and a band I have seen live a bunch of times - most memorably at T in the Park 2001 when I was taken to the medical tent after bouncing about too much! Hard to believe this was a debut - it sounds so fully realised and confident.

I'm surprised I've never heard of these guys, because this is right up my alley. The singer reminds me so much of someone else. Maybe Weezer, sebadoh, or hum or a combination of them. A bunch of very enjoyable tunes. Some great melodies, and great guitar tone. This will definitely go into my rotation. Mid 5.

Just three teenagers from northern ireland having the time of their lives and it's fucking brilliant. 6 stars.

Such a good album, very 90's tracks that just hit different, takes me back to better times!

1996

A great great album and another one I heard at a young & important age (still remember staying up late to tape their 1996 concert at the Point off the radio). 5 stars for me for sure. Slightly doubting whether it should be on this list (question how influential it's been) but it is a way better and more polished piece of work than probably half the stuff on this list. And they were *so* young. This album is teenage potential and teenage possibilities in a bottle. Favourite songs: Goldfinger, Angel Interceptor, Darkside Lightside.

Buenísimo. Tremenda sorpresa pop-rock-punk. Eso podría no parecer absolutamente genial, pero sí lo fue.

Ohhh I know this one well. So many times cranking 'Let it flow', which is lame and a banger in equal measure. Easy 5 for rock and nostalgia (nostalgia from age 27, so pretty consistent)

Fully admit: this is one of my favourite albums from thr 90s. I like every track, there are some great transitions between songs. It's one of those albums where if each song wasn't played in order it would sound wrong. Really dig the production as well.

Wow, this was a great find! I ended up in the deluxe edition which I normally hate, but I could have listened to this all day!

Definitely my type of music. 0RS

You know what? I’m at a 5. I really am stunned by that; maybe I’m just sort of overreacting on a first impression, but I seriously enjoyed that a lot. The only track I wasn’t feeling was I’d Give You Anything, which just has a fucking huge wall of noise at the end of it that drowns out any semblance of a melodic structure. Besides that though… yeah, I just really liked it; I think the vocals are the weakest part, but they’re not bad, they just feel like they could’ve added a bit more character to each song. The lyrics, while sort of lackluster, do the job they’re supposed to do, which is to get the feeling across, and the feeling is expertly weaved into the soundscape – I adore the way this album sounds. I think every song here has a really strong structure to it, save for I’d Give You Anything, and that structure, both vocally and instrumentally is what really carries this album to a super honest spot. I can firmly believe this was an album written by a 19-year-old kid, and that honesty makes its way through every track here in a way that I just kind of admire. I’m also a sucker for a good Star Wars reference, which I honestly didn’t pick up on until reading the title of the last track, then hearing them humming the Star Wars theme at the end, and then realizing 1977 is when A New Hope came out. It’s a seriously good album, and I’m feeling super good about giving it a 5. I really liked it, man.

Dayum, this has been one of my favourite first listens of an album so far. This shit slaps. There's so much energy in the drums and guitar playing it keeps me engaged which a lot of other records can't do. Fav songs: - Lose Control - Goldfinger - I'd Give You Anything - Gone the Dream - Innocent Smile - Angel Interceptor

This is the kind of album that this project was built for! Rocks so hard and so awesomely from beginning to end. Loved the use of strings too! Favorite track: “Girl From Mars”.

Should’ve known I would like it as soon it opened with the TIE Fighter sound. Enjoyed the whole thing. The front half and final few tracks were all great with a little in the middle I was pretty indifferent too. Rating: 4.6

love every track from start to finish

Kings of cool distorted guitar! Definitely some filler tracks, but the highlights set a massive ceiling

Loved this album. His voice is still terrible but the songs are great.

Apple music categorizes this as pop punk and idk that I would have guessed that - but they are totally right. This album would fit right in with the Clueless soundtrack, but give it a smidge of Neutral Milk Hotel.

This was rad

Very good hard rock album. Am exited to revisit

- This is perfect - Love the garagy, yet clean vibes - Oh Yeah, and Lose Control were great songs - Would for sure go back to this

ok

Brilliant brilliant LP - Oh yeah! Brilliant music

Stupendous album from a band who were still teenagers when it was released. Just an instant classic.

Amazing, the energy picked up my twenty year old self again 😀

Never heard of them before but it's pretty good Britpop with less whiny vocals when compared with Oasis. High energy rock.

Solid

Really good album with a great pace. Can’t believe this is my first listen of it

Any album called 1977 that starts with the sound of a TIE fighter is ok by me!

Something about this just felt good. Really struck a lot of chords with me sonically.

File under 90s on 9. I have an affinity for the middle of the road 90s rock and this one started with a Tie Fighter so extra points

Great for playing air guitar to. And I remember 'Girl from Mars'. Pretty good all round.

The sound of endless summer, innocent fumblings and cider in the park.

Weird nostalgia, liked it.

Rockia jossa on osittain pop punkkimaisia ja välillä jopa psykehtäviä vivahteita. Menevää kamaa

The influence of earlier bands from Northern Ireland is clear, particularly that of the Buzzcocks. Garage rock of decent quality, and at least with vocals that don't harm the sound. Nothing that will be added to my personal playlists but a good album all the same.

Вкусно, бодро, приятно. Выебонов в наличии, но чёт не удержал до конца, 4- (Пора возвращать привычку добавлять песни в личные плейлисты, память ужасная, так что интрушку послушайте, хз)

Very evocative. A few absolute classics and a fair bit of filler as well.

Such a chill, sweet sounding rock album. A very throwback sound, I especially loved "Girl From Mars"!

Megahit Oh Yeah. Me ha soprendido.

uncomplicated fun pop-punk anthems for upbeat road trips or trendy thrift stores. Album is a bit too long and I can't fault people for getting tired of it. 3.75/5

So I was not going to listen to this today. I’ve been getting burnt out on pre-80s albums I have no context for and I misread and thought this album came out in 1977. I know Ash because they’ve had a song or two in Gran Turismo. But that’s it. This music I am such a sucker for; the noisey pop-rock. Adding this album to my regular rotation.

Good start to the album! Really what I needed for work today. Ok maybe I just really need this album/type of music today, but I'm really enjoying it. Probably going to rate a 4. On the last song now, yeah I really enjoyed this album. It's not quite a 5 cuz of some of the vocal recordings (could just be part of the style) so I'm giving it a 4.

Bit too long but not bad for a bunch of teenagers at the time.

I really enjoyed this. Hidden gem!

I appreciate the album opening with the sounds of TIE fighters. I've never heard of this band, but I am a sucker for the alt-rock of the 90's. Impressive to learn these kids were in their teens when this released. This is a lot better than the music my friend's were writing at that time. I recognize Girl From Mars from something. Maybe an episode of Gilmore Girls. I found it to be a fun album. This is honestly probably more of a 3, since there are so many more standout albums of the 90's. But the 90's teenager in me rates it as a 4.

banger

I wasn't sure about this, but I really enjoyed it!

You know I'd not heard this for twenty years, owned by my partner. Girl From Mars was a banger always, but Kung Fu, Angel Interceptor, Oh Yeah are also absolutely brilliant too. I had this pigeonholed as mid-table Britpop but I'd put this in an Europa league place.

Cañero, guitarrero, mucha fuerza. Todo un descubrimiento. Realmente buenos.

It was pretty good. Kinda metal, kinda punk.

This was a big deal back in 1996. Steve Lamacq was all over them. Ash were the young kids that could unite indie and pop. They pretty much pulled it off with 1977. What's great about this album is the pure pop: Goldfinger, Girl From Mars, Oh Yeah, Angel Interceptor - all timeless songs that would work just as well if they recorded by a boy band. Ash add an extra snark and snarl to the tunes. It's a pretty cool package when put together.

Ca sonnait super bien j’ai eu du plaisir dans lecoute. Du bon rock pour vrai. 4

Classics

Robert est en feu en ce moment, son pacemaker vient en effet d'être réajusté suite à un disfonctionnement qui pompait une grande partie de son énergie. L'horizon est radieux dans le ciel générateurien.

Super fun. Bristling power pop. Closing track was a banger.

For nostalgia reasons, it's a classic album. Youth, talent and determination. The original CD had a hidden track at the end - Sick Party - of them all puking up. https://open.spotify.com/track/6m5JPMEeIDUzU6ifOYn9Yr

An awesome wave on 90's rock. Heavy distortion, big drums, just a wall of sound, while also using dynamics effectively to give room for wider sonic exploration. Vocals remind me of Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, cementing that 90's power pop feel. This sound is incredible, I love the rawness of the distortion and the chosen riffs. This is definitely a fallout from Nirvana's career, and I have no complaints whatsoever. Sonic Youth is another clear influence, with all of the best parts. 1977 is probably the most straightforward album on the list so far. As in, there isn't much to branch off from here, it's just making the best of it's influences. Ash doesn't do anything inventive or boundary-pushing, they just do the best with this sound and it's great.

Pretty fun, good vibes and voice

Really great, strong rock music. Oasis-tinged, but so was most rock music during the time. I really enjoyed listening. I’ll definitely be sure to return to some tracks — “Girl From Mars” especially.

I've been complaining a lot in my reviews about all of the 90s-00s britpop albums, but I've got to say, I like this. It definitely sounds of its time, but the production is excellent, and the sound is poppy without sounding cheesey. I can see why they got comparisons to the Buzzcocks. The first track on the album is an absolute scorcher, and they keep going from there. I absolutely love the chunky distortion of the guitars 4/5

Grotendeels uit jeugdsentiment 4 sterren. Klinkt inmiddels wel behoordlijk gedateerd, en die zanger mag toch eigenlijk geen zanger heten..... hoezo vals? Maar het scheurt en rockt wel lekker! 🤘