Ash(2)

小档案

Tim Wheeler：吉他，主唱
Rick Mcmurray：鼓手
Mark Hamilton：贝丝
Charlotte Hatherley：吉他，钢琴，和声

小简介

来自北爱尔兰两位古灵精怪的年轻小伙子Tim Wheeler(主唱/吉他)、Mark Hamilton(贝斯)，在圣诞节时收到他们的礼物---吉他，便追寻着偶像Iron Maiden(铁娘子)，组织起金属摇滚乐团Vietnam，但是却被讥评为”本土最差表演乐团”！3年后找来Rick Rock McMurray(鼓手)，遵循英国曼却斯特庞克摇滚先驱Buzzcocks的摇滚精神，及当时吹起Grunge风潮代表乐团Nirvana的音乐感昭，将团名更改为Ash，并调整乐风改玩畅意活力的庞克乐！成功的转型，不仅让他们高中尚未毕业前，成为当地最热门的乐团，更连创3首单曲打入全英Indie榜Top 5之林中，各音乐杂志也是大篇幅的好评推荐，一洗先前被嘲讽之耻辱！1994年成功拱出于独立厂牌发行的专辑《Trailer》，快速的走红让Ash顺利与主流厂签约，发行进军国际的专辑《1977》，并以锐不可档的声势把Oasis挤下冠军宝座，蝉连10数周的NO.1！其中为成龙电影红蕃区所谱写的单曲Kung Fu，顺利的敲开主流市场大门，接着打入流行榜的单曲Girl From Mars、Goldfinger、Oh Yeah等作品，皆展现Ash不凡的创作功力与摇滚天赋！1997年加入女吉他手Charlotte Hatherley，新成员的添入，让Ash在音乐整体上更为成熟与丰富，随后发行《Nu-Clear Sounds》(1998)及《Free All Angels》(2001)等专辑。

Irish punk-pop trio Ash first formed in 1989 when childhood mates Tim Wheeler and Mark Hamilton got guitars for Christmas and established the metal act Vietnam. Nothing more than something for kicks, Vietnam switched to Ash in 1992 as Wheeler (guitar/vocals), Hamilton (bass), and Rick "Rock" McMurray (drums) aimed to be something more serious. They shared a love for the raw British punk of the Buzzcocks and crafted their musical talents to take the Brit-pop scene by storm at the start of the decade. NME was swooning over these "teen punkers from Belfast," and by 1994 Ash had signed to Infectious Records to issue the Trailer EP later that fall.

Their glossy youth was undoubtedly alluring, yet their Irish roots exuded a bit of an American flair similar to the likes of Pavement and the Lemonheads. They weren't even out of high school before three singles hit the Top Five in the U.K. indie charts. A year later marked Ash's full-length debut with 1977 and a deal with Reprise Records in the U.S. Named in honor of the year Star Wars was released, 1977 displayed Wheeler and Hamilton's full-fledged love for all things extraterrestrial and science fiction-related. Sharp guitar hooks and exact production work by Owen Morris (Oasis, New Order, Paul Weller) gained the bandmembers the fame they'd been wishing for since childhood. They were headlining major festivals — T in the Park, Glastonbury, Roskilde, and Reading — and playing countless club dates across the globe. In fall 1997, female guitarist Charlotte Hatherley was added to the all-male lineup, a definite change for the band's sound and image and a step that led Ash's fan base to expand into more of what the band had been looking for since the beginning.

With a new bandmate and the end of their teenage years, Ash welcomed anything that came their way. The late '90s marked a maturation for Ash as a unit as well as individually. Their sound featured heavier guitars while Wheeler's lyrical content experienced a much grittier shift. Their sophomore effort, Nu-Clear Sounds (1998), had Garbage's Butch Vig (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana) at the mixing board, and it wasn't necessarily their finest moment. NME turned on the band, criticizing Ash's new sound as "terrifying, ghoulrawk thrashnik deathcore noiseterrior sultans of satanic verse" in August 1998. Harsh words and reviews didn't distract Ash, however. Free All Angels followed in April 2001, although it didn't even see a U.S. release until the following summer. Meltdown, the band's first stateside release for Record Collection, arrived in spring 2005. A year later, and after nine years with Ash, Charlotte Hatherley announced her departure from the band. In 2007 the group released Twilight of the Innocents, the album they claimed would be their last. Interestingly, however, they also assured their fans that they were not breaking up; instead, they would only release singles in response to consumer trends.