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Il secondo album degli Ash (quello che "storicamente" in UK viene considerato "della maturità") vide diversi cambiamenti importanti all'interno del complesso nordirlandese emerso nel '96 con il debut "1977":il più importante dei quali fu senza dubbio l'innesto della chitarrista Charlotte Hatherley (inizialmente osteggiata dai fans più "radicali"),chiamata a dare più sostanza al sound del gruppo.
Il risultato delle sessions con questa "nuova formazione" fu un disco,"Nu-clear Sounds", uscito nell'autunno 1998, altrettanto sorprendente come l'esordio di due anni prima, ma in un altro senso: abbandonata l'immagine di "teenage band" per il pubblico indie, gli Ash provarono un salto di qualità con un lavoro non facile al primo ascolto e che infatti non riscosse le vendite auspicate, seppure a mio parere rappresenti una piccola perla dimenticata.
Per scrollarsi il peso del successo di "1977" infatti Tim Wheeler & co. strinsero l'occhio a sonorità prevalentemente lo-fi grazie anche alla produzione di Owen Morris che esasperò gli aspetti più "duri" e "garage" dei pezzi: "Projects", il brano iniziale, esplode come una bomba e ricorda certi cavalli di battaglia dei Nirvana (ad esempio "Drain You"); l'eco di Lou Reed (idolo della band) risuona nel singolo "Jesus Says",mentre gli Stooges fanno capolino in "Fortune Teller", praticamente una rivisitazione del classico "Search & Destroy". Nonostante le origini punk/britpop,è il grunge di Mudhoney etc. la fonte principale dell'album: ne è prova la durissima "Numbskull", canzone accompagnata da un video scandaloso, mentre "Death Trip 21" è una non felicissima escursione nell'hardcore.
L'unico legame con il punkpop dei vecchi hits è rappresentato da "Wildsurf", un ironico omaggio ai Beach Boys: per il resto l'atmosfera del disco è a sorpresa cupa e disperata, eccezion fatta per la sognante (e bellissima) "Folk Song". Purtroppo non convincono del tutto la drammatica "Low Ebb","Burn Out" (sembra quasi una ballad anni '70 degli Who),la notturna "Aphrodite" e la radioheadiana "I'm Gonna Fall". In definitiva,"Nu-clear Sounds" sarebbe potuto essere un lavoro nettamente migliore ma non privo certo di ottime canzoni pur se poco usuali allo stile degli Ash.
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01 Projects (03:53)
Drowsy eyes
Waves are crashing on the shore
No longer make out any form
Drift to sleep
Beneath cool sheets
As when I was a boy
Waves rolling on the shore
In distant sound
Dark in heaven baby that's for sure
Dark in heaven baby that's for sure
Settling voice
Endless depth in my ears
Tongue that sears
Hopes and fears
The voice is infinite
Starlit seas
Midnight breeze beneath cool sheets
The surf sighs in sympathy
Drift to sleep
Dark in heaven baby that's for sure
Dark in heaven baby that's for sure
Dark swells the sea
Time is ripping at the seams
Symphonic rain
Symphonic rain
Symphonic rain
Symphony
Ouside is black
In the projects
Wanted back
Standing at the end of tine
In ecstasy
Ecstasy
Ecstasy
Ecstasy
Ecstasy
Ecstasy
02 Low Ebb (05:00)
I heard a calling
From miles beyond the grave
What was it saying
I could not make out a word
Shiver in the cold light
And in your troubled mind
Darkness has enveloped your heart
And stole the lustre from your eyes
Still he holds on
As the light is fading out
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
It feels like the last strand of summer
Feels like the end of the day
Nothing to get up for tomorrow baby
Everything caught in decay
Shiver in the cold light
And in your troubled mind
Darkness has enveloped your heart
And stole the lustre from your eyes
Still he holds on
As the light is fading out
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Thinking staring out the window
There's one thing she can never know
You can never teller her
How close you are to letting go
Still he holds on
As the light is fading out
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Although there's still pulsing in you veins
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Feels like your life is ebb, ebbing away
Ebbing away
Ebbing away
03 Jesus Says (04:44)
One million light years from home
Throwing up and feeling small
Where have I gone and landed tonight
I've been shot right to the core
Of NYC and hostility yeah
But you gotta laugh
'Cos there's something that I cannot do without
And it's in your hand
Where have I gone and landed tonight
A million light years from home
Throwing up and feeling small
And now I know that my mind is blown
'Cos there's something that I cannot do without
Something that I understand
Yeah there's something that I cannot do without
And it's in your hand
Cut down shot down
Any way you please
Don't get nothing for free
Big time small time
Any way you choose yeah
Don't mean nothing to me
Where have I gone and landed tonight
God give me strength
In a land of fakes and small time petty thieves
Must be the wrong place
'Cos all my honesty is true yeah
But it's gone to waste
On a soulless superficial void
Called the human race
Cut down shot down
Any way you please
Don't get nothing for free
Big time small time
Any way you choose yeah
Yeah but you gotta compete
Where have I gone and landed tonight
Throwing up and feeling small
One million light years from home
I've been shot right to the core
Of NYC and hostility yeah
But you gotta laugh
'Cos there's something that I cannot do without
And it's in your hand
Cut down shot down
Any way you please
Don't get nothing for free
Big time small time
Any way you choose yeah
Don't mean fuck all to me
Yeah I've been cut down shot down
Any way you please yeah
Sisters and brothers please yeah
Big time small time
Any way you please yeah
Don't mean nothing to me
04 Wildsurf (03:26)
Come On
Yeah come on come on while we still can
Yeah come on come on while it still stands
Burning in my head
Tonight Beneath the moon rays
We stand in the doorway
Looking towards other skies
They are yours and mine for now
Yeah ride
Ride the wild surf
Until the dawn
Is ushered in at your word
Your heart must always burn
Burn like a star
In the cold night
Yeah burn until the dawn light
And make it to as new time
Burning in my head
Yeah so come on
Yeah come on while we still can
Yeah come on while it still stands
Burning in my head
Tonight the sky above us
Dark and wondrous
How could you be unsure
It's all mine and your now
Yeah ride
Ride the wild surf
Until the dawn
Is ushered in at your word
Your heart must always burn
Burn like a star
In the cold night
Yeah burn until the dawn light
And make it to as new time
Burning in my head
Yeah we're gonna make it too the new times
We're gonna make it from the old times
We're gonna make it to the good times that's for sure
Ain't gonna let it slip away
Ain't gonna let this chance fade
Ain't gonna let it go in vain
Ain't gonna let it slip away
Yeah so come on
Yeah come on while we still can
Yeah come on while it still stands
Burning in my head
In the cold night
Yeah burn until the dawn light
And make it to a new time
Burning in my head
05 Death Trip 21 (04:08)
The story of a man who did never exist
Lord of the skies died
With no look in his eyes
Sleep walked into the afterlife
Died in his sleep
His face incomplete
You got a taste you're playing with the dark stuff
Don't let it get under your skin
I've seen your eyes in the bottom on my glass
You died in your sleep
Your face incomplete
One million miles away
My thoughts afloat in speculation
You fill my dreams like sandman
With the taste of hedonism and death
One million miles away
My thoughts afloat in speculation
You fill my dreams like sandman
With the taste of hedonism and death
Your dark resolve to change your face
On the eve of your death and resurrection
Heavy with sleep deprivation
By death and power intoxicated
The story of a man who did never exist
The surgeons have died
Found in barrels at a building site
Found dead with their nails ripped out
He died in his sleep
His face incomplete
One million miles away
My thoughts afloat in speculation
You fill my dreams like sandman
With the taste of hedonism and death
On million miles away
My thoughts afloat in speculation
You got a taste
You're playing with the dark stuff
Don't let it get under your skin
The world's overpopulated
Fucked up anyway
You'd hate to think you were missing the fun
Don't let it get under your skin
The world's overpopulated
Fucked up anyway
You'd hate to think you were missing the fun
The story of a man who did never exist
Lord of the skies died
With no look in his eyes
Sleep walked into the afterlife
Died in his sleep
His face incomplete
You got a taste you're playing with the dark stuff
Don't let it get under your skin
I've seen your eyes in the bottom on my glass
You died in your sleep
Your face incomplete
One million miles away
My thoughts afloat in speculation
You fill my dreams like sandman
With the taste of hedonism and death
One million miles away
My thoughts afloat in speculation
You got a taste
You're playing with the dark stuff
Don't let it get under your skin
The world's overpopulated
Fucked up anyway
You'd hate to think you were missing the fun
You got a taste you're playing with the dark stuff
Don't let it get under your skin
I seen your eyes in the bottom of my glass
You died in your sleep
Your face incomplete
06 Folk Song (04:54)
Lying in the long long grass
Blossom on the trees
Springtime's slipping away my love
Yeah springtime's slipping away
When it comes around again
It will never be the same
Heaven's slipping away my love
Yeah heaven's slipping away
Yeah heaven's slipping away
Walking through this changing season
Sorrow spreads its wings
We can't keep a hold on time
Just receive what it brings
Lying in the long long grass
Clouds are drifting by
Springtime's slipping away my love
Yeah springtime's slipping away
Dreaming in this lost domain
Which you'll never see again
Heaven's slipping away my love
Yeah heaven's slipping away
Yeah heaven's slipping away
Walking through this changing season
Sorrow spreads its wings
Light a candle in your heart
Light it to the spring
Walking through this changing season
Sorrow spreads its wings
We can't keep a hold on time
Just receive what it will bring
Mellow evenings in the spring
Full of warmth and hope
You are dreaming unaware
Unaware that you are letting go
Walking through this changing season
Sorrow spreads it wings
We can't keep a hold on time
Just receive what it will bring
Walking through this lonely season
Sorrow spreads its wings
Light a candle in your heart
Light it to the spring
Springtime's slipping away my love
Yeah springtime's slipping away
Heaven's slipping away my love
Yeah heaven's slipping away
07 Numbskull (03:09)
Shooting from the hip
Slipping from an iron grip
Going further than I've ever been
Into the realms of the unseen
Fate is your enemy
Rebel against your destiny
Going further than I've ever been
Yeah further than I've ever been
Got a beautiful face go a fucked up inside
Need a shot of your faith
Come along for the ride
Yeah love is your faith
Yeah death is your fate
Never going to reach my goal
I know 'cos I have been told
Never finding happiness
Eternally in unrest
This is where the love lies
I've seen to the other side
It's always been just out of reach
Yeah but always just within my sight
Got a beautiful face got a fucked up inside
Need a shot of your faith
Come along for the ride
Yeah love is your faith yeah death is your fate
Yeah death is your fate come along for the ride
Going further than I've ever been
Got a beautiful face got a fucked up inside
Need a shot fo your faith
Come along for the ride
Yeah love is your faith yeah death is your fate
Yeah death is your fate come along for the ride
Got a beautiful face got a fucked up inside
Need a shot fo your faith
Come along for the ride
Yeah love is your faith yeah death is your fate
Need a shot of your faith come along
09 Aphrodite (04:17)
As dark falls
On these shores
Fell in love
With Aphrodite
Her dark power
In my heart
In my heart
Feel it now her beauty never ends
As dark falls
On these shores
On this earth
Feel like a stranger
Getting lost
Such a cost
As I fall
Is my heart deceiving even me
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
How can I tell you what's in my mind
How can I say when it's all so bad
Feel so weak
Feel so tired
Oh so tired
Feel my heart deceiving even me
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
So tell me what else could I do
Instead of replacing her with you
So tell me what else could I be
I found darkness inside me
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
I don't know about much yeah baby
All I know about is desire baby
10 Fortune Teller (03:22)
Too much information in my face
Don't know anybody, feel so out of place
I'm bored with this century, and I'm sick of it all
Here I am standing on the killing floor
Got a fever burning and I don't feel right
Yeah my head's rushing right out of my mind
Went to the doctor and he gave me pills
Yeah they numbed my pain but didn't cure my ills
What's in the future 'cos I can't see
Fortune teller got me down on my knees
Go and see the fortune teller
Will she tell me all she knows
Go and see the fortune teller baby
Find out how it goes
I found myself living in a concrete hell
Found myself thinking don't need no-one else
I'm feeling damaged yeah I feel deranged
i need something to counter-act the pain
Can't see the stars but could they give me a sign
Yeah I need to know now don't tell me no lies
I've been completely going out of my mind
I feel beat up just like Jesus Christ
What's in the future 'cos I can't see
Fortune teller got me down on my knees
Go and see the fortune teller
Will she tell me all she knows
Go and see the fortune teller baby
Find out how it goes
We all live beneath a dying sun
Used to believe in something, that's been shot to fuck
I'm bored with this century yeah I'm sick of it all
Here I am standing on the killing floor
What's in the future 'cos I can't see
Fortune teller got me down on my knees
Go and see the fortune teller
Will she tell me all she knows
Go and see the fortune teller baby
Find out how it goes
Yeah so when am I gonna get better
Will I find out in my time?
Go and see the fortune teller baby
Find out how it goes
11 I'm Gonna Fall (05:13)
This is a beginning
Although this is an end
I got a sight of heaven
And it's gone straight to my head
And the time is right for falling
This time I'm gonna fall
That's the price I must pay
For a taste of your sweet love
I'm gonna fall
This time I'll fall
Gonna fall
Something in your glances
Puts a spell on me
As the world fades all around
You're all that I can see
And the time is right for falling
This time I'm gonna fall
That's the price I must pay
For a taste of your sweet love
I'm gonna fall
This time I'll fall
Gonna fall
Feel it taking over
Gonna reach there soon
The warmth of skies at sunset
I want to linger in this glow
And the time is right for falling
This time I'm gonna fall
That's the price we both pay
For a taste of your sweet love
I'm gonna fall
This time I'll fall
Gonna fall
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