1977 (Ash Album)

1977 (Ash album)

1977 is the first official album by Ash, released in May 1996 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the following month in the US. The punk rock influenced album proved popular in the UK and Ireland, and to a lesser degree elsewhere, where Britpop was a smaller cult phenomenon.

The title refers to a year of three events that shaped the band: the births of two of the band-members; the year the first punk albums were released; and the release of Star Wars. The album opens with the sound of a TIE Fighter, and ends with the track "Darkside Lightside", the title of which is a Star Wars reference, and which climaxes with a choral version of the Star Wars theme. The band also covered "Cantina Band", as the b-side to the "Girl From Mars" single.

Jackie Chan is celebrated in the lyrics of "Kung Fu", and used the song for the end credits of his movie Rumble in the Bronx. The song "Lose Control" was featured in the game Gran Turismo: the first time one of the band's songs was used in a videogame (it was later followed by "Burn Baby Burn" from the album Free All Angels, featured in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, and by "Orpheus" from the album Meltdown, featured in Burnout 3: Takedown).

The first 50,000 pressings of the CD feature the original version of "Jack Names the Planets" and its b-side "Don't Know" (February 1994), hidden in the album's pregap: they are accessed by 'rewinding' from track one. There is also a hidden track of band members vomiting in a non-musical tape recording named, "Sick Party", which appears after "Darkside Lightside" on all versions.

Several music magazines placed the album in their end-of-year lists for 1996, including NME, Melody Maker, Q, Select and Kerrang. It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album is currently certified Platinum by the BPI and, according to the biography on the official site, has sold over two million copies around the world.

Ash played the album in its entirety at London Roundhouse on Friday 5 September, 2008. Following the huge demand and speed of which the Roundhouse show sold out, they also added a show at London Astoria for the following day, Saturday 6 September, 2008. A three-disc collector's edition of the album was released on November 3, 2008.