Twilight of the Innocents

2007 album from the Irish trio, their fifth album overall. With legendary Rolling Stones/Elton John arranger Paul Buckmaster contributing string parts, Twilight of the Innocents begins with a barreling trio of Punk-Pop stormers; the loved-up 'I Started a Fire', the mightily pissed-off first single 'You Can't Have It All', the riffs 'Blacklisted' and the spine-tingling 'Polaris'. The album also showcases a new musical ambition in the stylistic twists and turns of the wonderfully buoyant 'Ritual ', in the fizz and pop of the swoon some 'End of the World' and particularly, in the epic grandeur of the title track, which closes the album. With the band slimmed down to it's original three-piece status, this album is ambitious, energized and packed to the rafters with tunes. Fifteen years after they formed at school in Northern Ireland, Ash have never sounded better. Warner.