Ash - A-Z Singles Vol. 1

The A-Z singles were part of a very forward-thinking move by Ash. As they stared into the void which is the future of the music industry, they came to two conclusions: 1) That consumers are more likely to consume singles rather than entire albums and 2) That consumers are more likely to purchase digital content than actual hard copies. If itunes has taught us anything, it is that Ash was exactly correct on both points. Of course there are still those of us who consume albums and prefer hard copies of our media, but we old timers are part of an ever-shrinking minority.

Anyway, the A-Z singles were a project in which the band released a new single every two weeks, one for every letter of the alphabet (52 weeks in a year, and 26 letters in the alphabet. Convenient, isn't it?). Fans could subscribe to the project for a nominal fee, and receive new mp3's as they came out. Old timers like myself could subscribe at a higher price and receive 7" vinyl singles of each song, which I totally would have done if I weren't unemployed.

On the whole, the singles find Ash dabbling in a variety of genres aside from their standard rock and roll goodness. On the first two songs alone ("Return of the White Rabbit" and "Trule Love 1980") they dabble in dance punk and synthpop. The first 13 singles and their respective b-sides which are collected on this compilation do not form as cohesive an Ash album as I would like, but the songs themselves are fantastic. They are among the most interesting things Ash has done since Free All Angels.

Baleeted? Not a chance. I'm a loyal....whatever it is that Ash fans call themselves. Ash tray? Ash from housewares?