Twilight of the Innocents
Encyclopedia
Twilight of the Innocents is the fifth and final studio album by Ash
, released on June 29, 2007 in the Republic of Ireland
and July 2, 2007 in the United States
and the United Kingdom
. The album was produced by Tim Wheeler
, and mixed by Michael Brauer
.
, and decided to record their follow up to 2004’s “Meltdown” here. This album marks the band’s first release since returning to its original “power trio”.
The songs recorded from this album were intended to have a substantially different sound from the Californian rock of “Meltdown” and to acquire more of a “tight 70s guitar band sound”, and less of a polished sound that their previous albums had. The band planned to road test their new tracks by “playing out and about in tiny New York bars, unannounced, just for fun.”
By September, the album had the working title of “5.5”, due to the band considering the album to be their fifth and a half album. The band were continuing to record demos, with the intention of using 14 or 15 of the demos to record for the album itself. This month the band also played their debut gig since returning to a three, their first in 14 months. The gig was held in New York, at a party by the record producer and DJ Arthur Baker
. The band debuted two new tracks at the party: “What Is The Meaning?” and “Roulette”.
In October, the band played their second gig, debuting the same songs, at a concert organized by Spin Magazine at the Annex in New York. By this point the band had decided upon the 14 of the demos they were to record for the album: “I Started A Fire”, “Suicide Girls”, “Shadows”, “Roulette” (previously called “Keep It In”), “Princess Six”, “Polaris”, “Dark and Stormy”, “You Can’t Have It All”, “End of the World”, “Blacklisted”, “Shattered Glass”, “Saskia”, “What Is The Meaning?” and “In Hell”. The other tracks are to be relegated to appear either as b-sides, on future albums, or simply scrapped altogether. During October and November the band recorded the guitar and drums parts for the tracks.
In late November and early December, Wheeler began to record the vocals for the album. As well as this, the string sections for “Polaris” and “In Hell” were recorded with a 20 piece orchestra in Los Angeles at this time. Some rough mixes were done for the tracks in December also. In January 2007, Michael Brauer was recruited to mix the album. The vocals were being finished off at this time (despite Wheeler coming down with the flu) also. After around a fortnight, the tracks were finished being mixed, and the songs were mastered.
Before the announcement of the album details, a few name changes occurred. "In Hell" became "Twilight of the Innocents", "Roulette" became "Ritual" and "Suicide Girls" became "Palace of Excess". TOTI began with 27 rough songs, which they started recording demos for in June 2006.
and their message board. Each week the band would provide the players with 5 potential letters, and hold a vote. Whichever letter got the highest amount of votes per week would be considered the fans guess, and contributed towards the hangman game. Tim had also managed to get Chris Moyles
involved in the game during an interview on his Breakfast Show, who subsequently had members of Travis
guessing the next day as well. Neither came near. The game continued for around 8 weeks, until the game was aborted in late March, due to leaks in the press, and various correct guesses to the title. The title of this album could be a play on words of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical work 'Twilight of the Idols'. This was in turn a play on words of the Wagner composition 'Twilight of the Gods'.
During the period prior to the revealing of the album’s title, it was codenamed “TOTI”.
. On this tour the band debuted several new songs, and were supported by the band V//Formation. The band also played promotional gigs for XFM
and BBC Radio 1
.
In February, the band released a free download track to the fans. “I Started A Fire
”, the eventual album’s opener. The song raised much excitement from the general public, in a similar fashion to “Clones” did for “Meltdown”. According to the band, it had the potential to be a single, but the band decided to release it as a free download instead.
In May, band travelled to Germany and Holland for a European tour. They then played several dates across the UK and Ireland at small festivals, record shops and universities. In the album's week of release Ash performed at Koko in London for four nights in a row.
Digital download
EPs of these singles were also released through the iTunes store
and 7digital. These usually included acoustic versions, demos, remixes and live performances.
A free 7” box to hold all the singles released from “Twilight of the Innocents” was available from the band’s website as a limited run. The box can only hold the vinyl loose, and not them included in their sleeves.
.
Descriptions concerning all the album tracks can be found on the band's MySpace page.
Ash (band)
Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...
, released on June 29, 2007 in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and July 2, 2007 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The album was produced by Tim Wheeler
Tim Wheeler
Tim Wheeler is the Northern Irish guitarist, songwriter and vocalist for the rock band, Ash. He formed the band with Mark Hamilton and they were originally called Vietnam. Wheeler can be seen playing a Korina Gibson Flying V in almost all of Ash's music videos...
, and mixed by Michael Brauer
Michael Brauer
Michael Brauer is a New York-based mix engineer whose credits encompass a wide range of genres, and include The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, John Mayer, Ash, My Morning Jacket, Ben Folds, Dream Theater, The New Radicals, Change, Fountains of Wayne, David Poe, Wilco, Alpha...
.
Production history
In 2006, Ash bought the lease for three years for a recording studio in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and decided to record their follow up to 2004’s “Meltdown” here. This album marks the band’s first release since returning to its original “power trio”.
The songs recorded from this album were intended to have a substantially different sound from the Californian rock of “Meltdown” and to acquire more of a “tight 70s guitar band sound”, and less of a polished sound that their previous albums had. The band planned to road test their new tracks by “playing out and about in tiny New York bars, unannounced, just for fun.”
By September, the album had the working title of “5.5”, due to the band considering the album to be their fifth and a half album. The band were continuing to record demos, with the intention of using 14 or 15 of the demos to record for the album itself. This month the band also played their debut gig since returning to a three, their first in 14 months. The gig was held in New York, at a party by the record producer and DJ Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...
. The band debuted two new tracks at the party: “What Is The Meaning?” and “Roulette”.
In October, the band played their second gig, debuting the same songs, at a concert organized by Spin Magazine at the Annex in New York. By this point the band had decided upon the 14 of the demos they were to record for the album: “I Started A Fire”, “Suicide Girls”, “Shadows”, “Roulette” (previously called “Keep It In”), “Princess Six”, “Polaris”, “Dark and Stormy”, “You Can’t Have It All”, “End of the World”, “Blacklisted”, “Shattered Glass”, “Saskia”, “What Is The Meaning?” and “In Hell”. The other tracks are to be relegated to appear either as b-sides, on future albums, or simply scrapped altogether. During October and November the band recorded the guitar and drums parts for the tracks.
In late November and early December, Wheeler began to record the vocals for the album. As well as this, the string sections for “Polaris” and “In Hell” were recorded with a 20 piece orchestra in Los Angeles at this time. Some rough mixes were done for the tracks in December also. In January 2007, Michael Brauer was recruited to mix the album. The vocals were being finished off at this time (despite Wheeler coming down with the flu) also. After around a fortnight, the tracks were finished being mixed, and the songs were mastered.
Before the announcement of the album details, a few name changes occurred. "In Hell" became "Twilight of the Innocents", "Roulette" became "Ritual" and "Suicide Girls" became "Palace of Excess". TOTI began with 27 rough songs, which they started recording demos for in June 2006.
- “Wasted on You”
- “Princess Six”
- “Suicide Girls” (now titled "Palace of Excess")
- “Lay Down Your Arms”
- “Keep It In” (Formerly "Roulette", now titled "Ritual")
- “Shadows”
- "Piano Song" now titled “Polaris”
- “Hospital”
- “Saskia”
- “You Can’t Have It All”
- “What Is The Meaning?” (now titled "Comet Tempel 1")
- “Dead Fairy”
- “Wish You Were Dead”
- “A Little High” (now titled "Kingdom of Shadow")
- “Thin Air”
- “Obsolete”
- “Come On Over”
- “Can’t Be Owned” (now titled "I Started A Fire")
- “New Tattoo”
- “Running Away Again”
- “Carlos D”
- “Dark and Stormy”
- “Shattered Glass”
- “End of the World”
- “Kill Your Friends”
- “In Hell” (now titled "Twilight of the Innocents")
Album title
On 4 April 2007 the album title was revealed to be “Twilight of the Innocents”. For three months previous to this, the band had held a hangman game with its fans on MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and their message board. Each week the band would provide the players with 5 potential letters, and hold a vote. Whichever letter got the highest amount of votes per week would be considered the fans guess, and contributed towards the hangman game. Tim had also managed to get Chris Moyles
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter and author, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Channel 4....
involved in the game during an interview on his Breakfast Show, who subsequently had members of Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
guessing the next day as well. Neither came near. The game continued for around 8 weeks, until the game was aborted in late March, due to leaks in the press, and various correct guesses to the title. The title of this album could be a play on words of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical work 'Twilight of the Idols'. This was in turn a play on words of the Wagner composition 'Twilight of the Gods'.
During the period prior to the revealing of the album’s title, it was codenamed “TOTI”.
Pre-album promotion
In February 2007 the band began their first tour since 2005 in the form of the “Higher Education Tour”. The tour consisted of around 20 universities around the United Kingdom and was in co-operation with the NUSNUS
NUS may refer to:* Nu Skin Enterprises* Neglected and Underutilized Species, or Neglected and Underutilized Crops* National Union of Students * National Union of Students * National Union of Students...
. On this tour the band debuted several new songs, and were supported by the band V//Formation. The band also played promotional gigs for XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
and BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
.
In February, the band released a free download track to the fans. “I Started A Fire
I Started A Fire
I Started A Fire is the first single taken from Ash's fifth album 'Twilight of the Innocents'. Released as a free MP4 video download through the bands official website....
”, the eventual album’s opener. The song raised much excitement from the general public, in a similar fashion to “Clones” did for “Meltdown”. According to the band, it had the potential to be a single, but the band decided to release it as a free download instead.
In May, band travelled to Germany and Holland for a European tour. They then played several dates across the UK and Ireland at small festivals, record shops and universities. In the album's week of release Ash performed at Koko in London for four nights in a row.
Singles
So far, three singles have been released from the album.- You Can't Have It AllYou Can't Have It All"You Can't Have It All" is the name of the first single from Ash's 2007 album, Twilight of the Innocents. The single received its first play on 7 March on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show...
was released as a download on 9 April 2007 and in a physical format on CD and vinyl on 16 April. The song was accompanied by three b-sides on three different formats, CD, gatefold vinyl and a 7” poster bag, respectively: “Saskia”, “Comet Tempel 1” (previously called "What is the Meaning?") and “Ghosts”. The single peaked at #16 in the UK charts, making it the band's 12th top 20 hit.
- “PolarisPolaris (song)"Polaris" is the second single from the album Twilight of the Innocents by the band Ash. It was released in the on June 15 in Ireland and the United Kingdom and the United States on June 18, 2007, reaching number 32 in the UK singles chart and number 34 in the US singles chartThe band released the...
” was released on June 18, 2007 on three formats: CD, including the b-side "Come on Over", and on two 7" vinyls - the first including the b-side "Chinese New Year", the second including "Kingdom of Shadow", which was written by Ash's drummer, Rick McMurray.
- "End of the WorldEnd of the World (Ash song)"End of the World" is the third single released from alternative rock band Ash's final album, Twilight of the Innocents. It was released on 10 September 2007 on gatefold 7" vinyl, bagged 7", CD single and two digital download formats....
" was released on September 10, 2007 on CD and two 7" vinyls. The CD single included three b-sides: "Wasted On You", "Statis In Darkness", and "Seventh Circle", the latter being a song that was first performed live by the band back in 2000 when it was entitled "Singapore Song". The two vinyl formats include tracks from "Twilight of the Innocents" recorded live in the studio as the band were writing the album.
Digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
EPs of these singles were also released through the iTunes store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
and 7digital. These usually included acoustic versions, demos, remixes and live performances.
A free 7” box to hold all the singles released from “Twilight of the Innocents” was available from the band’s website as a limited run. The box can only hold the vinyl loose, and not them included in their sleeves.
Track listing
All songs were written by Tim WheelerTim Wheeler
Tim Wheeler is the Northern Irish guitarist, songwriter and vocalist for the rock band, Ash. He formed the band with Mark Hamilton and they were originally called Vietnam. Wheeler can be seen playing a Korina Gibson Flying V in almost all of Ash's music videos...
.
- "I Started A FireI Started A FireI Started A Fire is the first single taken from Ash's fifth album 'Twilight of the Innocents'. Released as a free MP4 video download through the bands official website....
" – 4:25 - "You Can't Have It AllYou Can't Have It All"You Can't Have It All" is the name of the first single from Ash's 2007 album, Twilight of the Innocents. The single received its first play on 7 March on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show...
" – 3:35 - "Blacklisted" – 3:46
- "PolarisPolaris (song)"Polaris" is the second single from the album Twilight of the Innocents by the band Ash. It was released in the on June 15 in Ireland and the United Kingdom and the United States on June 18, 2007, reaching number 32 in the UK singles chart and number 34 in the US singles chartThe band released the...
" – 4:32 - "Palace of Excess" – 3:38
- "End of the WorldEnd of the World (Ash song)"End of the World" is the third single released from alternative rock band Ash's final album, Twilight of the Innocents. It was released on 10 September 2007 on gatefold 7" vinyl, bagged 7", CD single and two digital download formats....
" – 4:20 - "Ritual" – 3:43
- "Shadows" – 3:55
- "Princess Six" – 3:54
- "Dark and Stormy" – 4:15
- "Shattered Glass" – 5:02
- "Twilight of the Innocents" – 6:21
Descriptions concerning all the album tracks can be found on the band's MySpace page.
- "Saskia" is the bonus track on the Japan edition.
- "New Tattoo" was the iTunes StoreITunes StoreThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
pre-order exclusive track and is no longer available.