Orpheus (Ash song)

Last updated
"Orpheus"
Single by Ash
from the album Meltdown
B-side
  • "Everybody's Happy Nowadays",
  • "Tinseltown"
Released3 May 2004 (2004-05-03) [1]
Recorded2003–2004
Genre Alternative rock, hard rock, punk rock
Length4:16
Label Infectious
Songwriter(s) Tim Wheeler
Producer(s) Nick Raskulinecz
Ash singles chronology
"Clones"
(2004)
"Orpheus"
(2004)
"Starcrossed"
(2004)

"Orpheus" is the second single released in a physical format from the Meltdown album by the band Ash. It was released on 3 May 2004 and reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It was released as a single CD (released as only 1 CD version, the first time since 1997) as a gatefold 7" vinyl, as well as on DVD format. It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.

Contents

Inspiration and sound

Orpheus was inspired by a Jack Kerouac on the road experience, similar to that of the film Y Tu Mama Tambien . Wheeler has said that, "The song's sort of based on this idea of like a Mexican road song sort of thing. I wrote it after watching this Mexican movie where these two kids go on this road trip with this girl, it's a rights of passage kind of thing. So I always thought it had this Mexican flavour, in fact when we first wrote the song it was called 'Dirty Sanchez' for a while!"

Additionally, it is also inspired by a screen test Tim had a couple of years ago to play the Ewan McGregor part in 2001's 'Moulin Rouge'. "So I was in there with Baz Luhrmann, he is taking me through the whole thing and it was because he based the whole movie on the Greek myth of Orpheus. It's a weird song. It's about hitting the road and taking off and not being able to look back, just keep going is the theme. It's about a guy who joins him in fuckin' hell". Tim explains.

"Orpheus" has been described by Ash's bassist, Mark Hamilton, as being "Chilli Peppers meet The Doors, Sabbath and well.. us". Rick later described it as being "a classic Tim Wheeler summer song with big riffs and mad freak out bits in it, that's quite a journey of a song. A musical journey." Originally, the song was less complicated, and was missing its mid-song breakdown and intersection, but, despite the record label's pleas, it was included.

Usage

Ever since its first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity, it has appeared in almost every Ash performance, and also appears on the limited edition live Meltdown CD and the Commando EP. It is one of the EA Trax in the videogames Burnout 3 and NHL 2005 . The song appeared in various musical publications' lists of songs of 2004.

B-sides

The first b-side of the single is "Everybody's Happy Nowadays", a cover of the Buzzcocks single from their Singles Going Steady compilation, with a guest appearance from Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin, who sings lead vocals in the chorus. The song was recorded for the soundtrack to the film Shaun of the Dead.

The single's second b-side was Ash's longest released track (until A-Z series single "Sky Burial" in 2010), "Tinseltown", which was originally meant to appear on the album itself. Mark has described it as "a 9½ minute epic which goes on a music oddessy, covers every genre from '4 to the Floor Handbag' to Sonic Youth spaz outs and kraut rock". The song alternates between gentle acoustic and harsh dance floor beats.

Video and DVD

Directed by Jeff Thomas, returning from "There's a Star", centers around car chases across the Almerian desert of Spain with two bandits chasing the band in a Gumball Rally style vehicle. Mark described it as follows: "The video was made in Almeria, Southern Spain. It's basically a car chase across the desert with two bandits trying to run us off the road, total Wacky Racers stuff. Intercut with us performing in a dirty biker bar it's a full throttle sweatfest!"

Wheeler has described it as: "It was fantastic, basically; flying off to Spain, getting in a car, smashing it up and rocking out! By the end of it the car was pretty much totaled on one side so we had to film the last shots from the other side of the car. The cars were like totally mangled. It was great, we got to drive through barrels of water as well, as you can see later on. The way we've got the numbers on the screen is, I suppose, reminiscent of a computer game."

"Orpheus" was also released as a DVD. It contained "Orpheus" and "Tinseltown" as audio tracks, the music videos for "Orpheus" and download only single "Clones" and a video of the making of "Orpheus".

Trivia

Track listing

CD

  1. "Orpheus" (Wheeler)
  2. "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" (Shelley)
  3. "Tinseltown" (Wheeler)

7"

  1. "Orpheus" (Wheeler)
  2. "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" (Shelley)

DVD

  1. "Orpheus (DVD Audio)" (Wheeler)
  2. "Tinseltown (DVD Audio)" (Wheeler)
  3. "Orpheus (Video)" (Wheeler)
  4. "Clones (Video)" (Wheeler)
  5. "The Making of Orpheus"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash (band)</span> Northern Irish rock band

Ash are a Northern Irish rock band formed in Downpatrick, County Down in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. As a three-piece, they released mini-album Trailer in 1994 and full-length album 1977 in 1996. This 1996 release was named by NME as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time. After the success of their full debut the band recruited Charlotte Hatherley as a guitarist and vocalist, releasing their second record Nu-Clear Sounds in 1998. After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy, the band released Free All Angels in 2001 and a string of successful singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusty Cage</span> 1992 single by Soundgarden

"Rusty Cage" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Rusty Cage" was released in 1992 as the third single from the band's third studio album, Badmotorfinger (1991). The song became an instant hit and was released as a single in several different formats. The song was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides and the 2010 compilation album Telephantasm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shining Light</span> 2001 single by Ash

"Shining Light" is a song by Ash, which was released as the first single from their album Free All Angels. It was released on 29 January 2001. It was released as a single CD and as a 7-inch vinyl. It was also Ash's first single to be released as an enhanced CD. "Shining Light" reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart. The song had been covered by fellow Downpatrick songwriter Triona in 2015 which featured on a Power NI advert.

<i>Meltdown</i> (Ash album) 2004 studio album by Ash

Meltdown is the fourth studio album to be recorded by the Northern Irish rock band Ash. The album was released on 17 May 2004 through Infectious Records and Home Grown. Following the success of their third studio album Free All Angels (2001), Ash debuted several new songs while touring throughout 2003. By October that year, they had travelled to Los Angeles, California, to record a follow-up album, which was co-produced by Nick Raskulinecz and the band. Recording sessions were held at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys and at Chalice Studios, Hollywood. Meltdown, which is described as a hard rock album, drew comparisons to the work of The Smashing Pumpkins and critics said the guitar work resembles that of Black Sabbath and Metallica.

Tinsel Town, Tinseltown, Tinsel-Town or other variants may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sometimes (Ash song)</span> 2001 single by Ash

"Sometimes" was the third single released from Northern Irish rock band Ash's third studio album, Free All Angels (2001). It was released on 9 July 2001 as two CD singles, as a 7-inch vinyl, and a DVD single. Although "Sometimes" reached only number 21 on the UK Singles Chart, it helped contribute to increase in sales for Free All Angels. The song also reached number 41 in Ireland.

<i>Grey Will Fade</i> 2004 studio album by Charlotte Hatherley

Grey Will Fade is the debut studio album by English musician Charlotte Hatherley, the guitarist for Ash, released by Double Dragon Music on 16 August 2004. Spurred on by the positive response to "Grey Will Fade", which appeared as a B-side to Ash's single "There's a Star" (2001), Hatherley set about recording her solo album. Enlisting the help of Eric Drew Feldman, the sessions for the album were happening concurrently in Los Angeles, California, at Wild Hamster, while Ash was recording their album Meltdown (2004). Described as a pop punk and power pop record, Hatherley's vocals on Grey Will Fade earned her comparisons to Björk, Tanya Donelly, and PJ Harvey.

Bruce Clifford Gilbert is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art punk band Wire, he branched out into electronic music, performance art, music production, and DJing during the band's extended periods of inactivity. He left Wire in 2004, and has since been focusing on solo work and collaborations with visual artists and fellow experimental musicians.

"Clones" is the first single released from the Meltdown album by the band Ash on 25 February 2004. The track came with a free artwork and a video when downloading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everybody's Changing</span> 2003 single by Keane

"Everybody's Changing" is a song performed by English alternative rock band Keane. It was released as the second single from their debut studio album, Hopes and Fears (2004). After a single release on Fierce Panda in May 2003, which peaked at number 122 in the UK Singles Chart, it was re-released on Island on 3 May 2004 after the success of "Somewhere Only We Know" and reached number four. It is also used in the TV series, In Plain Sight and can also be heard in the final moments of One Tree Hill episode "Truth Doesn't Make a Noise" and Scrubs episode "My Day at the Races".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girl from Mars</span> 1995 single by Ash

"Girl from Mars" is a song by Northern Irish band Ash, the second to be released from their debut studio album, 1977 (1996). The song was written by Tim Wheeler when he was sixteen and was played by the band on their first Top of the Pops appearance two weeks after their A-level exams. It was released on 31 July 1995 on CD, 7-inch vinyl, and cassette formats. "Girl from Mars" was Ash's first top-forty single, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number five on the Icelandic Singles Chart and number 16 on the Irish Singles Chart. It also peaked at number 86 in Australia in March 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Life Less Ordinary (song)</span> 1997 single by Ash

"A Life Less Ordinary" was a non-album single released by the band Ash on the 13th of October, 1997. It was the title track of the film of the same name, A Life Less Ordinary, starring Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor, and also appeared on the film's soundtrack. The single was released in three formats: CD, 7-inch vinyl, and cassette. The limited-edition 7-inch was printed on blue vinyl. The song peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart.

"Jesus Says" is a song by Ash, released as the first single from their album Nu-Clear Sounds on 21 September 1998, reaching number 15 in the UK singles chart. It was released as a single CD, a 7" vinyl, and as a cassette. "Jesus Says", despite its considerably low chart placing was Ash's highest ever selling single until "Shining Light" in 2001. The 7" version came with a picture sleeve and the UK promo version came in a custom rice paper picture wallet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildsurf</span> 1998 single by Ash

"Wildsurf" is a song by Ash, released as the second single from the album Nu-Clear Sounds on 23 November 1998. It reached 31 in the UK Singles Chart, while doing less prominently in BBC Radio 1, where it was placed in the "C" list. The single was released in CD, 7" vinyl, and cassette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burn Baby Burn (song)</span> 2001 single by Ash

"Burn Baby Burn" is a song by Ash, released as the second single from the Free All Angels album on 2 April 2001, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number 20 in Ireland. It was released as a single CD and as a 7" vinyl, and was also released for the first time on DVD format. The song can also be found on the Intergalactic Sonic 7″s hits collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candy (Ash song)</span> 2001 song by Ash

"Candy" is a song by Ash, released as the fourth single from their album Free All Angels on 1 October 2001. It was released as a single CD as a 7-inch vinyl, as well as on DVD format. Candy performed only slightly better than previous single "Sometimes", reaching number 20 on the UK Singles Chart and number 25 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">There's a Star</span> 2001 single by Ash

"There's a Star" is a song by Ash, released as the fifth single from their album Free All Angels, on 31 December 2001. It was released as a single CD as a 7-inch vinyl record and on DVD. "There's a Star" was a surprise hit for the band, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and giving them one of their best-selling singles, even though the single was deleted after one week. The song also reached number 38 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starcrossed (song)</span> 2004 single by Ash

"Starcrossed" is the third single from the Meltdown album by the band Ash. It was released as a single on 19 July 2004 as a CD and a gatefold 7-inch vinyl, as well as a DVD format and various promo copies. "Starcrossed" was A-listed on BBC Radio 1 and was expected to be a major hit for the band, but it only made it to number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and number 43 in Ireland. However, the song was successful in the long run for the band and is considered one of their most popular songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckethead discography</span> List of recordings by the guitarist Buckethead

Buckethead is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Buckethead's discography currently includes 435 studio albums, 1 live album, 4 special releases, 5 demo tapes, 3 solo DVD video releases, 2 DVD video releases with Cornbugs, 3 music videos, 3 solo videography releases, and 16 videography releases with other artists.

<i>The Best of Ash</i> 2011 greatest hits album by Ash

The Best of Ash is the second greatest hits album by the band Ash, released on 17 October 2011.

References

  1. "Reviews: Singles". Music Week . 24 April 2004. p. 25.