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a move away from the chart friendly sound of 'free all angels', meltdown is full on heavy rock, but as always with ash it's melodic and very listenable, orpheus is a good example. a good move in my opinion, a solid album. 8/10

Rating: 4 out of 5

I have been an Ash fan for a long time, despite resistance against Ash by most of my friends. I play their previous songs 24/7, such as Girl From Mars, Candy and even Kung Fu, and I admire their songwriting talent. However, I thought that only a handful of songs on Meltdown were worthy of the admiration I had for them. It could be that Ash is trying to take another direction musically, and possibly even conform to the main rock market, but I hope that don't continue in this way! I liked them much better before.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Ash's latest album tore apart the rock world last year and dont we love it. From the fantastic title track to the inspired 'Starcrossed' to the fast paced 'Orpheus' the album confirms itself as Ash's best yet. The Irish rockers picked up the song writers award at this years KERRANG Awards re-eatablishing themselves as the best lyrical writers around. Not the heaviest music around, but full of intensity.'Meltdown' 4 stars- a great opener'Orpheus' 5 stars- a stormer'Evil Eye' 5 stars- my favourite'Clones' 4 stars- just listen to that guitar!'Starccrossed' 5 stars- slower but full of feeling, the longest track'Out Of The Blue' 3 stars- repetitive, much the same as clones without the rippin guitar'Renegade Cavalcade' 5 stars- brilliant drums'Detonator' 4 stars- intense from the start'Wont Be Saved' 3 stars- nothin special, just good Ash!'Vampire Love' 5 stars- crank up the bass for this final track

Rating: 5 out of 5

It seems that everyone else on here loves this album. Well, I'm going to break the mould and say that I'm very disappointed with it. I've always been a big Ash fan. I have all their previous albums and I've seen them in concert on two occasions.Let's mention the good points - Starcrossed is a very strong song (and the main reason why I give this 3 stars and not 2), Orpheus is pretty good too and Won't Be Saved also stuck in my mind. However, all the other songs sound the same to me. No strong melodies that stick in your head for days.For me, Ash's strength in their previous albums was their ability to mix it up a bit - soaring melodies in one song followed by a crashing rock song. However, like I said these all sound the same. The band could quite easily be any one of the countless (mostly American) rock bands that we've heard over the last few years.Maybe a bit of sk8er rock is what you want? If so then you'll probably love this. As for me, I'm off to listen to Girl From Mars and Shining Light.

Rating: 3 out of 5

This album is a great return for Ash, who quite frankly should already be one of the biggest bands in the world if it depended on pure songwriting talent. The sound is much darker and heavier than on previous guitar/pop albums such as 1977 and Free All Angels and is a significant change in direction for the band. What's great about it is it really rocks, but it's not just noise. The heavy guitars are backed by some really great tunes, with standout tracks being Orpheus, Evil Eye, Clones and Starcrossed. Tim Wheeler's voice is particularly improved and this highlights how weak it was on 1977 and Nu-clear sounds. The backing vocals of Charlotte Hatherley are good and technically the band have really progressed. There are few flaws to this album, with maybe On a Wave and Vampire Love being slightly weaker tracks. All in all, one of the albums of the year so far and well worth a listen.

Rating: 5 out of 5