The cover of Meltdown shows a Phoenix rising out of swirling flames. This suggests two things. Firstly, Ash are here to rock. Look it up in your ‘rock symbolism’ handbook. The second is that maybe they think they have to be reborn after Free All Angels.
Free All Angels did pretty well for them but you get the impression that after all those fluffy melodies about love they want us to realise that Meltdown is the real Ash - just as the grinding Nu-Clear Sounds was supposed to be the real Ash after their ace indie-pop debut 1977. And so it proves. Meltdown has got a few tunes that are every bit as good as the ones they’ve had before, but its main aim is to rock harder and faster.
Yes, there are still ballads like “Starcrossed” where Tim croons over some heavenly-choir harmonising, but the heart of the album is the brilliantly thunderous “Orpheus”. They don’t always manage the same marriage between their old tunefulness and the nu-rock - “On a Wave” is just riffage with nowhere to go, and you’ve got to mourn the lost innocence which means there will never be another “Girl From Mars”. This is a different band, some of the charm has been bludgeoned out of existence, but once you get over that Meltdown has some potent rock thrills.
Rating: 7/10