Having successfully outlasted their self-described ‘guaranteed real teenagers’ tagline when they first burst in earshot in 1994, Ash release a Greatest Hits album, Teenage Wildlife: 25 Years Of Ash via BMG. The LP is available with a special lenticular sleeve both on vinyl and CD...

Teenage Wildlife traces Ash’s recording career from debut 'Jack Names The Planets' through to the likes of 'BuzzKill' from 2018’s top twenty album Islands whilst also including a brand new offering 'Darkest Hour Of The Night' alongside thirteen Top 40 singles such as 'Girl From Mars', 'Gold Finger', 'Oh Yeah' amid an array of the band’s recorded history.

If, like me, you fondly remember Ash from their heyday, you'll probably be surprised to discovered it's 25 years since the band formed... and they are still going strong. I have to admit that I'd completely forgotten about them, and from this album only remembered a handful of tracks ('Girl From Mars'; 'Goldfinger'; 'Oh Yeah'; 'Kung Fu' - All from their 1996 album 1977 which I bought on its original release).

This collection includes 54 songs (3 hr, 41 min, 28 sec) and shows how the band have branched out over the years, but still retain the same ability to deliver solid indie rock tracks that don't disappoint. The collection is presented as a three CD set, and includes a nineteen-track collection of rarities including a version of The Buzzcocks’s classic 'Everybody’s Happy Nowadays' (featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin).

There's an interesting cover of Carly Simon's 'Coming Round Again', which just goes to prove that any song can be transformed into a rock track if you know what you're doing.

While the album's not available until 14 February, as of 22 January someone has managed to take the tracks from the original albums and release this prematurely on Spotify.

For those who grew up in the '90s, this is a chance to reconnect with a band that have gone on to grow and mature with you.

Track listing:

01. A Life Less Ordinary
02. Arcadia
03. Darkest Hour Of The Night
04. Kung Fu
05. Cocoon
06. You Can't Have It All
07. Girl From Mars
08. All That I Have Left
09. Wildsurf
10. Binary
11. Uncle Pat
12. Shining Light
13. Starcrossed
14. Buzzkill
15. Return Of White Rabbit
16. Goldfinger
17. Envy
18. Sometimes
19. Coming Round Again
20. Burn Baby Burn
21. Dare To Dream
22. Annabel
23. Clones
24. Machinery
25. Oh Yeah
26. Projects
27. Confessions In The Pool
28. True Love 1980
29. Angel Interceptor
30. Jesus Says
31. Petrol
32. End Of The World
33. Orpheus
34. Walking Barefoot
35. Jack Names The Planets
36. Twilight Of The Innocents
37. Here Comes The Music
38. Spellbound
39. Teenage Wildlife
40. I Shall Not Die
41. Skullfull Of Sulphur
42. Teenage Kicks
43. T Rex
44. Waterfall
45. Saskia
46. Seventh Circle
47. Everybody's Happy Nowadays
48. Chinese New Year
49. Wasted On You
50. Comet Tempel 1
51. Heroin Vodka White Noise
52. New Tattoo
53. When I'm Tired
54. Tinseltown

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Nick Smithson