After their 1998 sophomore album Nu-Clear Sounds, Ash were on the ropes. Though the album was eventually certified gold in the UK, it wasn't as much of a success either commercially or critically as their debut album 1977 had been and the band was bankrupt. So guitarist / vocalist Tim Wheeler isolated himself in his parents' house in Northern Ireland and wrote the bulk of their follow-up album, Free All Angels, there with parts recorded in Van Morrison's old studio in Bath. The result was Ash's undisputed masterpiece and the album that's ensured that they've had a career since then. The album produced no less than four hit singles Burn Baby Burn, Shining Light, Sometimes, and There's A Star.