performances sounded "a little bit rigid" because the band were "testing the editing powers of Pro Tools a bit too much". According to the band, producer Owen Morris spent more time editing the drums on a computer than the band had spent recording the album. Morris and the band co-produced the album; they were assisted by Raj Das, James Brown Geronimo, and Naughty Laughty. "World Domination" was the last track to be recorded; it was recorded live in the studio; according to Morris, "We should have done the whole record live!". Recording was done in September and October 2000; the album was mixed by Alan Moulder and was mastered by Mike Marsh. Composition and lyrics The music of Free All Angels has been described as pop punk, punk rock and power pop, drawing comparisons to the works of China Drum, Compulsion, Hüsker Dü, and the Replacements. Discussing the album's title, Wheeler said Hells Angels were doing security for one of their tours; he spotted one of their members with a t-shirt that read "free all angels", alluding to members of the group being imprisoned. Wheeler wrote the music for all of the songs except for "Submission, which he co-wrote with McMurray; and "Nicole", which he co-wrote with Hamilton. Wheeler also wrote the lyrics for all of the songs except for "Submission", which was written by McMurray; "Shark", which was co-written by Hamilton and Hatherley; and "Nicole", which Wheeler co-wrote with Hamilton. Wheeler and Oli Kraus arranged strings on some of the tracks. In contrast to Nu-Clear Sounds, where Hatherley did not put much effort into her backing vocals, she took her singing on Free All Angels "a lot more seriously", later being surprised how her voice sat in the recordings. "Walking Barefoot" apes the Undertones and is about enjoying a happy moment before it ends. Two power-pop tracks follow it; "Burn Baby Burn" is about the slow demise of a relationship and "Shining Light" has an opening guitar part that resembles that of "The Milkman of Human Kindness" (1983) by Billy Bragg. "Burn Baby Burn" was initially called "Slow Suicide" but the band's label disliked this title so the band changed it at the suggestion of their agent. The song had its origins in the Nu-Clear Sounds sessions; the chorus was reworked during the making of Free All Angels. Wheeler came up with the guitar line for "Shining Light" by