Tuesday, August 21, 2007

high-new model army


I can never say anything bad about this band, even if I didn’t like the album I would not rant about it just put it down as one of those things.
First listen on Monday night I thought it might be just so, apart from a few tracks it felt like their last release Carnival which left me a little cold, but after a few listens today I am glad to discover that I am completely wrong.
The key I think was volume (Mrs was at work so no complaints about it being to loud). While High does not reach the greatness of Thunder & Consolation or Impurity, the album still inspires. New Model Army write songs for the people, songs about life, god, love and hate, disappointment and disillusion, its not teen angst its just angst. They seem to project a sort of spiritual nationalism that has nothing to do with religion or nation, just everyday life, a nation of people bound together through life. It makes you angry and happy at the same time (well it does for me).
To be honest individual tracks seem almost irrelevant, you can mix and match almost anything by these guys, and it works. What you get is a picture, though depending on your mix the picture will tell you slightly different things.

This album is good, there I said it, I would love to go through track by track but I do not have the time, you can download the first track from the album here (plus some other stuff). This band has never reached the greatness they so richly deserve, but having said that I like the feeling of privilege I get from being a fan, it’s personal.
Carnival may have suffered by the time of its release, with the littlest metalhead only 7 months old and my wife still on maternity leave the CD probably suffered from terminal quietness, this I will have to rectify.

The tour hits London in December and I thought I would give it miss this year; this may have changed my mind.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

eh?

Anonymous said...

As you may have gathered Johnny, i've only just found yer blog. You also may have noticed, i too am a bit of a NMA fan! It's been over a year since you mentioned re apraisal of Carnival. Well? What do you think now?