The official NMA board
General Category => New Model Army => Topic started by: Brian-DC on May 23, 2011, 05:41:06 PM
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That is........ did you like them the first time you heard 'em?
For me, it definitely took a few listens. There's a few bands that hit me right away and I can remember the exact moment I first heard them, where I was, what I was doing, the time of day etc. But with these guys, it was being exposed to T&C over and over in College and it took some time. Slowly they got to me...... and then it was all over. Even with a new album from them it takes about a week. I mean, I always like what I'm hearing but it's not an immediate "this is the greatest new album I've ever heard!!" kinda thing. It needs to sink in but after a few days, I can't stop listening to it. But that's what happens with a lot of my favorite bands and albums, at least the ones that stay with you forever. The more you listen, the more it touches you and that's the sign of a GREAT album (or band).
I've made a few compilations for friends and it seems the ones that have played the CD's a number times always like the band more than the ones that have only heard it once or twice.
I'm curious to hear if it was that way with you? Was it immediate or did it take a few listens?
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a bit of both for me. first NMA i heard and actually knew it was them rather that a tune in a club or pub, was Stupid Questions on the radio at the time it was a single. i immediately liked it and a week or two later i picked up T&C.
the album, however, was a different kettle of fish. i was working away at the time and stopping in B&B's so i dropped the album on to tape and listened to it most nights before bedtime. it took a week, but i slowly tuned into NMA.
i then started collecting the albums that had already been released and took to them perhaps over three or four listens.
with albums since T&C the 'getting to know you' phase has varied in length with SB and Carnival taking several listens to 'tune in'. impurity, TLOAHC and high not so many listens and eight and TIAGD were love at first listen.
(it always amazes me that eight is regarded by many to be not up to NMA's usual standard but i can remember lying on my bed with some late evening sunshine coming through the window and loving every note). :)
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Eight was the album that took me the longest to get into. Now I LOVE it. It was worth the wait.
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from the day i heard Great Expectations i was hooked,was sitting at home when my brother brought it home and put it on,he gave up on them i think around Impurity,myself carried on listen to this day
same as your self Brian i have found eight the hardest album to get into ,but it carries one of my all time fav songs ,Some one like Jesus
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I was hooked from the first play of Vengeance, going to the Marquee gigs in the early `80s just cemented it totally :)
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I heard T&C album and thought I'd go see them live, which must have been the Impurity Tour - Brixton Academy? I enjoyed that evening even though I got some shitty attitudes from a couple of the fans, being that I was only 16-17. Got knocked about a bit, and I don't mean the usual stuff down the front :(
That said, although I liked it and then went and got all the albums to that point it wasn't until much later that I become a massive fan - I even stopped listening to them for a few years - just went through an entirely different musical phase. Most albums have struck home from first play, except like above Eight, which although I now like is still the least-listened to for me.
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in response to the question
NO
i was into all indy and goth stuff at the time, i walked into a small record shop (remember them!) and white coats 12" was in the pound bin. 5 for a quid. id heard of them but thought no more of it. couldnt afford anything else so bought the 5. thouhgt, well theyre good. they had vagabonds 12" in the same place soon after, and i was hooked. that record is the most scratched, warped and unplayable disc in my collection now that i cant lend it out like i used to.
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Pretty much the same experience as you, Brian-DC.
However, I find the newer albums are much more difficult to get into. For me, TIAGD still only has one absolutely stunning track (North Star). I don't quite know why. As for 8, funny enough, I think it's the last great studio album from start to finish...hopefully not the last though... ;)
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Yes i was hooked straight away.
The 1st time i saw them was on "The Tube" early 84 , i'm sure everbody has seen that footage by now , they blew me away even though they only played a few songs they were a breath of fresh air . So much so that a week or so later they were down to support The Poison Girls at a local venue which i was going to anyway.
Well seeing NMA playing live before my very eyes was unbelievable and from that day onwards they have a very special place in my heart and always will have .
"Vengenace" got released April 84 so from seeing them on tv , then live , then the 1st lp all in 4 months was so exciting for me :)
Long live New Model Army :)
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I'd barely even heard of NMA when a mate's older brother had a spare ticket to a gig in Birmingham in 1985 and I decided to go because he said they were a brilliant live band - looking in the gig list in the box-set book I'm thinking it must have been the Powerhouse gig on November 24. I was utterly transfixed at Frightened and Young, Gifted & Skint that night, I'd never seen anything quite so intense or anything that felt so right to me. I bought the No Rest album on cassette the next day and fell in love
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Liked them alot on first hearing, fell in love with them the first time I saw them live. Been my favourite band ever since (26 years ago)
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First song I heard was Heroes - in about 87 during my first year of A-level art. A wild character brought TGOC into the class room and for some reason that was the first track he played (we had a cool teacher who let us play records!). I loved it from the off. I didn't really follow it up though until my bro' bought T&C on its release. It blew me away and that was the start of my (healthy!) obsession with them. DJs Shaw and Spivey used to play NMA regularly on their radio show so I had already become familiar before T&C but as I say, that was the true starting point for me. I bought the back catalogue over the weeks and everything else thereafter immediately it came out. First gig - Leicester De Montfort in Oct 1990 on the Impurity Tour reinforced my love of the band tenfold. They had Before I Get Old as a walk on backing track, then kicked off with Whirlwind and chaos like I'd never seen erupted...mind blowing gig.
So, in answer, I immediately loved their sound but it took a couple of years before I became completely hooked - don't know why!
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I remember I bought "Bittersweet" just because I liked the name New Model Army.At the time the e.p. did'nt do a lot for me.Along came "Vengeance",coupled with "The Tube" and seeing them live for the first time-I can't remember in which order-and that was it.Hooked,line and sinker.
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Talking of liking the name, Jerry, I used to see a chap in the mid eighties walking round our estate wearing the classic white NMA t-shirt. It really caught my eye and stuck in my mind as a striking piece of imagery. I liked the name too but didn't even know it was a band back then (and I'd certainly not heard of the original New Model Army either!)
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The first time I heard them was problaby 85, wasn't overly impressed. I was uber Thrash metal, hardcore n vrossover kid at that point and Justin's guitar didn't nail me to the foor like I was used to..... By 87 my then girlfreinds sister was really into them and had seen em 4 times in Bradford. The more I heard the more I liked. finally went to Gearges Hall September 87 and was hooked pretty much...... I had a couple of the ep's and tapes of Ghost n No rest........ within months I'd bought everything posdible via record fairs and independant shops. Then set about the weird, wired n wondeful next few years of gigs as often as possible.....
Had a lean period after Strange Brotherhood, and as above found 8 VERY weird to get into...... Liked Carnival much more, High more still and Today was instant. Possibly the best thing since Impurity to me.
I know Brotherhood gets a mixed response, but I knew half the songs or more before hand and really loved them......
The next one will, as Justin says every time, be very interesting and maybe the best yet.......
I still think Ghost, Thunder and Impurity are 3 of the best albums by anyone ever! But they;re all brilliant, just those 3 have more memories attatched I suppose. 8)
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was pretty frightened at the age of 11 listening to the chart rundown, waiting for a-ha & hearing vagabonds at number 37 or something.
Couple of years later someone lent me the goth compilation "absolution" which had No Rest on it. Went out the next weekend & spent 6 weeks of paper round money on History, T&C & Raw Melody Men....
Got into The Mission from that compilation too. Tower of Strength was on there i think...
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Talking of liking the name, Jerry, I used to see a chap in the mid eighties walking round our estate wearing the classic white NMA t-shirt. It really caught my eye and stuck in my mind as a striking piece of imagery. I liked the name too but didn't even know it was a band back then (and I'd certainly not heard of the original New Model Army either!)
The name!!!!
That stirs up a hornets nest on this side of the water.I did'nt know the conotations of the name at the time either.Now I know that the original New Model Army was a very admirable idea hijacked by a ******* bloodthirsty,murderous bastard-surely another thread.
I also remember this little gem from way back then.N.M.A. were coming to Dublin and "An Phoblacht" which was the I.R.A.'s newspaper did a little article on this fine anti-Thatcher group of gentlemen.They obviously did'nt get the name at the time either.
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First I heard them was in some goth club in 1990, aged 19 (the song was Get Me Out, and the DJ used to play it every week); I loved it straight away and a friend of mine then made me a tape with Impurity on one side and Thunder and Consolation on the other. I liked both albums but, but it wasn't until I saw them live (Brixton 91) that I was hooked - after that gig I never looked back, got all the back catalogue and loved all of it, and bought all the new releases as soon as they've come out. I have to say, of the post-TLOHC material some albums (Today Is a Good Day, Carnival) were easier for me to get into straight away than others, and to this day I can't say I really like Strange Brotherhood as a whole. I mean, there are some great songs on it, but the album on the whole is (in my opinion, of course) the weakest and the one I listen to least.
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I got in via Joolz' artwork, strangely - or not really if you think about how complementary it is to the whole piece that is NMA. The cover in question was the Vengeance album on Abstract and I bought it from (Revolver was it?) an indie record shop in Newcastle upon Tyne when I was at college in the eighties. Bought the first two singles soon after and was straight into NRFTW, tho I wasn't wholly convinced by that at the time and much preferred GOC and the T&C when they came out. Saw NMA in Newcastle in I think 1984 at Tiffanys, still have the bootleg on tape, carried on buying the albums over the years, remember liking TLOHC briefly but then there were the lean years and SB is for me the most offbeat of the NMA albums, always liked it but was well out of the gigging circuit by this point. I actually thought Eight ushered in a new era of more clearly folk orientated 'mature' NMA and I think Carnival is a blinding album in its simplicity. The High tour got me back in after 17 years away from the gig scene and the last four years has been a real rush. High took a few listens, as did TIAGD, I agree the classics are GOC, T&C I would add Impurity but there ain't one bad album among them and yes, repeated listens just make them more and more special. I still feel I discover new things in the songs to this day, particularly when JS or the full band give a lesser known album track an airing and it puts the song back in your mind, like with Sky in your Eyes on the recent acoustic mini tour.
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Went to Brockwell Park to see the Damned and Spear of Destiny in 1984.NMA Had a half hour set and blew me away.Justin apologised for no encore due to time schedules and crowd went ape.DJ played Vengeance a couple of times to try to calm the crowd ::)Seem to remember most other acts getting cans thrown at them after that.Came home to rural Wales after finally buying Vengeance and played it to death mush to the annoyance of my housemates(2 of who eventually got it and came to many gigs in the late 80's and 90's)Hi Nugz if you're ever on here :)Being a big Stranglers fan,Stuarts bass was on a par with JJ Burnel who was IMHO the best bassist around.From then on went to as many gigs as work permitted.Donated my "The Price" single to local pub jukebox and it well down pretty well with locals.Learned early on that if a new album didn't hit the mark on first listen,it would after a few listens.Never been disappointed
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No, I remember being at college one friday and one of my fellow inmates asked if id seen top of the pops the night before, because there was one of 'your types of band on'. At the time i was into Stiff Little Fingers, The Damned, Dead Kennedys and similar type punky stuff. He continued to tell me about the performance and what they were wearing until finally he gave me the band name NEW MODEL ARMY.
Being a regular Sounds magazine reader i had read alot about NMA and had noticed they seemed to be at the top of the alternative charts for some considrable time with previous releases, so it was time to investigate.
That dinner we all went round to the local Woolworths who used to let you listen before you buy, found the No Rest single on the rack and asked if i could have a listen, i think i may have got halfway through the song before walking out totally unimpressed.
Then in the next 6 months i had all their back catalogue, 7"+12" singles more or less given to me for £5 (cheers Moggy) and been to my first gig at Rock City in early 1986, the rest is history.
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I new the name New Model Army but not the music until I went to Reading Festival in 1989. I was blown away and went and bought all the albums over the next few pay days and have never looked back. I must of spent loads of money on the band over the years but it is all worth it and it has taken me to many towns and cities I may have never visited.
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The Tube and the music papers made me have a closer look/listen.
Have been doing so since 85.
:)
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Was taken by a mate to The Victoria in Keighley in Nov 1983.
I thought they were "OK"!
Didn't take long for me to realise I'd seen something special though!
28 years - Blimey!
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Everyone is talking about being 'hooked'.
So to stay with the inappropriate drug metaphors I suppose I first dabbled on a casual basis while listening to various compilation cassettes (remember them?) made by friends. There was little peer pressure so I suppose I only have myself and my own curiosity to blame. I bought No Rest. The title track & My Country immediately stood out. Though at the time I was still pretty much in control. Just listening occasionally, usually in conjunction with softer alternatives like the Mish and the Nephs.
Then came Reading Festival 89. By this stage I had heard several horror stories about clogs and circles so I was wary and decided just to take a look at the live thing. So I could say I'd had the 'experience'. I suppose I was in a weakened state that day after disappointing sets from several other bands so I dropped my guard. Anyway from the opening twangs of Vengence to the final crash in Betcha I became consumed by the band and their ability to blow my mind. I can only wonder how different life could have been had I gone to the NME tent instead.....
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I just don't think they are an immediate kind of band. As has been said before every album personally speaking can only really be judged after the 5/6th listen up to then it is almost as if there is too much to take in and after the requisite number of listens it all falls into place. Interestingly the album i found easiest to "get into" was T and C which is probably my least favourite album overall
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First heard/saw them at the same time supporting The Alarm at the Lyceum in London and was totally wrapped up by the stuff that they played - the energy, the lyrics, the topics of the songs (Falklands etc).
Next day I was out buying the LP and was hooked/addicted from that moment on.
Probably slipped a bit in the 1990s, but back stronger over the last 10 years or so.
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Yep, pretty much immediate, the music made me feel like I was at home when I listened to them. It was different to most of the music around at the time, much more interesting with a high musical quality.
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Well for me it took a while. Funny that people mention The Tube which I saw at the time and put a mental note in the back of my mind (I was living in nowhere Northern Ireland so live bands and good record shop we not really an option). It really was a mix tape that a friend gave me that got me hooked - it had 51st State, no rest, vengeance, white coats and Christian Militia on it with a bunch of Husker Du, Cramps, Dead Kennedys, etc on it. I was hooked. Then came the Stupid Questions single and T&C and I was fully on board. Like a lot of people I did wander a little (actually for a long time)... for me it was after Impurity. Just that time of my life. I moved to the US and kind of lost touch with them as the music press was more Maximum R&R rather than NME/Sounds and not much Army coverage. It was the buying of CDs to replace my aging vinyl that got me into the army back catalog and it re-ignited the fire. Carnival was that "oh my god I can't wait" moment again but had to wait until the High tour to see them in the flesh again. Since then it is more of devouring the back catalog and getting to as many gigs as possible.
Now my wife is another story.
I have tried over the years to get her on board by always putting Army tapes/CDs in the car and forcing her to listen to the new albums. She said they sounded ok but too folky (cue Vengeance and No Rest ::) ). So the drip drip drip water torture approach really was not working over the years. So the Brooklyn 30th Ani gig came up and I convinced her a long weekend in NY would be good - we could do the museums, shopping etc and little NMA. I made her a playlist of my guess of the 4 from every album to listen to at the gym a couple of weeks before the gig. So off to the Brooklyn gig and bang... she was absolutely hooked (the music, the band, the people). She then proceeded to book trips to Dublin and Paris (had to cancel :() and London ( :D ) and lately to see JS&DW in Galway and Dublin. Remember we live near to San Francisco so these are quite a hike! :o
A couple of weeks ago, she said to me "You have spoiled my music for me" :-\. I was pretty confused by this but she explained that all the music she used to listen to is more boring after listening to NMA.
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for me, not straight away
as i said on another thread, my first intro was on the news article about clogs. A few of mates were getting into No Rest lp, but it wasn't really hitting me at the time. Then i really got into it more when i used to go to blaises in Middlesbrough, from around 87 ish, regularly played vengeance, 51st state, poison street, smalltown england and moving through the years to the likes of whitecoats, G&G, GMO, purity. and the rest as they say is history........
I agree with stony about the best 3 for me being Ghost, Thunder & Impurity, really like high and no rest, but not a particular fan of carnival - some really good songs on there but it doesn't grip me like the others do
I'm really lucky as my missus is also well into NMA and has probably seen them more times than me
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Immediate for me. I heard 'Bittersweet' on John Peel. Totally blew me away, didn't buy anything though until 'Vengeance', I was hooked by then. Struggled though with the 2nd LP when I heard tracks on Janice Long's show. My mate bought it for me, soon as I got it home I loved it... :-[
I didn't like 'Strange Brotherhood' when it came out, took me ages to get into it... ???
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Absolutely!!
T&C blew me away,especially 225 and I love the world.
Amazing powers in that record.
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I was introduced to NMA with T&C, back then when they were close to being popstars, but what really got me hooked was the radio sessions. Since then, there were songs on every album I listened to again and again from the start (I remember 'someone like jesus', I first got a ripped promo in mp3 that sounded like justin was singing through a telephone and I just _loved_ it), others that took a while to get used to. And funny enough, its not like now I just like the ones that took some time and I'm sick of the earcatchers. I think NMA is one of the very few bands that does that for me, I can listen to any of their songs 1000+ times and still not getting tired of it. Its a miracle, really.
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My first single i brought was Better than them EP and that got me Hooked and at that time i was following Ghost dance ,misson ,cult and meet a lot of people who were folling NMA around so i got a season ticket for Impurity 90 tour and never looked back.I lost touch in late 90s than got back in to the band 2006,I like the High album and and look forward to Listen to new stuff,for me Nma are still one of the bast Live bands out there,and still get a buzz! from see them Play LIVE,and not many of todays New bands do that for me. ;)
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Instant and profound love. 15 years old (1990), stoned out of my mind, and my mate puts 'Nothing Touches' on, really loudly, while we are all crashed out. Changed my life. Had the entire back catalogue to that point within 2 months, and loved it all.
To this day, the only release by NMA that I had trouble 'getting' was the Majority of the 'Carnival' album, which took a few months of solid play for me to warm to.
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I attended a gig in Keighley very early on, maybe the Victoria (as MagdeburgDave), the funny thing is I cannot really recall any songs sticking out from that gig that got me hooked, it was the obvious passion that got my attention, I then started buying singles and EP's and it did not take long. I think Frightened and Ambition really sold them to me. I too struggled getting into the Eight album, Strange Brotherhood I liked straight away, and still do, Eight took some playing before I started to like it.
I do notice from this thread that quite a few people kind of backed off from the band for a while but are now just as ardent as they once where, I had the same experience, I stopped going to gigs for a period of 18 months or so, not for any particular reason, I just kind of stopped, I think I heard Great Expectations playing somewhere and realised that I needed to see them live again, I still need to see them live as much as possible. ;D ;) ;D
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I kinda backed off for a bit as well. Saw them live a few times, bought everything, loved it all but when Strange Brotherhood came out, it didn't have the impact on me that the other albums had (that, and I was heavily into metal at the time). It was just different priorities (musically speaking). I picked up Eight during that time but that album couldn't bring me back either......and it didn't help that the band didn't tour the US for 12 years either.
But when they came finally DID come back, all it took was the hearing first 20 seconds of "Orange Tree Roads" (the opening song) for the madness to begin all over again. A HUGE smile on my face the whole night. That night really was a revelation for me and my wife. We met a few people from this board and they talked us into going to the next city to see them again and that's where we finally understood what the "family" was. I mean, I read about it but coming from a metal background where you didn't really WANT to meet most of the people around you, I never really go it. But that night, man, I loved everything they played, I loved all the people we met and I just felt..... alive. And because of that one night, we have seen more of our own country that we ever would have on our own following them around coast to coast (and since then, we've even crossed the pond and saw them in several different countries). It's hard to image how different my life would be now if we didn't go to that one show. And of course I'm obsessed more than ever. hahahaha!
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Yes without doubt.
It was 1984 and living in Murton a pit village times were torrid, hate and desperation filled the hearts of everyone despite the brave faces on the picket lines, I remember my father with his head in his hands tears rolling down his cheeks, cheeks that had never looked so clean in years. This was a year I had been looking forward too as I was leaving school in the summer, however life and its future had suddenly turned into a very bleak and dark time. I was a punk, mad on The Exploited, Test tube babies, Blitz, Crass etc I was angry enough without Thatcher destroying what little we had. One day a mate came round and brought a single with him, a band called New Model Army, I put it on the turntable and we listened to 1984 and it blew me away because it was what was happening, it was a song about ME. about me, my parents, friends, neighbours my god it blew me away. Somebody outside of our village knew exactly what was going on. This was a different kind of music to what I normally listened to, this had a heart and soul I needed to hear more.
Vengeance sealed it for me, that album opened my eyes, Stuart Morrows playing was on another level, I had always liked JJ Burnell however there was a new king in town, Rob Heatons drums were not being hit at a million miles an hour, there was a real rhythm and tempo, and then there was Slade the Leveller, who was this man, to me he was the new messiah, every lyric was heartfelt and full of passion, everytime I heard a song any song I was there, it was like being in a little film set, I could always close my eyes and I was there, nothing had ever sounded or felt like this. I first saw NMA in Sunderland later that year, never before had I been sleepless leading up to a gig. I was utterly stunned when they came on stage, that bass was spine tingeling, drums mesmerising and Mr Leveller was an angry preacher, every single word had such venom and passion. Wattie was an impressive frontman but he had just been dealt to the bottom of my pack by a man in clogs with no mohican or studs this was me hooked.
Nothing and nobody has ever come close, not even slightly.
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Heard GofC in the record shop,bought it and never looked back...there's never really bin any feeling of dissappointment in any of the albums...strange brotherhood happened to come when I really needed to hear an album like that and I'd bin waiting for a good recording of No Pain and Over the Wire for ages it seemed...
That's how I am with a lot of bands tho,I think...if I love them,I love them and unless they really change their stance or their attitude,I always want to hear what they do...especially if it's a bit different everytime...can't bear formulaic bands.
There is a familiar 'crunch' to their sound now(for the last 2 or maybe 3 albums)which I really like but,for me,hasn't got the range and air of unpredictability that all great bands have,not to say that I love the music any less,just find they are one of many bands who I have lots of time for,instead of THE one band who speak to me more than any other.
I'll always love the music,but I would love to hear another Justin solo album at the moment more than another NMA one...
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A mate of mine played me GOC and thoroughly enjoyed it and about a fortnight later NMA played at Rock City Feb 87.
Been totally hooked since even used to take weeks off work to hitch around in the days when it was OK to do it and follow them all over.
Did the full White Coats tour including the 2 out of 3 warm up dates(Aberdeen got cancelled)took me 2 days to get home ;D also did the full Impurity tour and loads and loads since.
Bought everything i can get my hands on,the missus doesn't understand when she sees that I've got 8 copies of vengeance on vinyl that are imports etc,she says they're all the same,I've tried explaining thatb they're not but it doesn't work.
The 30th Anniversary gigs were excellent but one of my all time faves was at the Windsor Baths in Bradford and also at Josephs Well when it was Michaels first gig and I stood next to his parents who seemed to be blown away by the passion of the band and of course all the fans
I'm lucky that the missus is also a fan,she's from Essex but went ti Uni in Bradford and Kiss Army who used to do the lighting for NMA was a good mate of hers
Long may this continue
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we must've crossed paths dozens of times by now mate...... Windsor Baths was a fantastic gig!!!!! The Queens Hall gigs are standouts aswell. I still have a sinking feeling to know I missed Joseph's Well..... Heard whispers but was away by then and never pursued it...... I'd dropped off the map pretty much after Hopless Causes gig wise........ Woulda loved to have been there to support Michael more than owt. He's a really decent bloke and there's no one better to fill the drum stool........ 8)
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No. It took about three years to get me hooked. I saw them at the Hummingbird in Brum in 1993 for the first time (I was living in England at the time) but left halfway through the gig. I know how sacrilegous this sounds but I was heavily jet-lagged having just come back from a holiday in the states. I took LOHC and History back to Austria and started listening properly. So by the time I went to Bizarre '96 I had bought the rest of the back catalogue and was well and truly hooked. I still think that SB is a great album simply because it was the first one I had been waiting for to be released.
The rest is history. I have seen them about 28 times over the years and use the songs in my English classes. My students might not like all the songs but they appreciate Justin's lyrics because they cover so many topics and bring some light relief to my otherwise predictable lessons. When I got to talk to Justin last year, he promised to come to my school one day to talk to the students. It would be great if this were to happen. Time will tell.
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my girlfreind at the time was into the early stuff , i was more goth/metal and not into polotics so didnt take much notice of the songs - until we split up and i started to take notice . my new girlfreind was all goth so i had to buy GHOST OF CAIN on tape and listern with my headphones on - from that moment i was hooked - the girls have gone but NMA are still here with me
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it was what was happening, it was a song about ME. about me, my parents, friends, neighbours my god it blew me away.
That's one of the things that make the band mean so much to me. So many songs seemed to be about me and my life. When 1984 came out you are right. I was (and still do) living in a pit village called Ashington in Northumberland and it was an account of what we saw daily. When Green and Grey came out all my mates were moving away to college and for jobs, The Hunt and a mate of mine was in a bad way with drugs etc. etc. etc. There's always something there that resonates, that means something special.
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it was what was happening, it was a song about ME. about me, my parents, friends, neighbours my god it blew me away.
That's one of the things that make the band mean so much to me. So many songs seemed to be about me and my life. When 1984 came out you are right. I was (and still do) living in a pit village called Ashington in Northumberland and it was an account of what we saw daily. When Green and Grey came out all my mates were moving away to college and for jobs, The Hunt and a mate of mine was in a bad way with drugs etc. etc. etc. There's always something there that resonates, that means something special.
Very true, I connected straight away with the lyrics.
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No way could I say it was immediate - it took me over 5 years between first seeing them in 1984 to the T&C tour in 1989 to completely get it! I saw them a fair few times in the intervening years but was always very wary about trouble down the front, plus we tended more to go see Conflict and anarcho-type bands during the mid-80s, and there was the EMI thing and so on going on then as well. A mate of mine who used to follow the Army in those days and then moved to the Sisters and then Ghost Dance used to say that people who were into them right from the start rated Vengeance the best album, those who came along a bit later rated T&C the best. Whatever, I have to say that although I was into all the earlier albums it was really the 1989 gigs, Reading, and T&C that ultimately did it for me. I remember getting T&C and the first time I played the cassette turning it over and my jaw dropping when I actually listed to the lyrics of Bodmin Pill and Family Life. Brilliant songs to see you through tough times... difficult to describe...
Personally I like the fact that it took me so long to get there – for me it makes it all feel more real, like when you grow with something or somebody over time, and it evolves and it keeps going and growing, rather than being an instant hit that you can’t repeat. Like, last year I was chatting to someone who reminded me how long they had been going and how many quality albums compared with everyone else. It really did make me think: even if all of them up to and including T&C had not been made, you would still have Eight, High, Impurity, Hopeless Causes and so on which would still make them top band in my book, and as for TIAGD... I mean, it sounds as fresh as a first album.... I mean, how do they do that?!
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the thread of this band is woven through my life with all the good and bad - i can watch em live and feel the buzz - the songs make me sing out loud the songs make me angry and they can also make me cry - and all things inbetween
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the thread of this band is woven through my life with all the good and bad - i can watch em live and feel the buzz - the songs make me sing out loud the songs make me angry and they can also make me cry - and all things inbetween
That's a very true point...... There was alot of very emotional, not normally emotional people at the 30 th gigs....... i know for myself, and from talking to alot of people there and since.........
Prime example was Bradford to be fair the other week. A very old mate just happened to call at the Fighting C0Ck, he, John and me go WAY WAY back....... Don't see each other much now, but he's always been into NMA. But not a follower, but still.......
So after a while of talking and a few beers, he decided to wander up and met us at the Justin gig. Half way through he whispered to me that he felt like he shouldn't be there because everyone was in such reverance, said how honoured he felt to share in such a charged emotional experience. Despite the fact that he saw NMA before me in 86 I think..... Even he got emotional at "To absent friends....." for Green n Grey.....I think the songs and lyrics that NMA have in their cannon have a way of connecting somehow that very verey few bands have got close to.........
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no other band does this to me
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it was immediate for me 1st tuned to the lads by a woman a few years my senior, Price 12in single. I was in love with NMA at that point. But it was about 1985 or 86 and a few months later 51st State came out making my 1st full length Ghost Of Cain.
Good stuff, I was rather impressed that Moose filled in Stuarts shoes very well, i remember being shocked and bummed out that the bassist wasn't the same. But impressed greatly by Moose's playing.
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Immediate interest but slow burning love , first saw them in late eighties , liked ghost of Cain , then blown away by T&C, drifted a bit , then started playing old vinyl to new BF in 2000 , realised how fantastic it was and in love ever since.
Yesterday was at a friends house with our 3 year olds when she asked what songs they were known for , her husband went on tube and found vengeance . My friend then said " i loved that song" but hadn't known who it was by.
We then all danced madly and played musical bumps to vengeance with husband turning volume down at appropriate places ( we all know which bits they are). Rougher than any mosh pit I can tell you ;D
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My first exposure to NMA's music was in the environmental political drama 'Edge of Darkness'. There was this scene where a political activist was being tracked down and as the police entered his house and climb the stairs 'Christian Militia' was playing loudly in the background, the scene ends with the guy laying in the bath clutching a plugged in electric radio, dead. Powerful stuff, I remember thinking what band is that? I still get goosebumps when ever I remember it. Soon after I went to them at Mersea Island in 1986, the ruck was something else and from then on, I was hooked.
About the albums, I think Vengeance, NRFTW, GOC and T&C take some beating, may be it's my life experiences and the times that makes the music just stand out. Collectively, NMAs overall musicial output takes some beating. Throughout their career they still come up with personally uplifting, passionate and thoughtful music.
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I was 18 yrs hanging around in Innsbruck as usual checking underground music shops. I ended up in a small but great vinyl shops with a lot of great and mostly unknown stuff for me. I check so many vinyl covers and I ended up picking this one white with this kind of Celtic symbol on the front. The guy of the shop played it for me (I had headphones) sounded pretty good I was stoned too so great. When after my trip I went back to Turin (my native city) I play the vinyl for the 1st real time at home. But it sounds so different. It s good though……but different. I realize that the 1 time I heard Thunder and Consolation in Innsbruck the vinyl has been played at the wrong speed !! I was 18 and used to a lot of punk (still I am) and metal stuff so it sounded well anyway. But for sure, only once at home I learned to listen to this band (at the right speed) read their lyrics, sing their songs. Now I am 38 and I still love them so much.
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Pretty much. One listen of Bittersweet and that was it really.
-P-
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awith albums since T&C the 'getting to know you' phase has varied in length with SB and Carnival taking several listens to 'tune in'. impurity, TLOAHC and high not so many listens and eight and TIAGD were love at first listen.
(it always amazes me that eight is regarded by many to be not up to NMA's usual standard but i can remember lying on my bed with some late evening sunshine coming through the window and loving every note). :)
THUNDER AND CONSOLATION, IMPURITY, HIGH and THE GHOST OF CAIN were love at first listen...so many melodic tunes on these albums!
I didn't like too much STRANGE BROTHERHOOD, TODAY IS A GOOD DAY and CARNIVAL at first listen and i still struggle a bit with some of their tracks but all of these albums offer gems, of course!
I agree with what you're saying about EIGHT...i fell in love instantly with "You weren't there" and "Orange tree roads", for me EIGHT was a welcome return to the simple, fresh vitality of NMA's sound after the uneven STRANGE BROTHERHOOD...same case with the brillant HIGH after the uneven CARNIVAL.
My fav NMA albums are still THUNDER AND CONSOLATION and THE GHOST OF CAIN, and for the last 10 years my vote goes for HIGH (and i don't forget the wonderful Justin Sullivan solo album)
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However, I find the newer albums are much more difficult to get into. For me, TIAGD still only has one absolutely stunning track (North Star). I don't quite know why. As for 8, funny enough, I think it's the last great studio album from start to finish...hopefully not the last though... ;)
I tend to agree with this, aside from the fact that i really like HIGH too! ;)
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Ah yes, Guillaume, I see we're still at the same point here as we were a few years ago. :D
Time isn't helping. Any other ideas? ;)
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I was hooked the first time I heard "the hunt" on a local radio station. The music was intense and the lyrics told a great story. That was the first and last song I've ever heard on Boston radio too. Never missed them in Boston live either.The 12 year abscense was tough but then they returned with the best full band show I had seen by them. So many great songs released during the time they stayed away.
So, to answer, yes, they were an immediate band for me.
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yes, I still remember the first time I heard vengeanse,,,11 or 12 years ago?
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I first heard 'No Rest', back in the late 80's, at a friend's house where I used to go to on Sundays afternoon. He had a nice collection of imports and he was a great illustrator (still is - he did the cover for one issue of T'Mershi Duween, a FZ fanzine). Every time he introduced me to some new stuff he asked me 'Have you heard of them?' I hadn't and was not that impressed; but then I bought TGOC (as I couldn't find 'No Rest') and IT BLEW ME AWAY! The rest, as they say, is potted history. Needless to say, I saw them here in Sao Paulo three times: in 1991 (at the late Dama Xoc venue, second show), at the Clash Club 2007 (two shows) and at the Citibank Hall (twice!). ;D \m/
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Totally. First track I heard was 'Stupid Questions' and it was the video I saw on MTV. I was in the 6th form and getting grief for looking the way I did, long hair, sleeveless t-shirts etc and I can still see Justin turning to the camera and then the song just kicked off.
Got T&C and then all the older albums. I did find the later albums harder to get into, post LOHC. Gig wise I never managed to make it to any until the 20th anniversary gigs at the astoria. Been to half a dozen since then including the forum last December but the Liquid Room on wednesday was for me one of the most visceral. Looking forward to the Ritz in Manchester and hopefully the London ones too!
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I was an old school punk singing in a goth band when a mate played me the No Rest tape on our way up the M6 to Liverpool for rehearsals. It was an instant hit.
I'd heard and liked the things Peel had played before then but this was different gravy.
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It was love at first hear! I was livin in Livepool at the time and I was hanging round with some of the Bradford/Wolves lot. We met via drystone walling/animal rights events and the dj at Planet X was a NMA fan so Friday and Saturday nights dancing to your fav NMA albums was like a dream...
Smitten
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I loved it from the first moment I heard them just cant get enough of them :)
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A friend of mine was playing the No Rest album, hooked from then on. And it's still my favourite NMA album.
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I first heard of them in the summer of 84 after my brother had borrowed Vengeance from a friend and that was the beginning of the journey for us both. Saw them live in 87 for the first time, seen them regularly since then, bought all the LPs, CD, singles, t-shirts, posters and collected as many bootlegs as I can get my hands on. Like most I've had my preferred era's with mine being from Vengeance up to Strange Brotherhood then I lost it a bit from Eight to High then came back with TIAGD. I always loved the live stuff though, so much better listening to them live. A point of interest to maybe some was the 'friend' who my brother borrowed the Vengeance LP off is The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess. I've never seen in print him mention NMA but I imagine compared to some of the influences I've seen mentioned by him, they are simply not trendy enough. His loss though
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Most definitely!!! I heard Green and Grey on the radio and was hooked! I bought TAC only to find out I had missed the live show by 4 days. d'oh!
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From the day I watched No Rest on Top of the Pops all those years ago I knew I was hooked. The only album I ever had to listen to a few times before it grew on me was Love of Hopeless Causes, one of my favourite albums now (well they all are really).
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Yes and no.
I loved the early albums when I first bought them and went to see them at 16 for the Impurity tour at Brixton. I got a fair bit of hassle being so young from some of the fans and some pretty awful treatment - some violence (I don;t mean of the pit kind - I was right at the back - next time I went as well, so I liked them as a band but frankly at the time thought the fans were a bunch of bullying c***s. I've heard a few other people with similar stories too. For me this kind of soured the band a little bit for a while, so stopped seeing them live again until I was a bit older.
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I've mates up here who say similar things about gigs in Middlesboroogh and Newcastle from the 80's....... There were some very "handy" lads who were pretty aggresive and very very territorial in the pit...... I was certainly intimidated in 87 at St Georges Hall...... I thought the pit was full of savages to be honest! But by the Summer 90 tour I'd found my fet (cloggs! ;D.....)........
Impurity would've been Town n country and you were there for Raw Melody Men recordings mate! If not, the Summer 90 and Two Dogs tours were at Brixton. I'm a nerd....... :o ha ha Great gigs tho'!!!!!!! Some of my happiest gig memories!
Until last year obviously!!!! ;D
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Yes and no.
I loved the early albums when I first bought them and went to see them at 16 for the Impurity tour at Brixton. I got a fair bit of hassle being so young from some of the fans and some pretty awful treatment - some violence (I don;t mean of the pit kind - I was right at the back - next time I went as well, so I liked them as a band but frankly at the time thought the fans were a bunch of bullying c***s. I've heard a few other people with similar stories too. For me this kind of soured the band a little bit for a while, so stopped seeing them live again until I was a bit older.
Didn't get any hassle and violence as such, and actually haven't seen them live for a good number of years now. Otherwise, very much the same experience you've mentioned. Know from a few who've been to recent gigs that sometimes the 'chatting' is a bigger problem than the attitude(s).
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Impurity would've been Town n country and you were there for Raw Melody Men recordings mate! If not, the Summer 90 and Two Dogs tours were at Brixton. I'm a nerd....... :o ha ha Great gigs tho'!!!!!!! Some of my happiest gig memories!
Until last year obviously!!!! ;D
Might well have been T&C actually - my memory isn't what it was... ;D
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I don't remember if I agreed or not.... it's my age, no it isn't yes is......... Possibly ???
..........
lmao ;D
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Better call the nurse for our medication... ;D
Most of my early gigs as a kid were at Brixton as they weren't too fussy about age in them days (either entry or bar), so I assumed it was there, but I've always been fairly sure I was at the R.M.M. album gig, so I guess maybe it was T&C
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i to found in the 80's the pit to be very rough ,group of lads that called them selfs the militia if ive got that right,they used to hug the pit so no one could get in,but apart from that there was no other trouble but like stoney said come the 90's seam to be a lot better.
I remember hearing vengence at rock city one of my mates bought the album went to see them at clifton uni in nov 84 that was me HOOKED and the journey continues
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Sometime in 1968, ITV was showing their early satellite TV show called 'the box' i think, they showed it on the TV channel after the regular tv finished after midnight.... It was mostly music vids like MTV, but the first hour after midnight was Gaz Top playing 'alternative' music...
Anyhow, NMA came on with the 51st state video, snap! that was it for me, NMA fan ever since.
Saw them later at Leicester Uni (radio sessions tour ~87), portsmouth (pallisades? ~90) - (strange brotherhood) and sometime in 04 at Leeds Uni...
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For myself, a resounding YES! My first exposure was a live gig in hometown Canada, T&C tour '89.
A friend dragged me along, claiming I would LOVE it. I left that club thinking I had never seen 4 musicians (incl. Ed) so committed to giving an audience of no more than 150 souls everything they had. The band, regardless of the line-up, has always given 110% at any of the shows I've been privileged to attend. I'll tell anyone who will listen that this is the best band in the world (but I don't have to tell anyone here that). Live long & prosper.
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in the 90s I had to listen to each album a few times to appreciate it fully. The last let s say 3 were an instant immediate.....love
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Glastonbury 85 - Me and a mate were going to Glasto that year we were looking at the line up and I saw NMA asked him if he knew who they were and he produced a cassette version of Vengeance.Fell in love straight away.
Like some others had said some albums since have taken a while to love.So some people might take longer but we all get there in the end!!! ;)
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When I was 13 (1995), I went to my sister's house for New Years Eve. Two important things happened on that trip:
* I was allowed to try wine, and got an alcohol buzz for the first time in my life
* Her boyfriend (now her husband) said "I think you might dig this" and put on Thunder and Consolation. I sat in rapt attention through the first several tracks, and when I left I had made a tape cassette copy of album.
A little while later, my brother gave me a tape with No Rest for the Wicked on one side, and The Ghost of Cain on the other. I listened to all of these albums obsessively. Every difficult emotion I experienced as a teenager seemed to have a parallel in a NMA song; "Green & Gray" and "Nothing Touches" were early favorites.
As the years went on, I started buying CDs to backfill my collection. When I was 17, I remember walking across the town I lived in with headphones on, listening to "Family Life" and thinking that this was the best band I had been turned on to in years, and feeling sad that they hadn't toured the US in a while and that I'd probably never get to see them.
I've now seen them live three times in three different US cities, and Justin was even kind enough to sign my copy of High, which is the only time in a long career of concerts that I've even considered trying to get something autographed.
What I'm saying is, this band has made my life better and is one of only about four bands for whom I will automatically pre-order anything I get wind of without knowing anything else about it (and one of only two bands that I have bothered to import merch from overseas for). It was definitely an immediate thing for me. "The roll of thunder from the pike..." and I was hooked.
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The first song i heard was 'Better than them' and yes it was instant.
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As I've written there: http://board.newmodelarmy.org/index.php?topic=3742.210 , it was not immediate, but in two steps. The 1st was a small one, but as soon as I made the 2nd, which was much bigger, I was conquered... So if it was not immediate, it was quick!
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I felt NMA was different when I heard "the hunt" on the radio. It started a passion for the band that has not subsided at all. Before I knew about this site I would get so pumped to see a new NMA disc in the stores.
I've spent years turning people on to this band. The radio ignores them in the US so it's up to us to spread the word!
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It was an immediate band for me. The first NMA album that I heard was T&C and I thought it was amazing. I immediately fell in love with the passion of Justin's Voice and lyrics. NMA is just not like any other band.
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Being American they were not by any stretch of the imagination heard of or listened to by many people especially where I live.
In high school I had a couple of cool friends who were really into British music that always played their albums, specifically T&C because it had just been released. I immediately loved the song 'I Love the World' and started listening to them more and more. The more I heard their music the more I was impressed by the depth of meaning behind the lyrics and the passion with which the band plays the music.
Been a huge fan ever since.
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Do you know,I'm not sure when or where I really found The Army.
I remember catching them on The Tube and thinking "Hello,now theres summut I could get interested in!".
Still interested !
;D
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I was in high school in 1989 and I was suspended because I was caught smoking.
I didnt tell to my parents so I went to school the whole week, even I wasn´t allowed to go to my classes.
One day a friend borrowed me a walkman with a miscelanious tape. The very first song was Better than them and it was instant. The other songs on the tape was No Rest and Poison Street.
The funniest fact is that my first record was a 2nd hand Vengeance vinyl, but my stereo had a problem and was playing only in "mono". So, I´ve spending a few years listening in one channel only, so when I bought a cd player I thought they put a different version on CD. :)
BTW, there was only a few stores selling NMA records here in Brazil. All 2nd hand and costing little fortunes.
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What part of Brazil are you from?
Has the world cup fever taken over yet?
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Haven't read through all answers, but I remember seeing 51st state on (one of) Germany's first music-video-tv-shows in the mid 80s. Shortly after that I scanned the LPs of a friend's brother and picked Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Joy Division, and New Model Army's "Ghost Of Cain" to copy them on cassette, yeah, those times... ;-)
It was not like "this is my new fav band" but I just loved NMA, bought their records and went to gigs every year since then, until I got finally tranformed into a follower after the 2000 anniversary-double-gig in Cologne. Have seen the band 150+ (ish) times since then and still don't get tired of them.
This is (for me) an outstanding symptom. I can listen to NMA 24/7 and I don't get bored. Can't imagine of any other band to meet this criteria.
Straight on for the days ahead...
Charles
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What part of Brazil are you from?
Has the world cup fever taken over yet?
Not yet, rick. BTW I am from Sao Paulo. Do you know?
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quick answer:
Yes...as soon as i heard the bass riff from "Vengeance" 28 years ago
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Yes. Saw the "Stupid Questions" video on MTV's 120 Minutes in 1989 or so when I was around 15. I bought the T&C cassette at a record store in Seattle on the way to a Love & Rockets and Godfathers show and have been hooked ever since. I'm finishing up an NMA half-sleeve the Friday after Thanksgiving. (I booked the appointment for the final sitting back in June, but that was the first opening my artist had.) It's been a work in progress since 1996. It may yet still become a full sleeve. :-)
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quick answer:
Yes...as soon as i heard the bass riff from "Vengeance" 28 years ago
I will second that!
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I remember it every vividly, I was at my mom's house Thanksgiving 1986, watching MTV when NMA came on with 51st State... with those leather jackets.... I was mesmerized.... for more than a decade now, the cover of Ghost of Cain has been my desktop.... save to say, smitten at once!
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First heard NMA being played by the DJ in Retford Porterhouse and did n't think much to them, maybe because all the goths were dancing to them.
Then I saw them live, supporting Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers at Rock City in 84, and they blew me away.
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when i first heard Christian militia back in the early eightys i was 16 and in a adolescence unit of a care home a freind who was also there his dad came to visit from Bradford and had a tape with christian militia and a few more NMA tracks we pinched the tape and the rest is history i was hooked my music tastes before were mainly punk but yes "immediate" band for me
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Absolutely.
I heard bits of Ghost of Cain tacked onto the end of a tape from my older brother that also had the Dickies, Suicidal Tendnecies, Agent Orage, Circle Jerks. Half of GoC on one side, half on the other. How could Love Songs and Master Race not be immediate? How could that have to grow on you?
First thing I could find in the shops of middle America to purchase was a tape of Thunder and Consolation, it had 125 mph inserted before Archway Towers, but no other from White Coats ep, or Nothing Touches. When I got the cd of TandC it had all those other tracks mixed in, and I couldn't figure out why Archway Towers wasn't the last track, it seemd too perfect. Of course, I later sorted out that it was, and that the others were added on.
Anyone else notice that those Thunder and Consolation extra tracks, including the White Coats ep, 125 mph, and Nothing Touches, never made it onto a Lost Songs/Abandoned Tracks compilation? I always thought that odd.
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I first heard them through my brother, we share the music and we've got simmilar taste. They were okay to me, but I didn't care that much, I was quite young.
Then a few years later I rediscovered them amongst so many CDs, searching for something to listen to which is different from the usual stuff I pick, and that was when I got addicted.
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Absolutely.
I heard bits of Ghost of Cain tacked onto the end of a tape from my older brother that also had the Dickies, Suicidal Tendnecies, Agent Orage, Circle Jerks. Half of GoC on one side, half on the other. How could Love Songs and Master Race not be immediate? How could that have to grow on you?
First thing I could find in the shops of middle America to purchase was a tape of Thunder and Consolation, it had 125 mph inserted before Archway Towers, but no other from White Coats ep, or Nothing Touches. When I got the cd of TandC it had all those other tracks mixed in, and I couldn't figure out why Archway Towers wasn't the last track, it seemd too perfect. Of course, I later sorted out that it was, and that the others were added on.
Anyone else notice that those Thunder and Consolation extra tracks, including the White Coats ep, 125 mph, and Nothing Touches, never made it onto a Lost Songs/Abandoned Tracks compilation? I always thought that odd.
They weren't added because they were already easily available on the Thunder & Consolation cd....... The Lost Songs album being an easy way to get all those vinyl only (mostly) trax on a cd, there'd be no point sticking the (truely fantastic) White Coats trax on there...... Plus in mainland Europe the White Coats ep got a cd realease with 3 extra live trax. ;)
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I had an older brother who listened to the Clash, Damned, Exploited, Anti Nowhere League, Ruts, Pistols and the other usual suspect. It was a choice of either listening to my brothers taste in music or my mothers.....hmmmmm Joe Strummer or Elvis Presley???????
Not that there was anything wrong with the king but Joe won hands down!!!
I can remember buying Sandanista as my first record and laughing so much when i heard Magnificent Seven (Cheesboirger). Still makes me laugh now!
In amongst all of that i borrowed a tape off my bro' called 'No Rest' and i was hooked. Whilst other albums by other punk bands at the time were good, this was something else.
I'm no musician and don't pretend to be. I didn't understand the politics behind the songs or the musical talent(at the time i was 14), but let me tell you that album was well used. I even persevered with pencil in hand to try and save the tape post it being chewed up by my cassette player(what a ball ache that was when that happened).
My first concert at the Hummingbird was when i was 16. It was a life changing moment. I have been an NMA fan ever since!!!
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Totally... a guy I was madly in love with (that always helps) introduced me to T&C on cassette first in 1990 at UC Santa Barbara, my first year away at college.. I was so drawn in by Justin's voice-didn't really know why it compelled me-loved the feel, how tight the band was, the political nature-making a statement without shoving it down my throat-the repetition of his choruses, the raw emotion inherent throughout.. Green and Grey blew me away-it became an anthem of sorts for my friends and I. To this day I can't listen to that song and not be reminded of the group I hung out with at the time-the guy I later married and stayed with for 10 years.. When I listened to Impurity in 1991 I couldn't get enough NMA... and my treat was when they toured in the US and played in Berkeley I believe at an intimate venue in 1995-Berkeley Square perhaps?? I was there front and center with my group of friends all in disbelief that we were at a small NMA show.. then years later.. with my then boyfriend and now husband and total NMA fan too-we ran into that old circle of friends at an NMA show in SF :) Highlight for me though was watching Justin-NMA stripped down, acoustic I think with minimal accompaniment-maybe he played the Independent in SF-2005? Being at that show was a watershed moment-I knew Justin-Slade the Leveler as this hard exterior guy.. he showed up in all black leather, bad ass on stage-even shut up someone in the crowd for TALKING during his song, mosh pit going etc etc-- but as we all know.. he was dreaming of oceans... inspired me to write "Paper Tiger" on my 2008 CD "Push and Pull" https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/push-and-pull/id425919852 Track 1: totally dedicated to Justin.. "you're screaming out war.. but dreaming of oceans..." it is a snapshot moment from my past.. but one that may have changed me as a singer-songwriter.. realizing what compelled-the raw emotion Justin brought to each and every gig-not holding back and sharing his soul with strangers through the beauty of song...
so maybe that's more than this question asked... but somehow your muse-that's me Aoede-was... inspired..
and since 2008 was such a long time ago musically for me, here's where your muse is today:
www.reverbnation.com/aoede
love to connect with NMA lovers-glad to part of the community!
Aoede
www.aoedemuse.com
www.twitter.com/aoedemuse
www.facebook.com/aoedemusemusic
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'You're screaming out war but dreaming of oceans'...
Damn fine lyric, Aoede!
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Hello Aoede,
I liked your posting, welcome to the forum. The first part of it reminded me of when I got my wife into NMA. we moved in together March 1991. Before that she was a Stranglers fan, but I managed to wean her off and onto better things. She heard my NMA albums and instantly took a like to T&C. After that, I remember she used to play T&C every Saturday night upstairs in our bedroom as she was getting ready to go out. I at the time used to think that she delayed the process of make up, etc., so she could hear the whole album, but she tried to assure me that girls really DID take that long to get ready on a Saturday night. !!
When I listen to T&C now it reminds me of two things. - this is one of the best albums of all time, and of being young and in love. What else could you possibly hope for from a listening experience.
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Thank you Master Ray! and to you Shush too-great story-believe it or not, I got inspired b/c of this forum to listen to Ghost of Cain and T&C tonight as I was making some coconut curried vegetables, so as I write White Coats was just finishing... I am so back in 1990 at my college dorm right now-a time when I was just getting CDs but mostly still listening on cassettes. Do you still have your NMA cassettes if you had any? I liked hearing about your wife getting ready.. it definitely would get you pumped.. not like Get Me Out did though for me.. want to hear something strange? I recall the NMA show in the 90s I think having very respectful mosh pitters... like they wanted to dance and had attitude and all-but sang loudly with Justin and probably even shed a few tears... :) anywho.. nice to meet youse! I live in San Francisco-where are you from?
p.s. it was f'n hilarious that it took me opening 3 NMA CD cases tonight (Raw Melody Men, Impurity and another Ghost of Cain copy) before I actually found an NMA album WITH its CD! It is telling-probably in a car somewhere without its case... can you relate?
Aoede
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Hello Aoede, I am in Nottingham. I did have the first four albums on cassette, but in late 1989, a good friend of mine called Dean started to show an interest in the band, so I gave them to him. Pretty much straight away he became and instant dedicated fan, and still is. Thankfully he updated his format to disks, thus making sure the royalties for the first four wonderful albums went where they were due.
Not seen Dean for some time now, he has a young child to take care of - and pay for, but efforts will be made to drag him to one of the UK November dates, Dean a regular NMA gig goer in the past.
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Another hello to Aoede! So you're in San Francisco... dammit, somewhere I would love to visit one day! I've been to the US seven times but never made any further west than Chicago...
I hope the NMA guys get over to your neck-of-the-woods on the next tour, if not, maybe one day you can get over to these shores? C'mon, the Atlantic ain't THAT wide... :D
All the best.
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To Shush-Dean is a mighty lucky fellow.. hope you both can get out for part of the next tour, and thanks for sharing that.. and Hello Master Ray!! San Francisco is a beautiful place to call home. It is a bit foggish at the moment, but it keeps the house comfortable and cool. Yes hoping NMA will come Statesward at some point-and that Justin will do another more stripped down, acoustic tour as well. Glad to connect here! :)
♥ Aoede ♪♫
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Hi Aoede!
SF is a place I've not ventured to either! Got close playin a gig in San Jose at Streetlight Records a couple of years back. But not quite there....... Welcome aboard the Family Forum! =)
Liked the lyrics aswell. Nice bit of word play! JS got my arse into geat in 1990, telling me to pull my finger out and get myself "into a band with some mates!"...... Coz we'd been discussing guitars and songwriting for about half an hour! He made Gibson some money with that comment! =) But I've gained friends, family and a wife from being in bands since 1991, played in America on three tours, Europe, and all over the uk! So I guess he had a point! I ha ve loved every minute, the current NMA set up is as strong as ever, and the new album is looking like a new begining of sorts? We'll have to see what the TALENTED MR SULLIVAN and the lads have for us. ;)
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Depends what you mean by immediate... Yes and no.
The first time I heard NMA was back in 2009 when my new boyfriend said "You really ought to listen to this, it's important" and played me Thunder and Consolation. I liked it immediately, and the following day I listened to it while I was on the train to Edinburgh. My second impression was "interesting, but a bit long-winded". I was going away for 11 days, so Boyfriend had loaded me up with all sorts of "important" music to listen to, and I didn't really give NMA a second thought. My listening background is pretty eclectic - everything from Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel etc through to Metallica and NIN, with a healthy slug of classical music thrown in. So, it's pretty rare that I'm confronted or put off by music, and will happily give anything a good listen.
About a week later, I was walking around Edinburgh city centre, with iPod on shuffle, and Family Life came on. I stopped dead in my tracks and I couldn't move or think about anything else until the song ended. That night, in my hotel, I gave Thunder and Consolation another try, and properly. That time, I was hooked, pure and simple.
Pretty soon I was working my way through the entire back catalogue, and loving it. The Ghost of Cain was my favourite album for a long time, and I sort of shunned the later stuff. Thunder and Consolation, No Rest for the Wicked, and The Ghost of Cain were the three albums I listened to more than anything else in my collection.
A few months later, Boyfriend took me to my first NMA gig. I was blown away by the power of the music, as expected. I was, if possible, even more hooked.
Over the past 4 years I've been to as many NMA gigs as I can, and loved every single one - being at the 30th Anniversary two-nighter was one of the highlights of my concert-going life. (Although the recent Rebellion set and the JS&DW solo show are probably my favourites - being in the front row for the latter was an exhilarating experience!) But - I'm still listening more, and discovering more. Eight took a while to reveal itself to me (BUT ORANGE TREE ROADS!!), as did Strange Brotherhood - but some of my favourite songs are on those albums, and I've sort of learned that there's always a point to everything that they do, even if it isn't immediately obvious. The last piece of the puzzle was the really early stuff, but as soon as I heard Christian Militia that was pretty much sold on me! Now that's a song I wish I'd written ;)
I'm a musician myself (classical) and find that NMA are one of the most musically interesting and technically proficient bands I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, not to mention that indefinable factor that draws us all to their music - I never get tired of them, and return to shelved albums again and again, finding new things to love every time. As many of you have said, there is no other band I can imagine feeling that way about. It was a great feeling to be there at Rebellion, right near the front, and knowing the words to every song.
As for the boyfriend, well, he's proved to be a keeper too and we're getting married in a few months' time. I'm pretty sure there will be lots of NMA played at the reception ;D
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Nice story Shazbat, and welcome to the forum. It seams that a lot of fans got their first intro to the band through their spouse or partner.
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Cheers, Shush!
I'm an Aussie, lived over here for nearly 5 years now, and I'd genuinely never heard of NMA til I came over here and met my fella. I don't think they're big in Australia, more's the pity, but I've got a few friends back home interested too - one of them is coming to visit me shortly and it just happens to coincide with an NMA gig, which he's pretty chuffed about! Spreading the word... :)
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I was 14 and my older brother - 17 - had this tape of a band he'd just seen at Clouds; a small club in Preston - 30 minutes of NMA's of vengeance on one side, Subhumans and Zounds on the other side. It was a home made tape from a friend of his - we were both Iron Maiden etc fans at the time - I gotta admit I still am but that tape changed my life. I'm sure that tape changed my life.
UFO - Great
Scorpions - Great
( It was pretty good to see a flying V on MG this tour :) )
Zounds - Great
and NMA - do I have to even mention them here.
YES - an immediate band for me x
These days I think of Justin Sullivan as one of those great writers - along with Dylan and Cohen but also as one of the great melodiscists along with Robert Smith and others you'll hate me for mentioning. There are a few 'greats' that I love; and Justin Sullivan: well its just wierd that his work is so little acknowledged yet.
I loved this band immediately x
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Justin Sullivan's way with words is utterly amazing, and one of the things that really drew me to the band. A genius, in my mind!
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Was about 13 borrowed a tape (original not copy!) of NRFTW off a neighbour and was blown away instantly from the first notes of Frightened and listened right through reading the lyrics, staring at the cover - my favourite band then and NoW!!
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My first introduction was in 1989, on a nightshift at Kwik Save, of all places by a Goth work colleague, who also got me into Fields of the Nephillim whilst I was posing in bermuda shorts to Anthrax. I wasnt too fussed at the time, but remember liking Spirit of the Falklands and Betcha. Not sure when they really clicked with me, Im guessing Thunder and Consolation and then Impurity I remember buying on cassette. I havent looked back since.
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Yes, they were pretty immediate for me. A friend gave me a copy of Vengeance sometime in 84/85 and I liked it pretty much right away. I saw them for the first time in 1985. They were so different to everything else I was listening to at the time (Sisters, Cure, Lorries, Chameleons). They were like a much needed kick in the arse and they really pulled me out of my goth phase.
I think they are the only band that I got into during their early period that I still like today. They're certainly not the band that I fell in love with in 1984 which is probably why I still love them.
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This seems like as good a place as any for a first post, so here goes. Someone loaned me T&C on CD in about 1991 or '92. I immediately loved I Love The World but didn't think much of the rest of the album, mostly because it was full of things that generally put me off (acoustic guitar, fiddle and harmonica in particular). I gave it a few run-throughs and returned it to its owner. But I Love The World was firmly stuck in my head so after a few months I tracked down my own disc. The first time I listened to that disc I realised that the whole album was great.
Over the next year or two I got hold of everything else I could and liked pretty much all of it. When Love of Hopeless Causes came out I bought it straight away but, to this day, I have never really got into it. I listened to previews of the next few albums on amazon but I figured I had enough and that the stuff I had was better. I started buying the albums again with Carnival but again, I never really go tinto them and after a dozen or two listens I always went back to Ghost of Cain, T&C and Impurity.
Last month I saw that there was a new album and ordered it straight away, based on the YouTube clip. For the first time I enjoyed it on the first listen and after a few weeks I am enjoying it more and more. More importantly, though, it made me realise that I was only missing Strange Brotherhood and Eight so I bought those digitally. I liked Strange Brotherhood immediately but I'm still trying to get into Eight. Curioser still, I've also listened to both High and TIAGD again and I really like them now, too. So tomorrow is my day off and I'm going to my storage place to grab Carnival and Love of Hopeless Causes so that I can rip them to my Zune and see if maybe I've changed my mind about them, as well.
So, to summarise, it's taken me anything from a few months to 15 years to get into some NMA stuff and it certainly took me a while to get into them in the first place. But it was sure as hell worth it!
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I'm waiting for the new album to be delivered now. I've heard it's a different sound but I still can't wait.
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I'm waiting for the new album to be delivered now. I've heard it's a different sound but I still can't wait.
Hope you gonna like it! I'd describe it a stunning experience. :-)
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I was hook from the first time i heard them :D
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I was hook from the first time i heard them :D
I was drunk then... ::)
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First time I heard NMA was off a mix-tape. Walkman and headphones clapped over ears in a university computer lab by some punk who worked night-stock at the same super-market where I worked, too. He used to curse at me in German, while I would apply choice anglicisms. Amazing we were never fired... Guess no one else understood. Anyway a few weeks later I was flipping through LPs at a long-closed record store in Des Moines, Iowa and found a T&C LP. Not putting two and two together, I bought it. After the second listen I had it figured out.
That was almost exactly 20 years ago. Have been listening ever since.
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Currently wearing out my 3rd vinyl copy of No Rest, bought the first one off my mate Simon for 2 quid in the very early 80s, he still hates me for it as he had to go and buy a new copy of it as it then really grew on him! Both just been to see the film, lots of memories!
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also for me it took a little bit time, i don't remember how long, maybe one- 2 weeks. i just remember, it was around the end of the 80s, i moved for about some weeks in a squad and somebody there had a lot of nma- cds. so after some days i felt in love, the longest lov affair i ever had, till now :D!
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Hey Keto :)
So that's how it started for you! Thanks for posting. I had forgotten this thread and it's been interesting all the different folks stories.
Was pretty immediate for me, Reading Festival '89 and that was that.
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hi anna,
if it would have been live i think it would have happend me also pretty immediate ???
have a nice eve, writing your more in my next mail :-*
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oops anna, i forgot: WELCOME BACK, i guess a lot of peolple missed u here :)
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Yes, and not only immediate, but a lifetime one since then back in the eighties
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I saw them on MTV. They were nominated for whatever award. Together with Carter USM, Billy Bragg, maybe some others. They showed a small piece of Get Me Out. I was sold!
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First time I heard Vengeance (single) did it for me
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I guess so... ;)
In 1990 or so, my older brother was going to see them play a festival nearby and had borrowed the T&C album form a friend who apparently knew them and/or was into the scene. I, Still unsure what musical taste I would mostly appreciate, I only had the radio and a few albums by Whitney Houston, Duran Duran and the Cure when I found this album and the cover lured me into grabbing it and playing it. Not sure what had happened but I got my ass kicked by my brother for not asking, but the seed NMA planted would never leave my system.
NMA is one of my top 3 bands , (album wise and live), and has now been so for over two and a half decades :)
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I think I wasn't immediately "obsessed" the first time I heard their music (video for 51st State) but have been following them ever since - and the obsession followed pretty quickly, I think. ;-)
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New Model Army were not immediate to me, but I knew I did like the songs. This was back around the time of Thunder and Consolation came out and the time of the cassette. I was working at a radio station at the time and, like most of my fellow classmates at college knew 51st State who either loved, or were infuriated by it. I was friends with a rather dogmatic punk rock fan and he dismissed NMA on the basis of....their long hair. I tried to explain it away as simply a response to the austerity of the Thatcher regime, and the resulting scissor shortage. I reckoned my reply was no stupider than his dismissal. But I meander.
As a result of this, I thought, moronic basis for rejecting a group, I recorded Ghost of Cain and Thunder and Consolation onto a cassette. As for their immediacy, they did take a couple listens, though even one convinced me they were something beyond the ordinary punk band and that those who were dismissing them as a one-hit wonder, based on 51st State, weren't listening closely enough (likewise, the poor Vapors. Another story). I'd been a fan of Oi for its collective sounding spirit but found its lack of melodicism and real intelligence in the lyrics to be a drawback. NMA sounded like an adult evolution from that, which I was all in favor of. For reasons all my own, 'Lovesongs' took my breath away the first time I heard it, and The Hunt grabbed me by the throat the second time when I realized what it was about.
T&C was a lot more immediate. The very first time I heard Stupid Questions, Inheritance and Green and Grey they slammed right into me, and I knew there was something special about this group. They were communicating with me in a way other groups didn't. They shared my love and fear of life and expressed it so eloquently. A few more listens and they became a permanent part of me. I was also reading that pompous prat, Robert Christgau who is at least capable of provoking me. He had given NMA grades between B's and A's. Despite his annoying grading system, I figured any so-called punk band who merited even his praise were worth my ongoing attention. The next thing I got was the Small Town England which instantly captivated me. It took everything I loved about the 76-77 punk rock sound and combined it flawlessly with the advances of post-punk groups I loved, like Gang of Four.
Overall, their albums are seldom immediate. I hated LOHC at first. HATED it. Thought it was slick pop and they were done for. But that one has grown on me as well and is now as much a favorite as any of the others. I can't even rate their albums on a scale of favorite or least, because each one can uniquely capture whatever state of mind I'm in at the moment.
Sorry to drone on so. I'm brand new hear and so glad to be among others who share my love for this unique group. I am the only person I know who will even give them the time of day. Their loss. I can't imagine a world without New Model Army now. To paraphrase XTC, they're my 'soul coal'.
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New Model Army were not immediate to me, but I knew I did like the songs. This was back around the time of Thunder and Consolation came out and the time of the cassette. I was working at a radio station at the time and, like most of my fellow classmates at college knew 51st State who either loved, or were infuriated by it. I was friends with a rather dogmatic punk rock fan and he dismissed NMA on the basis of....their long hair. I tried to explain it away as simply a response to the austerity of the Thatcher regime, and the resulting scissor shortage. I reckoned my reply was no stupider than his dismissal. But I meander.
As a result of this, I thought, moronic basis for rejecting a group, I recorded Ghost of Cain and Thunder and Consolation onto a cassette. As for their immediacy, they did take a couple listens, though even one convinced me they were something beyond the ordinary punk band and that those who were dismissing them as a one-hit wonder, based on 51st State, weren't listening closely enough (likewise, the poor Vapors. Another story). I'd been a fan of Oi for its collective sounding spirit but found its lack of melodicism and real intelligence in the lyrics to be a drawback. NMA sounded like an adult evolution from that, which I was all in favor of. For reasons all my own, 'Lovesongs' took my breath away the first time I heard it, and The Hunt grabbed me by the throat the second time when I realized what it was about.
T&C was a lot more immediate. The very first time I heard Stupid Questions, Inheritance and Green and Grey they slammed right into me, and I knew there was something special about this group. They were communicating with me in a way other groups didn't. They shared my love and fear of life and expressed it so eloquently. A few more listens and they became a permanent part of me. I was also reading that pompous prat, Robert Christgau who is at least capable of provoking me. He had given NMA grades between B's and A's. Despite his annoying grading system, I figured any so-called punk band who merited even his praise were worth my ongoing attention. The next thing I got was the Small Town England which instantly captivated me. It took everything I loved about the 76-77 punk rock sound and combined it flawlessly with the advances of post-punk groups I loved, like Gang of Four.
Overall, their albums are seldom immediate. I hated LOHC at first. HATED it. Thought it was slick pop and they were done for. But that one has grown on me as well and is now as much a favorite as any of the others. I can't even rate their albums on a scale of favorite or least, because each one can uniquely capture whatever state of mind I'm in at the moment.
Sorry to drone on so. I'm brand new hear and so glad to be among others who share my love for this unique group. I am the only person I know who will even give them the time of day. Their loss. I can't imagine a world without New Model Army now. To paraphrase XTC, they're my 'soul coal'.
Fantastic post, Unruh, really enjoyed reading it!
Please join us on this Forum often!
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Sorry to drone on so. I'm brand new hear and so glad to be among others who share my love for this unique group. I am the only person I know who will even give them the time of day. Their loss. I can't imagine a world without New Model Army now.l'.
No - you didn't drone on :-*
Excellent post - hello :)
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Was NMA an immediate band, simple answer is no. the 1st time i saw NMA live was when they were supporting X Mal Deutschland at the Hammersmith Palais 84. they were really powerful more so than X Mal, sorry fancied the lead singer to bits - got no where. Ha Ha. Me mate nicky and john had a few singles and nicky went and bought the vengance album and done me a tape copy. i didnt want a tape copy so bought my own - knockout to say the least. followed them in my own way since. wonderful memories of concerts whether NMA or Raw Melody Men. fell out of love circa 98 with strange brotherhood but 98 werent a great year personally. got back around 2000 mark so much so that me kids have seen them and had me daughter on me shoulders at the Vauban Brest 2006 she was 4. looking forward to the upcoming gigs and thank you for some wonderful and cherished memories. keep on recording, keep on touring, keep on making us all smile and laugh.
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Excellent post, Gonzo, really enjoyed reading it, welcome to The Forum! Post often!
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I had been a huge fan of a Scottish band called the Skids (Their guitarist later formed Big Country). The Skids had this unashamed and non-ironic epic grandeur to their music. The only song I heard that could match them was, obviously enough, Green and Gray. I'm sure I thought any band capable of the panoramic abilities of the Skids could do anything.
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yes and no. i'd heard the songs no rest and vengeance and liked them, but didnt seek out anything else by the band until i heard "brave new world". when i did i had to have it and bought the 12" (with free live 12") from a 2nd hand shop. the 3 tracks on that record are still probably my favourite release by the band. shortly after i met a girl who i was to be with for 8 or 9 years who was a massive NMA fan and had all their records so i was immersed in them from thereon.
BUT...it wasnt until i saw them live for the first time that i adopted them as "my" band rather than "hers". it was at the 1989 Reading Festival and i was utterly blown away by them. in fact i have NEVER not been blown away by the band live. there are only a few bands ive seen as often as NMA but theyve all played at least one stinker of a show (even motorhead but that was the venue's sound policy.) i will admit that the first time i went to see them play after Rob left i was certain that it would be crap as i personally rate Rob Heaton as one of the greatest drummers ever and almost undoubtedly irreplaceable, but Mr Dean won me over almost immediately.
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. it was at the 1989 Reading Festival and i was utterly blown away by them.
Me too :)
i was utterly blown away by them. in fact i have NEVER not been blown away by the band live.
This is truth :-*
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. it was at the 1989 Reading Festival and i was utterly blown away by them.
Me too :)
i was utterly blown away by them. in fact i have NEVER not been blown away by the band live.
This is truth :-*
Truth, indeed. I lost track of how many times I've seen the lads live a long time ago, but my gig-buddy Dan, who I usually see NMA with, keeps all his tickets and counted them recently... if you include JSAF gigs and the very few I went to without him, I've seen them over 80 times...
...and I NEVER attended a gig that didn't make me buzz like a wasp in a bottle! :D
The mark of a truly great band...
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i'm 47 now, and first encountered nma way back in 1985 (i think) with no rest, in my village library in peterculter in aberdeenshire. songs that immediately got me, from memory even now, were grandmother's footsteps and my country. they had such an impact on me that i had to tape them. and i kept going back to that tape of the album. and over, and over. and - importantly - the artwork struck such a chord in me at the same time.
and a few? years later, i was in 1UP record shop in aberdeen, skimming through the 2nd hand discs, and there was the 12" of brave new world. jules' artwork there just meant, no matter what, i was going to buy it.
'nuff said.
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Ohhhh, YES !!! I was with my cousin, in his car, in 90, two cassettes : NMA "T&C" et a Mish bootleg.
The next week, I went to a record store look for albums for both bands (meanwhile he gave me some cassettes).
They're still by my side.
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Aw, cassettes... I 'member cassettes!
Little South Park reference there, just in case anyone is watching the new season... ;)
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Sonically yes
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Immediate. Great Expectations on John Peel. To be repeated about 8 years later when Here Comes the War came on the radio while I was driving. I had to pull in to calm down!
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Yes, I was introduced to the ghost of Cain by a friend and that was it for me. I love all the music which is unusual I know. People often tell me that there are other bands but no one else is like nma. My long suffering hubby is more of a program rock fan but always comes to gigs with me. Long live nma.
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Welcome, VanessaM! Please post often with more thoughts about NMA... or anything else at all!
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Yes I'd say so.
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It has never been an immediate band anyway. It took me 2 or 3 listens especially in the 90s to fully appreciate an album. When <i was younger I remember when I had a new NMA album I used to listen 2 songs each day max...............I did not want the surprise and the pleasure to go to fast. and then at every listen the album was growing on me................and it is still like this now at 45.
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my first encounter with NMA was seeing 'no rest for the wicked' in my local library, in peterculter, aberdeenshire, when i was something like 10 years old - definitely still in primary school. i'd been able to get the adult lending library ticket because i was always in there, a good kid and all that, and they knew me.
NMA's artwork was what caught me first - without joolz's art, well, yes, i'm sure i'd still have found them, but not for years after. because of her cover for no rest, i *had* to listen to the band....
i taped the album, listened to it thru a summer...and then drifted away for a few years with school...hit punk, metal, the wilder bits of john peel, all-sorts, and started going in to 1-Up in aberdeen, a proper, eclectic, indie, non-denominational music shop where they had second-hand racks.
seeing the cover of 'brave new world', every note and - importantly - every word i had quietly in the back of my head from years before - grandmother's footsteps, my country, no rest - told me to buy it.
and that, right there, is why i'm still here, with them, now.
so, yes and no. they were immediate, musically and lyrically....once i picked them up, and listened.
but without Joolz's artwork, it would have taken much longer for me to notice them. for me, the two simply can't be separated.
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Absolutely. It was 1984 and I was living in Orange Country California (probably showing my age). I believe it was Dusty Street who had a show on KROQ; it might have been called the Import Show. She would play the latest singles; some of which that wouldn't get normal air play during the rotations. Anyway, she played the Price and I was hooked. I believe she closed the show playing 1984. We had some pretty good music stores so it wasn't a problem finding it on vinyl. We had Zed records in Long Beach, Middle Earth records in Downey, Music Market in Costa Mesa, and Hyde Park Corner in Irvine. Plus all the stores up in Hollywood and LA. I never had the pleasure to see them live. But been a huge NMA fan most of my life!
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I
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just to bump this a bit....
i went to an NMA gig in Aberdeen, Scotland, waaaay back...i'd have to look through some boxes to know when it was, but around T&C....
i don't honestly remember much of the gig itself, but i do remember asking Joolz, at the merch desk-thang, if there was another NMA newspaper that I could have - but no, alas....
...and i remember her being far-too-bloody-pleasant about it......!
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I havn't heard an album I don't adore I adore them all
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She was very nice about things the one and only time I met her and I agree her pictures are very Joolz and her writing too
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Yes, I was hooked the first time I ever heard them. Was at an alternative night at a little club called Asylum in Manchester in 1984/85- Vengence came on and I loved it. Was there with as friend from Polytechnic, so when NMA next played Manchester we both went to see them. Still see them and listen now.
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Naw, heard about them from another forum i frequent
unbelievable it took me 30+ years to find them
love them but doubt i'll ever see them live
on the other side of the pond
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A big yes , although I followed the Sisters , Mission and other goth bands , I could relate to NMA straight away . They have stayed with me since 84 and for me every album is a gradual change in sound and direction . It’s my go to music when I need a kick up the ass or comfort
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Absolutely.
First songs I heard were Vengeanse and the Hunt little over 20 years now...
First saw them on the Carnival Tour.
Always thought they were underappreciated, seems like that's finally changed in recent years.
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Must be around 1988, that I listened to NMA the first time on a party or in disco … Vagabounds, 51st State, Green & Grey … in this time I began to be a metalhead with patches an all this stuff. My first gig in this time was Iron Maiden supported by Anthrax in Hannover 1990 … the focus in the following years was in Metal, but NMA was always there too … we had an school exchange to England and
NMA was big in this time over there … Maybe it was the country, the people , the time, the parties … NMA was more and more important for me, so I went to the first gig (I am not sure but I think it was Braunschweig, Chumbawamba was support) and I loved it, the crowd, the followings without shirts etc. This is now 30 years ago, but NMA was all this years a special part of my life … Today I try to see them once or twice a year and it is always a special time … Sorry for the bad English, but school is out for summer, hoho …
Cheers from Göttingen!
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Welcome, Silver Cloud, please post often! We're a welcoming bunch and could do with a bit of new blood around these parts these days! ;)
I do love reading these 'how people first got into NMA' posts!
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I will try, but I have phases of being bored of my computer and all this internet stuff,
this digital warfare of social media is horrible … its not my time anymore, total control, restrictions … uuh …
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Question: Is there more communication in social media like FB or WA? I don’t use them so I am interested. This forum seems to be a bit sleepy … I’m active in some other forum sometimes and in some it is the same … some years ago many active users and posts every day, today nearly dead … cause of Zuckerberg etc …
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Silver Cloud - depends who you ask. I tried the official NMA thread on Facebook and it didn't work for me, there did seem to be some nastiness from certain parties that I couldn't be bothered with. Yes, this is MY opinion, others may disagree, it certainly seems to be a lot more active than this here Forum these days.
I still regard this Forum as my big method of communication for all things NMA but it might be out of sheer nostalgia, quite frankly... a few years back it was a very lively place, a place where I've met many good friends, at gigs, who posted regularly. Sadly, many of the regulars have either quit or drifted into being 'occasional posters' (and I do include myself in that description)... but, hey, all things must pass, maybe new folks like yourself might give this site a big old kick up the arse? ;D
Just as long as f-ing Space doesn't come back, in some new incarnation or other... ;)
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I dont like social media, but nearly everybody uses it, without thinking about dates and control … many of my friends communicate with WA and I'm out so far … sad world in my opinion …
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i loved the tracks my mate sent me, then i checked the whole discography and didnt know, but within 3 days I was thinking this is the best band ever. i am a 25 year eclectic music publisher I would happily debate anyone that NMA is the best band ever. I realise my opinion's weight isn't so heavy but I dont care. I love everything NMA has created.
That is........ did you like them the first time you heard 'em?
For me, it definitely took a few listens. There's a few bands that hit me right away and I can remember the exact moment I first heard them, where I was, what I was doing, the time of day etc. But with these guys, it was being exposed to T&C over and over in College and it took some time. Slowly they got to me...... and then it was all over. Even with a new album from them it takes about a week. I mean, I always like what I'm hearing but it's not an immediate "this is the greatest new album I've ever heard!!" kinda thing. It needs to sink in but after a few days, I can't stop listening to it. But that's what happens with a lot of my favorite bands and albums, at least the ones that stay with you forever. The more you listen, the more it touches you and that's the sign of a GREAT album (or band).
I've made a few compilations for friends and it seems the ones that have played the CD's a number times always like the band more than the ones that have only heard it once or twice.
I'm curious to hear if it was that way with you? Was it immediate or did it take a few listens?
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In 1995 I was on exchange to Westminster College in Oxford. I went looking for music, the folks I hooked up with introduced me to 4 of my favorite bands - Ozrics, The Levellers, Fields of the Nephilim, and New Model Army.
I have these memories of walking the paths between Botley and Westminster in the dark English rain trying to get back to my bed; more than several pints/spliffs in, and being inspired by the words and voice of Justin Sullivan. I have been a huge fan since. My favorite lyric writer to this day. Ive seen them on every US tour since and traveled several times to the UK to see them.
In 2009 I suffered a traumatic brain injury while racing my road bike. I was still in full recovery mode and trying to remember who I was, my girlfriend/ now wife took me to see NMA in Indianapolis IN where we were living. Justin spent some time talking with me, i have a picture, it's one of my favorites.
I will always love this band
Tim
New Jersey