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General Category => New Model Army => Topic started by: Guillaume on September 07, 2012, 03:37:35 PM
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Just listened yesterday night the whole album on the cd player of my car and like one of the early reviews said back in summer 2007:
"Bloody Brillant"! 8) 8)
Effective riffs ("Wired", "Into the wind"), groovy bass lines ("No mirror no shadow", "All consuming fire", "Rivers") and drums (" One of the chosen"...) and last but not the least, the clever lyrics and catchy choruses we all cherish from the band.
I think that the title track is especially powerful and moving, very meaningful song and i especially love the chorus, it speaks to me, a kind of reason to be optimistic when the times in our lives are difficult!
All these things you fear so much depend on angles of vision
From down in the maze of walls you can’t see what’s coming
But from high on the high hills it all looks like nothing
But from high on the high hills it all looks like nothing, nothing
NMA's finest achievement since "Eight" or even "The love of hopeless causes".
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I agree with you, all the way!
That song is ... everlasting .. breath taking ..
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It's my favourite NMA track. And THAT is saying something eh? A real masterpiece.
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Rivers is a stunning song for me........ Live it takes me away instantly......
Played High yesterday and on Friday. I really liked it straight away when I bought it, but it does grow more with each passing listen........... Carnival too to be honest. Today Is A Good Day was more instantaneous "classic", maybe it was being grabbed roughly n thrown about by the first monsterous bass line? =)
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Also have High on my car cd player at the moment. NMA fans with cd players in their cars eh? How times have changed ;D
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Rivers is a stunning song for me........ Live it takes me away instantly......
it is indeed a beautiful song...my fav tracks on "High" are "Into the wind", "High" and "Rivers" but on the whole that album is brillant.
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Truly a great album, "wired" and "dawn" beeing my absolute favourites.
I have to say that during the show in Athens in June, Justin and Dean played an incredible version of "dawn" which sounded even better that the original and realy deserves to be released. It haunted me for days after the show..
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I know that so many fans are in love with the old stuff, but if I was going to introduce a newcomer to NMA, I think this would be the album that I would play to them. HIGH is amazing. Of course, then I would get them onto GREEN AND GREY and the rest of it, but, yeah, HIGH is fantastic.
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'High' came out during a wild and stormy summer, during which we were both experiencing loss.....And it so helped!
A fantastic album which resonates still! (And ranks among my favorites with 'LOHC' and 'Impurity')!
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Also have High on my car cd player at the moment. NMA fans with cd players in their cars eh? How times have changed ;D
hehehe indeed - have moved with the times in so many ways, but CDs will never die for me, which is my luck as the more people go off them the more of them I can buy cheap on eBay! ;D
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oh and the small matter of the colossal High album - just gets better and needs to be played LOUD
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What a great coincidence guys!
I was listening to "HIGH" last days...
I listened to "Rivers" for the first time when I went to NMA's gig here in Sao Paulo, 2008... a masterpiece!
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...great record with great songs on it- I like the "warm" guitarsound a lot.
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Coincidence indeed!
I have been listening to High too lately.
Like someone else saidm, I liked it immediately, but it does grow on me.
My favourites are Wired, Dawn, Into the Wind, Sky in your eyes.
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Ha...the memories...BDAW has received mostly fine reviews from the press critics but it was already the case with HIGH...remember!:
Classic Rock:
"Let's face it: you probably already know whether you'll be buying this album from the enduring band from Bradford.
After 25 years or so, Justin Sullivan's band still polarises opinion, with their champions and detractors equally vocal in their beliefs.
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, the band's consistent belief in the redemptive powers of music is admirable, and from riff driven opener Wired to cinematic closer Bloodsports, New Model Army's 10th album bristles with more energythan most debuts (ignoring sickly centerpiece Sky in Your Eyes).
It's not going to change the political wrongs the band rail against, nor is it going to win them any new fans, but those already converted to the cause can rest assured there's still plenty of life in the army yet."
8/10
Rock and Reel:
" The tenth studio album from New Model Army was never going to be trivial. "High" offers everything fans expect: intelligent folk, punk and rock music with visionary lyrics that sit atop the rhythmic musical work of the now five-piece band, with Marshall Gill on lead.
High's full of melody, every song has a message, each word uttered by front man Justin Sullivan hitting home. He's a songwriter's songwriter, capable of delivering the kind of verses you don't get elsewhere. His lyrical intensity and passionate beliefs are tempered by an angry understanding of the cynicism of the status quo. His politics won't suit everyone, but if eloquent messagesdelivered within intricate musical tapestries turn you on' then go get High.
First track "Wired" is all energy and passion and each successive track pushes forward with a feeling of intense urgency. NMA's dogged determination to articulate those things seldom spoken is something to respect. Certainly, hardcore fans will buy this album without question - or disappointment - but if you're in search of intelligence within today's major label dominated fog of insubstantial commercial rock, then this release demands your attention."
4/5
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High was the album that re-awakened me to NMA after years in the wilderness, and if for no other reason that that I love it. Not completely sold on All Consuming Fire, but at worst that's a very good song. The title track is amazing, and reminds me of home (I live at 1200 feet, and from here it all really does look like nothing) and other highlights for me are Wired, One Of The Chosen, Bloodsports and Rivers.
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I think i like more HIGH than BDAW, even if BDAW is a more experimental album and that its sound is great...another idea for a thread ;)
I agree that HIGH is a wonderful song, the lyrics are moving...
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If it's six years on, then it has taken me six years to get into High. It was the first new NMA album I had bought since the disappointment of Love of Hopeless Causes. I kept coming back to it to see if it had grown on me but it was only last week, spurred on by my instant enjoyment of the new album, that High finally clicked with me. I've actually played it half-a-dozen times in the past week, enjoying it more each time. I'm also appreciating TIAGD more now. I used to think it was better than High but now I think High is a notch or two better.
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Best album of the post LOHC era for me.
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I wasn't that keen on it at first but it did grow on me. I too have revisited High this week after listening ot BDAW pretty much constantly since I got it I thought I'd go through some of the other stuff I don't listen to that often.
Into The Wind, Rivers and Sky In Your Eyes are favourites.
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What a great coincidence guys!
I was listening to "HIGH" last days...
I listened to "Rivers" for the first time when I went to NMA's gig here in Sao Paulo, 2008... a masterpiece!
Like you, Heloisa, I was also there at The Clash Club (actually it was 2007) on both days. As for "High", I enjoyed the downloadable track "Wired" as well as the whole album instantly. My favorite is still T&C, "Eight" took me some more listens, but "Carnival" was an instantaneous classic. Let's cross our fingers for their return to these "jungles" of Brazil.
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Still a great CD after all these years. I never get tired of hearing it . I voted this CD as the best NMA CD of the 21st century. ;D 8)
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I still really like HIGH...... Rivers, Wired, High, Nothing Dies Easy, there's lots to like I think..........
Rivers is definately one of N.M.A.'s better trax for my money.........
Wired is a really neat n tidy pop/soul song with Nelson playing some really nice bass. He plays alot of really good stuff on that whole record to be fair.
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Nelson playing some really nice bass. He plays alot of really good stuff on that whole record to be fair.
Indeed.
I like what he did on songs like "One of the chosen", "No mirror no shadow", "All consuming fire", "Rivers"...
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Been playing the cd since I posted and just got to Rivers...... The bass on the whole cd is really really good........ The speakers on my pc help enhance the listening experience no end!
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That's strange, but you know, when Justin sings
"The keening wind it blows through me, it blows through
My time it must be almost done, be almost done"
before the great "All these things..." chorus, each time i'm moved to tears!
This song on this album is really special...very haunting and moving.
I am never bored by 'Into the wind", "Rivers" and "Bloodsports" too, there are such great songs.
Been playing the cd since I posted and just got to Rivers...... The bass on the whole cd is really really good........ The speakers on my pc help enhance the listening experience no end!
The bass intro of "Rivers" somewhat remind me Cliff "Metalica" Burton's bass solo on "Orion"
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Cliff's bass playing was awesome, a truly talented, sadly missed player. I was lucky to see him play a few times and met him a St Georges Hall in 86! He was dead 3 weeks later..........
Metallica actually rescued NMA when their bus broke down in Canada or Northern America. Gave them a lift to the services so they didn't freeze to death. I'll try n find the clipping........
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Cliff's bass playing was awesome, a truly talented, sadly missed player. I was lucky to see him play a few times and met him a St Georges Hall in 86! He was dead 3 weeks later
Another fine bass player in Metallica is Robert Trujillo, even if i like more what he did in Infectious Grooves and Suicidal Tendencies...i miss a bit Cliff Burton's sound in Metallica...
I don't think that Nelson wanted to nod "Orion" with the intro of "Rivers" but i still thought about it, ha ha!
Metallica actually rescued NMA when their bus broke down in Canada or Northern America. Gave them a lift to the services so they didn't freeze to death. I'll try n find the clipping........
great memories! strange to hear that NMA and one of the world's more popular band shared space and time, once...their music is not the same, but i wouldn't mind a gig with Metallica opening for NMA (or vice versa)! ;)
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sure man this is a classic of the 21st century as far as the band is concerned. as usual, powerful and emotional music and lyrics.
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TIME PASSES SO BLOODY FAST.......................
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Absolutely love High - my fave tracks being One of the Chosen, the Title Track (of course!) and, probably most of all, Sky in your Eyes. The whole album is incredible, though - I had it on very high rotation just before BDAW came out, and feel as though there's a real link between the two - more so than between either album and TIAGD.
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I've only kind of caught up on High fairly recently -I can't remember why I didn't immediately get it at the time of it's release, as I was still catching the band live when I could even though for a while I wasn't listening to the CDs as regularly- but now I have I love it. 'One of the Chosen' in particular is awesome, sends shivers down my spine everytime, especially that wailing guitar (for want of a better description!) after 'I can hear chanting'.
But it's this line from High that I keep coming back to recently:
'All these things you fear so much depend on angles of vision'
I'm under a lot of stress at the moment with caring for my very elderly parents who both have memory problems making the simplest things very difficult, and when I'm in danger of getting really down about it I just keep thinking of this song in general- it kind of ties in with the other thread asking if the band's music has gotten more melancholy (I would agree it has) but I actually find High very uplifting- maybe freeing would be a better way of putting it, it reminds me indeed that in the great scheme of things all my problems 'look like nothing'.
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But it's this line from High that I keep coming back to recently:
'All these things you fear so much depend on angles of vision'
I'm under a lot of stress at the moment with caring for my very elderly parents who both have memory problems making the simplest things very difficult, and when I'm in danger of getting really down about it I just keep thinking of this song in general- it kind of ties in with the other thread asking if the band's music has gotten more melancholy (I would agree it has) but I actually find High very uplifting- maybe freeing would be a better way of putting it, it reminds me indeed that in the great scheme of things all my problems 'look like nothing'.
"High" is certainly an uplifting song, it elevates our perspective, point of view on our life ;)
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I listened to High yesterday. I really enjoyed it and I think as someone else mentioned there does seem to be some musical flow or natural progression from High to BDAW if that makes sense? :-\
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Easily one of their best albums, although I didn't quite think so when it came out. I agree that it has interesting parallels and is best enjoyed in combination with BDAW and Justin's solo work.
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Really? I don't get that. I think TIAGD is a good follow-on from High but BDAW is probably the biggest change in their sound ever. The drumming on BDAW is really different, there are no up-tempo songs and not much in the way of big guitars. I really like BDAW but I don't hear much in common with High (which I also like immensely).
I think High is one of NMA's best, especially after Eight and Carnival, both of which feel a bit like NMA-by-numbers to me. That said, I have only recently come around to that point-of-view. When it was released I really didn't get into it. I think that is partly because the opening track, Wired, is not one of NMA's stronger fast rockers and I'd come to expect every NMA album to kick off with something massive. These days, though, High is probably the album I listen to most regularly, along with TIAGD. I think that' is partly because I ignored them for so long so they still feel fresh.
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Listened the cd again yesterday night, in my car 8)...brillant album, still my fav NMA album from the last decade ("Between dog and wolf" close behind "High" though, BDAW is a bit less even but also more experimental than "High")
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Wired is great album opener indeed, I also revisited this the other night it's entirety after close up at work,,,I like that album a great deal more now than when it was released, some of the best lines are on this ,,,and I really love the use of strings on some of the tracks. Wired, Sky in your Eyes and Into the Wind are the standout tracks for me personally.
Although I much prefer the Carnival album this one has really grown on me. Pity these albums were not available on vinyl.
Does anyone know what the sample opening High is from?
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Does anyone know what the sample opening High is from?
I think it's a recording of a street preacher, somewhere in the USA, if I recollect.
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I had forgotten just how great that album was. After seeing the band on their last tour, I dug out all my NMA albums, and High is a gem of an album.
In fact you have put me in the mood for listening to it again. :D
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TIME PASSES SO BLOODY FAST.......................
Indeed! "I need more time"!!
Now HIGH was released...10 years ago! :o
Summer 2007!!
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Now that the initial rush of winter is over, high is still my favourite of the "newer albums " .
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Glad to see this thread reactivated! I love 'High'. A few years back, when this thread first started, I said that 'High' was the one I would recommend to a newbie who wanted to get into NMA. 'Winter' or my eternal favourite 'Impurity' might just pip 'High' to the post, but it's a close thing. That's my 'big three' of NMA abums. ;)
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high is still my favourite of the "newer albums " .
For the 21st century indeed! but i have a fondness for "Eight" ("Orange tree roads", "You weren't there", "Someone like Jesus", "Leeds road 3am", "Snelsmore wood": true NMA classics!!),"Between wine and blood" (i like all the 6 tracks!!) and i like "Between dog and wolf" too (a few "fillers" but also some very good songs: "March in September", "seven times", "i need more time", "pull the sun", etc)
"Winter" is maybe the one i like the least despite some good tracks here and there ("born feral", "strogoula", "burn the castle", "winter")
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I think there's really something special in that album. When it was released it felt somehow like the NMA had been incarnated or something like that. With full of emotion, new songs, themes, energy and all that. And after that I've felt they're really keeping going ever since. Wired is really a great opener, No Mirror No Shadow a top track, and actually I think Rivers is a song that should still be in their gig lists. Bloodsports brings always a similar feeling as Bad Old World does. Lovely album. :)
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If im not mistaken its Marshall's first album. I do think he adds a heavier rock sound to the band. Really rate him. Maybe its his influences, changing the creative input. Fantastic album that changed the direction after SB and carnival. Although to my mind every album builds on the last.
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I do think he adds a heavier rock sound to the band. Really rate him.
Totally agree with this - think it changed the dynamics a whole lot.
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this is why this band is stunning. because keeping it in the underground in the end they always made great music. I cannot recall anything which I trulyt do not like beside some cheesy choruses in Between Wine and Blood. Every time is the same. With every album. So I prefer to wait for years and then listen and read something worth the money and the time. and it is has been like that since I am 18 and <i am 44. Plus a few more things I have in common with the band and Justin especially. We both studied at the same university (but he stopped and never finish his BA in Peace Studies in Bradford because of the band.....), I love Bradford too where i Lived one year and my wife several years for her Phd (same university and same department). We met Justin and Joolz there the first time many years ago and since then we are in touch or we meet after gigs, I mean,,,,,,,,,,,this is not justa band. This is like family to me.
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I cannot recall anything which I trulyt do not like beside some cheesy choruses in Between Wine and Blood.
Which cheesy choruses? ;)
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I cannot recall anything which I trulyt do not like beside some cheesy choruses in Between Wine and Blood.
Which cheesy choruses? ;)
According to You and Sunrise ;)
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Cliff's bass playing was awesome, a truly talented, sadly missed player. I was lucky to see him play a few times and met him a St Georges Hall in 86! He was dead 3 weeks later..........
Metallica actually rescued NMA when their bus broke down in Canada or Northern America. Gave them a lift to the services so they didn't freeze to death. I'll try n find the clipping........
did you find the clipping about Metallica saving NMA?
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Blimey Guillaume, thats an old one !
I admire your attempts to revive the forum, but at the same time, an album title springs to mind ---
The Love of Hopeless Causes !!!
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Blimey Guillaume, thats an old one !
I admire your attempts to revive the forum, but at the same time, an album title springs to mind ---
The Love of Hopeless Causes !!!
https://board.newmodelarmy.org/index.php?topic=8615.msg184333#msg184333 ;) ;)