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General Category => New Model Army => Topic started by: Guillaume on September 23, 2013, 02:02:00 PM
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After the "Your reviews" thread, let's dig deeper about the content of this brillant album and pick your 5 favourite best songs and explain why you chose them, if possible ;)
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Aw, you just HAD to do that, didn't you... ;)
Does it have to be in order, 1-5? Can't do that right now, mate. So here it is in no particuarlar order...
Did You Make It Safe?
Lean Back And Fall
Stormclouds
Between Dog And Wolf
Quasel Nil Bridge
Funny how those songs I loved, the ones I got on Youtube, didn't make the final cut of my top 5...
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In no particular order:
Seven Times - the melody and lyrics, Ceri's basslines and the simplicity of Marshall's strums
March in September - the drumline, the melody, equally great verses and chorus. Even better live.
Knievel - just beautiful, moving and for me it's just the right length - and what a great last line.
Pull the Sun - hypnotic and powerful. I love the melody too.
I Need More Time - a classic builder....Ceri's basswork towards the end really makes the song.
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Seven Times - such a lovely NMA song, strong melody, moving lyrics, great bass break
Horsemen - this stuck in my head after doing Pompey, Northants and Sheffield in May and was fortunate enough to have a brilliant bootleg to play on repeat a week later and for a lot of the rest of the summer
Knievel - instant classic; just beautiful, a classic JS ballad like he does so well
Storm Clouds - this one is an arms in the air mosh classic in the making, I think it will be wicked live as they won't be able to mix Marshall down enough on the road ; ~ D
Summer Moors - simply cos I just love those JS ballads; await louder acoustic guitar in the mix on the road
Getting there with this album, suggest it will be a grower, not only that but it may grow to outdo some of its raunchier predecessors
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Very hard to pick at this early stage but here you go:
Qasr el Nil bridge - Just wonderful on so many levels. A standout track for me. I love the cinematic aspect of this album. I could lose myself in it.
Did you make it safe - Mesmerizing. Love the hypnotic drum rhythm, the chanting and the way it draws you in more and more as it builds.
Ghosts - I really love all these percussion driven songs. Another song that takes you to a different place.
Lean back and fall - A perfect, beautiful love song
Pull in the sun - Love the rhythm and the chorus.
Was that already my five. I could go on. It would be a lot easier for me to pick the songs that don't work so well for me as those are far fewer. But that would be such a negative thing to do to an album as fantastic as this one.
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Did you Make it Safe hypnotic
Seven Times this was my favourite track on first few listens.
Qasr El Nil Bridge A thing of beauty. So different and yet one of their best songs ever.
Lean Back and Fall got this on at the moment. It broods
Ghosts Just beautiful.
If this album grabs you, it won't let go easy.
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I Need More Time - Ceri's basswork towards the end really makes the song.
Indeed, it adds nice drama and despair to this anxious, angst ridden song.
I also like Ceri's work in "Seven times", distorted/saturated bass at the end of the song.
My 5 favorite songs in the album's order:
"March in September": i like the intro with drum and Hammond orgue (?), the lyrics are great and touching, the chorus is catchy, the Marshall guitar solo at the end adds to the flavour and i also like Ceri's bass...kind of epic, vintage lovely NMA song.
"Seven times": another great song, the lyrics are so touching again, Sullivan's voice full of passion, Ceri's bass work is very effective, and Michael's drumming is so groovy,it makes you want to shake your booty ha ha
Both songs being the more easy on the ears songs on the whole album i think, classic NMA stuff.
"Did you make it safe?": i like the drama, the gravita, there's a powerful sense of loneliness here...
"I need more time": this one...the drum and bass work from Michael and Ceri is very groovy and hypnotic, the lyrics are very "creepy"/chilling, the end of the song is great, very desperate, a big pay off after the build and again very effective work from Ceri.
"Qasr El Nil Bridge"/"Pull the sun":
"Qasr El Nil Bridge"...This one is an unsual, great set-piece...it makes me think of a movie, maybe David Lean movie shot in Cinemascope...the "chorus" elevates the song.
"Pull the sun" is also great and haunting, with its soft vibe, again i like the drum and bass intro, it reminds me some of "progressive" works of Peter Gabriel...a trippy, quiet song to listen a night while driving...
Others fine songs on the album:
"Horsemen": this song is a nice way to set the album's texture, rythmic obssession...can be repetitive and boring for some but i think the chanting, voices and horns are quite captivating...cool opener!
"Between dog and wolf":
i thought first it was an average NMA song too close to "Blue Beat for example but many listens after i like the way it is written and played, lots of breaks, haunting keyboards, nice chanting from Sullivan, etc)
"Knievel": Raw and pretty...a bit too short maybe...it's not in the same league than NMA's most heartbreaking acoustic songs i think but it's good.
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Which are your fav lyrics on the album?
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Top 5 for me at the moment in no particular order
Seven Times
Did you make it safe
Knievel
Between Dog and Wolf
Qasr El Nil Bridge.
Seriously think these 5 songs are some of the best songs NMA have written,although Knievel ends a bit abruptly.
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My top 5 that could change:-
Knievel
Pull the sun
Stormclouds
Summermoors
Seven times
Just had a look at setlist from Manchester Academy 2009 and it looks like of the 20 songs 8 were from TIAGD. Will be interesting to see how many and which songs are played on forthcoming tour.
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Horsemen
Seven Times
Pull The Sun
Lean Back And Fall
Ghosts
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horsemen
march in sept
seven times
did you make it safe?
pull the sun
OR
knievel
bda wolf
q n bridge
summer moors
ghosts
OR
any mixture of 5 of the above lists
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After many enjoyable listens,
March in September
Seven Times
Did you Make it Safe?
Knievel
Between Dog and Wolf.
Fantastic album from a band still very much alive and kicking
Really looking forward to hearing them play some of the album live with the passion they always bring. ;)
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Updated response:
Pull the Sun (current fave)
Lean Back and Fall
Summer Moors
Qasr El Nil Bridge
Knievel
Probably change again come the weekend. ;)
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What already?
Couldn't say yet but may get back to ya later. Got an evening with nothing to do so I reckon a fair few plays through coming up.
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Horsemen
March in September
7 Times
Stormclouds
BDAW
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Right, I said I'd amend my decisions after a LOT of listens, so here's where it stands today...
Qasrlel Nil Bridge
Did You Make It Safe
Summer Moors
Stormclouds
Lean Back And Fall
This may change by this time next week...
;)
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I have to say I listened a lot to the album (admitting I've downloaded it before receiving my order, the child in me couldn't wait any longer).
I've mixed feeling about this album, but I don't really want to comment too much, the albums since eight (not included) took me some times before I really was able to appreciate (love) them. So I don't want to fully comment before, let's say, 3-4 years. The beginning of the album don't really works on me, but I'm already fond of some of them, so here they are in my preference order :
- Qasr El Nil Bridge
- Ghosts
- Between Dog And Wolf
- Pull The Sun
I like other songs obviously but those are the 4 that I really love. As I said, this is really subject to some possible (major ?) changes in the future (and after Paris gigs, NMA gigs are always the way to discover hidden treasures I didn't noticed in the first place).
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I don't really want to comment too much, the albums since eight (not included) took me some times before I really was able to appreciate (love) them. So I don't want to fully comment before, let's say, 3-4 years.
You're talking sense there mate ;) there's no way the first few plays of any song / album will necessarily match your opinion of it/them after 10 more plays.....100 more plays...etc. An example was Pull the Sun. I barely noticed it the first few times.....it was OK but nothing special. Now it's one of my favourite NMA songs...it takes time for the melody and intricacies to sink in and become familiar - that's when it gets you.
Only now, 4 years on, do I feel properly qualified to review TiaGD, for example. I remember one major UK music mag giving Nirvana's Nevermind something like 3/5. It actually admitted 10 years later what a mistake it had made. It also listed several other examples.
I always think music reviews should just describe the music, rather than give an opinion on whether it's any good - it's such a subjective and personal thing. To paraphrase JS, music's like food - it's useless telling people what they should / shouldn't like.
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Updated response:
Pull the Sun (current fave)
Lean Back and Fall
Summer Moors
Qasr El Nil Bridge
Knievel
Probably change again come the weekend. ;)
Yes, knew it was too soon to pick this list.
At the mo,
1-Summer Moors
2-Ghosts
3-Knievel
4-Seven Times
5- Any other song on the album !!
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Tomorrow came
lean back and fall
stormclouds
between dog and wolf
i need more time
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Tomorrow came
lean back and fall
stormclouds
between dog and wolf
i need more time
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Tomorrow came
lean back and fall
stormclouds
between dog and wolf
i need more time
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Today it's:
Pull the Sun
Qasr El Nil Bridge
Lean Back and Fall
Summer Moors
Ghosts
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Today it's:
Pull the Sun
Qasr El Nil Bridge
Lean Back and Fall
Summer Moors
Ghosts
We're on the same wave length. That's exactly the same songs I picked with the one I'm listening to at the time being my favourite.
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Great minds mate ;)
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Love 'em all ;D
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1. Tommorrow Came (can't believe this gem has only been mentioned once)
2. Knievel (love at first listen)
3. Summer Moors ("the pleasure that is in sorrow is sweeter than the pleasure of pleasure itself" PBS)
4. Qasr El Nil Bridge (this layered epic could well grow into my favourite)
5. Seven Times (yeah, I also concur with the early crowd favourite)
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Now after 2 weeks I can Finally pick my top 5 songs
1) March in September.
2) Lean back and Fall. ( Ta La La La) I cannot help but love this part and put a smiley to it.
3) Between Dog and Wolf.
4) Summermoors.
5) Ghosts.
8)
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ALL ALL ALL OF THEM
But I shiver most with March in September, Did you make it safe and a few others..........shivers.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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It's been fun to watch the posts since the release - now that I've had the chance to listen 20 odd times I feel I might almost be able to comment with some conviction.
So in no particular order (as of today anyway):
Pull the Sun - makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It's got a little of the Aimless Desire vibe, a song I can see Justin using to "cool down" the fans at live gigs.
Knievel - another one of those songs where Justin's lyrics open a window into human nature - I find myself thinking about this long after the track is over.
Qasr el Nil Bridge - this one's growing on me more with each listen. As with many tracks, I find myself in awe of Michael's drum rhythms; gorgeously complex, yet still with that driving NMA feel that's carried us all for decades.
Tomorrow Came - "pray God they'll forgive us", damn, there's the hair on the neck up again. I look across the room at my son and I could almost weep. These lyrics tear me apart.
Summer Moors - there's probably a ballad on every NMA album that I think I'll still be listening to years from now; this one's probably it.
That wasn't easy; it's a gorgeous album in it's entirety.
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I agree it's very hard to identify three or five tracks on the album that are favourites because the whole album is so good.
With most albums by any band there are always a couple of tracks that just don't do it but with this album I can honestly say that every track is excellent.
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Did You Make It Safe?
Lean Back And Fall
Knievel
BDAW
Stormclouds
Very much looking forward to hearing songs from the album live.
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Pull The Sun
Lean Back And Fall
Knieval
Between Dog And Wolf
Qasr El Nil Bridge
But it's really hard to choose as the whole album is stunning!!!!
Like Gizzard, i am really looking forward to hearing this album live...
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Pull The Sun
Lean Back And Fall
Knieval
Between Dog And Wolf
Qasr El Nil Bridge
But it's really hard to choose as the whole album is stunning!!!!
Like Gizzard, i am really looking forward to hearing this album live...
:-*
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Pull The Sun
Lean Back And Fall
Knieval
Between Dog And Wolf
Qasr El Nil Bridge
But it's really hard to choose as the whole album is stunning!!!!
Like Gizzard, i am really looking forward to hearing this album live...
:-*
;)
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Qasr El Nil Bridge
Tomorrow Came
Pull the Sun
Seven Times
Summer moors
Lean back and fall.
So, it's 6 not 5.
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Pointless because it changes constantly ...
Here goes:
KNIEVEL
DID YOU MAKE IT SAFE
BDAW
HORSEMEN
LEAN BACK AND FALL
I love them all and it TONORROW CAME AND QASI BRIDGE filter in ... It's a truly beautiful record !
TXP