The official NMA board
General Category => New Model Army => Topic started by: jackroadkill on January 21, 2015, 06:05:26 PM
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Following some heated debate on various threads as to what is the best / your favourite song / album / cover, how about which part of NMA's back catalogue do you feel is the most under-rated album and why?
I'll start by saying that in my eyes it's probably B-Sides And Abandoned Tracks. Okay, so it's not really intended as an album in the conventional sense, but for me it shows a breadth of songwriting that I am pleasantly surprised by every time I listen to it. Favourite tracks from it are Courage, Marry The Sea and Drummy B.
I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of other members.
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I like some songs of B sides but in all im not over keen on the album. It doesnt really inspire me or give me the head bang/foot tapping that all others do. At a stretch id say SB or Carnival. I dont think theyre universally fan favourites, but they fit in with the musical history of the band. Not my personal favourites but I appreciate them for some pretty decent tracks.
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Always thought "Strange Brotherhood" is under rated, and sadly often picked as peoples least fave NMA album.
Was discussed as such in this old thread --
http://board.newmodelarmy.org/index.php?topic=8031.0
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Tricky to answer as don't know others opinions
I'm gonna agree with that fine chap mr shush and say Strange Brotherhood as well as mentioned in some other recent thread you really need to hear the songs played live then go back to it to appreciate even more I know its had its knocks but I really like gigabyte wars i suppose the same thing applies to Carnival
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What I've seen, I think people talk quite rarely about the EMI releases such as All of This - The Live Rarities or even White Coats EP. Well surely not in the day those classics were released but nowadays as there's no longer any profit the band could get from them because of the greedy, wiley bastards EMI are.
However, the live recording on the album is a total cracker of course.
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Another vote for Strange Brotherhood or Carnival... in fact, I've been listening to Carnival rather a lot lately...
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"Raw Melody Men"
Can be enjoyed straight through and many of the songs on this live album are better than the studio versions ("Lurhstaap," for instance).
And a big yes to "B-sides." Some of NMA's best work is on that album. "Ten Commandments," "Prison," "Drummy (Billy McCann)," Modern Times," "Courage"....b-sides? Man, those songs would probably have been the best songs on any proper NMA album they would have appeared on.
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Justin has always joked about how some of their best songs were b-sides...
See also Suede, Oasis and The Manic Street Preachers... so much good stuff that people who didn't buy singles let pass them by...
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And a big yes to "B-sides." Some of NMA's best work is on that album. "Ten Commandments," "Prison," "Drummy (Billy McCann)," Modern Times," "Courage"....b-sides? Man, those songs would probably have been the best songs on any proper NMA album they would have appeared on.
Yea I agree. I don't own their singles or maxi singles but have well realized what a miss it is. On "B-Sides" there are numerous superb hits following each other. And about DrummyB; I can't remember who but someone here described it well by calling that "ever-haunting DrummyB".
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High and Carnival.
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I'd go with Carnival. It's one of my all-time favourites that often gets slammed.
I really love every song on that album and can't understand why so many people hate it. (Unlike BDAW which I also love but I can see clearly why it doesn't work for some people).
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My vote goes for "Eight" because if i remember well the reviews were more or less mixed among the fan base when the album was released...or am i wrong? ;)
If only for "You weren't there", "Orange tree roads", "Someone like Jesus", "Snelsmore wood" and "Leeds road 3AM".
I could have chose "High" but i remember reading mostly very good reviews about it in 2007, so, not really "underrated"...
And a big yes to "B-sides." Some of NMA's best work is on that album. "Ten Commandments," "Prison," "Drummy (Billy McCann)," Modern Times," "Courage"....b-sides? Man, those songs would probably have been the best songs on any proper NMA album they would have appeared on.
Very true, it' s a wonderful compilation of songs, i especially love "Marry the sea", "Drummy B", "Prison", "Modern times"...honestly many songs on this album are as good as their A sides!
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Carnival ... Which for me is one of their very best albims
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Eight is one of the best NMA albums in my opinion.
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Eight is one of the best NMA albums in my opinion.
Second that
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I think I'd probably go with Eight too. If my aging weed addled brain recalls correctly it was written and recorded in a really short space of time and was almost a "polished demo" kind of thing. Certainly it somehow doesn't feel like a long time coming crafted piece of work - maybe there was a need to react against the difficult birth of Strange Brotherhood ? But I ******* love it and think it stand comparison with any of the more often cited "classic NMA" albums but somehow it has become a kind of "forgotten" album.
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Yes, I am surprised that Eight could be considered underrated. It's a great album one that I think Justin said at the time was a 'rebirth in his song writing' or something and it really sounds like this to me.
I had fallen from the path of righteousness after Impurity, probably by being a teenager and discovering lots of new music/drugs at this time. Hearing Eight from an ex brought me back to the fold and I've been hooked again ever since. Any album with Orange tree roads on has to be a winner!
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It's a great album one that I think Justin said at the time was a 'rebirth in his song writing' or something and it really sounds like this to me.
I remember Justin saying in an interview during the album's release that "Eight" was a bit like "The ghost of Cain", a kind of simple, direct album...unlike "Strange brotherhood".
"Eight" really brought back what i liked in NMA's early albums: simple, effective catchy melodies and chorus, full of love for life and vitality...a later album like "High" was like that too.
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Couldn't agree more Gulliaume, especially with regards to High - bleeding great album that!
Saying that though I think I also need the other side of the coin like Carnival/Wine and blood.
Each of these kinds of albums feed each other somehow.
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At a stretch id say SB or Carnival. I dont think theyre universally fan favourites, but they fit in with the musical history of the band. Not my personal favourites but I appreciate them for some pretty decent tracks.
Both albums have a bit grown on me over these last years...
"Carnival" i really liked it back in 2005/2006, then i became a bit bored by it especially when the fantastic "High" was released...then i listened to it these last months and "BD 3"..."Red earth", "Too close to the sun", "Another imperial day", "Fireworks night"...very good songs.
"Strange brotherhood"...i didn't like too much first time i bought it, aside from the cool opening song "wonderful way to go"...i found the album overall lacked coherence, punch, too many different styles on it, sometimes clumsy and dull...but then i listened to it again these last years...and "Aimless desire", "Killing", "No pain", "Long goodbye" and especially "Headlights"...fine tracks!
So in every NMA album, even the weakest, there are always gems to be found..