Why Didn't New Model Army Ever Become Big?

[Heno]

i just think its incredible that anyone would place the beatles on such a pedestal when there was so much more going in music before, during and after them. if you look back at the charts they weren't so dominant.

i'm just glad their scouse accents didn't come across in the songs. always struggled to watch there version of spiceworld 

[JohnnyM]

Its an interesting quetsion - is it all subjective? What music you like is obviously very subjective and the result of countless different reasons. But its probably easier to be objective about artistic value. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many people who thought Steps had the same artistic merit as John Coltrane - but then again I dont think John Coltrane would get many mid 90s school disco dancefloors moving!

As for the Beatles - album sales, musicologists, historians, sociologists, and just about any other measure of worth & importance you can think of have constistently  put them as the most important group ever. You may not personally like them, but to say they arent the biggest band ever is contradicted by a huge weight of evidence. I personally dont really care for Bob Dylan - but i'd be foolish to deny his artistic & historical worth.

Anyway - can we get back to New Model Army...

[Darkness]

For the first decade of the 2000s, you know who the biggest selling band in the world was? Uhh, it was The Beatles. Wasn't U2, wasn't Metallica, errr, wasn't New Model Army. The band that sold the most records in the '00s was a band that broke up 45 years ago.

I thought it was Eminem that sold the most records in the 00s. The Beatles had the biggest selling album.

[Space]

Darkness,
I specifically said Beatles were best selling band of the '00s. Eminem sold more records than any solo artist...and he did sell slightly more than The Beatles. That's embarrassing as hell to any musical artists of that time. You are competing against a band that broke up forty years ago and you can't win?!? Only Eminem out sold The Beatles for that decade. Incredible power that band stil has.

Johnny M,
Great post.
I agree. To dismiss something simply because you don't like it is rather absurd. Borders on childish.
And you are right, enough Beatles, let's get back to New Model Army.


I see a huge connection between NMA and The Beatles. NMA's use of both electric and acoustic guitars, well, what band started that and did it better than anyone else? Can you emphatically state that NMA's acoustic tunes are better than their electric or vice versa? No. Equally great. Beatles pulled off that trick fifty years ago. They seemlessly went from an acoustic track to an electric.  New Model Army do the same and are carrying on that wonderful groundwork The Beatles laid down.

[Heno]

wow, incredible knowledge of music on display here

i suppose the factor that goes against the beatles is that their new compilations boosted their sales by almost 50%. but i guess there are a lot of people that prefer convenience than death by searching their collection

think i'd even plug for m&m before the beatles. happy to say i've never bought or owned anything by either. the odd decent track

[Anna Woman von NRW]

And you are right, enough Beatles, let's get back to New Model Army.

Phew! Oh sorry my mistake (must learn to read properly) there's more
 

I see a huge connection between NMA and The Beatles.

[Heno]

aha, missed that

but the neck on this lad

Borders on childish.

how does it go


pot

kettle

black

[peternotbaldyet]

Vengeance scared people. It took on a life of its own and unless you were a fan, you only ever heard the chorus. People saw a right wing  monster unable to express itself other than through the use of perceived bad language. And then they did Christian Militia on telly. Again, a song whose sentiments can be misunderstood unless you listen carefully. And then they did No Rest on telly, live with that t shirt. So then, they were difficult as well as perceived not very nice. Everything they could have done wrong....

[JohnnyM]

Vengeance scared people. It took on a life of its own and unless you were a fan, you only ever heard the chorus. People saw a right wing  monster unable to express itself other than through the use of perceived bad language. And then they did Christian Militia on telly. Again, a song whose sentiments can be misunderstood unless you listen carefully. And then they did No Rest on telly, live with that t shirt. So then, they were difficult as well as perceived not very nice. Everything they could have done wrong....

Thats quite a common theme on many of the posts on this thread - but NMA did end up quite popular by the early 90s - so I'm not sure it holds up

[Intothewind]

Vengeance scared people. It took on a life of its own and unless you were a fan, you only ever heard the chorus. People saw a right wing  monster unable to express itself other than through the use of perceived bad language. And then they did Christian Militia on telly. Again, a song whose sentiments can be misunderstood unless you listen carefully. And then they did No Rest on telly, live with that t shirt. So then, they were difficult as well as perceived not very nice. Everything they could have done wrong....

Thats quite a common theme on many of the posts on this thread - but NMA did end up quite popular by the early 90s - so I'm not sure it holds up

They did become more popular in the early 90's but they just we're not as 'POPPY' as say the Levellers (see One way). No matter how big they nearly got NMA always felt out of the mainsteam and not as easy as (yes again!) someone like the Levellers.

[Heno]

so they stayed true to their beliefs

not saying thats the only reason but it must contribute

there were enough decent pliable and gullible bands to serve as fodder for the labels

[Space]

Vengeance scared people. It took on a life of its own and unless you were a fan, you only ever heard the chorus. People saw a right wing  monster unable to express itself other than through the use of perceived bad language. And then they did Christian Militia on telly. Again, a song whose sentiments can be misunderstood unless you listen carefully. And then they did No Rest on telly, live with that t shirt. So then, they were difficult as well as perceived not very nice. Everything they could have done wrong....

This is very good. Great post.

Yeah, NMA may have reached a level of popularity, but because of what peternotbaldyet wrote, the band was NEVER going to be big. First impressions are lasting impressions and the danger early New Model Army posed pigeon-holed them forever. Do you think the band Crass can ever big big? Ever be selling out the Garden, picture on the cover of Rolling Stone, sitting down to chat with Ellen Degeneres on her TV show, playing the MTV video awards show? Of course not. Same thing for NMA. Those early songs and appearances ensured they would never be big.

[Heno]

i'd say the worst part of being a troll is when you run out of ideas and in seeps the realisation that you're not going get the gratification you desire.

fuckwit