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
