Was NMA an "immediate" band for you?

[Darkness]

Immediate for me. I heard 'Bittersweet' on John Peel. Totally blew me away, didn't buy anything though until 'Vengeance', I was hooked by then. Struggled though with the 2nd LP when I heard tracks on Janice Long's show. My mate bought it for me, soon as I got it home I loved it...
I didn't like 'Strange Brotherhood' when it came out, took me ages to get into it...

[Mardukas]

Absolutely!!
T&C blew me away,especially 225 and I love the world.
Amazing powers in that record.

[onetwothree]

I was introduced to NMA with T&C, back then when they were close to being popstars, but what really got me hooked was the radio sessions. Since then, there were songs on every album I listened to again and again from the start (I remember 'someone like jesus', I first got a ripped promo in mp3 that sounded like justin was singing through a telephone and I just _loved_ it), others that took a while to get used to. And funny enough, its not like now I just like the ones that took some time and I'm sick of the earcatchers. I think NMA is one of the very few bands that does that for me, I can listen to any of their songs 1000+ times and still not getting tired of it. Its a miracle, really.

[CROWMAN]

My first single i brought was Better than them EP and that got me Hooked and at that time i was following Ghost dance ,misson ,cult and meet a lot of people who were folling NMA around so i got a season ticket for Impurity 90 tour and never looked back.I lost touch in late 90s than got back in to the band 2006,I like the High album and and look forward to Listen to new stuff,for me Nma are still one of the bast Live bands out there,and still get a buzz! from see them Play LIVE,and not many of todays New bands do that for me.

[Impuri-D]

Instant and profound love. 15 years old (1990), stoned out of my mind, and my mate puts 'Nothing Touches' on, really loudly, while we are all crashed out. Changed my life. Had the entire back catalogue to that point within 2 months, and loved it all.

To this day, the only release by NMA that I had trouble 'getting' was the Majority of the 'Carnival' album, which took a few months of solid play for me to warm to.

[BillyMcann]

I attended a gig in Keighley very early on, maybe the Victoria (as MagdeburgDave), the funny thing is I cannot really recall any songs sticking out from that gig that got me hooked, it was the obvious passion that got my attention, I then started buying singles and EP's and it did not take long. I think Frightened and Ambition really sold them to me. I too struggled getting into the Eight album, Strange Brotherhood I liked straight away, and still do, Eight took some playing before I started to like it.

I do notice from this thread that quite a few people kind of backed off from the band for a while but are now just as ardent as they once where, I had the same experience, I stopped going to gigs for a period of 18 months or so, not for any particular reason, I just kind of stopped, I think I heard Great Expectations playing somewhere and realised that I needed to see them live again, I still need to see them live as much as possible.   

[Brian-DC]

I kinda backed off for a bit as well.  Saw them live a few times, bought everything, loved it all but when Strange Brotherhood came out, it didn't have the impact on me that the other albums had (that, and I was heavily into metal at the time).  It was just different priorities (musically speaking).  I picked up Eight during that time but that album couldn't bring me back either......and it didn't help that the band didn't tour the US for 12 years either. 

But when they came finally DID come back, all it took was the hearing first 20 seconds of "Orange Tree Roads" (the opening song) for the madness to begin all over again.  A HUGE smile on my face the whole night.  That night really was a revelation for me and my wife.  We met a few people from this board and they talked us into going to the next city to see them again and that's where we finally understood what the "family" was.  I mean, I read about it but coming from a metal background where you didn't really WANT to meet most of the people around you, I never really go it.  But that night, man, I loved everything they played, I loved all the people we met and I just felt..... alive.  And because of that one night, we have seen more of our own country that we ever would have on our own following them around coast to coast (and since then, we've even crossed the pond and saw them in several different countries).  It's hard to image how different my life would be now if we didn't go to that one show.  And of course I'm obsessed more than ever.  hahahaha!

[MARKXE]

Yes without doubt.
 It was 1984 and living in Murton a pit village times were torrid, hate and desperation filled the hearts of everyone despite the brave faces on the picket lines, I remember my father with his head in his hands tears rolling down his cheeks, cheeks that had never looked so clean in years. This was a year I had been looking forward too as I was leaving school in the summer, however life and its future had suddenly turned into a very bleak and dark time. I was a punk, mad on The Exploited, Test tube babies, Blitz, Crass etc I was angry enough without Thatcher destroying what little we had. One day a mate came round and brought a single with him, a band called New Model Army, I put it on the turntable and we listened to 1984 and it blew me away because it was what was happening, it was a song about ME. about me, my parents, friends, neighbours my god it blew me away. Somebody outside of our village knew exactly what was going on. This was a different kind of music to what I normally listened to, this had a heart and soul I needed to hear more.
 Vengeance sealed it for me, that album opened my eyes, Stuart Morrows playing was on another level, I had always liked JJ Burnell however there was a new king in town, Rob Heatons drums were not being hit at a million miles an hour, there was a real rhythm and tempo, and then there was Slade the Leveller, who was this man, to me he was the new messiah, every lyric was heartfelt and full of passion, everytime I heard a song any song I was there, it was like being in a little film set, I could always close my eyes and I was there, nothing had ever sounded or felt like this. I first saw NMA in Sunderland later that year, never before had I been sleepless leading up to a gig. I was utterly stunned when they came on stage, that bass was spine tingeling, drums mesmerising and Mr Leveller was an angry preacher, every single word had such venom and passion. Wattie was an impressive frontman but he had just been dealt to the bottom of my pack by a man in clogs with no mohican or studs this was me hooked.
Nothing and nobody has ever come close, not even slightly.

[crispian]

Heard GofC in the record shop,bought it and never looked back...there's never really bin any feeling of dissappointment in any of the albums...strange brotherhood happened to come when I really needed to hear an album like that and I'd bin waiting for a good recording of No Pain and Over the Wire for ages it seemed...
That's how I am with a lot of bands tho,I think...if I love them,I love them and unless they really change their stance or their attitude,I always want to hear what they do...especially if it's a bit different everytime...can't bear formulaic bands.
There is a familiar 'crunch' to their sound now(for the last 2 or maybe 3 albums)which I really like but,for me,hasn't got the range and air of unpredictability that all great bands have,not to say that I love the music any less,just find they are one of many bands who I have lots of time for,instead of THE one band who speak to me more than any other.
I'll always love the music,but I would love to hear another Justin solo album at the moment more than another NMA one...

[Red]

A mate of mine played me GOC and thoroughly enjoyed it and about a fortnight later NMA played at Rock City Feb 87.

Been totally hooked since even used to take weeks off work to hitch around in the days when it was OK to do it and follow them all over.

Did the full White Coats tour including the 2 out of 3 warm up dates(Aberdeen got cancelled)took me 2 days to get home also did the full Impurity tour and loads and loads since.

Bought everything i can get my hands on,the missus doesn't understand when she sees that I've got 8 copies of vengeance on vinyl that are imports etc,she says they're all the same,I've tried explaining thatb they're not but it doesn't work.

The 30th Anniversary gigs were excellent but one of my all time faves was at the Windsor Baths in Bradford and also at Josephs Well when it was Michaels first gig and I stood next to his parents who seemed to be blown away by the passion of the band and of course all the fans

I'm lucky that the missus is also a fan,she's from Essex but went ti Uni in Bradford and Kiss Army who used to do the lighting  for NMA was a good mate of hers

Long may this continue

[Stoney]

we must've crossed paths dozens of times by now mate...... Windsor Baths was a fantastic gig!!!!! The Queens Hall gigs are standouts aswell. I still have a sinking feeling to know I missed Joseph's Well..... Heard whispers but was away by then and never pursued it...... I'd dropped off the map pretty much after Hopless Causes gig wise........ Woulda loved to have been there to support Michael more than owt. He's a really decent bloke and there's no one better to fill the drum stool........

[wilf]

No. It took about three years to get me hooked. I saw them at the Hummingbird in Brum in 1993 for the first time (I was living in England at the time) but left halfway through the gig. I know how sacrilegous this sounds but I was heavily jet-lagged having just come back from a holiday in the states. I took LOHC and History back to Austria and started listening properly. So by the time I went to Bizarre '96 I had bought the rest of the back catalogue and was well and truly hooked. I still think that SB is a great album simply because it was the first one I had been waiting for to be released.

The rest is history. I have seen them about 28 times over the years and use the songs in my English classes. My students might not like all the songs but they appreciate Justin's lyrics because they cover so many topics and bring some light relief to my otherwise predictable lessons. When I got to talk to Justin last year, he promised to come to my school one day to talk to the students. It would be great if this were to happen. Time will tell.

[burningark]

my girlfreind at the time was into the early stuff , i was more goth/metal and not into polotics so didnt take much notice of the songs - until we split up and i started to take notice . my new girlfreind was all goth so i had to buy  GHOST OF CAIN  on tape and listern with my headphones on - from that moment i was hooked - the girls have gone but  NMA are still here with me

[Belza]

it was what was happening, it was a song about ME. about me, my parents, friends, neighbours my god it blew me away.

That's one of the things that make the band mean so much to me.  So many songs seemed to be about me and my life.  When 1984 came out you are right.  I was (and still do) living in a pit village called Ashington in Northumberland and it was an account of what we saw daily.  When Green and Grey came out all my mates were moving away to college and for jobs, The Hunt and a mate of mine was in a bad way with drugs etc. etc. etc.  There's always something there that resonates, that means something special.

[archway]

it was what was happening, it was a song about ME. about me, my parents, friends, neighbours my god it blew me away.

That's one of the things that make the band mean so much to me.  So many songs seemed to be about me and my life.  When 1984 came out you are right.  I was (and still do) living in a pit village called Ashington in Northumberland and it was an account of what we saw daily.  When Green and Grey came out all my mates were moving away to college and for jobs, The Hunt and a mate of mine was in a bad way with drugs etc. etc. etc.  There's always something there that resonates, that means something special.

Very true, I connected straight away with the lyrics.