NMA... as good as they ever were?

[Master Ray]

So... as a longterm fan of NMA (20 years plus!), I want to put a question out there with a silly opinion of mine.

I really, genuinely, think that NMA are putting their best music out there right now.  'High' and 'Today Is A Good Day' are bloody amazing albums.  Looking forwards to the new one!  I'll go one further... I think those two albums are better than what you might call the 'classic' albums... we all know what albums I'm talking about. Again, my silly little opinion.

My question is... is there any other band out there that are putting out the best music of their lives after so many years?  I mean, we've all got our favourites from back in the day and they're putting out new music and we buy the albums and go to the gigs... but, deep down, we know the new stuff is a bit crap and we're only there for the old stuff...

I'd love to hear about a band who are still amazing after 30 years...

 

[Stoney]

Not quite in the same musical sphere, but MACHINE HEAD are as strong or stronger than they were in the first couple of releases. The Blackening is a masterful display of metal/thrash....... Call it what ya like.
The latest GBH cd is another really really good release...... Unlike Rancid who've got totally bogged down in their own hype........
KILLING JOKE are still a force to be reconed with. The last cd took a few spins, but it's a slow burner.......... 

[ChristianS]

I was first intoduced to NMA by their POTPs appearance.  Bought the single shortly after (NRFTW - I was 13 at the time...).  I think I 1st saw them with Moose Harris, around 1987, then again Reading Festival 91/92? - I saw them sparodically over the years but I thought the band 'gelled' with the Michael, Dean, Nelson, Marshall line-up.  Haven't seen the new line-up, but watching them over the years, I thought (personally! - Justin seemed more confortable with the line-up, I just listed.) - That is not by any means to say the rest of the musicians were of 'rubbish', just seemed a  better line-up, when I last saw them.  I have also just back off a 3-hour train journey and may be waffleing 'bo[[ocks'! - but that is my opinon and you are entitled to agree/disagree/comment!

[Master Ray]

Stoney, I LOVE Machine Head!  Went through a big metal phase in the mid 90's, quite a few of those bands aren't going anymore or have become shadows of their former selves, but MH sound better than ever.  Haven't seen them in a few years, to my shame, but 'The Blackening' was awesome.

ChristianS, don't know much about GBH but I've liked a lot of Killing Joke stuff over the years and I have to say I've fallen out of touch with them.  Deffo something to investigate!  I was thinking about seeing KJ when they were doing that tour with The Cult and The Mission recently... but, let's face it, those two bands were exactly what I was talking about in my original post, and I used to love both of them.  But your comment about the NMA line-up..?  I agree completely.

Anyone got anything else?

[lupus225]

David Eugene Edwards of Wovenhand / 16 Horsepower is getting better and better with each new album.
I went to their gig in Hamburg this year, and it was one of the best gigs I EVER saw...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLUUcMKZ4z0&playnext=1&list=PL90C99895E65CFB97&feature=results_video

[Guillaume]

I think those two albums are better than what you might call the 'classic' albums... we all know what albums I'm talking about.

I think that "Thunder and consolation" and "The ghost of Cain" are NMA's best albums...ever.
My favorite era from the band is from "The ghost of Cain" to "The love of hopeless causes" included, "Thunder and consolation" being of course NMA's Gem among the gems!
After that, it is slightly more uneven, but of course there are still great tracks on each album...from the last era my fav album is "High", really good album from start to finish...also "Eight" is quite beautiful.

[Pumpkin]

I agree with Guillaume. I'm also not quite 'into' a lot of the newer material in the same way and it hasn't exactly grown on me with time. Much of the earlier stuff was an automatic hit right from the word go, and still sounds great today. 

As for bands still amazing after 30 odd years - Rush, The Church, Dead Can Dance. Saw the latter recently and they were better than in their 'heyday' - not an easy task either. 

And just for Guillaume - Indochine!  Well, the latter albums are better!! 

[Barty]

I think NMA are as good as they ever were - but I love equally all of their line ups. I don't think they're better now than they ever were - just different - but equally outstanding. I love the early raw, lead bass sound of Vengeance and NRftW just as much as the fuller band sound of TiaGD - and every stage and album in between.

I've followed them live for 22 years now and still look forward to seeing them now as much as I did back on the Impurity Tour....there's a defintie 'magic' for me about their gigs. For other bands I'll often try to sneak an extra pint in the pre-gig pub and risk missing the start of the gig - but never for NMA.

I still eagerly anticipate each new release and they never let me down musically, artisitically or as a live act.....something I can't honestly say for any of the other 10 or so bands I really love. The most consistently brilliant band on the planet, for me.

[Guy]

I think the reason the NMA remain exciting is they firstly never stopped playing unlike all those cringe-worthy comebacks that we have seen elsewhere. Secondly unlike my second favourite band (Killing Joke) they have never produced a shit album. Even EIGHT has some great unmissable tracks on it.

As the for the more recent stuff I firmly believe that some of their best material has been produced more recently. States Radio, LA Push, One of the Chosen and Dawn all make it into my top 20. The gigs may have blown my mind more when I was a spotty 20 year old following the band for the first time on the Impurity tour. But that is down to age and experience rather than the quality of the music.

I just can't think of a better excuse for going deaf...

[Darkness]

My fave bands have mostly been going for many years and I still get excited by new releases, here are a few names... HAWKWIND, NEUROSIS, UK SUBS (new album out next year and after a few barren years in the late 80's early 90's have been releasing excellent albums since Normal Service Resumed - Quintessentials & Riot were as good as anything they did in the 70's and early 80's), KILLING JOKE, IRON MAIDEN & I'm sure a few others that at the moment I can't think of...
I just got hold of the new OI POLLOI album, not listened to it yet, but I have high hopes for some good rabble rousing anarcho punk...
Oh yeah, MOTORHEAD... still get me after all these years even if their albums all sound the same nowadays. Love Lemmy...

[Stoney]

. The gigs may have blown my mind more when I was a spotty 20 year old following the band for the first time on the Impurity tour. But that is down to age and experience rather than the quality of the music.

I just can't think of a better excuse for going deaf...

There's a few of us still here from 90, and it seems we are much the same in the opinion stakes too! 

[Master Ray]

I think NMA are as good as they ever were - but I love equally all of their line ups. I don't think they're better now than they ever were - just different - but equally outstanding. I love the early raw, lead bass sound of Vengeance and NRftW just as much as the fuller band sound of TiaGD - and every stage and album in between.

I've followed them live for 22 years now and still look forward to seeing them now as much as I did back on the Impurity Tour....there's a defintie 'magic' for me about their gigs. For other bands I'll often try to sneak an extra pint in the pre-gig pub and risk missing the start of the gig - but never for NMA.

Sir, those are exactly the words I was trying to find when I posted my original message! Thank you!  And if I sound a bit dismissive about the older stuff, it is not out of disdain, it's just that I have spun those CD's so many thousands of times that I can pretty much play them in my head without touching a CD player.  I want new NMA sounds in my head!  Which is why I'm so excited about the new album...

I still eagerly anticipate each new release and they never let me down musically, artisitically or as a live act.....something I can't honestly say for any of the other 10 or so bands I really love. The most consistently brilliant band on the planet, for me.

[Bill B]

Agree with Guy about age and experience and the early days. I've been following since 87 and those first gigs just blew my teenage mind. But equally, the gigs of 2009, 2010, 2011 made a massive impact on the 40-something me. JS's lyrics reach out to me just as much now as they ever did, just in different ways and from different perspectives. TIAGD for me is possibly their best ever album. As I grow older, JS and the band grows older and the evolving sound is something I can constantly relate to. For me, where I am right now, they are as good as they have ever been.

[Guillaume]

Dead Can Dance. Saw the latter recently and they were better than in their 'heyday' - not an easy task either. 
And just for Guillaume - Indochine!  Well, the latter albums are better!!

I'd like to see DCD live...Lisa Gerrard, what an amazing voice she has!!...i loved her soundtrack for the  great Michael Mann movie, "The Insider".
About Indochine, yeah "Paradize" is a pretty good album, but i like some of their naive early tracks too.

[Hughie]

I'd say that Therapy?  still put out some really good new material.  I've really enjoyed their last two albums.  There's a couple on each that I'm not as keen on but then that's the same for me with NMA albums.

H