BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF, 2 years on... how do you feel about it?

[Red]

Took me a while to get used to it but to be honest it's the album I play the most now along with BWAB.

Still play the older material but if I check my iPod I know that theses last 2 albums will definitely have the most plays

[Guillaume]

First half of the album, from "Horsemen" to "Pull the sun" included, is my favourite, very strong work here.

[Unruh]

I'm indiscriminate about NMA, and no mistake. I love all their albums. I think their ability to continue for 30 plus years and not release a single dud is singular in the history of rock n roll. No other band has done it that I can think of. As for BDAW, I admit I'm still working on that one. The drum sounds are a bit too prominent and claustrophobic-sounding for me. I think maybe the drums distract a bit from the songs which I would love to hear unplugged versions of. The upside of not yet wholly embracing the album is that I know I'll continue to listen to it and let it grow on me. The fact that NMA are exploring new approaches to their music is also a plus. They're doing it with focus and a solid idea of what they want, as opposed to flailing about in an attempt to remain relevant. That's one thing the New Model Army fan need ever fear. They will always be true to themselves and speak from the heart.

[Sheena]

I am late to this party, but here's my experience...  After seeing NMA at Bearded theory earlier this year, and despite asking for listening suggestions - which I ignored  - I have listened almost exclusively to BWAB.  I have been enjoying it so much I wasn't ready to move on to other material.  I love the power and strength of the music,  vocals and lyrics (which is obviously what I got at the live set)  Then I read this thread and realised I hadn't actually heard the studio version of the songs.  So i listened to BDAW.

**** ME!!!  I love it even more.  It has a completely different character; so much more brooding, claustrophobic (in places) and layered.  The drums give the songs an almost primal rhythm that feels like the beating heart of an animal, while the vocals touch me in places that strangers don't usually go...

Better stop, I might be over-sharing...

[Master Ray]

I am late to this party, but here's my experience...  After seeing NMA at Bearded theory earlier this year, and despite asking for listening suggestions - which I ignored  - I have listened almost exclusively to BWAB.  I have been enjoying it so much I wasn't ready to move on to other material.  I love the power and strength of the music,  vocals and lyrics (which is obviously what I got at the live set)  Then I read this thread and realised I hadn't actually heard the studio version of the songs.  So i listened to BDAW.

**** ME!!!  I love it even more.  It has a completely different character; so much more brooding, claustrophobic (in places) and layered.  The drums give the songs an almost primal rhythm that feels like the beating heart of an animal, while the vocals touch me in places that strangers don't usually go...

Better stop, I might be over-sharing...

Glad you loved it, Sheena!  And there's no such thing as over-sharing... well, perhaps the touching bit... 

Be so interested in your views on other albums, good or bad... you write so well!

[Sheena]

Glad you loved it, Sheena!  And there's no such thing as over-sharing... well, perhaps the touching bit... 

Be so interested in your views on other albums, good or bad... you write so well!

Haha!  Thank you.

Interestingly, my kid loves History (the only other album I've listened to to any degree - I thought I'd take an over view of some of the earlier stuff).  It's become his go-to music for the car.  I adore his take on it; he'll say that he likes a fiddle intro, or a drum rhythm and often asks for tracks by referencing these.  It is a very satisfying collection, very accessible, yet interesting.  We love the evocative Green and Grey as we drive through the landscape that the song references; and chanting 51st State together as we take on the world.

I'll dip deeper into the back catalogue at some stage, when I can tear myself away...

[Anna Woman von NRW]

brooding, claustrophobic

Yeah - those are good words 

I might be over-sharing...

I'm sure none of us have ever done that before ...............................     

[Sheena]

"For it was the ties we so hated and destroyed that had made us strong"

Bloody hell, that's so insightful and profound <3

In a similar vein, only the other day a friend and I were bemoaning how hard it is to raise children without a village; but womankind left the village in a search for equality...

ETA:  not that I want to go back to the village, but still...

[Pumpkin]

I still think the album is excellent and one which certainly brought them back to centre attention for me. It is an amazing fact that the band could break new ground in such a way at this stage in their career and do it so well.

Having said that, I do think it's a bit top heavy on additional drums which doesn't quite work on the album as well as in the live shows. Moreover, the band live are certainly better than they have been in a few years. If anything, Justin seems to have more conviction now and seems very at ease with the new material.

[Pol]

Justin does seem to have more passion, even if I didn't think that was possible. Ceri and Marshall have given the band a lot more energy

[Pumpkin]

I would certainly agree. The enthusiasm that pours forth is second to none. 

[ekrafsur]

My older self likes it as much as I liked the 80's classics when they came out - adjusting for my greater grumpiness, etc. Music isn't as "relevant" to my daily life as when I was 16, but BDOW fits right in nicely - and I'm more likely to listen to driving the kids about than something from the 80s.

And my daughter DANCES to BDOW. Thats pretty important, too!

[Johnny Appleseed]

Thanks for starting this thread Master Ray.

Two years on and I love BDAW as much as I did when I first got it. Also, over the last two years I've had the pleasure of hearing the songs live, both on the subsequent live albums and at the Wakefield gig back in March. And hearing the songs live makes me appreciate the studio versions even more.

Like many other people, I too tend to like an album that comes flying straight out of the traps with a rocker for an opener, but I think Horsemen sets up the mood for the whole of BDAW perfectly. And songs such as Pull the Sun, Knievel and Summermoors are now amongst my favourite songs.

I have the book CD version, and I love the artwork and packaging too, and combined with the great songs and music themselves, BDAW makes for a truly great album IMHO.

All the best,
Johnny

[Unruh]

I've been a little critical of Between Dog and Wolf since it came out. My main criticism has been the thundering drums and a few lyrics which struck me as downright despairing. Despair is a quality I don't associate with NMA and is one of the many reasons I love them. Then an odd thing happened.
   I got severely ill between the end of September and present. I was so fatigued that I floated off into a land of hallucination and various other altered perception. I put on one of those YouTube blocks which play hours of their music over and over. In my pain and misery, I LOVED BDAW. It took on all kinds of qualities I hadn't noticed and appreciated when I listened as a distracted healthy person. My adoration of the album now equals that of any of their other albums. I do still hope that their next album goes a bit less heavy on the tribal drumming, but that's a minor quibble.

[Stephanie]

Has it really been 2 years already???

"Between Dog and Wolf" was love on first listening for me, so to speak - and the love for this album is still strong. I love the energy, the intensity of the drums, I love how this band will still try new approaches instead of sticking to what they know is going to work.

Driving down the motorway, windows rolled down, volume cranked up - when it's really, really cold outside - I love that...and listening to these songs live makes them even better still.

Definitely one of my favourites.