New Model Army - my new favorite band! (literally based on the first 29 min of them I've ever heard)

OK, so I'm listening to Pandora on my way into work yesterday, a station with Gang of Four as the only seed -- and a song by New Model Army comes up (something about "...the Falklands", from 1984 is I could remember). Woah, what's that?? I'm like half-blown away -- one of the few bands that's specifically pushing my "Gang of Four" buttons DAMN hard.

So I get to work, and dial up the album (seems like barely an EP, just 29 minutes total) from YouTube, which was this video right here (down below) -- their 1984 debut "Vengeance".

Where has this band been all my life? How have I never heard of them before?

Oh, and let's make this a poll -- vote for every New Model Army album you can recommend -- as many as you like. I'm sure I'll order the top 5 straight away, once this thread's been around for a week or two.

PS: I've read their bio from AllMusic, and their main Wikipedia entry -- and I understand NMA mellowed out (at least sonically) over the years. That's OK, as a number of my favorite bands of this sort did the same sort of thing -- Chameleons, I'm looking at you (and the Chameleon's latter-day acoustic and semi-acoustic offerings are just peachy with me). So I understand that not everything's gonna sound like this early EP of theirs.

So what all should I get next? Just vote for everything you like, and I'll grab the top 3-5 titles in the next month or two. Thanks!!

 

I was lucky enough to catch them a few times at their live peak in the mid 1980s, but the only album that ever clicked with me was The Ghost of Cain.

 

I love the early albums. I discovered them in 1989 when Stupid Questions was played on MTV's 120 minutes. I bought Thunder and Consolation as one of my first ever CD's and fell in love with it. I collected the back catalog (on import) and loved each album. When Impurity came out, it was not released domestically so I had to buy it as a $20+ import at the time. I loved that album as well. Then they signed to Sony and released one album, The Love of Hopeless Causes. It was less immediate but I found several songs were excellent. I also saw them on that tour. Strange Brotherhood came out many years later and I played it and played it but just couldn't get into it. I reluctantly bought the next album, Eight, and found several really good songs but the consistency was still scattered. The last album I tried was Carnival. Again, I played it and played it but didn't get hooked. I've since sampled some of the various albums released since and I just don't get the same feel. Some of it feels too hardcore and less melodic. So for me, everything up to Impurity is essential.

 

Spirit of the Falklands on Vengeance. Great one a bit more punk is i can say so. But my to faves are Tunder and Consolation and Impurity can go wrong with these ones.

 

Got Winter and it's great one. Looking forward to the new album coming up in August : From Here.

 

OP HERE. I love that inside the span of 1 hour(!), I'd discovered a new band for the very first time (out of the blue, without any warning), and that I'd been blown away so strongly by such a concise listening experience (29 minutes).

I was literally on the subway halfway to work, and less than a hour later I could quite clearly see that within a month I might well own 4-5 of their CD's. And if those were as good as I expected, I could easily be looking at another 4-5 more(!) by the end of the year.

Then I told a co-worker before lunch (same day) -- who actually knew of New Model Army a bit, and he had at least a vague idea of what they sounded like too -- that quite suddenly "I had a new favorite band!" that I'd literally never even heard of 2 hours ago. And in that moment, at least, it was most definitely 'metaphorically true'.

I think I described them as sounding like a bit of a cross between Gang of Four and Midnight Oil. That sound about right?? All I know if that very first EP of theirs, so far.

Again, all that based on 29 minutes of music. BAM!

 

Voted the first five and then High from 2007. All essential. When you're ready to explore the mellower stuff make sure to listen to Justin Sullivan's lone solo album. It's a beauty.

 

I have The Ghost of Cain and Radio Sessions '83-'84. Found the CDs in a charity shop for 50p. One of the best musical finds this year.

 

I voted for all of them, fell in love with NMA around 1983, bought every album..most singles..box sets..DVD's..seen them live numerous times around the north of England.

Their music has matured with me over the years and I love them..plain and simple...buy the whole collection of albums..I'd be surprised if you were disappointed with any of them..

 

Like I said before, there's more than a tinge of "Midnight Oil" vibe going on here with this particular track (and some others I've heard now too).

Not suggesting one is derivative of the other (or vice versa) -- but they seem to be coming from a similar place, at times / in certain parts -- which is a good thing, in my book.

 

The Love of Hopeless Causes (1993) - two votes only?

Don't overlook it despite its miserable rating; it's their last classic album.

 

And these two earlier chapters...

"Purity" (from Impurity)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd0RHvFNPqA

"White Coats" (from Thunder & Consolation)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK6NtwHIjjg

 

Great band. Very intense and not necessarily easy listening but excellent.

There are a bunch of albums listed that have passed me by so I have some serious catching up to do.

 

I have three or four CDs, including the poll leader (which I voted for), Thunder and Consolation.

Quite a few good tracks there, my favourite being 225, which really motors along:

 

Now you finally know what @scobb's avatar is, a crop of:

 

I don't have a favourite album. The first five are all very good and I like Strange Brotherhood a lot. The Strange Brotherhood LP makes a better album than the CD, I have a CD rip of the LP with the first three sides on one CD the next three on the another and splitting the album into two 45 ish mins just works better. There are lots of good songs on some of their later albums including their take on the Global Financial Crisis.



Their live albums are also worth checking out: Raw Melody Men (anagram of New Model Army, I love but is not universally loved) and Between Wine And Blood Live are both very good and would be my picks.
Lastly......
B-Sides and Abandoned tracks is a great compilation.

I recently got a copy of the Japan only Adrenalin ep and this is also great (why they didn't just use this as the extra disc for the double CD remaster I'll never know).

To the original poster then get this (not the best master but good track listing) New Model Army - Vengeance: The Whole Story 1980-84

 

Always loved Vengeance, and Christian Militia is probably my favourite track of theirs... remember seeing them a few times in that mid-80s period. Great band, but haven't listened to anything new from them since the 90s. Every time I see they're touring I keep meaning to go see them, but so far have failed

 

Impurity is a superb album - fantastic song writing from start to finish

 

Great band. My friend directed their latest video:

 

So, the first 5 or 6 albums seem like pretty safe bets. Thanks for everyone's input.

I see there's a modest-priced bundle of their first 5 albums available.

QUESTION: Does anyone know if that's housed in 5 separate jewel boxes? Or is the slimmer 1-cardboard sleeve per CD style?

I may just go for that, since all the double-CD reissues from 2005 seem to Ben pretty pricy (much as I know I'd probably love all that bonus material).

Thanks!!

 

Is that budget price collection the Original Album Series? If so, then it will be cardboard sleeves. I think they are the remasters. I've no idea if the remasters sound better or worse than the original CDs. The ones I picked up in a charity shop were original issues.

 

With New Model Army both the originals masterings and remasters on EMI deliver sufficient quality on cd: whaterever mastering’s the budget price collection uses, you’ll be safe either way. As far as the stray b-sides just get a cheap (2nd hand) cd version B-Sides and Abandoned tracks and you have the essentials. And any version of the Vengeance cd has extra tracks, you don’t need to buy the expensive 2cd, all the cd versions have the extra singles and b-sides (i.e. Bittersweet, Great Expectations, The Price, 1984, and some Peel sessions)

 

This this this this this!!! Navigating by the Stars is a stunningly, hauntingly beautiful album, a desert island disc for me. It's completely unique, I've never heard another album quite like it. Anytime I'm driving at night or in the rain, I put it on. It's very different from NMA, but if you like them, you'll love it.

My two favourite NMA albums are Thunder & Consolation and Eight. Eight is hugely underrated, it has a woolly, lo-fi folk-punk sort of vibe that I really love.

Welcome to the club. I doubt they'll ever do another North American tour, but if you have the chance I highly recommend seeing them live.

 

It should be noted that this box set has the lp track listing which leaves one song off impurity but significantly cuts thunder and consolation leaving off some essential tracks. So IMO the original cds are better mastering, have more tracks and less mastering errors so I would suggest going for them rather than the box! The box is ok as a starter pack though so it might be ok for you.

 

My favorite band for more than 20 years now!
Best albums?:
"Thunder and consolation", "The ghost of cain", Justin Sullivan's "Navigating by the stars", "The love of hopeless causes", "Impurity" and for the 21st century the best is maybe "High", even if "Between...wolf/blood", "Today is a good day", "Eight"", Carnival"...are pretty good! In fact even NMA's uneven albums deliver good/great songs, the last one "Winter" was maybe NMA's "weakest" album but still with some fine tracks ("Born feral", "Strogoula", Burn the castle", the title track, etc)
First reviews of the new album "From here" are very promising!