Thunder And Consolation

Back in 1988, I was given a cassette demo version of this album by a record store owner who thought it was just another hair metal band. I wore it out, as I did two cassette versions afterwards. If one is capable of actually wearing out a CD, this would be the first to go in my collection, but I would have three extra copies just in case. It is to modern music what oxygen is to life.

I've been listening to this for 16 years now, and there is just not a bad note on this album. If you take out the three tracks from the 1987 self-titled e.p. ("White Coats", "The Charge", "Chinese Whispers") and leave the other twelve, it is obvious what I mean. To this day, I don't think NMA have done a song as chillingly reckless as "I Love The World" -- a song so good that it can could close the album as well as it opens it -- and it's psychotic headlong rush to avoid mankind's self-destrucive tendencies while simultaneously being dragged down by them is still one of those moments that rock music was invented for. "Family" is almost agonizing to hear as Justin Sullivan sounds so pained and angry that you can almost become the song's protagonist just by closing your eyes. "Archway Towers" still scares the pants off of me. "Vagabonds", "Green and Grey", "125 MPH", "Stupid Questions" -- undeniable classics. The inclusion of "Nothing Touches" (previously an obscure b-side) only makes it better.

Yes, you can make logical comparisons to U2 before they got confused in the 1990s and stopped being angry at what they were seeing. Yes, you can say that they inherited the Clash's mantle as The Only Band That Matters. You can say that they flat-out rock, they're the only ones who have anything to say, they're the Last of the True Believers, et cetera ad infinitum. It just won't suffice.

Hear. Listen. Dance. Believe.

In the eighties I was a young unmarried professional, with plenty of disposable income, and I listened to a lot of new wave bands that I thought were just fantastic. Over time many of those bands diminished in my eyes, as there is only so much noise one can take before you want to get back to the basics.

As for New Model Army, though, I still find their music to be timeless. This is only a three piece band, and yes they use electronic keyboards to fill out the sound, but what music they make! Far from being indescribable, it is based on traditional English and Irish folk music, but with a loping beat and absolutely killer pop hooks. Many of their songs could be loosely categorized as protest songs, but this band just flat out rocks no matter what the subject.

Other reviewers here have breathlessly compared New Model Army to U2, and if you've fallen in love with U2's brilliant War, for example, you might think that these other reviewers are a little bit crazy. They are not. New Model Army is the real thing, and the Thunder and Consolation CD, and Ghost of Cain CD, represent this band at its best.