3 June 05 from glenn mcdonald 3
Your question got me to put Thunder and Consolation back into my iTunes rotation, and I'm re-enjoying it even more than I expected. Some days I don't know why I bother to buy new records at all...
22 May 05 from glenn mcdonald 2
If I had to pick one song to stand for No Rest for the Wicked, it'd probably be "My Country", but the first two ("Frightened" and "Ambition") are also pretty representative of the album, which is fairly consistent throughout.
The Ghost of Cain is a little more varied, but you'd get a cross-section of sorts from the jumpy "Lights Go Out", the acoustic rant "51st State", and the sinister "Master Race". B also insists you listen to the accurately named "Ballad", which was one of her radio-show staples when she was 15.
As for Thunder and Consolation, "I Love the World" is a NMA standard, "225" might give you an idea of how far the album's widened stylistic range reaches out of punk, and the half-wistful half-vengeful "Green and Grey" is one of the greatest things ever. And this'll probably be the reissue on which you'll find "White Coats", my single favorite NMA song.
Don't worry about Impurity until after you've got the other three, plus Vengeance / The Independent Story.
Also, the iTMS has the later odds-and-ends compilation Lost Songs, whose samples you might want to skip through. Most of that material comes from later in their career, but it might help give you a sense of them.
22 May 05 from jer fairall 1
Any suggestions for which New Model Army songs to download?
Okay, okay, now before I get yelled at, I should explain myself: Ghost of Cain, Impurity, No Rest For The Wicked and Thunder and Consolation are being reissued in double-disc, extras-loaded packages but these are only available as imports here in Canada, and so before I go ahead and order a fairly expensive import copy of Thunder and Consolation, I'd like to know how much of a shot I have at liking them first, other than the verbal (or rather, printed) raves of the two people I know of who like them (as trustworthy as their opinions tend to be). So, what should I be looking for?