New Model Army
Thunder and Consolation


4.0
excellent

Review

by username345 USER (52 Reviews)
October 12th, 2008 | 22 replies


Release Date: 1989 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Quality post-punk/folk rock with a good mixture of catchy energetic rock and folk melodies.

With all of the Flogging Mollys, Against Me!s and Defiance, Ohios around today, it's easy to be under the impression that the idea of mixing folk and punk music together is a modern one. However, while the folk may not be quite as upfront in the music, New Model Army were already experimenting with it in their music back in 1989's Thunder and Consolation.

Straight from the beginning it is clear that New Model Army isn't your typical punk band. Starting with rising cymbals and synthesizer, album opener 'I Love The World' immediately focuses more on atmosphere than lively punk riffs. That's not to say that it lacks energy though; when the guitars come in they are loud and aggressive yet are still catchy and melodic. While it is not until the second song that the folk aspect of the music appears with the introduction of acoustic guitars, 'I Love the World' pretty much sums up Thunder and Consolation's overall sound well with it's experimental mixture of genres, aggressiveness and catchy melodies.

It is the folkier tracks that work the best though. Some songs like 'Green and Gray' add more depth to the band's sound, retaining much of the energetic sound of the heavier tracks while adding some fantastic folk melodies and more variety which is much needed for an album that lasts an hour and does drag on a bit by the end.

The real highlight is 'Vagabonds', which features the fantastic and genuinely beautiful violin playing of busker Ed Alleyne-Johnson who plays on a violin he carved with a kitchen knife. He appears in other parts of the album but this is where he makes the biggest contribution. The folk aspect of the music never gets at all cheesy or comes at all close to overpowering the music, always complimenting the punk sound but not ever acting against it.

The only real problem is Justin Sullivan's vocals. While he is not really a 'bad' singer, and sometimes his singing can actually be very good, especially on the lighter songs, his singing can be quite inconsistent and often sounds very average. He sometimes seems to put too much emphasis on certain words, sounding quite odd. Sometimes it sounds like he is consciously trying to sing in a 'punk' or 'folk' style. However, the singing is never too off-putting and is always at least bearable. Despite any problems with the singing Sullivan has definitely come up with some very catchy vocal melodies and great choruses on all of the songs. His lyrics are consistently brilliant too. They often keep a certain 'punk attitude' yet are also poetic, complex and sometimes quite complex.

While all of the musicianship is excellent, much of the emphasis is placed on the rhythm section with the heavy drums and excellent bass lines mixed in very loudly. Despite this however, it is the sparser tracks like 'Inheritance' which feature little more than vocals, drums and bass that are the weaker tracks of the album. Without the guitar hooks the music is much less gripping. Luckily there are only a few of these tracks though.

Overall, Thunder and Consolation is an excellent album. Despite some slightly mediocre singing at times and an overlong running time, the quality songwriting, catchy riffs and melodies, experimentation and lyrics more than make up for it's flaws.



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user ratings (73)
4.1
excellent
other reviews of this album
FreakMachine (5)
Thunder And Consolation carries the post punk banner proudly, taking a listener to places previously...



Comments:Add a Comment 
username345
October 13th 2008


594 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

The best song (sadly without the beautiful introduction)



http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ydV3poTqI

badtaste
October 13th 2008


824 Comments


Solid review G.

MonorailCat
October 13th 2008


118 Comments


nice review

Pint of stella
September 17th 2012


57 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

One of my favourite albums and New Model Army's greatest imo. Although The Love Of Hopeless Causes and Ghost of Cain are also fantastic.

menawati
September 17th 2012


16730 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

have always liked a bit of new model army, ye probably is their best

Wanderlustforlife
February 28th 2013


30 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Slightly mediocre singing from Justin? I disagree immensly and think Justin Sullivan is by far one of the best vocalists alive. Just listen to his solo album and I doubt you would say that.

DeathPiercedMe
February 28th 2013


676 Comments


Great band and an amazing album

PreConvictions
September 15th 2013


14 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Definitely their best album. Inheritance is the only weak track imo. Also, 125mph, The Charge, Nothing Touches, White Coats and Chinese Whispers were on the original CD release, but not the original LP release.

Maco097
July 22nd 2016


3344 Comments


Only listening to this because of Anacrusis' amazing cover.

Maco097
September 6th 2016


3344 Comments


Fucking great album.

smaugman
September 20th 2018


5506 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"He sometimes seems to put too much emphasis on certain words, sounding quite odd."

what are accents you say?

heck
January 28th 2019


7201 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

funny how this is actually one of the best albums I've ever heard

heck
February 2nd 2019


7201 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Green and Grey is incredible

Flugmorph
November 21st 2019


34924 Comments


these guys are very underrated here.
their newer records are basically a more folky thinking mans the national hehe : 3

y87arrow
July 4th 2020


717 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Justin always is a great songwriter. The whole album is that good.

Archway Towers is also excellent, it's really different from the normal NMA-song.

arapinho1
January 18th 2021


366 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Fantastic band.

parksungjoon
January 18th 2021


47231 Comments


based bump and chadpilled

smaugman
April 10th 2021


5506 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

the cymbals near the end of deadeye are really cool

arapinho1
May 19th 2022


366 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I thought NMA are more popular here. Even on RYM, only one album has over 1000 ratings

Guillaume
March 25th 2023


28 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

NMA's masterpiece. One of the best albums of the 80's. "I love the world", "225", "Green and grey", "Ballad of bodmin pill", "Family life", "Vagabonds" and "Nothing touches" are little gems.

A desert island album.



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