Customer Reviews

Carnival

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a review of Carnival, the latest album from New Model Army, by a hardcore fan.

Full bias will be exercised.

I have to tell you that the snippets on various sites really don't do the songs any justice. Not at all. They start and stop and awkward times. They'd be better off simply having the first 30 seconds of each track. After hearing the clips, I was bit skeptical, but Carnival really grows on you like a virus.

The first few listens I didn't quite "get/feel" some of the ideas etc. It really shows you how far ahead, musically, New Model Army is. It also shows you that I haven't listened to much New Model Army lately.

By "listens" 3 and 4, new things start to stand out and grab me, that didn't before. Then, I'm thinking, maybe I should listen to it, again. It's not what I was expecting after hearing a few songs from the last tour, but by the time I get past the fourth "listen", I can feel the effects from front to back.

To start things off, Carnival is the 9th album, and it sounds like it, in a good way. The songs are fresh and adventurous like Thunder And Consolation, but a bit more advanced and complex. Possibly the middle ground of Thunder And Consolation and Strange Brotherhood with Eight keeping a solid presence.

It has a real "band" sound to it. Having a producer (a professional, outside ear) really "paid off", sonically and artistically. These songs sound like they are being played live.

The only negative thing I could even say about the album is that the song order is a bit awkward, in the beginning.

While very drum oriented, all instruments of the band have a solid presence. Drums, percussion, keyboards, bass, guitars, more guitars, vocals, back up vocals, all come and go, and take their turn in the "spotlight". According to the Red Eye press release, they doubled up on the guitars and you can tell! Plus, there's lots of "headphone candy".

In a nutshell, this album sounds like a culmination, and a perfection of the sound, of all of the Attack Attack releases. Echoes of Strange Brotherhood, Eight, Lost Songs, Navigating By The Stars and Tales Of The Road are everywhere.

The majority of the album was written by Justin and Michael, which means that, between this and Eight, we have some insight into the mind of Michael Dean. The album ranges from "pure Army" tracks, to some new ideas and approaches, to straight jammin', rockin' guitars.

This is how you re-invent your sound without really changing anything.

Ahh, yes.

After a space of 5 long years since their last studio album, Justin Sullivan and Co are back with Carnival, an energetic and interesting new record, which for my tastes trumps the underwhelming Eight.

Beginning with three quick and punchy songs, I knew immediately that something of the NMA spirit and rhythm had returned. This really feels like the NMA of old more than any album since The Love of Hopeless Causes in 1993. The spirit of Robert Heaton (RIP) is present on many of these galloping tracks.

Overall the album has a great pace and turns quite emotional by the last few tracks. There is nature, politics, love and loss; the usual NMA themes. I would compare the sound as being a good cross between Love of Hopeless Causes and Eight, with Far Better production and energy than Eight, and little glimpses here and there of Ghost of Cain era NMA.

Thank God, I was worried.

1st listen: Hmmmmmmm.........ok

2nd listen: "New" New Model Army, however, some songs sound familiar, masked with influence that dates back to the earlier NMA days. The album, "Vengeance" in particular, stands out.

3rd listen: Alright! This album is definitely different....in a good way! Very catchy tunes....haunting even....just listen to "Carlisle Road". The song, "Another Imperial Day", is an instant hit. Superb song, superb lyrics!

I'm a devoted fan of NMA. Picked up my first NMA album 19 years ago from a bootlegger in the Middle East! Since then, I've purchased every album they've ever released (licensed copies of course!). These guys are my heroes.

Right then! BUY THIS ALBUM!! NMA are back and they are better than ever! Superb album!! Can't stress that enough.

Kind regards,
Isaac

I have to disagree with the writer below. This is an exquiste effort by one of the best bands around. NWA are a band whose musc always morphs from release to release. Who wants a band that sounds the same all the time? Cutting lyrics (Sullivan is truly one of the great rock lyricists) fabulous bass and drum. A must buy album. If your looking for a best off then I suggest the magnificent "& nobody else" live album.

IVE BEEN A NMA FAN FOR NEARLY TWENTY YEARS GETTING A BADLY COPIED CASSETTE OF NO REST FOR THE WICKED BACK IN HIGHSCHOOL. SUFFICE TO SAY I BECAME AN INSTANT SUPPORTER- MANAGING TO CATCH THEM A FEW TIMES IN THE US OVER THE YEARS AND MOST RECENTLY CATCHING JUSTIN SULLIVANS SOLO TOUR FROM HIS MOST ACCOMPLISHED MUSICAL OUTPUT( NAVIGATING BY THE STARS). CARNIVAL IS THE BEST RECORD THEYVE DONE IN YEARS-SINCE LOVE OF HOPELESS CAUSES- BUT OVERALL IS PRETTY PREDICTABLE. :ANOTHER IMPERIAL DAY" IS GREAT MUSCIALLY( DOES ANYONE ELSE HEAR THE KILLING JOKE INFLUENCE ON THIS SONG) AND LYRICALLY ITS A VERY HUMANE OBSERVATION ON IMMIGRATION AND THE POWERS THAT BE. SULLIVANS WORDS ARE ALWAYS STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AND TEMPERED WITH A HUMANITY AND WARMTH- AND FOR THE MOST PART THE MUSIC DOESNT QUITE MATCH UP THE WAY IT DID ON HIS SOLO RECORD WHICH I RECOMMEND ALONG WITH THUNDER AND CONSOLATION -IMPURITY- AND THEIR COLLECTED EARLY WORK. CARNIVAL IS A WORTHY EFFORT ESPECIALLY FOR A BAND PUSHING INTO ITS MID TO LATE 40'S WITH NEW MEMBERS. SADLY OLD DRUMMER ROB HEATON DIED A FEW YEARS AGO AND THE CLOSING SONG ON THE ALBUM SEEMS TO BE AN ODE TO HIS MEMORY. STILL I CANT HELP FEELING THAT ITS JUST AN AVERAGE EFFORT- NOTHING BAD OR THROWAWAY- BUT ALSO NOTHING EXCEPT A FEW SONGS AND SOME MORE MOMENTS OF PURE INSPIRATION AND FLASHES OF INTERESTING MELODIES. THERES THE USUAL HAUNTING KEYBOARDS-SOME SAMPLES (IF YOU LISTEN CLOSELY) BUT NMA HAVE DONE IT BETTER BEFORE. MUCH LIKE THE CURRENT RELEASES FROM PAUL WELLER U2 DEPECHE MODE ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN- ITS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OFF BUT JUST SHADOWS OF FORMER GLORIES. STILL EVEN AVERAGE NMA IS BETTER THAN MOST OF WHATS OUT THERE SO I WOULD STILL RECOMMEND IT.

When I first listened to New Model Army's "Carnival", I wasn't that thrilled. I initially judged it one of their weaker albums, and soon took it out of rotation in favor of old classics like "Thunder and Consolation" and "The Ghost of Cain".

But then I was able to catch the band on their recent tour, and hearing some songs from "Carnival" live made me get it out and give it another, closer, listen. Now it gets heavy play and I enjoy it as much as their older works. The sound is certainly different, but after a few listens it grew on me.

My favorites include the opening track, "Water", an extended and uplifting metaphor for humanity, with a chorus that goes:

We're only made of water
The full moon makes us high
We can change our shape into anything
As often as we like

"Carlisle Road", a song slower, sadder, and more troubled than the others, is an interesting attempt to look at the world from the other side of the plastic visor and explore the humanity of the riot cop. "Too Close to the Sun" mixes evocative and haunting lyrics with hypnotic keyboard lines underlying everything, reminding me of the best of Philip Glass. "Another Imperial Day" is the most confrontational political song I've heard from New Model Army in some time, and could serve as a rallying cry for the immigrants' rights movements that burst into prominence on 1 May 2006. Without a chorus, the growled-out lyrics tell a series of stories about those struggling to improve their lives in a world where

Goods are free to move, but not people
Oil is free to move, but not people
Jobs are free to move, but not people
Money is free to move, but not people

"Island" is a song about Easter Island. Neat as that is in its own right, the troubled history it relates echoes some of the band's feelings about their own home island of Britain. The last song, "Fireworks Night", is a great close to the album, whose final shimmering chords leave me holding my breath, on the edge of my seat. It features some truly moving spoken word segments that make me stop whatever I'm doing and listen:

"Our time was made up of confused emotions and little whirlwinds and all that stuff that we couldn't really talk about. But most of all it was sealed in sacred moments like these. And then it was gone."

Even better, while those are the songs I really enjoy, there aren't any on "Carnival" that I actually dislike. The others I generally found pleasant, but not as interesting, fun, or memorable as the ones I mentioned above. The sound, though different from the New Model Army of the past, is consistent throughout the album, and all of the songs work well together.

It did take me a few listens to get into "Carnival", but eventually it grew on me. Since several other reviewers relate similar experiences, I can only hope that the same will happen to you, if you give the "Carnival" a chance.