New Model Army - Vengeance (Vengeance: The Independent Story - New Model Army)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Vengeance: The Independent Story - New Model Army
Date:	09/08/08 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some cracking tracks

Disadvantages: The quiet ones are not for me

Vengeance is the debut album by New Model Army and like most of their work can't easily be categorised, a mixture between punk, new wave and often including heavier or even softer folk stuff with an often militant style to it. The majority of lyrics contain political views and many of the songs have quality bass licks worthy of The Stranglers.

The most powerful songs for me are Christian Militia and Spirit of the Falklands, the poetic lyrics expressed in a brash manner with perfect timing to the music is undoubtedly the band's strongest point. Notice Me is another good track which talks about a child who wants to be noticed. Personally I prefer the upbeat tracks to the quieter ones (A Liberal Education for instance does nothing for me) probably because I'm a bit of a heathen but there you go! Vengeance is another song that is up there with the powerful lyrics "I believe in justice, I believe in vengeance, I believe in getting the bastard, getting the bastard"

Sex (the black angel) is another track that doesn't really seem to go anywhere, it's soon corrected by Running in the Rain which is heavier and finally topped off with the upbeat marchin track that has to be said is good to march to "Spirit of the Falklands", finishing the album off with "Great Expectations" a great track of social commentary and then another quiet track in "Waiting" which has a Joy Division influenced bass line.

The LP was released in 1984 by Abstract and seems to be available in several different re-issue formats these days with anywhere between 10 and 21 songs, most of them bonus material or different remixes of tracks.

Summary: Awesome bass, vocals and overall sound