Remastered Debut
What's great about New Model Army is the fact that throughout their now thirty year career, despite evolving their sound, they have never sounded like anyone else. This fact more than any other has meant that they have retained a relevance and because this means there isn't really anyone else to compare them to, even these early songs don't sound dated.
This is a re-issue of the bands first album, remastered and put out by the band themselves following the acquisition of their pre EMI back catalogue. For long term fans of the band who will already have this album in at least two formats there is one very obvious reason to add this to the collection, namely the addition on disc two of nine previously unreleased demos recorded on a four track recorder in 1980/1. Also included on disc two are the excellent radio sessions that the band conducted in the early 80s.
Much of this collection was released on a double cd back in 1997, including the radio sessions, early singles and a demo of The Cause but this is the first time the majority of the demos have seen the light of day. It has to be said that there's probably a good reason for that! It's pretty obvious that when they picked the tracklisting for the first album they were right to leave off most of these songs. From a historical perspective they are interesting to hear and you could see a few of them working if they were given full production treatment (New Frontiers in particular) but on the whole they are generally weaker songs with a slightly more commercial/mainstream edge to them.
As for the album itself, Vengeance has always been just a gloriously raw outburst of emotion. Both lyrically and musically it captured the spirit of the time it was released; stark and minimalist in places but showing enough inventiveness and creativity to hint at what was to come in later years. What really comes to the fore on these songs is the bite and passion in the delivery. It's harsh and aggressive without ever boiling over, it has an underlying sense of menace that runs throughout the whole album. Just listen to Smalltown England and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!
This remastered version does put a bit more meat on the bones and gives the tracks a slightly fuller feel and I'd have to say that they do benefit from it. There isn't a bad song on this album and alright so Sex labours a bit but it's not a bad song and it's soon forgotten next to the bass driven Running In The Rain. Long time crowd favourite and title track Vengeance still stands proud as the big track with it's visceral chorus of "I believe in getting the bastard!", which even now sends a shiver down the spine when they play it live. Never mind all the extras, if you don't already own a copy of Vengeance then you really should, as with the rest of their material from this period it shows that there was much more to the early 80s music scene than frilly shirts and make up!
The three early singles all get a look in here as well and for those that don't already have them on cd it's great to have them all together and to see the beginning of the evolution in sound. The Price and Nineteen Eighty-Four in particular display improved production and instrumentation that led to the excellent follow up album No Rest for the Wicked. There is a nice addition in the form of Zion Train's remix of Vengeance from 1994. It's a fairly typical dance/dub remix but it's enjoyable enough.
The sleeve notes are unsurprisingly by Joolz and although they are typically flowery and dramatised rather than a straight write up it's part of what makes NMA the band they are and as such they add to the overall feel in a way that regular notes wouldn't. Overall this is well worth shelling out for even if just to hear those unreleased demos and if you don't already own the Smalltown England cd then Vengeance The Whole Story is nothing short of essential!