Music Arcades: New Model Army: Vengeance

I thought of this record a month ago when the Sisters of Mercy featured: it's from the same period, a similar ethos, and the same source — John Peel's show.

Though I won't be listening again in a hurry, there's a charm to the album that I can't deny. It's not often you can say that about righteous indignation and strident opposition to Thatcherism. The Levellers? You wouldn't want to be share a ride in the lift with any of them, let alone have them around to dinner. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I'd want to be stuck in a lift with Justin from New Model Army, either — nice Quaker family or not — but you know what I mean, I hope.

I may have felt I'd left my taste for Rush behind, but the bass playing on this record is familiar from there. It doesn't swing, but it rocks, and it's full of neat decorative flourishes. I like it still. And I haven't tested this theory, but I speculate that if you put a metal vocal and lyrics over the playing on Vengeance, you might end up with something near Iron Maiden's first album.