Thunder & Consolation
Encyclopedia
Thunder and Consolation was released in 1989 and is the fourth studio album
of British
rock
band New Model Army
. The album stands as a landmark in the New Model Army-catalogue, being their most successful album to date and reaching #20 in the UK albums chart
. It also saw the band gaining new musical grounds as they adopted a more folky
sound with the assistance of violin
ist Ed Alleyne-Johnson. It was produced
by Tom Dowd
and the band.
This was also the last album on which Jason 'Moose' Harris
would play bass
. He was subsequently replaced by Nelson on the band's next studio album, Impurity (1990).
The title of the album was taken from 17th century British Quaker
, Edward Burrough
, whose collected works, which were posthumously released in 1663, were entitled The Memorable Works of a Son of Thunder and Consolation.
and cassette
in 1989 containing the tracks "I Love the World", "Stupid Questions", "225", "Inheritance", "Green and Grey", "Ballad of Bodmin Pill", "Family", "Family Life", "Vagabonds" and "Archway Towers". The cassette had an extra track, "125 MPH".
The CD
version of the album was released at the same time with the extra tracks "The Charge", "Chinese Whispers" and "White Coats", which were taken from the New Model Army EP
(1987), and the track "Nothing Touches", which was the B-side
of the single "Stupid Questions" (1989). An unlisted track, "Mermaid Song
" was also included.
In 2005 the album was remaster
ed and reissue
d with the original LP tracks on one disc and including an extra disc containing the original CD's extra tracks along with rarities, B-sides and live tracks.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band New Model Army
New Model Army (band)
New Model Army are an English rock band, who were formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1980. They have been variously classified by Allmusic as post-punk and alternative rock.-Overview:...
. The album stands as a landmark in the New Model Army-catalogue, being their most successful album to date and reaching #20 in the UK albums chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. It also saw the band gaining new musical grounds as they adopted a more folky
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
sound with the assistance of violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Ed Alleyne-Johnson. It was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
and the band.
This was also the last album on which Jason 'Moose' Harris
Moose Harris
Moose Harris , is a British bass guitarist, who was known as Jason James Harris until June 2001, when he legally changed his name to reflect his former nickname and adopted professional alias of "Moose". At the age of seventeen, he was recruited by New Model Army to replace original bass player...
would play bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. He was subsequently replaced by Nelson on the band's next studio album, Impurity (1990).
The title of the album was taken from 17th century British Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, Edward Burrough
Edward Burrough
Edward Burrough was an early English Quaker leader and controversialist. He is regarded as one of the Valiant Sixty, early Quaker preachers and missionaries....
, whose collected works, which were posthumously released in 1663, were entitled The Memorable Works of a Son of Thunder and Consolation.
Singles
The singles which have been released from the album include "White Coats" (June 1987), "Stupid Questions" (January 1989), "Vagabonds" (March 1989) and "Green and Grey" (June 1989).Versions
The album was originally released as a 10-track LPLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
and cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
in 1989 containing the tracks "I Love the World", "Stupid Questions", "225", "Inheritance", "Green and Grey", "Ballad of Bodmin Pill", "Family", "Family Life", "Vagabonds" and "Archway Towers". The cassette had an extra track, "125 MPH".
The CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
version of the album was released at the same time with the extra tracks "The Charge", "Chinese Whispers" and "White Coats", which were taken from the New Model Army EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(1987), and the track "Nothing Touches", which was the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the single "Stupid Questions" (1989). An unlisted track, "Mermaid Song
The Mermaid (ballad)
The Mermaid is Child Ballad #289. Dating to around the mid-18th century, this song is known by a number of names, including Waves on the Sea and The Wrecked Ship.-Lyrics:The Mermaid is Child Ballad #289...
" was also included.
In 2005 the album was remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed and reissue
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
d with the original LP tracks on one disc and including an extra disc containing the original CD's extra tracks along with rarities, B-sides and live tracks.
Disc one
- "I Love the World" (Justin SullivanJustin SullivanJustin Sullivan is an English singer and songwriter. He is also the frontman and lyricist of the British rock band New Model Army, which he formed in 1980 together with drummer Robert Heaton and bassist Stuart Morrow in their hometown of Bradford, Yorkshire...
, Robert HeatonRobert HeatonRobert Charles Heaton was the drummer in the English rock band New Model Army. With Justin Sullivan, Heaton was the core of the Bradford based band, originally alongside Stuart Morrow on bass and then later with Jason 'Moose' Harris. He wrote many of NMA's best known compositions, which are still...
) – 5:08 - "Stupid Questions" (Sullivan) – 3:26
- "225" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 4:47
- "Inheritance" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 3:23
- "Green and Grey" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 5:47
- "Ballad of Bodmin Pill" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 4:47
- "Family" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 4:01
- "Family Life" (Sullivan) – 3:00
- "Vagabonds" (Sullivan) – 5:21
- "Archway Towers" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 4:54
Disc two
- "White Coats" (Sullivan, Heaton, Jason HarrisMoose HarrisMoose Harris , is a British bass guitarist, who was known as Jason James Harris until June 2001, when he legally changed his name to reflect his former nickname and adopted professional alias of "Moose". At the age of seventeen, he was recruited by New Model Army to replace original bass player...
) – 4:17 - "The Charge" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 3:25
- "Chinese Whispers" (Sullivan, Heaton) – 3:31
- "Nothing Touches" (Sullivan) – 4:10
- "Mermaid SongThe Mermaid (ballad)The Mermaid is Child Ballad #289. Dating to around the mid-18th century, this song is known by a number of names, including Waves on the Sea and The Wrecked Ship.-Lyrics:The Mermaid is Child Ballad #289...
" (Traditional) – 1:23 - "Adrenalin" (electric version) (Sullivan) – 4:26
- "Deadeye" (Sullivan) – 4:52
- "Higher Wall" (Sullivan, Harris) – 4:23
- "125 MPH" (Sullivan, Heaton, Harris) – 3:56
- "I Love the World" (live) (Sullivan, Heaton) – 5:18
- "Green and Grey" (live) (Sullivan, Heaton) – 5:34
- "Archway Towers" (live) (Sullivan, Heaton) – 4:42
- "Vagabonds" (live) (Sullivan) – 4:55
- "225" (live) (Sullivan, Heaton) – 4:03
Production
- New Model ArmyNew Model Army (band)New Model Army are an English rock band, who were formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1980. They have been variously classified by Allmusic as post-punk and alternative rock.-Overview:...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Tom DowdTom DowdTom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
– producer ("Stupid Questions", "Green and Grey", "Ballad of Bodmin Pill", "Family", "Vagabonds", "Archway Towers"), mixed byAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
("Inheritance") - Andy WallaceAndy Wallace (producer)Andy Wallace is a Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer with a long track record of successful productions, beginning with the 1986 production of the Run-DMC/Aerosmith collaboration on "Walk This Way" with Rick Rubin...
– mixed by ("I Love the World", "Ballad of Bodmin Pill", "Family", "Family Life", "Archway Towers", "125 MPH") - Jon KellyJon KellyJon Kelly is a British music producer who has produced albums and singles for Chris Rea, The Damned, Kate Bush, Pele , The Beautiful South, Prefab Sprout, Deacon Blue, Heather Nova, The Levellers, Fish, Lynsey De Paul and Nolwenn Leroy.-References:...
– mixed by ("Stupid Questions", "225", "Green and Grey", "Vagabonds") - Justin SullivanJustin SullivanJustin Sullivan is an English singer and songwriter. He is also the frontman and lyricist of the British rock band New Model Army, which he formed in 1980 together with drummer Robert Heaton and bassist Stuart Morrow in their hometown of Bradford, Yorkshire...
– mixed by ("225") - Robert HeatonRobert HeatonRobert Charles Heaton was the drummer in the English rock band New Model Army. With Justin Sullivan, Heaton was the core of the Bradford based band, originally alongside Stuart Morrow on bass and then later with Jason 'Moose' Harris. He wrote many of NMA's best known compositions, which are still...
– mixed by ("225")
Musicians
- Justin Sullivan – vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Robert Heaton – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals, guitar, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jason Harris – bass, keyboards, guitar
- Ed Alleyne-Johnson – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....