Product details
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| 1. Welcome To The North |
| 2. Freedom Fighters |
| 3. Bleed From Within |
| 4. Breakin |
| 5. Cessation |
| 6. Fight The Feeling |
| 7. Guide |
| 8. Into The Night |
| 9. I Need Love |
| 10. One Way In, No Way Out |
| 11. Open Your Mind |
| 12. The Walls Get Smaller (hidden track) |
Review It kicks off with the title track, and kicks off is exactly the right phrase - this is the sound of a drunken brawl on a wet Northern street, built on layers of brutish guitar and a strident, desperate vocal from Robert Harvey. On their debut, Harvey sounded whiny as often as he sounded heroic. On this record he has perfected his instrument, pushing it to howling, raging extremes one moment, then scatting guttural rhythms the next.
Like Harvey's voice, Welcome To The North often teeters towards the absurd, but even a song as silly as "Freedom Fighters" is redeemed by its epic scale and the virtuosity of Adam Nutter's guitar work (though Harvey will one day weep with shame that he ever sang "dance for the freedom, fathers of the world"). "Bleeding From Within" has a far better lyric, a fierce denunciation of a war which the vast majority of today's careerist rock stars haven't even noticed, perfectly matched by a bruising, brooding musical backdrop which recalls The God Machine at their bleakest.
Listening to this album is an intense experience, without a doubt, whether mournfully so in the minor chords and despairing melody of "Fight The Feeling" or ragingly so in the frantic, guitar juggernaut that is "Cessation". Not that The Music totally disdain pop - the nagging keyboard riff and giddy handclaps of "Breakin" make it the album's most lovable and immediate moment.
There are occasional misfires. A song as pompous and blatantly indebted to Urban Hymns as "Guide" verves on the ridiculous. But the blatant sincerity of Welcome To The North, the fact that it so clearly cares about music and itself, makes it deeply rewarding. And the best thing about itis that it feels like a stepping stone to somewhere even better. --Jaime Gill
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I was hoping that their songs would be of similar standard to 'Getaway' and 'The People' which in my opinion are the stand out tracks of their first self titled album. I was wrong though as some of the songs on this album surpass their previous work.
The first track 'Welcome to the north' introduces you to the silky guitar riffs that dominate. Other stand out tracks include the single 'Freedom Fighters', 'Open your Mind' and 'Cessation'. I have to say the drumming on this album is top notch.
If you are fans of Robert Harvey's voice and rock music in general then this album is a MUST!
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