Friday 29 June 2018

New Music 2018: Equals - The Alarm

There's loads of links below for every track on the new album as well as for playlists of some older albums and also for more information regarding tour dates etc. Enjoy.

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Equals - The Alarm
The Twenty First Century Recording Company
Produced by George Williams
Released 29th June 2018

Equals Promo

One little gripe I have is that if the band are wanting maximum exposure for the album then the little promo above should actually be made public rather than unlisted as folks wouldn't be able to find it.


*Not on the Vinyl Edition of the album

Click on the links above to listen to all the songs on the album.
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No one has done more to keep the name and spirit of his band alive and kicking than Mike Peters.

Equals is the first worldwide released album from the band for a good few years (Direct Action in 2010 I think was the last one) and there’s a lot of excitement once again about seeing the music of The Alarm on the shelves in Record Stores across the globe.

Earlier this year there had been a little taster with the Where The Two Rivers Cross EP that was released on Record Store Day and was subject to a Transatlantic Promotional Challenge with Mike Peters performing in the UK (Wales and London) and the USA (New York City and Los Angeles) within the space of 24 hours.

2018 has been a busy year for The Alarm as prior to these releases there had been the reissues of Eponymous and Declaration on Vinyl and CD that stem of course from the early days of the band when they had got signed by I.R.S. and also a Digital only release of 21 (Redux).  The 21 (Redux) album featured new mixes and remastered songs from In The Poppy Fields (2004), Under Attack (2006), Guerilla Tactics (2008), Direct Action (2010) and the Vinyl Soundtrack (2013) and was a glimpse into the life and music of the band since Mike Peters resurrected the name of The Alarm with a brand new backing band that has featured James Stevenson on Guitar (Chelsea, Gene Loves Jezebel, Generation X, Kim Wilde and stacks more), Craig Adams on Bass (Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and Spear of Destiny), Steve Grantly on Drums (Eighth Wonder and Stiff Little Fingers), Steve “Smiley” Barnard on Drums (Robbie Williams and Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros), Mark Taylor on Keyboards (Belinda Carlisle, Elton John and Simple Minds) and Jules Jones Peters on Keyboards and Backing Vocals (Mike Peters and The Poets of Justice). 

The current line up of the band is:
Mike Peters Vocals and Guitar
James Stevenson Bass, Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jules Jones Peters Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Steve “Smiley” Barnard Drums.

On top of the releases there has been a Tour (both UK and Europe), the annual event The Gathering in Wales and also for the first time The Gathering also took place in New York and Los Angeles.
 

Promotion for the new album will consist of a number of Record Store appearances with Mike performing, signing and I think also a few Q&A’s. There will also be a tour in the USA as well (see The Alarm website for dates). By no means are they sitting on their laurels but are out to unleash “fresh music” upon the masses!

Now, you will note about that I put “fresh music” in quotation marks and I did so for a reason because whilst many of the songs will be new to the unsuspecting public at large they are actually well known to those within the ranks of The Alarm fan base. Last year Mike Peters issued two albums under the banner of The Alarm (Blood Red and Viral Black) that were only available from The Alarm website. What they have decided to do is draw from those two albums what they think are the best songs and release them as a stand alone album. The big question of course is how do they stand up and what sounds can we expect?

There's a new podcast available where Mike speaks about the new album and the songs that are a part of it. Click here to have a listen

Have a listen and see what you think. My own personal view on it is that I am pretty pleased with the choices they made for the album and whilst I still don't get Thirteen Dead Reindeer the rest of the album sounds pretty good to my old ears.

The standout tracks for me are Two Rivers, Coming Backwards, Peace Now, Cenotaph and Tomorrow.



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