Alarm - In The Poppy Fields

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 12 / 4 / 2004

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Review

This is the first Alarm album to bear the Alarm's name since their swansong 'Raw' back in 1991. As I have never really heard them on record apart from their more famous singles, and know them better for their live appearances, then I can't compare this to their past recorded output. I can say though that as a live band they have lost none of their live magic. What did surprise me when listening to this was much it reminded me of the Mission and U2. The Mission's Craig Adams does in fact now play bass for the band but doesn't look at all like his former Mission self. 'In the Poppyfields' is an anthem filled album of strong songwriting,. It kicks off off with 'Coming Home'. Mike Peters vocal is deep on this, but the guitars are crystal sharp. It doesn't sound like something from an 80's revival band at all, but a group still doing the business, which is, of course, what rock n roll should be about. The second song 'Close' has a commanding style vocal ,but is more mellow in feel . It still, however, has bollocks. '45rpm' was released as a single under the name of the Poppyfields, and it was a hit single because it has a young punk Blink 182 feel. 'The Drunk and Disorderly' starts as a slow ballad, and sounds like something which Ian McNabb would do, but later the music kicks in and it becomes heavier and sounds like the Who. 'Federal Motor Voter has a Bono style vocal and is similiar to the Cult's 'She Sells Sanctuary'. 'Trafficking' is meanwhile short and sounds gothic. The rest of the album is very reflective about life's ever changing colours and events and shows Mike Peters as a great spokesperson for his generation. Hopefully he will keep on burning those rock n roll colours for a long time to come. We need more like him.

Track Listing:-

1 Coming Home
2 Close
3 45 R.P.M.
4 The Drunk And The Disorderly
5 Federal Motor Voter
6 Trafficking
7 New Home New Life
8 The Rock And Roll
9 The Unexplained
10 Right Back Where I Started From
11 True Life
12 Swan Song

Band Links:-

http://www.thealarm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialAl
https://twitter.com/thealarm

Label Links:-

http://www.snappermusic.com/