Album Review

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – Re:United: 21 years 21 songs

• 18th Dec 2009

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin join a few bands now in revitalising their music from the early 80’s and beyond with this anniversary live show they played earlier in the year.

From the get go it’s clear that the original line up still know pretty much how to play together. Rat needs to get a hold of that Guitar as he seems to be completely off and away on way from the get go in “Suave and Suffocated.” But that is to say that it’s an extremely impassioned performance that dwarfs just about every other musician’s sound on stage.

But the others soon catch up as this special 21 years 21 songs performance progresses. Fan favourites like “Not Sleeping Around” and “Happy” are dealt with very early on. The majority of the track listing is obviously focussed on the God Fodder and Are You Normal albums.

What seems like an endless barrage of fast bass is finely interrupted by one of their finer tunes from their mid-90’s output in the form of “Stuck” which is perhaps a song too overlooked when it was released. A change in direction from their earlier work, but no less a wonderful creation with beautiful interlaced guitar and bass work.

The DVD of course gives you the actual visual footage to get all excited about, and they have thrown in a couple of extras with some souncheck footage and an interview with the original lineup.

The album as a whole serves as a reminder when times were very different in music, when Indie music actually had a name that meant something. It’s also a good reminder of just how versatile a band they were in their sound and how well a lot of it stands up in today’s market. Let’s hope this release leads to something else soon.