It is a while since the mighty Not Now Norman have featured on these pages, but with a new album hitting the streets very soon it is that time! The album is out on 29th November and is called ‘Go HARD or Go HOME’. It kicks off with the rather strange and at times scary (well you try listening to it through your headphones in the dark) “Norminius Sanctus”. It has a dark, monastic feel that would be perfect to soundtrack the opening credits of a Hammer Horror film. The title track starts a full on metal assault with epic scale AC/ DC style riffs that support Taylor-Grace’s pitch perfect rock vocal. At times she sounds like Joan Jett on steroids with some Ozzy Osbourne vocal chords spliced into her own voice box. The current single “Feral” is next and it has a great 80s rock hair metal feel to it with some hooks that Madonna in her prime would have been incredibly envious of. “WHO I AM” is another single and it has riffs forged in rock heaven and drumming that could smash mountains and vocally this is one of my favourite tracks on the album. If you love prog style power ballads you are going to find yourself in a relationship with “Family Photo”. This will be the next single released on the same day as the album. Taylor-Grace says this about it “This track is one of the toughest I’ve written. When I was born, a relative disowned me for being a girl. I’ve heard people praise this person highly to me, saying ‘they’re still your relative’ when they’ve never deserved it. I didn’t realise how it affected me until I started writing it. It’s for all those people who have been disowned for reasons they can’t control.” I have been on this planet a long while and it baffles the hell out of me that people with these kind of opinions actually exist.
The emotion in “Mama” is palpable and Taylor produces perhaps her finest vocal performance to date. It is huge in sound and cinematic in ambition. The band prove their funky skills on “Midnight Sun” the guitar work and drumming makes you want to move. It also has an early 70s rock vibe, like Medicine Head on speed. The rock just don’t stop on this brilliant set of songs as “Mister Know It All” takes things up another gear with a stellar, rip-roaring riff rampage. Everyone knows a Mister Know It All, right? I certainly do. There is a great blues mood on “King Of A Wasted Land” which has an occasional but wonderfully haunting vocal double track from Taylor-Grace. The guitar solo toward the end of the track is one of the best on the album. I am not totally certain who this is directed at, but my take is King Charles III, or any one of the recent UK Prime Ministers. It doesn’t matter to me I despise all of them. Just when you thought an album could get no heavier this one hits you with the titanic tower of metal that is “Bad Liar”. I was transported back to early Suzi Quatro with “Why Don’t You Like Me?”, particularly the chorus refrain which I doubt I could shake from my brain even if I wanted to. The punkiest sound on the album is probably “Green Light” which evokes Motorhead playing with Girlschool, a roaring tiger of a song. I have heard many great and interesting covers before, and Not Now Norman’s take on Britney’s “Toxic” is phenomenal. It retains the pop tropes of the original but give it a hugely harder rock edge.
This sophomore album from Not Now Norman hits all the spots perfectly and scratches music itches that you never knew you had. Am I disappointed with anything about this release? Yes, that it is about to be released just when I thought I had completed my top 20 albums of the year list! Now I need to go away and have a rethink, yes this album is THAT good!
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