Following on from the highly-acclaimed Tall Ships, It Bites return with their first concept album in a career that spans 25 years.
Inspired by the discovery of an old family photograph, Map of the Past is a highly personal journey that explores love, passion, jealousy, anger, remorse and loss through the eyes of a previous generation against the backdrop of Britain as it enters a new century and one of the most defining periods of its history.
Written by John Mitchell and John Beck over the course of 2011, it was recorded at Outhouse Studios in Reading and features Bob Dalton on drums and Lee Pomeroy on bass.
Track Listing:
Man In The Photograph
Wallflower
Map of the Past
Clocks
Flag
The Big Machine
Cartoon Graveyard
Send No Flowers
Meadow and the Stream
The Last Escape
Exit Song
Map of the Past is released on 26 March 2012.
Cheers. Any snippets available yet?
JM is well chuffed with the solo on Cartoon Graveyard I know that much!
Quote from: "Drarok"Cheers. Any snippets available yet?
Not as yet, I'm afraid, although I believe there are some YouTube clips of the most recent tour with some new choons featured. I honestly don't know whether anything will be available prior to release, but I'll be sure to post it here for you if anything does appear. :)
I assume that any pre-order linkery will bandied as soon as....?
Will be interesting to see how this album is released. Tall Ships was released via the band's website first, but then they got a deal with InsideOut so they stopped selling it for a while - it is also the reason that the InsideOut version has an extra track - 'When I Fall'.
Nellie might be able to shed some light on it, having taken over the IB shop (next stop, the world ;) )
(also would be worth knowing which 'route' is better for the band - do they get more money if we buy it direct from them, or does that then mean that the sales figures via other routes (amazon etc) are lower and therefore Insideout don't see it as so much of a success) :?
Nellie was asked on the fishtank if it would be available from The Merch Desk (//http://themerchdesk.com/).
Quote from: "Nellie"You betcha! We will be taking pre-orders soon and they will also be a special package thang.
Cheers Mike, I must swim on over there more often 8-)
Straight from the horse's mouth (well, the Chief) on the IB forum: :)
QuoteMap of the Past Release News
Just so you all know..
Map of the Past will come out on 26th March.
There will be 3 versions..
Standard CD
Special Edition
Double LP with a CD copy of the album.
You will be able to pre order the album from The Merch Desk and we will stock all packages.
There will be a very special edition package only onsale at the Merch Desk with a T-shirt and other goodies (that we are working on) this shirt will be a Merch Desk exclusive that only comes with the new album.
Here's some more good news, It Bites new album Map Of The Past is now available to pre-order with some exclusive packages only at The Merch Desk.
//http://themerchdesk.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=87
From Monday 27th February, weekend tickets for the Celebr8 Prog Festival will go on sale via The Merch Desk. An amazing line-up of nine bands over two days.
Have a happy weekend,
The Merch Fairy x
Label is listed as Century Media - "Quality in Metal" :o
Same label as the Adrenaline Mob :!:
Here's the electronic press kit for Map of the Past - hope you enjoy! :D
//http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVX-pvllCms
Nice one.. :) Looking forward to the album!
Ordered the 2CD version from the merch desk this morning :)
Looks like all might not be well in IB land.... //https://twitter.com/#!/LordConnaught/status/176993528252071936
Yeah,saw that as well.... :(
Quote from: "fitzy"Yeah,saw that as well.... :(
What the heck??? :o
Mmmmmm. comments from other of JM's 'circle' seem to point to him being mightily upset by something in IB Land. Hope this is an immediate reaction to a situation and when things calm down normal service will be resumed. Given the positive reviews that are filtering through for the new album it would be a great shame for it be overshadowed by a split.
They have some of the least supportive followers I have ever encountered. It staggers me every time I see it.
No evidence that this latest joy-glitch is down to such followers but it would be my first guess.
If MOTP is half as good as TTS it will be a brilliant album and, reluctantly, I think I'd rather JM drew a line under a job well done and just did stuff he enjoyed instead.
Tweet withdrawn so hopefully nothing serious. :?
I know what you mean Pedro - like yourself, I frequent the IB forum but I do find some of the comments unnecessarily negative for 'fans' and wouldn't be surprised if JM got a bit hacked off / dispirited occasionally.
That said, it's all been pretty positive recently (except for the 'why no Scottish gig?' thread which I have stayed well clear of!)
Just a vent I reckon, give the guy a hug :)
I pre-ordered Map of the Past the other day from http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk (http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk) and I'm looking forward to getting it.
I ordered The Tall Ships at the same time (from http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk (http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk)) and am enjoying it literally as we speak. Reminds me very much of Kino and thats not just JM's vocals. Very good album indeed.
www.themerchdesk.co.uk (http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk) were very prompt in dispatching my order and it came much sooner than I expected. Wondreful.
Jake, has Nellie got you on the payroll at //http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk (damn, you've got me at it now!!!)
Seriously, the new album is getting great reviews and it would be a great shame for this to overshadow it - I have my own thoughts on what may have caused the outburst, but will keep my own counsel on it as the last thing anything like this needs is more fuel adding to the fire!!!
Roll on the 26th, and Mrs Goggins at Merchland Post Office being inundated with large parcels to send :lol:
Quote from: "Mooncat"Jake, has Nellie got you on the payroll at //http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk
Not yet, I need to speak to the HR department.
Twas a vent, tweet is withdrawn.
As Nellie said on Twitter, move along now. :)
Seriously looking forward to the album.
:D
Not to stoke the fires but what was the general gist of JM's tweet?
General George Custer.
Quote from: "mr_john"Not to stoke the fires but what was the general gist of JM's tweet?
Unhappy with something is all. No fires.
Did someone mention the merchdesk (//http://www.themerchdesk.co.uk) ?
Damn fine outfit
Quote from: "Pedro"Quote from: "mr_john"Not to stoke the fires but what was the general gist of JM's tweet?
Unhappy with something is all. No fires.
Ah ok. Bless.
Not sure if anyone esle has seen this but IB are listed on the next CD with Classic Rock Presents Prog -
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid= ... 8174258494 (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=962456&l=cd64d882e0&id=157808174258494)
Could this be a sneak of some new tune-age?!?!?!?
Could be...or it could be one of the two tracks from the EP.
...as I'm sure I just said somewhere...;)
If it's a little sneak preview of new choonage you're after, then look no further... :mrgreen:
//http://www.amazon.co.uk/bites-map-past-MP3-Downloads/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A77197031%2Ck%3AIt+Bites+Map+of+the+Past&page=1
Review from ytsejam.com: http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name ... nt&id=2038 (http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=2038)
Not sure what "prgrogrreve rock" means, though. :lol:
Nice review.... ;) Thanks Jurgen.
It Bites would like to invite you to a very exclusive party to celebrate the launch of Map of the Past!
If you can make it to London for 8pm on Monday 26th March, then we'd love to see you for a few drinks, and you can spend an evening with the band listening to the album in an intimate setting. To apply for a place, please e-mail
itbitesband@gmail.com by Monday 19th March, specifying how many places you would like to reserve (limited to max 2 per person). Numbers are strictly limited, so please don't apply if you're not 100% sure you can make it.
All applications for places will be chosen on a random basis and if you're successful we'll e-mail you next week with more details. Please note that due to the nature of the venue, this is an over 18s event only
I thought this wasn't out until next week? It's come today! Thank you Nellie! :D :D :D
So has mine :lol: :lol: :lol:
I received mine today too. Listening now and it is great so far, really enjoying it. The overall sound is great, JM's vocals sound particularly good this time around. Great artwork too.
Going to be a favourite I reckon :D
Excellent service from The Merch Desk as usual but that goes without saying :)
Oh, mine is here too! Listening now :)
Quite simply its the best thing they have ever done. :D
Quote from: "turbo"Quite simply its the best thing they have ever done. :D
Word 8-)
agreed
can't wait!!
Got the album today (excellent service as ever from Nellie //http://www.themerchdesk.com( ;) here we go again)
and it is everything everyone has said and more.
Quite simply it is already one of my faveourite albums - as I tweeted JM earlier - I once told him how I thought TTS was song for song one of the best albums since Def Leppard's Hysteria, and he/they have surpassed it with MOTP.
Great songs, great production, great everything. Can't wait to hear some(or indeed all) of the tracks live!!!!
Having a daughter who has designs on becoming a pro musician means that the flow of sterling these days goes towards things that make music instead of things that contain music, so for now this was on my "must get" list but when actually coming face to face with a copy in HMV yesterday 'it bit' and dug its fangs in and I found myself enjoying the sounds of Beck, Mitchell and co on the drive home.
It's a good un. I can see why there was all the pre release excitement. Strong melodies, great instrumental bits and so far none of that "Um diddly um diddly eh-oh" vocals that I never quite got. However, I have not yet strayed into the latter stages of the disk. I like the mix too, very powerful in places, great solos, looking forward to a proper spin on the home systems later.
Had to laugh when the car CD display told me I was listening to "Cartoon Gravey"!? Strange title I thought, with odd spelling. Forgot that long titles get truncated!
Final comment, I'd intended to buy from Our fave merch desk, so sorry about that Nells. Noticed that the HMV price for the 2CDset is £12 compared with The Mech Desk at £17 ?? :?
Quote from: "Brom"Had to laugh when the car CD display told me I was listening to "Cartoon Gravey"!?
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
From the album "Map of the Roast"?
I have finally given this enough listens to offer a considered view....it's farking brillicent! :D
It has just about everything I would expect (and had been hoping for), including some trademark nonsense vocals ;) (just nah-nahs this time but the spirit lives on!).
Light/shade, verse/chorus, atmosphere/solos....all present and more than correct.
Someone moaned on the IB forum (GASP! - really?) that it sounded too much like Frost* and/or Kino.
Well, it can't help but sound a little like them, having some personnel overlap and it does have one or two musical or lyrical "references" that made me smile, but the main way that it resembles those other bands is by being flippin' awesome.
Bob Dalton says in the EPK that it is different to previous albums...well perhaps, but I really can see the resemblance between this and The Tall Ships...and that's not a bad thing at all.
It doesn't have the long, "set piece" track like "This Is England" but it does have stable-mates for all the other characteristics of TTS.
I have one question about the track "Meadow and the Stream"....why is the chorus "Meadow and the Stream", over and over? This track took the longest to "sit down" for me. I think I get what the story is about (at least my take on it) and I'm quite happy with that...just the chorus...huh?
Anyway, I thoroughly commend the album to the house. It's a belter. :)
Quote from: "Brom"Final comment, I'd intended to buy from Our fave merch desk, so sorry about that Nells. Noticed that the HMV price for the 2CDset is £12 compared with The Mech Desk at £17 ?? :?
I'm pretty sure that the majors are subsidising HMV at the moment to undercut on line etc, given the parlous state of HMV and the fact that it is the only nationwide big hitter selling CD's on the high street. I think that was part of the refinancing HMV did a month or so back. The labels can't afford/don't want HMV to go out of business as it's still a crucial outlet and distribution channel for them.
I would guess that Nellie can't get the volume discounts that HMV would hence the price.
Cracking album though.
It is <understatement>rather good</understatement> :) And I'd less issue with Nellie's price as it supports her and the band far more than HMV will (though, I'll tend to buy big labels that way so they get less of my money :p)
And as for sounding a bit like Frost* or kino... not only is there the overlap, but remember who influenced those bands!
Quote from: "Mordwin"And as for sounding a bit like Frost* or kino... not only is there the overlap, but remember who influenced those bands!
When I first heard the riff on the intro to "The Big Machine" I thought "Welcome to Nowhere", the 'Vile Carbonator' section. And there's definitely another bit that sounds really Frost*y, but I can't remember which bit at the mo.
This album has seriously taken me over this week, I can't seem to get enough of it.
"Send no Flowers" is the current front runner, mostly because I found I could noodle along with it on the Ukulele last night and the structure of the song is just so clever.
That said, there's not much to separate the other songs, they're all top notch, even the two I've had on the single for quite some time, there's no "skippers" on the disk at all.
Definitely enjoying MOTP but personally I don't think it's reached the lofty heights of TTS. Then again, that's not exactly a criticism as I consider TTS to be one of the most consistently brilliant CDs of the last 10 years.
The companion live CD is jolly good too.
Cartoon Gravey (!) so far my favourite - but it don't half sound like Firth of Fifth at the start (especially the Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited version)
I was getting quite worried, first run through I found it at best ordinary. On about play 5/6 now and it's really starting to grab me and make sense (thankfully). I guess having high expectations can be a bit of a bugger, I was so disappointed on that first listen, fortunately it's become a right grower :)
I still wouldn't rate it anywhere near TTS but a few more plays and well, who knows?
Yeah, for some reason it's not a first-listen-brilliant album...I don't know why that is...but if you let it, it will grow all over you and you'll find yourself with a bag full of ear-worms and wishing you could get the world to listen to it.
I suppose it doesn't have the long epics that TTS has, but there are songs that are obvious stable-mates of TTS tracks.
I hope people stick with it, it does take a good few listens, but I know it is worth the effort.
Quote from: "Againesis"Cartoon Gravey (!) so far my favourite - but it don't half sound like Firth of Fifth at the start (especially the Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited version)
at last! somebody else hears genesis
MOTP is riddled with Genesis influence...along with Pink Floyd and a few dabs of Queen.Meadow and the Stream in particular has Genesis written all over it and i absolutely love it.Im not sure if this was deliberate,but you do get the feeling that It Bites have tried to show who have INFLUENCED THEM,on the new album. :)
I don't make the rules on the prices at The Merch Desk (//http://www.themerchdesk.com). I sell the stock for what the bands tell me to, as I do so on their behalf. I merely take a tiny commission, the rest goes to the band, as it should.
Nellie...you do a wonderful job.Many thanks again for swapping my xmas pressi over for the t-shirts i asked for back in January. :D
Quote from: "Nellie"I don't make the rules on the prices at The Merch Desk (//http://www.themerchdesk.com). I sell the stock for what the bands tell me to, as I do so on their behalf. I merely take a tiny commission, the rest goes to the band, as it should.
But, but.... I thought it WAS your fault, Nells. I thought you set all the prices and pressed the album yourself and everything.... ;)
QuoteNellie wrote:
I don't make the rules on the prices at The Merch Desk. I sell the stock for what the bands tell me to, as I do so on their behalf. I merely take a tiny commission, the rest goes to the band, as it should.
But, but.... I thought it WAS your fault, Nells. I thought you set all the prices and pressed the album yourself and everything....
And I also thought that Nells was responsible for the incompetence of the hapless dimwitted postal service that sees fit to damage the goos en route as well ;) :lol:
(Nells, we LOVE you - have a great holiday, you deserve it 8-) 8-) )
Oh, and global warming, the fuel shortage, bankers bonuses and MP's expenses too :D
Quote from: "Dena"Quote from: "Nellie"I don't make the rules on the prices at The Merch Desk (//http://www.themerchdesk.com). I sell the stock for what the bands tell me to, as I do so on their behalf. I merely take a tiny commission, the rest goes to the band, as it should.
But, but.... I thought it WAS your fault, Nells. I thought you set all the prices and pressed the album yourself and everything.... ;)
.... and paid the bands for the privelige! ;)
And guaranteed attendance at some of the best gigs around!! :D Perks eh ;)
Yes, we love you Nells!
YAY! Group hug!!!
CD, shirt and bag arrived in Germany today. Danke, Nellie! :D
But what to do with the bag?? :lol:
QuoteBut what to do with the bag??
Surely fill it with bottles of Crabbies (alcoholic ginger beer) and take it to the next IB gig where Nellie will gratefully relieve you of the burden ;)
I think I agree with just about everything said.
It took me a few listens to get into it, I thought it was because I was on road, hopping in and out of the van. I thought it sounded a bit tall shippy to start with.
I get the Queen, Genesis & Kino.
Some stonking tracks and no skippers. It's been on non stop all week, & even when I took it out today, I found this van didn't have an MP3 player, so back in it went.
There'll be some transit porn later for Jim D
Now I have heard it too. Just wow! This album is really great, we were singing along already at first listen. Some of the best most uplifting music I've heard in ages. I can remember a similar feeling when I heard Milliontown, and I don't make such comparisons lightly.
An iTunes copy will have to do until I order the proper album. Worth it. :D
Quote from: "Brom"Quote from: "Dena"Quote from: "Nellie"I don't make the rules on the prices at The Merch Desk (//http://www.themerchdesk.com). I sell the stock for what the bands tell me to, as I do so on their behalf. I merely take a tiny commission, the rest goes to the band, as it should.
But, but.... I thought it WAS your fault, Nells. I thought you set all the prices and pressed the album yourself and everything.... ;)
.... and paid the bands for the privelige! ;)
And guaranteed attendance at some of the best gigs around!! :D Perks eh ;)
Yes, we love you Nells!
I thought she melted the crayons and carved the grooves in the wax! 8-)
still waiting for my copy; I think the ocean got wider this trip.... :D
IT'S HERE!!! oh my god, it's so good.
Quote from: "rogerg"IT'S HERE!!! oh my god, it's so good.
It is :lol: :lol: :lol:
and it just keeps getting better! :D
It's definitely a grower :)
Quote from: "Mordwin"It's definitely a grower :)
Quote from: "rogerg"and it just keeps getting better! :D
I've gone from slightly disappointed to totally hooked in just a few days.
it hasn't left the player since I got it!
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :shock:
Was at the lovely old Robin in Bilston for the last of a short run (a tour-ette, (C) Anne Marie Helder ;) ) of gigs in support of the new album, and what a gig!!!
The band were on stunning form, with Nathan K in for Mr Poms on bass, and what a set - the WHOLE of 'Map' in order, then Ghosts, Words, Kiss Like Judas and Wind That Shakes The Barley - a truly fantastic response from the crowd and a few forumites from both here and over at IB central. Quite a few Frost* shirts about as well (at one point Nells remarked that she'd probably sold 90% of the shirts on display!!)
If you're going to Celebr8 you'll have an amazing time - some people have questioned the decision to play the whole of a new album, but when it's as good as Map then it's a truly 'progressive' step!!!