Forever Delayed - The Independent Manics Forum  

Go Back   Forever Delayed - The Independent Manics Forum > Manic Street Preachers > Manic Street Preachers Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #2146  
Old 07-09-2010, 03:37
cameron33 cameron33 is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 152
Glowing review:
Postcards From a Young Man is a wonderful album; the sound of a band practically bursting with justified confidence in themselves and in their songs.

http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010...m-a-young-man/
Reply With Quote
  #2147  
Old 07-09-2010, 03:50
cameron33 cameron33 is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 152
Another generally positive review:
The long and short of it is that Postcards From a Young Man is a microcosm of the band’s career, rich in glorious successes, pitted with the occasional mis-step, often contradictory, but ultimately completely life-affirming.


http://musosguide.com/manic-street-p...oung-man/11672
Reply With Quote
  #2148  
Old 07-09-2010, 04:11
David.Prout David.Prout is offline
An imitation of dignity
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark View Post
The title song reminds me of Queen, the piano in the verse that is. The guitars on the whole album just sounds like...JDB.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frozendiva View Post
UEF, the Queen 'sound' refers tothe compressed vocals in the outro of the title track.
Yep, I think this is pretty much the entire Queen reference on the whole album, and to be fair I think the Queen reference came from NME and they were referring to this song anyway? I think?
Reply With Quote
  #2149  
Old 07-09-2010, 09:12
BrianPowell's Avatar
BrianPowell BrianPowell is offline
Desire on its knees
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Kirkby, Liverpool, Merseyside
Posts: 818
I was expecting it to sound a lot more like 'Send Away The Tigers' but it doesn't. I feel I can hear bits of 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours', 'Know Your Enemy' and 'Journal For Plague Lovers'.
I actually like every track on Postcards From A Young Man, an enjoyable listen with plenty of varied styles.
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #2150  
Old 07-09-2010, 09:33
franny's Avatar
franny franny is offline
Builder of routine
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Manchester
Age: 31
Posts: 16,304
I think it's just clicked with me, I feel like playing it twice in a row which has yet to happen. It' gone up to a 7.5 instead of a 6.5.
__________________
European Spoon, European Moon
Reply With Quote
  #2151  
Old 07-09-2010, 19:31
keatsandyeats
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
PFAYM thoughts from a new guy

I've been reading these forums for a while now, especially since Postcards, and I felt the need to sign up share my opinion (whether or not I'm taken seriously). Let me explain first that I'm a newcomer to Manics - when Plague Lovers came out, I heard the buzz around the British music press that I read (I'm an American and British press tends to get right everything that American press doesn't get at all). Then I delved into their back catalog. I developed a deep and abiding love for Manics once I memorized all of their songs. This is the first of their albums that I've been fortunate enough to anticipate.

I remember the very first time I heard Motorcycle Emptiness. Where I was sitting, even the position I was sitting in. I remember not understanding exactly what the song meant, but I felt deeply moved by the profound melancholy of the repeated "under neon loneliness - motorcycle emptiness." There was the impression that, whatever that meant, I've FELT that way before. My brother was going through a bad breakup and I said, you have to hear this song. You know how one song can become an anthem of a period of your life? That was, and is, his anthem after losing his fiancee.

Anyway, I digress.

I understand people not liking a record, being underwhelmed by it, feeling generally unmoved. If you think that this is a lackluster record, that's perfectly fair and understandable. Perhaps you've plumbed an emotional depth with Nicky, James, Sean, and Richey; and perhaps I don't have access to what you feel about the band. Maybe I'm just a... noob.

However. Postcards from a Young Man is, in my estimation, an absolute masterpiece. Is it better than Holy Bible, Everything Must Go, Journal? No - because it's a totally different album. Those three records are the holy trinity of Manics albums as far as I'm concerned, and choosing a favorite from those three is tantamount to choosing whether to spare only my twin brother, my fiancee, or my mother from certain death if I were forced. Postcards fits right in with those albums in terms of sheer evocativeness - the problem is, everyone's analyzing the hell out of this Manics record by making unfair comparisons to past masterpieces.

Is there a Motorcycle Emptiness on this album? Again, the answer is no. Motorcycle Emptiness meant a particular thing to us at a particular time, and that time is gone. Imagine Manics writing a very similar song: fuzzy, swelling guitar lead, giant echoing snare hits, a catchy chorus of a few seemingly incongruous words, a political message that stands up to multiple interpretations. It would seem contrived, wouldn't it? If we wouldn't accept a do-over of Motorcycle Emptiness, why do we need another Holy Bible, EMG, even Journal?

Because this record tells me that "these things I've seen brings tears to my eyes - live with me through the threat of our lives!" Anthemic, melancholy, touching. Isn't that stuck in your head?

Didn't the pulse-pounding repetition of "I will not give up and I will not give in" send chills down your spine?

How about the ABBA scheme of freaking Ian McCulloch's voice intertwining smoothly with the throaty thrills of James's? They way they trail off, almost mournfully, at the end of that chorus?

Did the solo in It's Not War cause anyone else to bolt out of their seat?

The harmonizing guitars on Hazelton Avenue?

How about the discussion-warranting reflections on the Manics' past political statements on Platitudes?

James's flawless execution of that falsetto leap from "pleasures, pleasures, pleasures virtual" leading into the chorus of Balconies?

What I'm trying to say is this: Manics have always, to me, represented a moment. One moment at a time. They've caused me to think and reflect, feel alternately angry and melancholy, to relate their music (however haphazardly) to my own life. What this album does, and several past Manics albums have honestly failed to, is to make me FEEL. It's a slightly overproduced but nevertheless extremely honest and refreshing bit of pop for a band that has never been afraid to change, and has honestly remained consistently good throughout their career. They're the only band I can think of for whom that can be said.

Some of the lyrics are uneven, but Manics lyrics always have been. Some of the choruses and chord progressions are predictable, which is actually fortunate for a band playing britpop-by-way-of-metal. Maybe Nicky's voice isn't as good as JDB's. But I honestly can't think of ONE track off this album that doesn't evoke some sort of response from me, whether it's my heart skipping a beat or my fist pumping in the air.

My guess is that this album will be critically praised, not panned, and readily accepted as a companion to Journal. Some will call it a return to form (as though Manics have ever had form), others will dismiss it as an obvious and well-made attempt to write radio hits (which they achieved handily), and a few will probably hate it for being too vague-kitsch-boring-overproduced, &c. The latter group, in my estimation, should try to remember why they started listening in the first place.

Because even if I never bought that first Manics record, damn - I'd sure as heck be listening now.
Reply With Quote
  #2152  
Old 07-09-2010, 19:36
sonicshake sonicshake is offline
An imitation of dignity
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Bedford.
Posts: 65
Brilliantly put keatsandyeats. Totally agree.
Reply With Quote
  #2153  
Old 07-09-2010, 19:39
Daniel Daniel is offline
Footprint of history
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Leeds
Age: 38
Posts: 23,376
I don't rate the new album, but that was a great read. Nice to see someone really articulate their passion.
Reply With Quote
  #2154  
Old 07-09-2010, 19:49
Europa Gluten Free's Avatar
Europa Gluten Free Europa Gluten Free is offline
I live to fall asleep
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,452
Who the fuck let Keatsandyeats in?

Are how much are they paying you?
Reply With Quote
  #2155  
Old 07-09-2010, 19:49
Frozendiva's Avatar
Frozendiva Frozendiva is offline
Stretched out in the sun
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Great White North
Posts: 10,510
Keatsandyeats, thank you. I share many of your sentiments, including the chill-down-the-spine of the end of the title track. All Manics albums have too resonated with me in some way. It may not be each song, but there is usually one song on each album that is perfect for my own moment in time. The album is very, very good.
Reply With Quote
  #2156  
Old 07-09-2010, 20:06
keatsandyeats
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Well Pete, Keats and Yeats were both poets; the former a Romantic and the latter a Modernist whose works reflected the Romantics. While they happen to be two of my favorites, I actually took the nake Keats and Yeats from the song Cemetry Gates by the Smiths.

As regards your aptly worded question, "are how much are they paying you?" ... It would be pretty sweet to get paid to write about Manics, but at the moment I'm behind the desk at my day job, which is Media Specialist in the creative services department for Carlisle Construction Materials. Which is markedly more boring.
Reply With Quote
  #2157  
Old 07-09-2010, 20:21
cloudburst's Avatar
cloudburst cloudburst is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 142
My website's review (MisforMusic.com)

http://www.misformusic.com/2010/09/p...eet-preachers/

Please leave comments on the review good or bad, the reviewer is a big Manics fan and would like some feedback if poss!
__________________

♪Yes, there's love if you want it... Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord♪
http://www.misformusic.com
Reply With Quote
  #2158  
Old 07-09-2010, 21:02
Europa Gluten Free's Avatar
Europa Gluten Free Europa Gluten Free is offline
I live to fall asleep
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,452
Quote:
Originally Posted by keatsandyeats View Post
Well Pete, Keats and Yeats were both poets; the former a Romantic and the latter a Modernist whose works reflected the Romantics. While they happen to be two of my favorites, I actually took the nake Keats and Yeats from the song Cemetry Gates by the Smiths.

As regards your aptly worded question, "are how much are they paying you?" ... It would be pretty sweet to get paid to write about Manics, but at the moment I'm behind the desk at my day job, which is Media Specialist in the creative services department for Carlisle Construction Materials. Which is markedly more boring.
Where's Picard when you need him?
Reply With Quote
  #2159  
Old 07-09-2010, 21:21
AnotherJDB AnotherJDB is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 117
Quote:
Originally Posted by proevpete View Post
Who the fuck let Keatsandyeats in?

Are how much are they paying you?
dunno, probably the same people who don't want another "PFAYM is actually KYE!" thread
Reply With Quote
  #2160  
Old 07-09-2010, 21:25
3MACE3 3MACE3 is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: somerset
Age: 31
Posts: 231
i agree with your review Keatsandyeats and how can you compare this album to a band who created such amazing albums as the holy bible or everthing must go or journal i do think we need to take their albums at face value and not compare them to the greatest albums coz theres no need, if it's a great album it's a great album end of.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 23:32.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.