#1006
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'Those Manics are great mun ent'it!' | Miyazaki-San, Arigato | POPCORN! | PorcoTunes: SC=fdporco YT=PorcoForever | ---“...but the pigs are getting into our garden, and just digging holes, looking for truffles or something…"--- |
#1007
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I have to say I think people like Marat Sar who take time to write good reviews and detail their thoughts are more inspirational. There is nothing derogatory I've read in his post and I don't see anything wrong in a person articulating their views. I think a lot of negative opinions are condescending to others. I have always had faith in the Manics and as a working class girl I have always believed in them. I go to concerts on my own because they inspire me so much in their art, the song writing and how they perform, their fallability as people and the reality. In the new album I think there are lots of reasons to back them up in their art and work, which is always nice to read about, in a world of a such destruction and ruling.
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#1008
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I think soundscapes are a bit absent on RiF, the album feels like a huge step back from the lush sonic spaces present on Futurology. It feels like they've simplified their instrumentation quite a bit. I just listened to Futurology and there's little on RiF that even approaches of the diversity of tracks like Black Square or Empty Motorcades. I sort of blame (and perhaps unfairly) Dave Enriga. The albums where he's involved tend to have flatter soundscapes. When you see his name on a record, it's a sign the band are working within their comfort zone.
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Stand back, I have political powers! |
#1009
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Always blame Eringa.
The last three albums they’ve done with him = SATT, PFAYM and RIF. Basically, the same album as far as production goes. The last three albums they’ve done without him = JFPL, RTF and Futurology. With that run of form, I’d be wary of any fan who wants him to ever go near their studio again. |
#1010
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At the bottom of my album list in no particular order are GATS, KYE, PFAYM, SATT and RIF....
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Stand back, I have political powers! |
#1011
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Album dropped to No.13 from last week's No.2.
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#1012
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Shurrup. Nicely please.
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"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more," - Byron 'I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.' (from Sea Fever - John Masefield) "Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all" - Emily Dickinson |
#1013
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regarding rif; there are lots of well crafted pop songs. but eringa + bradfield do not work for me. but did make me enjoy lifeblood more than ever before. drums are perfected still. the left behind + liverpool revisited (demo) + in eternity are fun and fragile. i'd bless them for their courage to do something any day. enough demi-self mythology. do any solo or conceptual albums they want really - entrench and drench and divulge into whatever. like kye or futurology but really personal and way off musically. i'd love that. Last edited by ohsoso; 27-04-2018 at 21:37. |
#1014
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Album is finally growing on me. |
#1015
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Thanks. It's always nice to read your reviews too.
I think compared to tabloid views when they misquote and mislead politically about the band they don't seem to care about any of the technicalities of the album or more reasons for people to buy a manics album, or the chart outcome. So I wonder how much their interviews help. |
#1016
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Yes, and it's amazing IMHO.
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'Those Manics are great mun ent'it!' | Miyazaki-San, Arigato | POPCORN! | PorcoTunes: SC=fdporco YT=PorcoForever | ---“...but the pigs are getting into our garden, and just digging holes, looking for truffles or something…"--- |
#1017
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Ooh.
Maybe I just needed better speakers...lots of detail coming out in the lyrics and music i wasn't getting before. |
#1018
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Past, present, future?
This has been a weird album for me. I came into it with low expectations, which might explain why I’ve come out of it feeling pleasantly surprised.
That said, there’s definitely a shadow over this album. In the same way This is My Truth was dominated by the melancholy of carrying on without Richey, this record is drenched in different kind of wistfulness. Perhaps it’s not surprising that there’s a sense that they’re grasping for a hook or a niche as to what the band mean in 2018 having put their 90’s heyday to bed to some degree. The thing I like about this record most is the guitar work. Jimmy had gone a bit back in his box around 2007. From there onwards, the guitars were big, bold and brash - which worked well in small doses. But those lovely odd experimentations with weird chords, and sloghtly off kilter progressions seemed to disappear after then, with the obvious exception of JFPL. Jimmy is channeling the 1997 side of himself here, with lots of interesting little diversions in most of the songs. But back to the start. The opening to this record is super strong. People Give In might not be the opener you’d might expect, but I think (while it’s not 1985) it’s up there with the best opening tracks they’ve done. It makes a bold statement about the place the band is in right now, and sets the scene for the album. But it's also a tone-setter in that it reveals a subtle intricacy between guitar, keys and orchestra. Not just the classic "Manics plus orchestra" by any stretch of the imagination. International Blue is genuinely a soaring delight and would have been an absolute smash hit back when singles actually mattered. After that, I’m afraid the album does drop a level (imo of course.) Distant Colours carries some of the same nice intricacies in guitar work that International Blue does, but the verse just doesn’t work. I’ve heard people say that the acoustic version beats the electric one. But I still think the loud parts of the song work best, especially the jagged middle guitar section. I know it’s split opinion, but I like Vivian a lot. It’s a proper summery jangly tune, and it wouldn’t be out of place on The Great Western. Dylan & Caitlan is decent, but despite the relative strengths of these tracks, the run from Vivian to Liverpool Revisited sucks the life out of the record just as it gets going, which I think leads to the opening half feeling a tad underwhelming. I think taking one song out of that trio would probably have helped the overall pacing of the album. After that point though, the albums gets super interesting. This is a compliment, but Sequels of Forgotten Wars actually reminds me of an EMG era B-side, with it’s slightly off kilter verse arrangement. And those Australia like huge chords that punctuate the chorus are just glorious. Hold Me Like a Heaven has a feel of Lifeblood about it, and with a different production it wouldn’t be out of place alongside I Live To Fall Asleep. It’s just a beautiful song full stop, and as good as anything else they've done in the last decade. In Eternity soars a notch lower than International Blue, but it soars nonetheless. Great chorus and I get the feeling this might be a bit of a dusty gem in years to come. The only other dip for me was Broken Algorithms. I know the guys “just wanted to rock” on this album, but this - and the topic - don’t click for me. It just feels a bit punk by numbers in the same way Imperial Bodybags did. The record picks up again though, and A Song for the Sadness is an exceptionally pretty tribute to Bowie with a bruised heart (the “sh-sh-sh-sh-shining” vocal is a dead giveaway.) That track could have been a closer - but The Left Behind is great too. I haven’t enjoyed many of Nicky’s vocals in the past - but The Left Behind is genuinely a lovely track and I’m chuffed he’s finally nailed that wistful closer that he attempted back on Williams Last Words. In the end, perhaps unsurprisingly, musically this album lands somewhere between EMG and Futurology, via Lifeblood. Clearly from the bands interviews of late they’ve not found it easy to come back. Overall though, this is undoubtably a welcome return. At the same time, I’m reading a fair few less than complimentary comments from around the forum which are suggesting the live shows aren’t quite doing the trick. Hopefully that doesn’t take the wind out of their sales as this is a very strong record. It's certainly the best thing they've done since JFPL and most of the songs stand up with the best stuff they've ever done. No mean feat on album 13.
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“I have known many sorrows, most of which never happened.” Mark Twain |
#1019
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Sales for the week gone by:
No.13 Manic Street Preachers 5,238
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#1020
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Still they got a no.13 for their no.13. Which came out on the 13th. So there's that
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'Those Manics are great mun ent'it!' | Miyazaki-San, Arigato | POPCORN! | PorcoTunes: SC=fdporco YT=PorcoForever | ---“...but the pigs are getting into our garden, and just digging holes, looking for truffles or something…"--- |
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