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
  #16  
Old 04-10-2013, 02:25
bachelorette's Avatar
bachelorette bachelorette is offline
I live to fall asleep
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: here.inmyhead
Age: 42
Posts: 3,154
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Selfdestruct View Post
What annoyed me most about that album, and again this relates to it coming shortly after Journals, is that it just felt like an album(for the most part) that they just couldn't possibly want to make, never mind being able listen back to it themselves and enjoy it. The success of SATT and the failure of Lifeblood I'm sure must have played a part in how Postcards turned out.
this, especially the highlighted part. I started really getting into the Manics in 2009/10, so by the time Postcards came around I didn't have much in the way of expectations. I was just discovering the band for myself, even though I had been aware of them for over a decade. Ironically, after EMG Tigers was the next album I picked up - mostly to figure out whether the Manics of the 2000s were really as shit as everybody (well, my most trusted music magazine) claimed. And I found myself really captivated by the album, the indecipherable lyrics, the melodies and a strange kind of comfort the album gave me. Speaking of the lyrics, I was never quite sure where the line between idiosyncrasy and stupidity went, well, except for the bloody gospel choir going on about haircuts, I found that cringe-worthy or whimsical, depending on my mood.
Postcards seemed to be a direct continuation of Tigers with its anthemic melodies and over-the-top soundscapes. Again, I wasn't so sure about the lyrics - but I have to say that at that point I did not really think Wire was ever more than a "competent" lyricist. Even from just listening to EMG, Forever Delayed and Tigers it was clear that moments of genius and lines bordering on the inane always sat cheek-to-jowl in Wire's lyric-writing. I have grown to appreciate Wire's lyrics more once I dived deeper into the Manics, but at that point the lyrics on Postcards really didn't seem that bad.
I was very convinced of Postcards, with the title track, Auto-intoxication and "Entertainment" as examples of being shamelessly populist but sustained by real emotions and convictions.
And then, two things happened. I started to dig further into the back catalogue, realising just how important the band was becoming for me. And I figured out that the shamelessly populist Manics I had at first admired for infiltrating the mainstream with intelligence hidden in simple-sounding anthemic rock songs were not the version of the band that could sustain my interest. It was the darkness of the Bible and JFPL, the sprawling, incoherent mess of KYE (equal parts genius and insanity) and the glassy yet comforting beauty and intimacy of Lifeblood that really captivated me.
For all their redeeming qualities, Tigers and Postcards appeared shallow and pale in comparison.
And secondly, the band gave up on the album, no more than 3 or 4 months after its release. That has detached me from Postcards more than anything. No decent promotion and embarrassingly bad videos for the 2nd and 3rd single, the three singles being the only album tracks played on the 2011 "Postcards Tour" - it was obvious that the band were finished with it. The gigs were brilliant, but a promo tour for Postcards it was not.
Two years on I've delved into every aspect of the Manics, digging up the most obscure songs, going to gigs, collecting official releases, researching the band's history, and for better or worse, I'd call myself a fan. But ironically enough, Tigers and Postcards, the two albums I initially played so often have all but disappeared from my conscious mind. I don't share the hate for Postcards, but it doesn't mean anything to me anymore, writing this I realise that that is true. It is irrelevant to me. Of the Tigers era I keep a few album tracks in my heart and the b-sides, which make up the best album the band never released. Of Postcards there is the title track and not much else. Some of the b-sides are beautiful, but somehow many of them feel unfinished and don't seem to pass the test of time. Slow Reflections/Strange Delays and Broken Up Again being the only b-sides I can remember really loving.
As for RTF and the Manics of now, I am still in love, but not as much as before. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I always looked at the Manics as an extremely close-knit unit of individuals. They seemed to embody a sense of unity and belonging that was intimate and it made them unique. And that is why I cannot get around the amount of guest vocalists. To be cruel, 2 songs sung by (to me) totally random guest vocalists doesn't equal "Nebraska-eque intimacy", it equals "Tom Jones Reload". I feel the band are not widening the spectrum, they are watering down their identity. And that impression clashes painfully with the sheer beauty of the music and intensity of the lyrics on RTF. There will be at least one duet on Futurology, so this does not seem to be a passing thing. So for me time will have to tell whether I can truly reclaim my band from the estrangement I feel about the "James is bored of his voice"-idiocy, whether the strength of what they come up with outweighs the alienation - as it did in the end in the case of RTF - or whether I will be the one bitter party-spoiler who loves everything pre-2013 "before they decided to become the Tom-Jones-Reload-Preachers".
__________________

Livet är kort, för kort för att slösas bort
Lämna hatet åt gamanar


Last edited by bachelorette; 04-10-2013 at 02:37.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 04-10-2013, 06:04
Littlesue's Avatar
Littlesue Littlesue is offline
Footprint of history
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: The Black Country
Age: 63
Posts: 27,336
I lost all hope after PCFAYM and was looking forward to RTF but I find it equally as shite! if the next one is as poor I won't bother buying anything new again from them and have lots the will to see them live anymore.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 04-10-2013, 06:07
Aestivate's Avatar
Aestivate Aestivate is offline
Bored of being bored
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Picking up dog shit
Posts: 1,535
I like Postcards and loved seeing the Manics on Strictly. They're not the angry young men anymore, but still write songs that make me think and have melodies that stick in the mind.
__________________
Once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 04-10-2013, 12:34
The Gutless Wonder's Avatar
The Gutless Wonder The Gutless Wonder is offline
Bored out of my mind
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: World Headquarters of 'Team JDB' and CoJ
Posts: 42,921
Come on Futurology! Make me HATE YOU!!!

__________________
"Former glam-punk rocker James Dean Bradfield now looks like your friendly, slightly rumpled Welsh uncle who always brings you chocolate when he visits. That's not a bad thing." - Allister Thompson aka The Gateless Gate (Canadian musician)
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 04-10-2013, 12:50
Porco's Avatar
Porco Porco is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 9,778
I always liked most of PFAYM and still do. I clearly have different tastes to anyone who thinks I'm Leaving You For Solitude was more deserving of an album place than than All We Make Is Entertainment, for example. But whatever, you like what you like and vice-versa.
__________________
'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…"---
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 04-10-2013, 13:56
UEF's Avatar
UEF UEF is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London
Posts: 9,102
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Gutless Wonder View Post
Come on Futurology! Make me HATE YOU!!!

First single: Futuresong
__________________
V2002 • Move 2003 • V2006 • KoKo 2006 • Culture Show 2007 • Album Chart Show 2007 • XFM 2007 • V2007 • Glastonbury 2007 • Astoria 2007 • London Brixton 2007 • NME Awards 2008 • NME Big Gig 2008 • Forever Heavenly 2008 • Roundhouse 2009 • Forum 2009 • Concert for Care 2009 • XFM Winter Wonderland 2010 • Brixton Academy 2011 • Blackwood Miners Institute 2011 • Roundhouse 2011 • O2 2011 • Rough Trade East 2012 • Shepherds Bush 2013 • Brixton 2014 • Glastonbury 2014 • Rough Trade East 2014 • Acoustic Guitar Show 2014 • London Roundhouse 2014 • Cardiff Castle 2015 • London On Blackheath 2015 • London Royal Albert Hall 2016 • Swansea Liberty Stadium 2016 • Wembley Arena 2018 • Shepherds Bush 2019 • Kingston Pryzm 2021 x2 • Wembley Arena 2021 • Glastonbury 2023 • Alexandra Palace 2024 (40)
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 04-10-2013, 14:04
The Gutless Wonder's Avatar
The Gutless Wonder The Gutless Wonder is offline
Bored out of my mind
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: World Headquarters of 'Team JDB' and CoJ
Posts: 42,921
Quote:
Originally Posted by UEF View Post
First single: Futuresong
__________________
"Former glam-punk rocker James Dean Bradfield now looks like your friendly, slightly rumpled Welsh uncle who always brings you chocolate when he visits. That's not a bad thing." - Allister Thompson aka The Gateless Gate (Canadian musician)
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 04-10-2013, 17:51
RND's Avatar
RND RND is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Motown suburb
Age: 52
Posts: 108
Soo send away the Postcards...

If Postcards is close cousin to Tigers,
I hope that RTF becomes something like Lifeblood
It has that kind of feel to it. Title track RTF is rock solid
and there is few more on this album.

I hope that Futurology does not line up with Tigers / Postcards and that is my biggest fear.
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 04-10-2013, 19:42
Nature's Discontent Nature's Discontent is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Back in the Eighties
Age: 34
Posts: 5,242
Quote:
Originally Posted by UEF View Post
First single: Futuresong
That's actually not a bad title for a song.

Or am I just turning into Wire...?
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 04-10-2013, 20:05
Tom Tom is offline
Footprint of history
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: bat country
Posts: 21,619
I just lose all hope when I hear them slate Lifeblood

/broken record
__________________
https://youtu.be/-JmO2OGiB2k
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 04-10-2013, 20:09
Littlesue's Avatar
Littlesue Littlesue is offline
Footprint of history
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: The Black Country
Age: 63
Posts: 27,336
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom View Post
I just lose all hope when I hear them slate Lifeblood

/broken record
Yes I think that's what makes me lose much love for them, but then I'm reminded that the only reason why they probably slate it is because it did'nt sell much and they just find it embarrasing.
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 04-10-2013, 20:18
FacelessSenseOfVoid's Avatar
FacelessSenseOfVoid FacelessSenseOfVoid is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Sheffield/Birmingham
Age: 43
Posts: 6,708
Quote:
Originally Posted by Littlesue View Post
Yes I think that's what makes me lose much love for them, but then I'm reminded that the only reason why they probably slate it is because it did'nt sell much and they just find it embarrasing.
To them I think that sales/chart positions mean more than how good a record actually is, which is very embarassing behaviour.
__________________
23/08/01 CIA, 06/04/05 Civic Hall, 24/05/06 Camden Barfly, 11/10/06 Birmingham Barfly, 12/05/07 Cardiff Uni, 21/05/07 Civic Hall, 27/05/07 Manchester Apollo, 02/06/07 Colston Hall, 09/06/07 Reading Hexagon, 08/12/07 Birmingham NIA, 12/12/07 Brixton Academy, 28/02/08 O2 Arena, 30/05/09 Roundhouse, 12/10/10 Derby Assembly Rooms, 14/12/10 Birmingham O2 Academy, 19/05/11 Civic Hall, 17/12/11 O2 Arena, 06/11/12 Rough Trade, 13/09/13 Newport Centre, 23/09/13 Colston Hall, 27/09/13 Manchester Ritz, 29/03/14 Cardiff Motorpoint, 31/03/14 Leicester De Montfort, 06/04/14 Civic Hall, 08/07/14 Rough Trade, 14/05/16 Genting Arena, 09/07/17 Llangollen, 06/10/17 Drama Studio, 16/03/18 Absolute Radio, 14/04/18 Rough Trade, 27/04/18 Birmingham Arena, 05/05/18 Cardiff Motorpoint

Twitter: @KhizzyJ
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 04-10-2013, 20:26
Nature's Discontent Nature's Discontent is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Back in the Eighties
Age: 34
Posts: 5,242
Quote:
Originally Posted by FacelessSenseOfVoid View Post
To them I think that sales/chart positions mean more than how good a record actually is, which is very embarassing behaviour.
Well, I don't think they think that anymore. At least not James and Sean. If Nicky wasn't such a statto though...
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 04-10-2013, 20:29
bachelorette's Avatar
bachelorette bachelorette is offline
I live to fall asleep
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: here.inmyhead
Age: 42
Posts: 3,154
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nature's Discontent View Post
Well, I don't think they think that anymore. At least not James and Sean. If Nicky wasn't such a statto though...
Seconded, there seems to be something very negative beyond mere sales that the band connects with Lifeblood.
__________________

Livet är kort, för kort för att slösas bort
Lämna hatet åt gamanar

Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 04-10-2013, 20:44
Littlesue's Avatar
Littlesue Littlesue is offline
Footprint of history
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: The Black Country
Age: 63
Posts: 27,336
Judging by the constant twitter tweets of how the sales were going for RTF I would say they just as much concerned about sales. If Lifeblood had sold a million it would have been their 'masterpiece'.
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 19:18.


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