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 09-01-2014, 19:22
Manicben's Avatar
Manicben Manicben is offline
Builder of routine
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Milton Keynes
Age: 38
Posts: 16,979
It's certainly the best available. There are some poor biographies out there. It'd be nice to have an up to date biography. Most of them only cover up to Truth.
__________________
[SIGPIC]
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 09-01-2014, 22:06
andy's Avatar
andy andy is offline
Freed from the century
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 569
I preferred nailed to history
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 09-01-2014, 22:33
UEF's Avatar
UEF UEF is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London
Posts: 9,102
I really liked it, I love the way it's written.

I've no opinions on Simon Price as I've never met him, but he can't be much worse than most Manics fans one can encounter.
__________________
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
  #19  
Old 09-01-2014, 23:30
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 andy View Post
I preferred nailed to history
I probably would have preferred Nailed To History too, if Martin Power hadn't been so clumsily speculative about the band and Richey, and hadn't just completely glossed over everything from KYE to JFPL as if they stopped being of any interest at all after their success in the 90s.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 10-01-2014, 01:29
handbag's Avatar
handbag handbag is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 268
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porco View Post
Nothing wrong with quoting interviews in a chronological context as far as I'm concerned
The problem is he doesn't quote them as interviews. He takes chunks from a stack of interviews with the band and doesn't even credit the source. He does it constantly because he really knows very little about anything unless he googles it.

He literally makes things up in the book. The story about the two "groupies" in Manchester is a load of shit. The girl he said had slept with one of Dogs D'Amour was actually the band member's girlfriend (eventually moved to LA and wed). That caused some serious shit.*

Fabrications galore.

It's like here's ten paragraphs from an interview which I won't credit, here's a bit about ME, here's a chapter full of interviews I won't credit, here's a bit about ME, oh and some pretty pictures...

I also find it odd that if this book is regarded as the definitive Manics biography he'd leave out Jennifer Watkins from the story. Not a mention.

I'm not surprised he's having problems finding work. His work is wank.

*Edit: because her friend and herself were definitely not groupies and definitely did not do a three way with a Manic Street Preacher, but a difficult one to explain away when it's printed that you are and you did.

Last edited by handbag; 10-01-2014 at 02:23.
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 10-01-2014, 10:00
Oh Nick...!'s Avatar
Oh Nick...! Oh Nick...! is offline
Freed from the century
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Brighton
Posts: 546
I don't know about that, in terms of what's accurate. But re: his writing style I think you either like it or you don't - it used to be quite common for music journos to inject their own style/themself into their writing (see Swells, Morley et al).

He has talked recently about updating it, as he's short of work ATM - I don't know how seriously.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 10-01-2014, 11:25
andy's Avatar
andy andy is offline
Freed from the century
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 569
Michael Azerad imo is the best out there.

Come as you are is the best nirvana book (the Everett true book is too self focused on him)

he also aided bob mould in writing his autobiography

Our Band Could Be Your Life

so many good books - done a lot of notes and contributed to dvds, others books, and various other projects
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 10-01-2014, 21:06
bleeding pepper's Avatar
bleeding pepper bleeding pepper is offline
I live to fall asleep
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Bi-curious
Age: 39
Posts: 3,557
Quote:
Originally Posted by UEF View Post
I really liked it, I love the way it's written.

I've no opinions on Simon Price as I've never met him, but he can't be much worse than most Manics fans one can encounter.
I didn't dislike him because of any Manics-fan reasons, it was what I perceived to be him acting a bit self-important.

What happened, was that we were at the Doves gig at Festival Hall where the Manics played the Heavenly set. I think it was during the interval, but I was walking from my seat to the toilets. An acquaintance of mine was chatting to Simon Price in the aisle. So this acquaintance stopped me and said "Simon, have you met my friend Steve [me]?" to which Simon [in what I took to be a rather pompous sounding voice] said "Oh, are you a fan of my work then?" To this I kind of sneered at him and said "What?" before I turned and walked away. I suppose in effect I didn't even really 'meet him' properly, but hey ho. I didn't want to at this point.
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 10-01-2014, 21:14
hummingbird's Avatar
hummingbird hummingbird is offline
Builder of routine
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: in a quiet corner
Posts: 19,463
Quote:
Originally Posted by bleeding pepper View Post
I didn't dislike him because of any Manics-fan reasons, it was what I perceived to be him acting a bit self-important.

What happened, was that we were at the Doves gig at Festival Hall where the Manics played the Heavenly set. I think it was during the interval, but I was walking from my seat to the toilets. An acquaintance of mine was chatting to Simon Price in the aisle. So this acquaintance stopped me and said "Simon, have you met my friend Steve [me]?" to which Simon [in what I took to be a rather pompous sounding voice] said "Oh, are you a fan of my work then?" To this I kind of sneered at him and said "What?" before I turned and walked away. I suppose in effect I didn't even really 'meet him' properly, but hey ho. I didn't want to at this point.
brilliant
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 10-01-2014, 21:14
Porco's Avatar
Porco Porco is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 9,778
Well if he made stuff up that's bad. If he left stuff out that's a shame (though no biog can ever cover literally ... ahem... everything). I have no idea what he's like as a person. I just think the book, on its own merits, read fine. I wouldn't call it 'definitive', I think that's a bit of a silly term anyway, but the book is fairly obviously from the author's point of view, and criticising its structure of alternating chapters as if it was an accident just seems a bit redundant to me.

I'd love to see a new book (by anyone) that covered their entire career, but then Sony would probably want money first...!
__________________
'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
  #26  
Old 10-01-2014, 21:21
Son of Stopped's Avatar
Son of Stopped Son of Stopped is offline
Builder of routine
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The Wirral (Been saying it wrong, didn't realise there was a THE )
Age: 49
Posts: 16,641
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porco View Post
I'd love to see a new book (by anyone) that covered their entire career, but then Sony would probably want money first...!
Well Nicky was meant to be writing a huge book about them, but found the process "too painful". (High pitched voice) Dra-maaa!
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 10-01-2014, 21:24
amnesic amnesic is offline
Knowlede Is Power
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,040
Quote:
Originally Posted by bleeding pepper View Post
I didn't dislike him because of any Manics-fan reasons, it was what I perceived to be him acting a bit self-important.

What happened, was that we were at the Doves gig at Festival Hall where the Manics played the Heavenly set. I think it was during the interval, but I was walking from my seat to the toilets. An acquaintance of mine was chatting to Simon Price in the aisle. So this acquaintance stopped me and said "Simon, have you met my friend Steve [me]?" to which Simon [in what I took to be a rather pompous sounding voice] said "Oh, are you a fan of my work then?" To this I kind of sneered at him and said "What?" before I turned and walked away. I suppose in effect I didn't even really 'meet him' properly, but hey ho. I didn't want to at this point.
Well, given that he seemed to like Richey's snubbing of Douglas Coupland, he can't really complain. My 82 year old neighbour has a word for that type of attitude, "supercilious"
__________________
If I was in this family I'd drink too/Arrange your face/Biscuits!/There is no poetry in my heart/Time falls through my fingers
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 10-01-2014, 21:47
raven's Avatar
raven raven is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,462
Simon Price's book is the only real biog around simply cos it's the only one not padded out with pictures or a straightforward a to b to c but it's badly written (in my humble), poorly researched, shows little insight and he brings Himself into everything. Vanity project. They're an intelligent band and deserve a better chronicler.......although when you think of the big selling biogs - Keith Richards, Slash......Nicky n Richey never went in for the full on rock n roll life style......maybe Richey took some things a little too far....but that had quite a serious ending, in the end, so. Hey, maybe he's still out there somewhere and possibly looking like Keith Richards now albeit still some years younger...
But. Still. Everything: a book about Simon Price.
No
__________________
"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
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 10-01-2014, 23:22
handbag's Avatar
handbag handbag is offline
I am purity, they call me perverted
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 268
Quote:
Originally Posted by amnesic View Post
Well, given that he seemed to like Richey's snubbing of Douglas Coupland, he can't really complain. My 82 year old neighbour has a word for that type of attitude, "supercilious"
I don't think Richey was even snubbing Coupland really. Price makes it sound like Richey had a problem with him because of the "Are you Generation X?" comment, when the full story was:

"At one stage, [Richey] asked [Douglas Coupland] who his favourite writer was. The answer was Joan Didion. Richey was horribly ashamed because he didn’t know who she was. Other people would have shrugged and got on with a pleasant night. But Richey was totally bummed out."

I think he was more pissed off that he hadn't heard of Joan Didion and didn't like feeling like he didn't know something.

I just think the quality of music critics is piss poor now. Paul Morley I really liked. Everett True comes across as a lovesick fanboy of Courtney Love in his Nirvana epic and even as a big Nirvana fan I found that book a bit of a slog to get through.

I'd rather have a straight up biog OR a my-personal-memoirs-with-the-band type book than a biog with too much emphasis on how the writer wants to be friends with the band.

MSP DO deserve a better biog than Price's. I'd rather that than some shitty updated edition. A band needs a biographer who is into all music, and can be impartial to the band s/he's writing about, but that's only my opinion.
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 10-01-2014, 23:33
Bathtub's Avatar
Bathtub Bathtub is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 9,004
Quote:
Originally Posted by handbag View Post
Everett True comes across as a lovesick fanboy of Courtney Love in his Nirvana epic and even as a big Nirvana fan I found that book a bit of a slog to get through.
I liked his Nirvana book in parts, but it was far too long. Live Through This: American Rock Music in the Nineties is one of my favourite music books though, I think he did a really good job profiling some of the less well known bands from that time. Pearl Jam also get a bit of a kicking which is always nice to see.

And to be honest, considering the amount of horrible and openly misogynistic crap that Courtney gets thrown at her from so many, I think it's good she's got someone in her corner, although he's far from uncritical of her in Live Through This.
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 08:29.


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