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Post by eddiemurphy on Jan 31, 2020 18:46:18 GMT
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Post by eddiemurphy on May 22, 2020 16:01:38 GMT
is always the most overlooked of the first 3. new turtle on the manics vevo channel.  |
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Post by lino on Jun 3, 2020 11:37:45 GMT
Prompted by learning of the "Do you love us?" podcast I've been getting back into them in a big way.
They're certainly a fascinating group and probably my #3 or #4 favourite musical artist.
My blind spots are the first two albums; never really got into them and they haven't been part of the recent listening binges - even though Lifeblood has been (the band's most hated of their own releases).
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Post by eddiemurphy on Jun 3, 2020 12:42:47 GMT
My blind spots are the first two albums; never really got into them. 1st album is a bit sprawling. does get under ya skin though. except for that god awful repeat (stars & stripes).  and the slightly iffy programmed drum sound.  |
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Post by lino on Jun 4, 2020 0:00:26 GMT
Journal for plague lovers is underappreciated; that's their best sounding record. Every track has its own feel, and they're all great (even if the lyrics are incomprehensible).
William's last words - very sad.
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Post by lino on Jun 9, 2020 13:19:10 GMT
So far the most egregious bad take from the podcast is the "Lucas" fellow counting "From despair to where" as one of the worst tracks on their (pretty weak) second album; I think it's a tremendous song.
He's not a fan of "The Holy Bible", which is the main host's favourite (10/10), but I think it's pretty flawed. Lucas' suggestion that "the intense humming of evil" should be the album closer is my view too.
Don't get me wrong; THB is a massive musical/artistic achievement (mainly for James, who is just so under-rated in so many ways), but it's inconsistent and could probably stand to lose 2-3 tracks to make it stronger as a whole.
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Post by lino on Jun 12, 2020 13:57:46 GMT
Motorcycle emptiness - clearly the highlight from album number one, and a perfect example of James Dean Bradfield being a genius.
Taking these words, written by someone else - a clever but unstable fellow who goes on to carve his arm open on air and eventually goes missing - Culture sucks down words, itemise loathing and feed yourself smiles. Organise your safe tribal war - hurt maim kill and enslave the ghetto. Each day living out a lie; life sold cheaply forever. Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness. Life lies a slow suicide, orthodox dreams and symbolic myths. From feudal serf to spender - this wonderful world of purchase power - and fitting them to a super pretty piece of music, and making the words fit into a beautiful melody is nothing less than genius, right?
The main, incessant riff in the song is very similar to the start of the solo in Journey's "Don't stop believing"; aside from that we have great strings that enhance the whole thing. They're all practically kids when this is written and recorded; almost every line is worthy of a tattoo, the video shows most of them looking pretty cool in Japan, and it's somehow about everything and nothing - what an amazing, astounding piece of work.
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Post by barny on Jun 12, 2020 15:20:36 GMT
I actually gave my first listen ever to their debut just yesterday, had wanted to for a while and I saw their 2nd one on exy, not sure if also uncounciously driven by this thread. Anyway, Motorcycle Emptiness is one my favourite MSP songs, the riff and vocals are simply amazing. The rest is still early to tell, some pretty good then probably half of the songs sound a bit dated or are simply weak, but I quite like it as a concept, especially considering early 90s British rock. I quite enjoyed this review: rateyourmusic.com/collection/Iai/rating1198560 |
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Post by forever on Jun 12, 2020 18:46:06 GMT
What's that song where the lyrics are a bit pretentious and about 5 syllables too long for every line? I don't mind that one.
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Post by lino on Jun 14, 2020 11:05:13 GMT
The other highlight from their first album would be Little Baby Nothing, the duet with Traci Lords. The very idea that a band peddling what often sounds like "cock-rock" on the rest of the album would have this feminist anthem, a song describing and lamenting the exploitation of women - half of it sung from the point of view of the exploited themselves - is pretty nuts.
"My mind is dead, everybody loves me - wants a slice of me. Hopelessly passive and compatible."
Hints of Springsteen in the treatment, James still has to work some vocal magic to get it all to fit, though not to the extent of Motorcycle Emptiness. James is the only band member to appear in the video (in white jeans), which features an all girl band miming along their parts and a model mining Traci Lords' vocal part.
(Sadly the YouTube still is one of those images where it looks like James doesn't have any top teeth.)
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Post by eddiemurphy on Jun 14, 2020 20:00:39 GMT
prefer it on acoustic.
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Post by eddiemurphy on Jun 17, 2020 17:26:16 GMT
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Post by eddiemurphy on Jun 23, 2020 7:57:55 GMT
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Post by lino on Jun 23, 2020 12:47:00 GMT
It's a pretty weak album, elevated by "From despair to where"; clearly the standout. I never was a fan of "La tristera". If you're keen, this podcast episode gives a good rundown of the album in the context of the time; it's a usually metal podcast and they're both also much keener on the album than I am (and pretty scathing about some of the Manics' later work (I pretty much love all of it)). podtail.com/en/podcast/riot-act/rr01-manic-street-preachers-gold-against-the-soul/ |
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Post by lino on Jun 25, 2020 11:49:43 GMT
Then we get to The Holy Bible.
It's good but not great, let down by the softer, lighter moments. PCP is unnecessary, and certainly if it had to be there shouldn't be the closer. This is Yesterday is also pretty slight along with She is suffering. Apart from Revol, the rest is just amazing stuff. The highlights obviously are Faster and IfWhiteAmerica... - just phenomenal pieces of work; JDB's genius on show.
Imagine getting this and fitting to to music?
Compton - Harlem - a pimp fucked a priest. The white man has just found a new moral saviour. Vital stats - how white was their skin? Unimportant - just another inner-city drive-by thing. Morning, fine, serve your first coffee of the day. Real privilege, it will take your problems all away. Number one - the best - no excuse from me. I am here to serve the moral majority.
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Post by eddiemurphy on Jun 26, 2020 18:27:12 GMT
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Post by lino on Jul 1, 2020 12:24:08 GMT
Chopping it up a bit here, the latest ep of the Manics pod was on 2001's Know Your Enemy - this was the first Manics album I bought new. It's a mixed bag, them deliberately distancing themselves from the strings and anthems of Everything Must Go and This is my truth, trying to lose some of the Oasis-loving Britpoppers. The lyrics are denser and more abstract, channelling Richey's style at times, and making James work a bit harder on scansion - it's a too-long album (originally planned as two separate pieces) at 17 tracks. Cut 5 out from the samey second half and you have another solid record.
While I didn't originally like it, the spot-on disco pastiche of Miss Europa Disco Dancer is now one of my favourites from the album, along with opener Found that soul (great solo), and Epicentre (one of my favourite Manics' songs).
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Post by eddiemurphy on Jul 1, 2020 14:00:35 GMT
good album. love the 1st side. second half not so strong. "i got the wattsville blues now baby"  the cuba live dvd is worth it for some of the live cuts from this. |
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Post by lino on Jul 2, 2020 11:24:32 GMT
That's it, the first half has a lot of variety in sound, the second half is full of songs that are very similar in sound. 17 songs is too many - cut out Wattsville Blues, Royal Correspondent, My Guernica, Dead Martyrs, Baby Elian and The Convalescent and you have a much tighter, stronger album at 11 songs. Switch it around so it closes with Epicentre too.
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Post by lino on Jul 12, 2020 12:50:44 GMT
Chopping and changing here, the other Manics podcast just did an episode on 2010's "Postcards from a young man" - sandwiched between the Richey Edwards co-written "Journal for plague lovers" (a sister piece to the Holy Bible) and 2013's "Rewind the film", it was an overt attempt at a big pop album. Lots of big choruses, lots of strings, lots of gospel, very little politics - for me, it works. It's possibly the brightest Manics album, and still very easy to listen to to without being tempted to skip.
Looking at the tracklist, I don't dislike any of the songs, and genuinely love the title track, single "Some kind of nothingness", JDB-written "I think I've found it", and closer "Don't be evil".
Nicky sings one track, and he's really not bad here - though one line is particularly clunky ("Like the Godfather 3; I never can escape").
As an album it seems to have really divided fans, or mainly disappointed them, with the New-Labor eulogy "Golden Platitudes" often singled out as the most MOR thing they've done. I quite like it; piano led, gospel-tinged, and some great lines - "Why colonise the moon when every different kind of desperation exists?", and "Oh what a Shangri-la. Oh what a shell we are. Oh what a mess we've made. What happened to those days - when everything seemed possible, with no-one to tell you no".
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