Manic Street Preachers continue

[the hum]

I love this little vid of JDB talking about his guitars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gslKjS155Q

I fucking love guitars. They're all I have now.

Heh, I came on here just to post this very video. Just echoes what others have being saying about JDB coming across as a thoroughly likable human being, as well as a shit-hot musician. I had no idea about his penchant for alternative tunings. The very unique riffage on Kevin Carter now all makes sense.

In terms of their output I've really paid very little attention to them since the late nineties though, and I'm not sure if this is a controversial opinion or not, I really liked 'The Love of Richard Nixon', just for it being seemingly out of their musical comfort zone (although lyrically it's arguably them by numbers).

[rue the polywhirl]

"I would like to kick against the oblique, delineated, opaque groove that everybody is into. I'd like to rock again."

Other words Manics used to describe the current state of music in their most recent press release - ominous, obsidian, obfuscated, obsidious, ontological, oblong.

[purlieu]

In terms of their output I've really paid very little attention to them since the late nineties though, and I'm not sure if this is a controversial opinion or not, I really liked 'The Love of Richard Nixon', just for it being seemingly out of their musical comfort zone (although lyrically it's arguably them by numbers).

Even most Lifeblood fans seem to dislike the song. I'm with you though, I remember when it was first played on the radio, thinking 'fucking hell that's daring' and really being impressed.

[Glyn]

"I would like to kick against the oblique, delineated, opaque groove that everybody is into. I'd like to rock again."

Followed by releasing a new song which sounds an awful lot like The Beautiful South covering Don't Go Breaking My Heart.

Strangely though I quite like it, despite it being impossible to imagine anyone other than Ken Bruce introducing it. Maybe it's just because its better than Distant Colours though.

[Johnny Textface]

How come no plectrum?

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

Album out this week, this week fans.

[Shaky]

Let's talk b-sides. Any favs, apart from the more obvious, classic era ones? I've been rocking Blistered Mirrors from a few years ago and it's great. Lovely drums n' bass there.

Also really like the sinister, awkward clatter of Pedestal from KYE times.

[purlieu]

Dead Trees and Traffic Islands, Sepia, Prologue to History, Automatik Teknicolour, most of the Lifeblood ones, Empty Motorcade.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Nicky and James are being interviewed by their old pal Steve Lamacq on 6 Music right now. I lost interest in the Manics years ago, but one thing remains constant - I think Nicky and James are two of the nicest fellas in pop 'n' rock. Such a bright, engaging and genial great bunch of lads.

EDIT: Bloody hell, Sean is there too but I think he's only spoken once so far.

[Spiteface]

Let's talk b-sides. Any favs, apart from the more obvious, classic era ones? I've been rocking Blistered Mirrors from a few years ago and it's great. Lovely drums n' bass there.

Also really like the sinister, awkward clatter of Pedestal from KYE times.

Most of disc 2 from the Send Away the Tigers reissue is better than the actual album.

If we're talking KYE-era, I love The Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel and Masking Tape (the latter being where the "Happy black days, here's the summer" snippet on the album at the end of Epicentre comes back.)

[itsfredtitmus]

"I would like to kick against the oblique, delineated, opaque groove that everybody is into. I'd like to rock again."

Other words Manics used to describe the current state of music in their most recent press release - ominous, obsidian, obfuscated, obsidious, ontological, oblong.

[Phil_A]

Let's talk b-sides. Any favs, apart from the more obvious, classic era ones? I've been rocking Blistered Mirrors from a few years ago and it's great. Lovely drums n' bass there.

Also really like the sinister, awkward clatter of Pedestal from KYE times.

Donkeys. How was this a b-side and fucking Roses From The Hospital an a-side?

[Desirable Industrial Unit]

Donkeys. How was this a b-side and fucking Roses From The Hospital an a-side?

It's great but it's not a single really, is it?  Should have been on the album at least, but I've no idea where it would fit.

Seconding 'Dead Trees and Traffic Islands' as it's not the strongest of songs, really, but it does have a lovely breezy bleak atmosphere to it.  Supposedly the result of a script Wire wrote for Cracker that he never finished/never submitted/was rejected, which seemed odd at the time but Alice Nutter out of Chumbawumba has written for Jimmy McGovern productions at this point.

Resistance is Futile review:  Can't remember a second of that other than the bits I'd already heard.  Back to business as usual after the unexpectedly decent Futurology, then.

[Shaky]

Most of disc 2 from the Send Away the Tigers reissue is better than the actual album.

If we're talking KYE-era, I love The Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel and Masking Tape (the latter being where the "Happy black days, here's the summer" snippet on the album at the end of Epicentre comes back.)

I like Ballad musically but the lyrics are very dodgy even by post-Richie Wire standards. Masking Tape is fantastic. Definitely should have been on the album, that one. Fun fact: for about 15 years I thought the lyric was "Happy Birthday, this is the summer."

Re Donkeys, yeah... doesn't really fit on any of the albums. Ditto Comfort Comes; brilliant song but it doesn't sound much like anything else they've done.

[Shaky]

Resistance is Futile review:  Can't remember a second of that other than the bits I'd already heard.  Back to business as usual after the unexpectedly decent Futurology, then.

After a few listens there's a fair bit of chaff but the production's lovely and there are a handful of decent songs. Sequels of Forgotten Wars and Broken Algorithms are both strong, I think, and contain some very catchy, unexpected melodies. Cautiously optimistic there'll be a few growers among the other tracks.

EDIT: Just realised that chuggathon Broken Algorithms sounds like a bit like Iron Maiden.

[purlieu]

'International Blue' grew on me a little, but none of the other singles impressed me at all, so I'm glad this has turned out a bit better than expected.
'People Give In' (quite an odd opener), 'Sequels of Forgotten Wars' (enjoyed Focus-esque in the organ solo), 'Hold Me Like a Heaven' (gorgeous chorus and great twangy guitar solo), 'In Eternity' (lovely woozy production), 'A Song for the Sadness' and 'The Left Behind' all struck me as memorable either in songwriting or production terms, which at half the album is more than I had hoped. I can't see this ever being top-tier Manics, even as someone who favours their post-Richey material, but I'm definitely going to get a lot more out of it than Postcards From a Young Man and Send Away the Tigers.

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

I think "Comfort Comes" was on the Japanese release of THB. Some of their albums have definitely had alternative tracklistings for different markets (there was a US Generation Terrorists that had 14 tracks, minus "Motorcycle Emptiness" but adding "Democracy Coma").

As far as I can tell the 7-inch of "International Blue" has another album track as the b-side, which is a very poor show.

[Spiteface]

Donkeys. How was this a b-side and fucking Roses From The Hospital an a-side?

One of the absolute treats of the 2014 Holy Bible tour was hearing Donkeys in the 2nd Half. The following year's jaunt then threw Condemned to Rock & Roll into the mix (Edinburgh on that tour was its full-band live debut, in fact). The latter was a highlight of Cardiff Castle (techincal problems marred James' epic solo in Archives of Pain, sadly). I really wish they'd take more risks with their live set. It really pays off when they do, they've got the songs for it.

[PaulTMA]

Was expecting this album to be another Tigers or Postcards, which I think are quite horrible, pointless albums, but it might be the best since JFPL.  International Blue is their best 'single' or tune in an eternity.  Barring JFPL all their other post-Lifeblood albums have never really been anything I've wanted to return to after the initial listens - wonder if this will be any different.  Futurology was relatively strong but marred by some truly horrible lyrics.

[purlieu]

As far as I can tell the 7-inch of "International Blue" has another album track as the b-side, which is a very poor show.

The b-side is 'Holding Patterns', which is a Japanese bonus track.

[Dr Syntax Head]

I have a great deal of love for this simple little thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvZa90HLdQ

[rue the polywhirl]

I reckon the album is just another Postcards, which suits me fine because I don't think that particular album is all that bad. Sequels Of Forgotten Wars is my fav so far. I can't get over how appalling the first track is. The dinky music box backdrop and the lyrics...  'People get tired, people get old, people get fired, people get colds". Really sets the album off on a bad note. Vivian and Dylan 'n Caitlin also just rub up the wrong way lyrically and musically breathe of total naff. Liverpool Revisted lyrically is as offensive as SYMM. Better variety of stuff in the second half.

[Shaky]

I have a great deal of love for this simple little thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvZa90HLdQ

Yes! Great tune.

I reckon the album is just another Postcards, which suits me fine because I don't think that particular album is all that bad. Sequels Of Forgotten Wars is my fav so far. I can't get over how appalling the first track is. The dinky music box backdrop and the lyrics...  'People get tired, people get old, people get fired, people get colds". Really sets the album off on a bad note. Vivian and Dylan 'n Caitlin also just rub up the wrong way lyrically and musically breathe of total naff. Liverpool Revisted lyrically is as offensive as SYMM. Better variety of stuff in the second half.

Yeah, Postcards has a selection tracks which are good musically if not always lyrically - Autointoxication, All We Make is Entertainment, The Future Has Been Here Forever... some others. 

As you say with the new album, the second half is much more interesting. Even the final, Wire-led track is (deep breath) decent. I really like People Give in and International Blue but the other singles are bland at worst & Vivian is a pile of nothing) The lush, reverb-heavy production works wonders, though, so it'll be interesting to see how many of these tracks really work live.

[Spiteface]

Was expecting this album to be another Tigers or Postcards, which I think are quite horrible, pointless albums,

Said it over in another thread, but the 10th anniversary reissue of Tigers is worth it for the second disc with the B-sides.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

I laughed out loud the first time I heard Vivian. Everything builds up to a classic Manics chorus and then... that.

The second half of the album's pretty good (Song for the Sadness is the best thing on the record), but it's not a worthy follow-up to Futurology.

[purlieu]

I laughed out loud the first time I heard Vivian. Everything builds up to a classic Manics chorus and then... that.

Yes, you can't quite work out how they thought that would be the most suitable chorus for the song.

[Beagle 2]

1. People Give In. Cool sinister verses inexplicably ruined by strings-laden cheese chorus. Ultimately hateful.

2.  International Blue. Amazing, sounds like something off Generation Terrorists. Best song since Journal for Plague Lovers.

3. Distant Colours. Very reminiscent of Everything Must Go, but in retrospect about half that album is dogshit and this song leans towards the dogshit.

4. Vivian. Oh... oh god. Oh god. Oh, god. God. God no. God.

5. Dylan and Caitlin. Remember all those times James Dean Bradfield has duetted with people and it's worked out really well? No, because this literally never happens.

6. Liverpool Revisited.

"As I wake to a sunset
The light dances on the Mersey
And I think of the 96
As the tears fall down on me"

Tears in full flow here too Nicky as I sob uncontrollably through this comprehensive showcase of fucking awful lyrics. Oh and some millennial indie 'whooahs' in there too, Well done for staying with it guys.

7. Sequels of Forgotten Wars. There's that odd squelchy keyboard and funky far out organ that you get with latter-day manics songs creeping in on the verses. It's a bit of an odd one really. Could grow on me.

8. Hold me Like a Heaven. More whoooahs. This song is mostly whoooas.

9. In Eternity. Why even bother with verses, you may as well just do some kick ups for a bit, LAUNCH into an UPLIFTING and ATHEMIC chorus, then pick your nose for a bit then STEAM into a ROUSING etc.

10. Broken Algorithms. Fuck me, it's Iron Maiden. This is actually quite weird and cool. There's an early 80s feel about it I dig. 

11. A Song for the Sadness. "We just felt that it was important that sadness had a song. Happiness has loads of songs, like that one by Kenn Dodd. We're basically the Ken Dodd of sadness. Nicky's gonna carve that into his face on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway to show we're still relevant"

12. The Left Behind. Last song and it's a Nicky Wire vocal. You honestly may as well get the cat to do it.

4/10

[Dr Syntax Head]

Not heard this yet and I'll forgive awful lyrics and I'm a lifelong loyal MSP fan but millennial whoas? This might be where it ends for me then. Been nice knowing you Manic street traitors

[Shaky]

Not heard this yet and I'll forgive awful lyrics and I'm a lifelong loyal MSP fan but millennial whoas? This might be where it ends for me then. Been nice knowing you Manic street traitors

"Liverpool" is by far one of the worst songs on the album, though, so give the rest a blast! The second half is more interesting.

Mind you, I quite like the chorus of Vivian while everyone else seems to hate it so perhaps don't listen to me.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Just listened to International Blue on the yootoob. It's a beaut. Gem of a song.