Quote:
Originally Posted by tomd2103
I think they found themselves with a real dilemma at that point. It's easy to forget that they were a very big band back then and over a six month period, had headlined Glastonbury, sold out the Millennium Stadium and had the first number one of the new millennium.
Only speculating of course, but I think they were probably really torn as a band around that time, as they seemed to have a love / hate relationship with the success they had experienced. As Masses highlighted, there was obviously a desire to strip things back, but I also think they had enjoiyed their success (why not!!) and wanted to prolong it. I think that confusion is reflected in Know Your Enemy and it has always seemed a bit directionless, even though it is far from being a bad album.
Hindsight is wonderful thing, but I have always thought that they may have been better off signalling their intent with Masses and following it up with a 'back-to-basics' / 'clear the decks' kind of album. It would have been the kind of move Blur did with their self-titled album and it might have set them up nicely to move forward from there. The songs for that kind of album are there in Know your Enemy (Found That Soul, Intravenous, Ocean Spray, Let Robeson Sing, Year of Purification, Dead Martyrs, The Convalescent, Royal Correspondent, Baby Elian, Freedom of Speech) and those along with one or two of the more experimental songs would have made a strong 10-12 track album.
The period after Know Your Enemy (the two compilation albums and Lifeblood) produced some of my favourite Manics songs (There By the Grace of God, Door to the River, Forever Delayed, 1985) and it would have been interesting to see an album reflect that three year period as a whole rather than those songs be spread over three albums. I guess it comes back to that conflict though and I'm sure there is pressure exerted on successful bands to keep the cash coming in.
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Agree with most of this. You can hear the conflict in the band's thinking on KYE. For me it's one of their best albums, totally sums the band up IMO, flitting between wanting to be dark and serious and totally pop at the same time.
I personally can't think of anything obvious that they should have done differently. Every album has it's place - there are no dud albums - and i can't wait for RIF.