The quest to reclaim PFAYM

[bachelorette]

Originally Posted by Mr.Selfdestruct

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".

[Littlesue]

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.

[Aestivate]

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.

[The Gutless Wonder]

Come on Futurology! Make me HATE YOU!!!

[Porco]

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.

[UEF]

Originally Posted by The Gutless Wonder

Come on Futurology! Make me HATE YOU!!!

First single: Futuresong

[The Gutless Wonder]

Originally Posted by UEF

First single: Futuresong

[RND]

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.

[Nature's Discontent]

Originally Posted by UEF

First single: Futuresong

That's actually not a bad title for a song.

Or am I just turning into Wire...?

[Tom]

I just lose all hope when I hear them slate Lifeblood

/broken record

[Littlesue]

Originally Posted by Tom

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.

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

Originally Posted by Littlesue

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.

[Nature's Discontent]

Originally Posted by FacelessSenseOfVoid

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...

[bachelorette]

Originally Posted by Nature's Discontent

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.

[Littlesue]

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'.