RTF - (hysteric) reactions, ranking...

[Mr.Selfdestruct]

Originally Posted by Donkey

the thread should be renamed to Manics vs. Kooks

As much as i detest The Kooks, that's not really a fair fight. Make it Catch vs The Kooks and they'll have a fighting chance.

[The Crow]

Well personally I've not heard it & not many people (unless its leaked) could have as its not officially released plus it takes a few listens to judge an LP.

The song itself RTF has grown on me, I like it a lot now but I still consider it to be a RH song feat the Manics. SMTW is too poppy & it just don't work for me, poor lyrically/musically.

I've opted out of the gig in 12 days as I think I can hold on for a proper tour & judge the LP better. This promo tour will be interesting in terms of how many new songs they will play.

Nicky Wire was wrong about Mumford & Sons, they are utter SHITE!

[lukkkas]

Originally Posted by The Crow

Well personally I've not heard it & not many people (unless its leaked) could have as its not officially released plus it takes a few listens to judge an LP.

The song itself RTF has grown on me, I like it a lot now but I still consider it to be a RH song feat the Manics. SMTW is too poppy & it just don't work for me, poor lyrically/musically.

I've opted out of the gig in 12 days as I think I can hold on for a proper tour & judge the LP better. This promo tour will be interesting in terms of how many new songs they will play.

Nicky Wire was wrong about Mumford & Sons, they are utter SHITE!

It has not leaked but it was fully played at the BBC, i've personally ripped and cutted the songs from BBC and i carry all the songs in my mobile phone so i have listened the album like 10 times from now...it IS a real grower, believe me.

[beautifuldistortion]

Didn't want to post here at first due to he OP's obvious bias but here goes...
RTF is IMO amongst the best work the band has done.
The music is layered with so much going on, but not messy.
The brass instruments bring the songs to life and add a real colliery band feel - which obviously suits the bands background.

JDB's voice is still amazing and he seems to have a lot more input into the songwriting process than I previously thought as these songs suit his voice and he is also embracing the changes in his voice as he gets older and this is in keeping with the general theme of he album (growing older).
Nicky's lyrics are stunning and reading Porco's lyric post that was kindly posted earlier you can see that they read well even without music! To me that's a true marker of their genius and I do mean genius.
Sean is clearly a talented man and nothing else really needs saying there as its almost annoying how much talent one man can have musically!

I give this album 9/10 after 5 plays now. It will grow and grow and if Door To the River was in it instead of 4 lonely roads it would be pretty much perfect
The only reason I don't much like 4 lonely roads is lyrically I find it week and to me it's just not great compared to the rest of the album.
Cate Le Bon's voice is fine but the song itself is a bit of a let down.
My current favourite is 30 year war but that will change daily

[zaza_3121]

Well, you don't like Coming Up either, so..

[RookUK]

I've not heard the album because I'd rather wait to have it in my hands, but I can say that there are records which I have hated on the first several or more listens and go on to become a huge fan of later (Selling England By the Pound by Genesis is one).

[Donkey]

Originally Posted by RookUK

I've not heard the album because I'd rather wait to have it in my hands, but I can say that there are records which I have hated on the first several or more listens and go on to become a huge fan of later (Selling England By the Pound by Genesis is one).

Oh yes, this is also possible. But for me it's never that extreme.
I dislike Velociraptor, Lifeblood and...what else - I can't rememeber now. But I still enjoyed listening to it. It's different with RTF.

[Diaga]

I've now listened to the album about 6 times and I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised. I though RTF (the song) was beautiful from the first listen and I think SMTW is one of those glorious pop songs that the Manics are always capable of doing.

I got nervous when the amazon clips came because the rest of the album didn't sound particularly promising, but it really is - for the most part.

The Sullen Welsh Heart, (I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline and Running Out of Fantasy are absolutely gorgeous. Anthem for A Lost Cause is glorious also. Strangely, 3 Ways to See Despair (an early favourite) sounds like an amazing lost Oasis song (all the better for having JDB behind the mic) and 30 Year War is amazingly visceral for the closer on an 'acoustic' album.

Manorbier is nice, but unnecessary. The album doesn't need a break and would still have been full and sufficiently long if it was left off. However, both Builder of Routines and 4 Lonely Roads are pretty weak songs. The former starts of like a bad Radiohead song and progresses as clumsily as anything on Know Your Enemy. 4 Lonely Roads is just dull.

I have to say I understand Donkey's point about Nicky's songwriting in respect to the (lack of) melody. I've noticed it frequently in his lesser tracks and 4 Lonely Roads really suffers for this (strange, didn't he once say he didn't like Too Cold Here because it didn't have melody?). As Holy As the Soil works though. His limited vocal abilities (even though this is his finest performance) in the verses counterbalance the chorus very well. Its a little plodding and not one of the albums finer moments, but it still decent.

Well thats about it for now.

[Lancashire Potter]

1/10 (2 points for the artwork included)
I only skipped through the mp3 version from amazon, will definitely not listen to this shit again.
The only positive things:
They proved that SKON is not the cheesiest pos in the universe (it's AFALC).
They did not waste a single half-decent song for the acoustic rubbish.
They showed us that there's some Hawley who sings worse than Nicky.
And I really like the artwork.

[Symmanine]

Well... haters gonna hate, it seems....
I know liking og disliking music is a matter of taste, but how anyone can give this album 1 or 2 / 10 is just beyond me. Honestly I think comments like "their songwriting ability is gone" and stating that the songs are weak, is just objektively wrong and it's one of the most atrocious things I've ever read on this forum, or on any forum, for that matter.

Oh well, to each his own....

I for one think the album is lovely. The melodies and the lyrics are as strong as they've been for years. I think this will end up amongst their strongest works. The album has a lovely atmosphere of intimacy - and I think it contains some absolutely gorgeous and beautiful songs, and while Postcards was clearly a band on auto-pilot and trying too hard to achive a certain sound/goal (mass communication), this is a album from a band who's just doing what they want - and again they've taken a change of direction, exploring new musical territorys. With JFPL as a possible exception I think this is the most sincere album since Everything Must Go.

9 / 10

I don't think it'll be a big seller or chart very high - but that hasn't really been a parameter for quality for a very very long time anyway.

[hummingbird]

I can sort of understand the 1 or 2 out of 10. It's a very gentle album which we've not had from them before. If that's not your thing then you're going to find it a bit boring.

I however think it's majestic This is most definitely a walkman album. I'm going to forget to get off the bus

[Donkey]

I have no idea why there are so many people trying to defend tha album by saying - it's acoustic, gentle or whatever. The problem is the songs are weak and slimy.

Btw. I listened to the b-sides for the first time. It's funny. Not that they're good, but...

T E Lawrence On a Bike >>>>>>>>>>>>>> RTF album

[zaza_3121]

Try to write something better then If you don't like it, fine. Just don't act like your opinion is the one and only truth. People seem to enjoy this record, me as well (I think there are only 3 weak tracks).

[tzb]

The only thing I don't understand is how people can't understand other people having different opinions.

Except about PFAYM, where it's objectively bad and anyone who likes it is just weird.

[Porco]

I LOVE REWIND THE FILM! WOOOOOOOOT!!

(just logging a hysteric reaction as per thread title)

ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME*
*...in the period between 2012-2013 AD.