New Album and Tour: Resistance is Futile - Page 58 - Forever Delayed

Marat Sar · #**856** 18-04-2018, 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

I'm really going to defend this album to the hilt against accusations of it being another PFAYM.

There is so much depth in this album - both in terms of lyrical content and the craft of the songs. I still do think that the sound of the album is very close to PFAYM - and this I blame on the Dave Eringa and Jimbo combo - but there is an earnestness in RiF that puts it on another level. It just doesn't seem or sound as calculated as PFAYM or even Futurology.

As someone who just two pages back posted their first expressions and blamed it of being PFAYM, then listened again on my quite detailed earphones and loved it, I can concur. There is pfayminess in there, sure, but it's not pfaymmy per se.

I know it's not on the album but Soundtrack To Complete Withdrawal (just take out Broken Algorithms and put STCW there instead) is extremely detailed and delicate and has none of the chunky stupidity of pfaym. Vivian is very funky and delicate in turns, not pfaymmy at all. Hold Me Like A Heaven has a gorgeous piano motive entering the right channel in the middle of the second chorus (which then stays there for the whole third one) which is a little Lifeblood-like. And not pfaymmy in any way. James' singing on this album has this gorgeous serrated edge, like a short plate reverb coating his shoutiness in a silvery halo. It's shoutiness done with an interesting eighties approach to vocal space, that's nowhere near the dull idiocy of the vocals on pfaym. The guitar sounds are much more aggressively eighties and knowingly so, than the out-of-the-box rawwwk sound of pfaym, and there are plenty of synths and interesting tidbits in there to mix things up esthetically.

The strings production on a lot of the songs is straight up pfaymmy though. And songs like Broken Algorithms take it too far into pfaymland for me.

All and all, on my third day in this is looking like the thinking man's pfaym to me!

everlasting · #**857** 18-04-2018, 14:15

It's SOOOO close now, come tomorrow I think we sadly know what is going to happen, just a day before the final chart is announced

1 Manic Street Preachers - Resistance Is Futile (21.1k) *
2 Motion Picture Cast Recording - The Greatest Showman (20.9k)

Porco · #**858** 18-04-2018, 14:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

I'm really going to defend this album to the hilt against accusations of it being another PFAYM.

There is so much depth in this album - both in terms of lyrical content and the craft of the songs. I still do think that the sound of the album is very close to PFAYM - and this I blame on the Dave Eringa and Jimbo combo - but there is an earnestness in RiF that puts it on another level. It just doesn't seem or sound as calculated as PFAYM or even Futurology.

IMHO I don't see comparing it with PFAYM as something that needs “defending”. I think there similarities to found about RIF with all their past albums, and as far as PFAYM goes there is a certain brashness of production, eclectic styles/mixture of songs, and some similar lyrical subject matters in places.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

And I logged in to say it has been AMAZING to hear so many interviews with the guys separate and together over the days. With all the different shows, they seem less rehearsed or less guarded (or less soundbite-y). The 5 live interview yesterday was fantastic and Jo Whiley asking about Richey caught Jimbo off guard a bit I thought.

I agree, it’s been great fun and I have to say I think James in particular has been on top form, I’ve lost count of the quotes I laughed at, but also they've been happy to dig into some actual political comments, albeit in the form of how difficult it is to be making strident political comments these days...

They have covered certain ground repeatedly a lot, about the songs and moving studio etc, but they've made it interesting each time. I sometimes love listening to and reading the interviews this band almost as much as their music, and this era’s campaign would be a very good example of this.

UEF · #**859** 18-04-2018, 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by everlasting

It's SOOOO close now, come tomorrow I think we sadly know what is going to happen, just a day before the final chart is announced

1 Manic Street Preachers - Resistance Is Futile (21.1k) *
2 Motion Picture Cast Recording - The Greatest Showman (20.9k)

Special exclusive limited edition green vinyl to be sold in Tesco NOW.

Porco · #**860** 18-04-2018, 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by everlasting

It's SOOOO close now, come tomorrow I think we sadly know what is going to happen, just a day before the final chart is announced

1 Manic Street Preachers - Resistance Is Futile (21.1k) *
2 Motion Picture Cast Recording - The Greatest Showman (20.9k)

*sigh*

That's just cruel.

Tim · #**861** 18-04-2018, 14:34

Always the way though innit?
Beaten into second place by something wholly unoriginal and mediocre.

I’m a little baffled by how highly so many rate hold me like a heaven,
i thought it had that over-produced quality people were criticising and there
are way too many woah-oh-ohs: too many on the whole album really.
Sequels of forgotten wars though... that is a shining jewel of a thing, a
brilliant track.

Porco · #**862** 18-04-2018, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim

I’m a little baffled by how highly so many rate hold me like a heaven,
i thought it had that over-produced quality people were criticising

Without checking, probably just not the same people?

I think the production is fine, and it’s simply a fantastic song. The wooahhs are kind of neither here nor there for me - they work fine but I don’t think they would have really impacted my love of the song if they’d been replaced by something else.

I’m baffled how it isn’t everyone’s absolute favourite

FacelessSenseOfVoid · #**863** 18-04-2018, 14:41

I think last week Kylie's album sold 48k copies and that other one sold around 35k (I think), so in hindsight regardless of the outcome it was a wise move to move the release to this week although it's fair to say our boys aren't as popular as they used to be.

Let's face it, this is the result of six months of pre-orders and I'm sure all of us have bought several copies each - I doubt there are many people yet to buy the album. They've tried everything promo wise, yet it seems like they'll be beaten into second place by a few thousand copies if the chart is anything to go by.

Porco · #**864** 18-04-2018, 14:50

Was there a limit on the number of albums they could put in the bundle I wonder? Maybe Mini-Disc and 8-tracks are due a come back next time, alongside a USB stick and VHS of the album.

Add a DVD, Blu-ray and UHD copy to make sure.

Mr.Selfdestruct · #**865** 18-04-2018, 14:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Routine Builder

I think it speaks to the variety of music the band has produced? Similarly I don't understand people who love every single song the band has produced and heaps hyperbolic praise on even the laziest of b-sides.

My bottom three are PFAYM, GATS and SATT. The reason is that to varying degrees these albums musical directions are guided by a cynical push for commercial success rather than an organic creative growth of band's sensibilities. Listening to it's not war is akin to ticking off a checklist of Manics clichés required to have a top five single. The band are at their best when they're not trying to sound like what they believe people think the Manics should sound like.

Well said

Marat Sar · #**866** 18-04-2018, 15:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porco

Without checking, probably just not the same people?

I think the production is fine, and it’s simply a fantastic song. The wooahhs are kind of neither here nor there for me - they work fine but I don’t think they would have really impacted my love of the song if they’d been replaced by something else.

I’m baffled how it isn’t everyone’s absolute favourite

Hold Me Like A heaven is just very massive. Pop songs rarely come this quintessentially massive. Sure, it's their take on "Feels Like Heaven" but it's a pretty original one at it. It's not easy to produce an original melody that large, evergreen and rhythmically enjoyable as that. They haven't made one for a long time...

Plus, there's just something There By The Grace Of God sized and just... total about the lines: So hold me me like a heaven / I want some faith and wanna be forgiven

This shit gets to people, me included.

Porco · #**867** 18-04-2018, 15:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marat Sar

Hold Me Like A heaven is just very massive. Pop songs rarely come this quintessentially massive. Sure, it's their take on "Feels Like Heaven" but it's a pretty original one at it. It's not easy to produce an original melody that large, evergreen and rhythmically enjoyable as that. They haven't made one for a long time...

Plus, there's just something There By The Grace Of God sized and just... total about the lines: So hold me me like a heaven / I want some faith and wanna be forgiven

This shit gets to people, me included.

I love the Bowie-esque ‘oh, oh, oh, oh, ohs’ in the verse/solo, and the couple of alternating high synth notes (I think F# and B) in the chorus. And that additional melody that comes in later in the chorus is the high point for me (interestingly missing on the demo). Lovely solo too. And yeah, it sounds massive. You get that even on the swelling strings on the demo. And yet it still has a fragility, a delicate feel to it that I love, despite the hugeness of the sound. Love it.