Forever Delayed - The Independent Manics Forum  

Go Back   Forever Delayed - The Independent Manics Forum > Manic Street Preachers > Manic Street Preachers Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:09
SeveredJoke's Avatar
SeveredJoke SeveredJoke is offline
Desire on its knees
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 962
The 'This is My Truth…' Discussion Thread

Ripped from the others from y2kyle16* but some of the comments made me want to start one for This is My Truth Tell Me Yours.

One of the main criticisms of the album seem to be about it being 'populist' and 'commercial'. Much as with KYE and Lifeblood my recent trawl through the whole Manics back catalogue has made me reappraise my opinions of the albums.

I hadn't listened to 'This is My Truth…' for ages and it was a shock to hear some of the songs when they popped up on random. I'd made the mistake of just associating the album with its singles rather than the album as a whole. I had forgotten how good 'Ready for Drowning' is and have even come round to liking 'Black Dog…'. The tag of populist/commercial doesn't sit well with me when listening to claustrophobic tracks like 'I'm Not Working' and the weirdness of 'Be Natural'.

'My Little Empire' is stunning and one of my favourite tracks and love the sound of 'Born a Girl'. It sounds like it's being played in a lonely arena with all that reverb. Love the music for SYMM but hate the lyrics.

This album was also a soundtrack for my transition to university and I even saw them on tour the day before I was due to move so the album has a personal connection.


*Off-topic I can't read the name Kyle without hearing it in John Lithgow's voice.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:23
counterlanguage's Avatar
counterlanguage counterlanguage is offline
Hold me she said, Love me to Death
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,886
The first six tracks are possibly the best line of six consecutive songs on any Manics album, but then it really fizzles out. Be Natural and especially I'm Not Working should be taken off there, along with SYMM.

And of course Prologue should be the last track - I can see why people call it Nicky Wire's Holy Bible because so many of the lyrics are so dark, with an air of defeat / resignation. Prologue would have provided an uplifting end to the album, and a bit of relief.

And I would've put Black Holes on there, so the track list would have been:

The Everlasting
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
You Stole the Sun from My Heart
Ready for Drowning
Tsunami
My Little Empire

Nobody Loved You
You're Tender and You're Tired
Born a Girl
Black Dog on My Shoulder
Black Holes For The Young
Prologue To History
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:28
y2kyle16's Avatar
y2kyle16 y2kyle16 is offline
Bored of being bored
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,556
This is my truth is a decent album

Love The Everlasting, You Stole The Sun, Nobody Loved you, and Born A Girl

Not so keen on My Little Empire And Black Holes
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:31
SeveredJoke's Avatar
SeveredJoke SeveredJoke is offline
Desire on its knees
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 962
Quote:
Originally Posted by counterlanguage View Post
The first six tracks are possibly the best line of six consecutive songs on any Manics album, but then it really fizzles out. Be Natural and especially I'm Not Working should be taken off there, along with SYMM.

And of course Prologue should be the last track - I can see why people call it Nicky Wire's Holy Bible because so many of the lyrics are so dark, with an air of defeat / resignation. Prologue would have provided an uplifting end to the album, and a bit of relief.

And I would've put Black Holes on there, so the track list would have been:

The Everlasting
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
You Stole the Sun from My Heart
Ready for Drowning
Tsunami
My Little Empire

Nobody Loved You
You're Tender and You're Tired
Born a Girl
Black Dog on My Shoulder
Black Holes For The Young
Prologue To History
The B-sides from that time were great. I'd definitely agree with Prologue but 'Black Holes...'? It's not one of the best.

'Be Natural' isn't a strong one but I've come round to 'I'm Not Working' with its menacing synth and bass sound.

I could quite happily skip the first three tracks and still enjoy the album. 'The Everlasting' is a great track but the whole refugee line kills it for me in the same way some people feel about the Godfather 3 reference in 'The Future...' from PFAYM.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:33
UEF's Avatar
UEF UEF is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London
Posts: 9,102
I love the more atmospheric second half of the album. Infact I pretty much love all of it except for the singles (and I used to love them, but have just heard them all far too many times).

Black Holes For the Young holds a special place in my heart too, it's an awesome tune and really really weird at the same time.
__________________
V2002 • Move 2003 • V2006 • KoKo 2006 • Culture Show 2007 • Album Chart Show 2007 • XFM 2007 • V2007 • Glastonbury 2007 • Astoria 2007 • London Brixton 2007 • NME Awards 2008 • NME Big Gig 2008 • Forever Heavenly 2008 • Roundhouse 2009 • Forum 2009 • Concert for Care 2009 • XFM Winter Wonderland 2010 • Brixton Academy 2011 • Blackwood Miners Institute 2011 • Roundhouse 2011 • O2 2011 • Rough Trade East 2012 • Shepherds Bush 2013 • Brixton 2014 • Glastonbury 2014 • Rough Trade East 2014 • Acoustic Guitar Show 2014 • London Roundhouse 2014 • Cardiff Castle 2015 • London On Blackheath 2015 • London Royal Albert Hall 2016 • Swansea Liberty Stadium 2016 • Wembley Arena 2018 • Shepherds Bush 2019 • Kingston Pryzm 2021 x2 • Wembley Arena 2021 • Glastonbury 2023 • Alexandra Palace 2024 (40)
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:36
counterlanguage's Avatar
counterlanguage counterlanguage is offline
Hold me she said, Love me to Death
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,886
Quote:
Originally Posted by UEF View Post
Black Holes For the Young holds a special place in my heart too, it's an awesome tune and really really weird at the same time.
Exactly, the keyboard riff is a bit random which is why it's not on the album because it doesn't really fir in , but I think it's fantastic.

Sophie E-B should have duetted on LBN on the tour 98 tours.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:37
beautifuldistortion's Avatar
beautifuldistortion beautifuldistortion is offline
Knowlede Is Power
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Dartford, Kent UK
Posts: 1,114
Replace - 'Im not working' and 'SYMM' with 'Prologue' and 'Montana/Autumn 78' and this is a classic album :0)
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:42
centralscrutiniser's Avatar
centralscrutiniser centralscrutiniser is offline
I live to fall asleep
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Llareggub
Age: 38
Posts: 3,483
I've never really understood the commercial comments about this album. Maybe I'm just wrong, but aside from the first four tracks it sounds the opposite of commercial!
__________________
I may have told you this before, I could have been the King of Wales
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:43
darkanddivine's Avatar
darkanddivine darkanddivine is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Wolfland
Posts: 6,982
I think as with any of the Manics catalogue, when the band don't try too hard to be something they want or what they think people want, they produce their best work.

Rock fans are quite fickle, and it's not surprising that given critical acclaim, mass popularity and constant media coverage that many fans cite this as their Manics moment of moving on.

This is a really really great album though, it sounds really pure, James' voice is incredible and probably for the last time, Nicky lyrics were really up to scratch. I love how it sounds big, yet the band could literally be in the room with you on the slower tracks, and musically there is still a freshness about it, new instruments, new sounds and a new mood.

If it was overrated at the time, it is now underrated in my opinion.
__________________
“I have known many sorrows, most of which never happened.” Mark Twain
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:43
sculptureofabloke's Avatar
sculptureofabloke sculptureofabloke is offline
Stretched out in the sun
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Manchester
Age: 40
Posts: 14,319
With the exception of You Stole The Sun From My Heart, I don't think it's a commercial album at all really. With hindsight, I think it's a really unlikely hit of an album. It's easily the Manics album I've seen most often in charity shops. I don't know, I kinda think it was anticipation as much as anything that got the album and first single to number one. Nobody had chance to get sick of the album before it came out, like a lot of people seem to have done with Postcards From A Young Man. I think at the time, they could've got anything to number one really. I love the album anyway, probably my third favourite. It's quite a big departure from Everything Must Go and a weird predecessor to Know Your Enemy.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by allisvanity View Post
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Manics fans, never fucking happy.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:56
Marwood's Avatar
Marwood Marwood is offline
Knowlede Is Power
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: County Durham
Age: 43
Posts: 1,385
Quote:
Originally Posted by centralscrutiniser View Post
I've never really understood the commercial comments about this album. Maybe I'm just wrong, but aside from the first four tracks it sounds the opposite of commercial!
Agreed. Lyrically dark, despondent, furious and challenging. Musically melancholy, desolate, stark and sweet. It isn't exactly Take That. I remember a fair amount of talk about it alienating casual EMG fans and boy racers, as if that could possibly be a bad thing.

A really important album for me - the first Manics album to arrive after I became a Manics fan, the first I bought on the day of release, the soundtrack to my second year of sixth-form college. Running down to Woolworths at 9am to buy 'Tolerate', skipping Psychology so I could pick up the album on the way home rather than have to wait until the day after it came out. Great singles, beautiful album tracks. Lovely stuff.

My understanding is that 'Prologue' was always in the running for opening track, not closing track. Though I can't imagine 'The Everlasting' fitting anywhere else on the album.

Regards,
Marwood.
__________________
Ready For Drowning
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:56
UEF's Avatar
UEF UEF is offline
Doors slowly closing
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London
Posts: 9,102
It's a proto-Lifeblood
__________________
V2002 • Move 2003 • V2006 • KoKo 2006 • Culture Show 2007 • Album Chart Show 2007 • XFM 2007 • V2007 • Glastonbury 2007 • Astoria 2007 • London Brixton 2007 • NME Awards 2008 • NME Big Gig 2008 • Forever Heavenly 2008 • Roundhouse 2009 • Forum 2009 • Concert for Care 2009 • XFM Winter Wonderland 2010 • Brixton Academy 2011 • Blackwood Miners Institute 2011 • Roundhouse 2011 • O2 2011 • Rough Trade East 2012 • Shepherds Bush 2013 • Brixton 2014 • Glastonbury 2014 • Rough Trade East 2014 • Acoustic Guitar Show 2014 • London Roundhouse 2014 • Cardiff Castle 2015 • London On Blackheath 2015 • London Royal Albert Hall 2016 • Swansea Liberty Stadium 2016 • Wembley Arena 2018 • Shepherds Bush 2019 • Kingston Pryzm 2021 x2 • Wembley Arena 2021 • Glastonbury 2023 • Alexandra Palace 2024 (40)
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 05-11-2010, 12:58
counterlanguage's Avatar
counterlanguage counterlanguage is offline
Hold me she said, Love me to Death
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,886
Quote:
Originally Posted by UEF View Post
It's a proto-Lifeblood
Partly, i.e. the low-key middle few tracks.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 05-11-2010, 13:01
SeveredJoke's Avatar
SeveredJoke SeveredJoke is offline
Desire on its knees
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 962
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marwood View Post
Agreed. Lyrically dark, despondent, furious and challenging. Musically melancholy, desolate, stark and sweet. It isn't exactly Take That. I remember a fair amount of talk about it alienating casual EMG fans and boy racers, as if that could possibly be a bad thing.

A really important album for me - the first Manics album to arrive after I became a Manics fan, the first I bought on the day of release, the soundtrack to my second year of sixth-form college. Running down to Woolworths at 9am to buy 'Tolerate', skipping Psychology so I could pick up the album on the way home rather than have to wait until the day after it came out. Great singles, beautiful album tracks. Lovely stuff.

Regards,
Marwood.
It was the same for me! I remember getting it home and listening to it with a friend just staring at the CD player and absorbing it all before dashing to our guitars to work out the songs.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 05-11-2010, 13:02
Flint's Avatar
Flint Flint is offline
Winterlover
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: UK
Age: 35
Posts: 6,712
Another one of my favourite albums of all time.

This is where it all actually began for me. Tolerate was the first Manics song I heard and I loved it instantly. This was somewhat surprising because at the time my music listening habits consisted of various eurodance one hit wonders and everything that was slow got an automatic rejection from me. So for a moody rock song to really catch my attention was... unexpected. I got a CD-R copy of the album through my sister's then-boyfriend and I can't say I fell in love with it at the time. I mainly enjoyed the faster songs and left the slow stuff, bar Tolerate, alone. That CD-R did stay in my collection for a long time though and I did give it surprisingly frequent listens and I even began enjoying the moody moments. It was a catalyst enough for me to eventually grab EMG from a bargain bin and later on KYE which then turned me into a fan. Rest is history.

These days I adore it to the point that it's one of my close favourite albums in the world. The sound and style are immaculate. It contains the best set of lyrics in the band's entire history, and this includes SYMM which I think is not only a brilliant idea (to try and say something about an event that shocked you so much you don't know how to put it into words) executed well but the chorus, the only point in the entire song where Wire is actually able to articulate all the jumbles of feelings he has inside him about the song's subject, that chorus is one of the angriest Manics lines in its sheer bluntness. James is on top form, it's one of his best vocal performances, and holy fuck the instrumental performances - if there's any single proof that James has genuinely brilliant skill as a composer and songwriter, Truth is it because of all the flourishes and details involved. The soundworld of the album is simply put impressive. It's clearly an album where the band is at the top of their game. It's impressive throughout. It has such a gorgeous atmosphere too - EMG still had tones of Richey over it and Truth was their first completely independent trio album, and you can tell it did weigh on the band's minds. It's introspection put into music and distilled into beauty.

And I see someone already touched up on this but I do genuinely sneer at the people who see it as EMG 2 or an attempt to copy the hit success of that album. It's a comparison I've never understood - they sound nothing alike for one. And whereas EMG was a very extroverted album, Truth is the moment where you sink into your own soul and mind in a dark room. Not only lyrically (it's pretty much Wire's version of The Holy Bible in terms of lyrics) but musically too - things like Born a Girl, I'm Not Working, Be Natural (this song doesn't get praised enough, absolutely gorgeous), My Little Empire and SYMM are far, far away from the string-hits of EMG and in their reclusive nature pretty much different from anything else in the band's work too.

I'd ramble more (look at what you lot have started!) but I've honestly got some uni work to do so I'm going to cut this short. But it's essentially 12 of some of the best songs in the world, and Tolerate which is the greatest piece of music I've heard in my life and which never fails to send shivers down my spine.

Fucking immense b-sides period too. Prologue to History is probably their defining statement in terms of distilling their whole ethos into one song, Valley Boy is a legend, Black Holes for the Young is the band's best duet, etc.
__________________
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 21:11.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.