I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but I must defend International Blue - it's a cut above all the others you've mentioned (liked YLA at the time but quickly tired of it, especially live. I can't stand It's Not War or Autumnsong - the latter is their nadir among close competition from that era).

It contains a dynamism lacking in many of their songs - a real drive that I can only describe as Sprinsteen-esque. James can be lazy with melodies but this is pleasing and I can't but help sing along, even when he disappears up in the chorus. It may be formulaic, but it's at the top end of the formula for me. Lyrically it's not a stand out, but again I like the lyrics and don't find them cringeworthy unlike many other of Wire's.

If I were in a generous mood, I'd probably put it one level above the other tracks I mentioned too, though that would still only bump it up to 'least worst, best of a bad bunch, top of the nadir section' of my own personal preferences.

I'd also forgotten to throw some lols and shade at the video with its 'ASDA Smart Price watch advert' vibes. :good:

Edit: Related note but I actually wish they'd used the lyric 'monochrome desire' as an album title or something, that is a good little phrase.

I'd love to see how fans of some classic rock artists differ in their opinions of songs, compared to us handful of Manics fans on here! (I've dipped my toes into some Rush and Fleetwood Mac forums and they were a viper pit!)

They're nice, but as they're a Morrissey quote, hard to give the band too much praise.

They should just do a nod to the odd classics and called it Nuclear Skies.


Fun as all the back-and-forthing about opinions is now, I'll be much more interested to read thoughts in a year or two. I recall being an extremely rare naysayer when TUVL came out, but now its reputation here seems to have dropped significantly. Even RiF had the boost of 'oh the second half is surprising' before the rot set in. So we'll see if the positivity is still around by the time album 16 comes along.

That's an interesting point, I would imagine views of a lot of Manics albums have gone up or down for some people over time.

TIMTTMY and Lifeblood have only ever gone up in my estimations, whereas EMG went the other way.

The demos are nice. Critical Thinking also has more lyrics about 'the super elite and super woke'.

I love the Decline & Fall remix too, amazing!

Yeah I totally agree with this. I saw them play it live here in the US and it got a big reception from the crowd. And while the riff isn't technically complex, it IS very catchy. The mix isn't great - there's too much high-end, but I think it's a great song.

The Dear Stephen chorus sounds somewhat similar to The Boy From the Plantation with those chiming riffs after every line.

Having said all this, the best song JDB has written in 15 years is easily Recuerda. That song absolutely *rips* and the lyrics are great.

I will always give Manics albums way more of a chance than most bands, and I can usually get into most of their tracks. The second half of this record gets a little samey but a standout song for me is actually Being Baptised - that's a real grower.

sOK, so first listen, apart from the singles. These days I always do the first listen of a new Manics album in the car. I'm alone, I can let it wash over me, and I can get the vibe. It got two listens today, and I'll probably keep it on repeat a few more times. Being Baptized is a good opener, and put me in a good mood. Dear Stephen annoyed me, but that's probably because Morrissey irritated me for several years in the 1980s before he became irrelevant to me. Decent tune, rubbish subject. One Man Militia made me grin, the boy's still got it. Nothing else really standing out yet, other than the singles that I was already familiar with. Definitely not one of their best albums, but as that's a very high bar, I'm still grateful that they're putting out good music.

Being Baptised has grown on me a lot. It's so slippery after the almost contrived earworms of stuff like D&F, but repeat listens have definitely allowed it to blossom.

I've been enjoying the album quite a bit over the last few days. I was pleasantly surprised, as the singles hadn't really drawn me in to the point that I was really looking forward to it. It's very solid. Not a bad track on it IMO. The last album was decent too, but I find myself engaging with this one a lot more.

I wanted to dislike Dear Stephen, because it annoyed me that Nicky was bothering at all with that guy. But I can't, because it's a bloody good song.

I'd actually forgot that the last album had reached number 1, until reading this thread. I suppose that says something about how little it matters anymore.

I was thinking to re-seal the plastic myself too, but then I remembered it’s Amazon’s job to just deliver the item undamaged!
Currently on my 4th attempted order/replacement, with a lengthy complaint gone into their head office.

Feedback to Amazon “helps them become the Earth’s most customer centric company” according to them…

…. Well as Nicky would scream, FUCK THAT!

Had another listen through the half term noise, and its a nice album, with pleasant songs. Don't think there's massive repeat listen value on it but its better than Postcards or RIF, for example.

People Ruin Paintings was on the radio earlier and it sounded good in situ versus some of the other horrific new music being plated (The Kooks, their new song is dreadful) - some bands/songs sound good on the radio (Dreams by The Cranberries) and the Manics are definitely one of those bands. I agree with another thread/post further back about them writing a 'radio banger' - I'd take an EP of them over a full album of 'nice'.

Out of Time Revival, Deleted Scenes, Late Day Peaks: all three of these have loads of bits I like - lovely synths, some nice melodic bits - but they're done in such a ploddy way that it saps the life from them. It really feels like a symptom of the album not being written and recorded as a band.

I still find it glorious a week on.

I agree with this. I was concerned that the album would be RIF2, which is my least favourite, but it feels closer to Futurology to me.

Despite my initial reservations, Decline and fall has grown on me and I quite like its position after the title track. It seems like a very Manics tactic to put such different sounds next to each other (similar to rewind the film with the way show me the wonder suddenly switches the mood after the melancholy of this sullen Welsh heart).

The title track is my favourite, who would’ve guessed that the Nicky vocal would ever get that spot! Not that I’ve ever disliked Nicky’s tracks, just that James’s voice has always been the draw for me. While I’m on that - James’ piano version of critical thinking is so different and I love that too, particularly the almost despondent ‘fuck that’ compared to Nicky’s.

The piano versions in general are very interesting - I feel I hear more of the songs and of James’ voice in a way that is somewhat glossed over by the production on the album. Things like the piano run on hiding in plain sight rather than it being the usual synth string sound change the feel of the song for me. Sometimes less is more, which again is not something I’d usually say as a lover of GATS!

Other standouts for me are Being Baptised, Dear Stephen and My Brave Friend. People ruin paintings is my favourite of the “singles” (although it doesn’t feel like a single to me and I do wish they’d made CT the lead single - I feel that may have attracted more attention from people who aren’t already Manics fans). I actually quite like the lyrics to Dear Stephen, maybe my love of cheesy stuff is still alive after all.

Overall, I’m very happy to still be excited by and interested in dissecting a Manics album over 25 years after I first got into them. Roll on the tour!