Quote:
Originally Posted by RookUK
Personally, I think Postcards is one of the weakest Manics albums (roughly around the level of GATS in my estimations) but I still really enjoy it. For me, the Manics are a genuinely exceptional band and when they have an "off" album it is still as good or better than the records most other bands produce. I think the album is very much about ageing gracefully, and admitting to not being quite as sure about things as the band were years earlier - and I like that aspect of it. I think 'I Think I've Found It' could become a minor milestone in our understanding of the band.
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Can't agree Andy, lyrically it's poor in comparison with GATS (which is underrated IMO, regardless of what the band think). It's "not bad" in the sense that (in my opinion) the majority of MSP material is in a different league to other bands' offerings. It isn't their best by any means, but it's still good. SKON seems to be one of the more divisive tracks, but I have to admit that I love it. It works for me (with the exception of Ian Mc's vocal, which I don't see the point in - replacing JDB with him, even partially, is a downgrade.) The massed choirs and so on, love it.
The problem seems to be that every new offering gets compared to two of the finest musical creations of our (well, my, being an old git) generation - THB and EMG. In their past they have created some wonderful pieces of dark, twisted perfection and we judge the likes of PFAYM against this. Comparing the likes of SKON (and even the skin-crawling lyrics of Autumnsong) with Faster, PCP and the EMG era stuff isn't a fair comparison.
No doubt the new one (s) will face the same allegations of "they used to be good, but they're shit now", but frankly who cares. They provided the soundtrack to my adult life, and long may they continue.
TL;DR - Postcards is ok really.