futurology/lifeblood/there by the grace of god

[cs]

after listening to futurology a lot, ( and i like it very much ), i am starting to think about what the manics themselves think about it..

i think its a bit weird that they say things like lifeblood was a bit of a mistake etc... and that there by the grace of god is their weakest single..

but then again.. im a bit confused.. im starting to think that there by the grace of god would fit perfectly in futurology. maybe as a hidden track or something, but it gives me a "futurology feeling".

so will they "hate" futurology in a few years? it seems to me that they rate their albums/singles after what sales/critics says..

probably they will love futurology because of the good critics..

not that it really matters.. the fans opinion is the most important...

[Littlesue]

They do seem to like things on how much they sell or how much the critics rave. We all know if Lifeblood had stayed in the Top 10 for 5 weeks Nicky would be calling it their 'masterpiece'. I think James was embarrsed by the poor sales of his album which is a shame as it means he will probably never do a solo album again.

[gaz40]

totally agree CS .
and james solo was excellent , he should defenetly do another !!!!

[Lee]

It's an interesting comparison and something I was thinking of earlier.

There's definitely a bit of a Lifeblood / Futurology crossover. I love both albums - Futurology edges it slightly (slightly rockier and it has the recent novelty factor ) - it'll be interesting to see what the Manics say about it in a couple of years' time.

[Borderliner]

/ramble

I like creating synapses between songs/albums ... old new doesn't really matter:

Why do anything when you can forget everything -> Lay down all your guns, give them up and then move on -> Go with the flow, go home -> Pack your bags, wave goodbye to struggle

[The Gutless Wonder]

I hope we get another James solo album one day!

[Suicide Aldi]

I think there are some similarities, but I think TBTGOG and L are much more cold and melencholic than F. F is alot more passionate.

[dejr26]

Never knew that the band disliked TBGOG. I really love it but then I've always loved Lifeblood too.

[gallafield]

Originally Posted by dejr26

Never knew that the band disliked TBGOG. I really love it but then I've always loved Lifeblood too.

At one of the Brixton December 2007 gigs, they played Forever Delayed, and afterwards Nicky said something about leaving off the greatest hits and "releasing There By The Grace Of God instead. What a Fucking mistake that was."

Shame, really. tbtgog is really good, and certainly deserving of more live plays. Shame that and Door To The River, as obligatory new tracks on a best of, will never see the light of day live again.

[beautifuldistortion]

I love Lifeblood but Futurology just nicks it for me - and I mean I really love Lifeblood!
Futurology has really sunk in now. There's some genius on it and lyrically it's better tan I thought it would be.
Gotta be listened to with headphones - but the same goes for Lifeblood. So much going on in those albums
TBTGOD is also brilliant - there's times that song has sounded lush and uplifting to me, like when it unexpectedly comes on a shuffle playlist!
However it's one that works without the headphones - play it loud and it's quite epic!

[Scarecrow]

I can definitely see a similarity between these albums, so much for their "two versions of the Manics theory". I prefer Lifeblood of the two, but I completely understand why Futurology is doing better. I love the melancholic confusion of where they were at a decade or so back, but the warmth of Futurology connects so easily.

There By the Grace of God remains one of my favourite Manics songs. Silly buggers should have released a double A side or EP instead of a single, 4'Ever Delayed and the b-sides may have had more longevity.

[cdrw1992]

I think there's quite a few links to Lifeblood in both Futurology and (off topic) Rewind The Film, sonically and lyrically.

Given the reaction I don't think they'll 'hate' Futurology in the same way the openly 'hate' Lifeblood - I'm not sure if they really do tbh, I'm sure James has said fairly recently there's lots of tracks he likes on there, I think it's more the commercial performance and maybe how they went about recording it - suppose the latter is a bit like GATS.

If you go from last year, though RTF was nearly as well received by the critics, its tracks are more suited to small, intimate settings (hence the 'theatre-sized' tour) and described as an album they 'had to make.' Whereas Futurology is far more versatile I think hence why more of the tracks will survive and hopefully two/three added to the standards.

I never realised they disliked TBTGOG. I'd prefer if 4ever Delayed had been on the album but I really like both as tracks. Comes across as a bit of a bridge between KYE and Lifeblood. As for Door To The River it's absolutely beautiful and unfortunately like Prologue et al has been consigned to the 'lost gems collection' Would make a fab acoustic number too.

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by cdrw1992

I never realised they disliked TBTGOG. I'd prefer if 4ever Delayed had been on the album but I really like both as tracks. Comes across as a bit of a bridge between KYE and Lifeblood. As for Door To The River it's absolutely beautiful and unfortunately like Prologue et al has been consigned to the 'lost gems collection' Would make a fab acoustic number too.

When they ranked their singles in NME, Grace of God was bottom of the list. Scandalous! I wish they'd release more EPs. Grace of God, 4'ever Delayed, Door to the River, plus the b-sides of the era would have made an excellent EP.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by NasalScarecrow

When they ranked their singles in NME, Grace of God was bottom of the list. Scandalous! I wish they'd release more EPs. Grace of God, 4'ever Delayed, Door to the River, plus the b-sides of the era would have made an excellent EP.

Yep. Those three songs (and Judge Yr'self, even though it would've stood out a bit) should've been on an EP or at least given a bit of a promotional push at the time. Four completely lost gems that we'll never hear live again.

Lifeblood was a really good era. A different sound, very interesting songs - I really like The Love of Richard Nixon - the white backline, excellent b-sides, it was released at exactly the right time of year.

Hopefully one day they'll re-visit it.

[Manicben]

Yeah, I'd certainly compare the records. I've had the same thoughts myself. Why has Futurology gone down so well, and Lifeblood didn't. I'd put them on par to be honest. And I rarely listen to Lifeblood.