Postcards From A Young Man Thread

[MSPKYE]

Originally Posted by The Gutless Wonder

Is I Know The Numbers up on Youtube or anything? Not heard it yet.

iTunes, there's a special iTunes download EP

[The Gutless Wonder]

Originally Posted by MSPKYE

iTunes, there's a special iTunes download EP

Ah, cheers!

[Radiomanic]

After a few more listens, i pretty much stick by my original post. The songs i liked i still really like, the ones i didn't i still don't very much. Golden Platitudes has grown but other than that, an OK album with some good songs but too many average ones. 100% guarantee they don't play the good ones live!

[The Gutless Wonder]

Listening to it loads and still loving it!

[Lone Architect]

It's definitely growing on me, in parts at least.

[Katabasis]

Aaaaaand... here's a not so complimentary review from Sydney steet press rag, the Drum Media.

Originally Posted by Sevana Ohandjanian

The albums keep coming thick and fast from Manic Street Preachers, whose 2009 effort, Journal for Plague Lovers, featured the lyrical remnants of missing presumed dead member Richey Edwards, and was praised accoringly as being the Welsh trio's best record in a long time. Having paid fitting tribute to their lost bandmate Postcards from a Young Man returns the listener to modern day Manics. Which sadly includes a lot of posturing, preaching and for this reviewer, cringing. When exactly the Manics fell into the pit of self-congratulatory soft rock is uncharted, but here we are. Postcards is brimming with overblown orchestral strings, choral backing and a whole lotta James Dean Bradfield vocals. He clearly believes in every word he utters as his shouting, pervasive vocals carry infinite sentimental weight. Some Kind of Nothingness marries all these elements gorgeously, for a sway your hands in the air stadium-sized song that concentrates on the modern malaise, while The Descent 1 & 2 uses marching percussion and Bradfield's quasi-scream to drive its message home.

Elsewhere on the record this same arena ambition becomes the band's undoing with Hazelton Avenue exhausting its twee reminiscent tones assisted by Bradfield's almost comical vocals and the bizarre inclusion of what sounds like a balalaika in I Think I've Found It. Nicky Wire is surprisingly muted except for the very 'rock' A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun guitar-shredding and vocals on The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever. Yes, with a '4' instead of 'for'.

Postcards sounds like a mid-life crisis, but maybe it's just the Manics transgressing into dad rock. Ungracefully.

For those who are unaware, the Drum is a long-standing, hipper than thou, street rag that any fool with a typewriter (erm, word processor... no... portal to the information superhighway... yes, that's it!) can contribute to. I'd comment on the crappiness of this review, but I simply can't get through the thick layer of smug that hovers over it...

[cameron33]

Love:
Don't Descent the Auto Man
It's A Golden Kind Love
Young Future
Sun Been Found
Think War Balconies

Like:
Make Avenue 1 (Be Has)
The Postcards It All Here
I Evil Hazleton Intoxication
A Billion Nothingness Ever I
Just From (& The 2 Pages of The We)

Don't like:
Entertainment Is 4 Some
Not Facing the End of Platitudes

[centralscrutiniser]

Originally Posted by cameron33

Love:
Don't Descent the Auto Man
It's A Golden Kind Love
Young Future
Sun Been Found
Think War Balconies

Like:
Make Avenue 1 (Be Has)
The Postcards It All Here
I Evil Hazleton Intoxication
A Billion Nothingness Ever I
Just From (& The 2 Pages of The We)

Don't like:
Entertainment Is 4 Some
Not Facing the End of Platitudes

Very Burroughs

[Napoleon Bonaparte]

Originally Posted by cameron33

Love:
Don't Descent the Auto Man

It's official, I'm old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQb1ZD9W8_c

[JDMANIC]

I think I'm at the point where I'm not going to bother reading any more reviews posted of the album, or look at any of the charts, and just enjoy the album for what it is. Whether you love it/hate it/whatever, I think their attempt at "mass communication" has been pretty successful. A lot of promo appearances on radio, some TV, a decent chart showing in its first week, a tour that looks promising - really not too bad for a bunch of 40-somethings who are still doing what they love to do, in this modern, fragmented musical climate of 2010.

[River Boy]

Originally Posted by JDMANIC

I think I'm at the point where I'm not going to bother reading any more reviews posted of the album, or look at any of the charts, and just enjoy the album for what it is. Whether you love it/hate it/whatever, I think their attempt at "mass communication" has been pretty successful. A lot of promo appearances on radio, some TV, a decent chart showing in its first week, a tour that looks promising - really not too bad for a bunch of 40-somethings who are still doing what they love to do, in this modern, fragmented musical climate of 2010.

I disagree, I think the obvious comparison has to be U2 and there so much bigger. I wouldn't expect the Manics to rival them worldwide but if they could rival them in the UK then I'd consider mass communication to have been successful.

It's not over yet, important albums have a long life and hang around in the charts.

[Napoleon Bonaparte]

Originally Posted by River Boy

I disagree, I think the obvious comparison has to be U2 and there so much bigger. I wouldn't expect the Manics to rival them worldwide but if they could rival them in the UK then I'd consider mass communication to have been successful.

It's not over yet, important albums have a long life and hang around in the charts.

Personally I think that is highly unrealistic, not even the most highly brainwashed of Manics cock suckers would have expected that from them at this stage.

Outselling SATT & JFPL = victory.

[River Boy]

Originally Posted by Napoleon Bonaparte

Personally I think that is highly unrealistic, not even the most highly brainwashed of Manics cock suckers would have expected that from them at this stage.

Outselling SATT & JFPL = victory.

If it earns the same credit as EMG, or at least Truth, that's victory and what Nicky wants - minus the awards perhaps.

They could always attempt the U2 tactic of secret rooftop gigs.

[Napoleon Bonaparte]

Originally Posted by River Boy

what Nicky wants

Asked him yourself did you?

Originally Posted by River Boy

They could always attempt the U2 tactic of secret rooftop gigs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqiAl84ipIk

[River Boy]

Originally Posted by Napoleon Bonaparte

Asked him yourself did you?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqiAl84ipIk

No we've not spoken since the restraining order. It's obvious though, he's been bemoaning the band's fall from the centre of music debate since Lifeblood - James at the time seemed to think bands could still be as relevant with just a loyal following, though he seems to be following Nicky down the mass communication route.

Bit intrusive to insert a Beatles link there for no reason, though I did enjoy Harry and Paul last night.