Biggest Manic Folly?

[Futurologist]

Originally Posted by proevpete

Great thread.

The biggest Manics folly for me is not dealing strategically with huge commercial success circa 1998-2001. With TIMT they were the biggest band in the UK at the time: a platinum selling album, hit singles, critical acclaim. The peak of which was the Millennium gig - 60,000 people paying to go and see a Manics concert.

The key moment for me is getting No.1 with Masses Against the Classes. Again it was a sign of their popularity at the time but I think it gave them (them as in the band, management, label etc) a false sense of superiority. Bands need to remember (especially when their egos are at their biggest) that they are successful because they are producing music that appeals to the masses - not that the masses have suddenly realised the appeal of your band and its manifesto.

They've spoken about how commercial success didn't sit well with them. I think this is mainly due to the guilt of their acquired wealth after Richey's disappearance rather than any artistic issues. Wire has been trying for the last 10 years for the band to return to those levels of commercial popularity ffs. We all know he'll whore himself out for any commercial cause.

Put simply, the 'concept' of Know Your Enemy was a complete failure. They talk about Lifeblood as their most vacuous moment but truly it was KYE. Now I say 'conceptually' and I mean that in terms of its strategic implications in the overall trajectory of the Manics career and legacy. I like the album a lot. There are some great tunes on there. But believing that success came from some sort of artistic power that allowed them to turn their backs on the business and still maintain their level of appeal was their greatest folly. It was their biggest mistake and took them 6 years to recover from. If they had of released another MOR chart rock album (like SATT) they would have released probably 2 more albums with solid critical and commercial success in 2003 and 2005 - rather than choosing (and choosing is the word) to fall back on an awful Greatest Hits and a (quite frankly) 'who gives a fuck' B-sides collection in 2003.

I'm going to have another think about this and get back to you all....

This. Brilliant post. I like KYE, but it just wasn't right for them at the time.



IMHO: Biggest folly = James' beard. Many do not agree.