Am I the only one who thought PFAYM was a bit pants?

[sofarsideways]

Seeing pretty much all of what I feel reflected in what others have said here. I will now waffle at length in spite of that fact ^__^

I really tried with PFAYM, I wanted to like it so much, but it just wouldn't happen. Prior to that album I'd always said I honestly liked everything the Manics had ever done. I can still say there's nothing I truly actively dislike, but in a way I think that's further to the detriment of PFAYM - it just doesn't inspire ANYTHING, good or bad. For me the biggest letdown was actually the music. I don't think Wire's lyrics were at all bad for the most part, but soundwise it was an album in a serious rut. The only songs from it that I like and listen to are the singles and TFHBHF, and I much prefer the demo of SKON so I don't really listen to the 'real' version of that. A lot of people seemed to hate SATT when it came out, and more after it had settled - I really liked and still enjoy SATT, it had some real soul under the sheen. PFAYM just felt empty. It tried, and it failed, because it was trying to do the absolute wrong thing.

Weirdly, the PFAYM tour dates I went to were full of all the joy and vigour the album being promoted was missing, and things only dulled down for the songs from PFAYM. I wonder if that was as palpable as it felt to me, if others felt the same, and if the band felt it. They seemed to have gotten past PFAYM by the time it had dropped, in some ways.

I think the band have since acknowledged, in a kinda like y'know way, that they'd hit a bit of a wall and were running on empty, and it does seem like they've taken the approach they needed to with this new album. I really, really hope that's the case. Everyone's allowed a bad day, a bad album. I don't think it's symptomatic of a downward curve at all. They just need a shake-up - JFPL was one, and look how astoundingly that turned out. They just need to realise they can do it, that they don't necessarily need Richey's input, however brilliant it may be. They're just as brilliant and capable of turning things upside down themselves.