Third breakpoint for the Manics - no new album for 2 years

[meganslastwords]

it got to number 3 in the charts, that's not exactly shit

[franny]

Sales for Postcards were fine, singles by rock bands never do well anyway.

[The Gutless Wonder]

Often depends what the flavour of the month is as well. Katy Perry was all the rage at the time, sadly!

[Dancing Kirby]

It was the whole 'one last shot at mass communication' campaign that made the sales look disappointing. They set themselves up for failure good and proper. Now we get to go through the 'ok, one final last shot at mass communication' campaign with another Greatest Hits release.

[The Gutless Wonder]

Mass communication is part of being in a band anyway I would've thought. It just reaches some parts of the masses more than others!

[Frozendiva]

Selective masses.

[counterlanguage]

Originally Posted by The Gutless Wonder

Sales for Postcards have been pretty good as far as I was aware!

It went gold and sold as many copies as SATT, it just didn't have the big hit single like YLAINE, which bucked the trend for rock singles which don't stand much chance in the charts these days.

[River Boy]

I can't help think that JPFL would have done much better had they tried to present it to a wider audience. As uncomfortable as I understood they would have felt with that, Marlon JD, Peeled Apples and Bag Lady would have at least turned some heads had they turned up in the charts.

[counterlanguage]

Originally Posted by River Boy

I can't help think that JPFL would have done much better had they tried to present it to a wider audience. As uncomfortable as I understood they would have felt with that, Marlon JD, Peeled Apples and Bag Lady would have at least turned some heads had they turned up in the charts.

I always think of it as the ideal follow up to TIMT, musically at least, because it succeeds where KYE fails - and it would have really done well back then. But as great as it was, I don't think it would have been much more successful than it was in 2009 - there's only one real single on there for a start (JCEQT).

Nice to dream of it being a number one single. If only.

[River Boy]

Originally Posted by counterlanguage

I always think of it as the ideal follow up to TIMT, musically at least, because it succeeds where KYE fails - and it would have really done well back then. But as great as it was, I don't think it would have been much more successful than it was in 2009 - there's only one real single on there for a start (JCEQT).

Nice to dream of it being a number one single. If only.

Disagree about the single, think Marlon JD would have been a number 1. Purely because it has a dance-like beat.

I'd have prefered it as the follow up to EMG. When song titles like IYTTTYCWBN and SYMM were revealed I wasn't suspecting the wishy washy whine we ended up with.

(Now awaiting a well-deserved spanking from The Gutless Wonder!)

[The Gutless Wonder]

*smacks River Boy!*

Getting the hits can often depend on the timing of a song being released as well. Design and Tolerate captured the thinking of the people at the times they were released. The singles from Postcards failed to do that on the same scale so thus failed to be higher up the charts. They still made it into the chart though, don't forget! And the younger kids probably view them as a bunch of 'oldies' these days and 'not cool'. It gets harder as bands get older (Blondie, however, always seem to manage a second wind!) but hey! At least they are still around putting on great shows and getting great live reviews. There's not too much to be unhappy about!

[amay]

Originally Posted by The Gutless Wonder

And the younger kids probably view them as a bunch of 'oldies' these days and 'not cool'. It gets harder as bands get older (Blondie, however, always seem to manage a second wind!) but hey! At least they are still around putting on great shows and getting great live reviews. There's not too much to be unhappy about!

I agree, when I speak to my friends about them, I usually just get blank looks or sometimes "didn't they have a good song out a few years ago?". That said, I took my best friend to the gig last weekend (she had no prior knowledge of the band) and she had a great time. They are a better live band than all the typical 'indie' bands around at the moment, and I think more people my age would realise that if they got into them.

[Dancing Kirby]

Agreed about Marlon JD as a single. It could have been a contender. Or maybe it's just that it would be nice to have one desperation era Manics single without strings to tell the grandchildren about.

[The Gutless Wonder]

So the lesson from all this is take your random mates who have never heard of the Manics to a gig and drag them to the barrier!

[The Gutless Wonder]

Originally Posted by Dancing Kirby

Agreed about Marlon JD as a single. It could have been a contender. Or maybe it's just that it would be nice to have one desperation era Manics single without strings to tell the grandchildren about.

The singles with strings ain't done that badly chart wise!