Postcards From A Young Man Thread

[counterlanguage]

Originally Posted by lovesean4ever

100% correct

For the whole album really. "We've employed a choir, they cost shitloads so we'll use them as much as possible."

[The Execution Of All Things]

Originally Posted by counterlanguage

It'll probably grow on me like SATT, but I'm finding it quite frustrating - best Wire lyrics in +10 years, only a couple of filler tracks, but the production and performance lacks the energy and beauty it could have. 7.5 out of 10 for the songs themselves, but 5/10 for the actual performance and production.

Especially SKON, which they've screwed up a bit. The version in my head after hearing the Hammersmith bootleg is so much better. Get someone like Mike Hedges in to remix it if it's going to be a single, please.

Oh, and I can scarcely believe I'm saying this, but replace McCulloch with Wire. McCulloch's got a foghorn of a voice these days.

Spot on. Exactly how I see it.

[Dancing Kirby]

Having a low key minute-long guitar solo at the end of the Golden Platitudes demo is much better than that Hey Jude malarkey on the album.

[Bathtub]

Golden Platitudes is the saving grace for me. What a majestic piece of beautiful pop music.

[lovesean4ever]

I hate Auto Intoxication by the way. Just saying.

[Bathtub]

I can't decide between The Descent, Auto Intoxication, Hazelton Avenue and I think I found it for the worst track on the album. The band don't exactly cover themselves in glory or move beyond MOR on any of them.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by counterlanguage

we'll use [the choirs] as much as possible.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Hell, I'd say they should've used the choir on more of the tracks.

[lovesean4ever]

Originally Posted by Corpse In The Bathtub

I can't decide between The Descent, Auto Intoxication, Hazelton Avenue and I think I found it for the worst track on the album. The band don't exactly cover themselves in glory or move beyond MOR on any of them.

You're right - they're all, shall we say, not good !

[allisvanity]

Originally Posted by Corpse In The Bathtub

I can't decide between The Descent, Auto Intoxication, Hazelton Avenue and I think I found it for the worst track on the album. The band don't exactly cover themselves in glory or move beyond MOR on any of them.

I Think I've Found It. By some distance as well, and I by no means like Hazleton Avenue.

[Tiortranew]

The chorus of The Descent is a crime against the earth.

[Flint]

You're all weird.

[Deets]

I have just listened to the album for the first time - previously I've heard only JTEOL, Postcards and SKON @Jools Holland and I Think I've Found It yesterday @Steve Lamaq show.

Postcards and SKON sound much better than @Jools and Postcards is probably the best song on the album. I also absolutely love A Billion Balconies, amazing thing. The Descent is great as well. The Future... is fab, the trumpet reminds me a bit the first album of Beirut (Zach Condon) - which is absolutely top as I loved The Gulag Orkestar.
I absolutely can't recall Golden Platitudes from my memory, so it means it was dull, and Auto-Intoxication was, generally speaking, rubbish. I can't hear John Cale's playing at all.
I'm happy the album is that short, less than 45 minutes - it's always the best lenght. no hidden tracks - another great thing.
the bad thing is the way the lyrics were written because it's hard to follow them that way. also unofortunatelly there's only 1 tiny pic of the band.

after first listening I'd give it 7-7,5/10 but this might change.

[Porco]

Having heard it lots of times now, I basically love the whole album, the only things I don't like about it are:

1) The chorus of The Descent. Just doesn't do it for me, 'too ploddy' is the only way I can put it.

2) Most of The Future Has Been Here For Ever - Just because of Nicky's singing really. Track most likely to get skipped in future. Or at least skipped to about 2 and half minutes in. Who need patience anymore when it's in an iPod? Speaking of which...

3) The general luddite / anti-technology tone of A Billion Balconies and Don't Be Evil's lyrics. I think focused criticism of lying bloggers and a perception that Google are full of it on occasion are fair targets, but I think Nicky veers off into just sounding like a grumpy old man who doesn't like these new-fangled magic boxes by making the lyrics too unremittingly cynical, as if technology doesn't have a hugely positive side. People have concentrated on A Billion Balconies... most, but actually "Pretend technology made us equal" is the line that I really take exception to. It's not just "pleasures" that can be virtualised Nicky, the internet is merely a reflection of, and indeed extension of, the 'real' world. I'm getting married soon, I have a decent job, and I got a better degree at uni than Nicky managed. None of those things would have been possible for me without the internet and technology to help me out, to make me more equal because it helped me overcome long-term illness that would have probably prevented me from doing those things otherwise. The sad thing is I love both tracks musically, and ignoring the message behind the words, I even like the use of language. But never mind, it's not the first time I've disagreed with Manics lyrics.

Other than that I don't really have much negative to say about PFAYM at all. I think Hazelton Avenue and I Think I've Found It are great songs, just as good as the slightly more bombastic tracks in general. I keep going from one track to another as my favourite, which I think is a good sign for the longevity of the album. I read some of the views on this album and just wonder if some people have ever heard a Manics album before, or if it's like that quote made recently that I forget the origin of that said something along the lines of 'some Manics fans should just go to their bedrooms and play The Holy Bible on repeat because it's the only way they'll ever really be happy'. But that's just like my opinion, man, and I'm gutted for any fellow fans who don't like this album as much as I do.

[lovesean4ever]

As is found with a lot of their material, the lyrics just don't match the exceedingly excellent musicality. There. I summed it up.

[mr bowlase]

Originally Posted by lovesean4ever

I hate Auto Intoxication by the way. Just saying.

Why does everyone hate Auto Intoxication now? When people first heard it, it obtained good reviews all round!

I just like the album as a whole. It took a few listens to get used to it, but now I play it daily. Highlights for me are the guitar riff from Hazleton Avenue, Golden Platitudes (why colonize the moon?/when every single kind/of desperation exists/in every single home), All We Make Is Entertainment, and Don't be evil/just be corporate. I'm not terribly keen on Balconies though, and actually prefer the stripped down version on the demo CD.

Oh and I like the choir bit on the Future Has Been Here 4Eva