Album 15

[handsome_devil]

The chorus reminds me Into the Waves of Love

[UEF]

Bits of it reminded me of the “4ever Delayed” chorus

[Europa Gluten Free]

I like this one. I even quite like the visualizer. It's all very meditative. And as someone who works indirectly in the arts and publishing, I agree very much with the sentiment of the song.

Sounds like Jimbo is playing a Strat throughout which is different too. (Actually might be the Jazzmaster). I quite like the solo as well.

[theraven1979]

I like it. Giving me Lifeblood vibes (which is no bad thing)

[Glyn]

Have realised that the small part that reminded me of JFPL is actually another slight Turning Japanese motif, so I should have referenced Vivian instead (although I'd still claim that is also in JFPL too in the 'one bit that doesn't sound like The Spirit of Radio').

Bit of Blank Diary Entry in the 'spanish' guitar parts too

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

I think it's very well produced, you can really hear Nicky's overdriven bass and everything has a lot of space to breathe. I love the song, aside from the main riff which is a bit bland and reminds me of some library music that I keep hearing popping up in various places (e.g. intro to Lineker and Baker's football podcast if anyone ever listened to that). Absolutely love glacial synths in the choruses before and after the solo, best part of the song for me.
Can't quite decide if it's more on the Emily (YAY) or Vivian (UGH) side. It's growing on me a lot. Probably the weakest out of the three singles so far as it's not as immediate as D&F, or doesn't have an unusual structure like HIPS with a one of JDB's best guitar solos! Verse lyrics feel like they've been shoehorned in a bit, which makes it slightly jarring to listen to but overall it's positive and bodes well for the album. Three very different songs so far!

[sofarsideways]

Originally Posted by Tish

When did they say that?

The Manics have always criticised Liberal self indulgence as much as they have Conserativism, does nobody remember the attacks on animal rights activists, AIDS hypocrisy, new age travellers, political correctness? Anyone furious that they failed to follow the accepted liberal view on Brexit must have been deluding themselves for years about who the band are.

Who knows what political take the new songs will have. I suspect they will annoy many of us. But if you want a band who just parrot the current fashionable liberal talking points, and you're not willing to accept that they may see things differently from you, maybe it is time to walk away.

And praytell what is not voting while extolling ‘defending the middle ground’ if not liberal self-indulgence? There’s a huge difference between questioning what ‘left/right ideas’ are a la Archives Of Pain, or being provocative/devil’s advocate, and… being absolutely nothing. And there’s a huge difference between ‘being furious that they failed to follow the accepted liberal view on Brexit‘ and what I was actually saying, which I think I put pretty clearly. But if that’s how you wanna take it, sure. Whatever helps you keep excusing them.

And this is a bizarre thing to say as well. Wtf are the fashionable liberal talking points? I want the self-appointed and much-anointed political band to give a fuck about something other than themselves, in a time where there could hardly be more things to give a fuck about. It’s not that they’re seeing things differently, it’s that they’re only looking at them and their past. That’s fine if it’s not ALL you’re doing - the Manics can do introspection fantastically, and I have loved it when they did. But this ain’t even that. It’s empty.

[Europa Gluten Free]

The chord progressions are actually quite nice throughout.

G, D, Em, C in the verse

-------------------
12------7---8---5
-------------------
12------7---9---5
10------5---7---3
x--------x---x---x

People ruin paintings....

Cmaj7, Bm, Am, C

0------0----0-----0--0-0-0-0-0---0
0------3----1-----0--0/1/3/1/0---1
4------4----2-----0--0-0-0-0-0---0
5------4----2----------------------2
3------2----0----------------------3
x------x----x----------------------3

Chorus

D, Am, C, G,

People ruin paintings
G, Bm, F#m

[sofarsideways]

Originally Posted by savemejebus

probably because they know that their mostly left wing liberal fanbase will buy whatever they put out regardless of what they say, regardless of the quality and they'll buy multiple copies of it.

This feels more like it to me at this point, which is why I’m surprised Jim even mentioned not voting. Can only think they assume we’re all so locked-in that it doesn’t matter anymore. Or that enough of us are as apathetic as they are. Far from saying things to boxtick being good lefties, they don’t say anything. About anything. As to not bother anyone. But that does bother some of us, lads. A lot.

I guess I’m not so cynical as to think that when someone in a position of influence speaks up they’re must just be doing it to look good or placate a certain group, because that’s… not how that goes down. There’s backlash. There’s countermoves by people with more influence. Have you seen Taylor Swift’s documentary, where she wrangles with her team and family about ‘daring’ to speak out about an election? Did you know Halsey had to tour with snipers on nearby roofs because she got so many death threats for speaking up about reproductive rights? Have you seen various popstars out on marches, risking their safety to be there? Did you know The Weeknd has donated millions for Palestinian relief? I could go on. You think that’s just ~virtue signalling~? All I’ve seen the last few years is young popstars putting themselves on the line, and old rockstars being silent or embarrassing themselves. It’s been very jarring,

[Routine Builder]

I think I like it? I don't dislike it but definitely feels like the less single-y of the any Manics single put out which I shouldn't complain about given Decline and Fall. It doesn't have the loud explosive chorus I was fearing from the snippet. Feels a bit like a road song, has a bit of momentum to it but at the same time feels relaxed, at ease with itself. Definitely has a mid to late 00's vibe to the guitar work and keys especially from the 2nd chorus onwards. Sort of feels like a SATT or PFAYM b-side again, which is no terrible thing.

[sofarsideways]

Originally Posted by Mr Richey

Speaks volumes doesn’t it? Wire was more interested in getting back the popularity that they intentionally threw away after TIMTTMY than in creating a genuinely brilliant piece of art/heartfelt tribute with JFPL. I honestly believe he had his head turned by their unexpected resurgence in popularity from SATT and has been chasing commercial relevance and approval ever since. He certainly doesn’t give a shit about social justice, collective action or speaking truth to power anymore.

This. And in an era where none of the metrics he cares about mean shit anymore. But then you can frame that as alienation and write songs about it.

(Sorry for putting a downer on everyone’s new song thoughts, I’m just catching up with The Discourse)

[sofarsideways]

Originally Posted by savemejebus

That's the problem with PFAYM, any decent song ideas were sacrificed at the altar of commercialism and the Manics Temu wall of sound production efforts.

Can you imagine if Mike Hedges (or probably anyone except Dave Eringa) had been there producing and stopping the shite excesses.

And this, to me, is the vibe they keep chasing. They don’t want to be any other version of themselves, much less try for anything new. They’re doing an impression of themselves doing an impression of themselves at this point. This idea they have of ‘classic Manics’ isn’t real - it’s a construct they made to base the PFAYM sound on - but they exist in utter thrall to it.

EDIT: will shh as not to horror-spam but just to add, I am at least VERY glad that People Ruin Paintings is not about what was feared. Big phew.

[Routine Builder]

Originally Posted by sofarsideways

This feels more like it to me at this point, which is why I’m surprised Jim even mentioned not voting. Can only think they assume we’re all so locked-in that it doesn’t matter anymore. Or that enough of us are as apathetic as they are. Far from saying things to boxtick being good lefties, they don’t say anything. About anything. As to not bother anyone. But that does bother some of us, lads. A lot.

I guess I’m not so cynical as to think that when someone in a position of influence speaks up they’re must just be doing it to look good or placate a certain group, because that’s… not how that goes down. There’s backlash. There’s countermoves by people with more influence. Have you seen Taylor Swift’s documentary, where are wrangles with her team and family about ‘daring’ to speak out about an election? Did you know Halsey had to tour with snipers on nearby roofs because she got so many death threats for speaking up about reproductive rights? Have you seen various popstars out on marches, risking their safety to be there? Did you know The Weeknd has donated millions for Palestinian relief? I could go on. You think that’s just ~virtue signalling~? All I’ve seen the last few years is young popstars putting themselves on the line, and old rockstars being silent or embarrassing theselves. It’s been very jarring,

And? These are American artists facing a completely different set of circumstances.

What do you want from the Manics?

I've seen the band support causes like the NHS, libraries and record shops which is congruent to the content of their lyrics. Do you want them to start wading into the Palestinian - Israeli conflict? Irish reunification? Fly over to America and lecture them about reproductive rights? What influence do the band have and what causes should they be using it for?

Would you be here posting if James had voted for leaving the EU using the leftwing arguments or is it simply because he didn't explicitly vote remain?

[Manicben]

This wouldn’t be out of place as a 2002-2005 era b-side.

Not really sure.

Struggling to muster any enthusiasm at this point given the last decade (scary) or so of music that just hasn’t gelled with me at all.

[michael]

The verse is reminding me of From The Hands of Violeta.