Let's Go To War

[gallafield]

I can see where you're coming from, bobafettish. Out of the songs I'd heard live first, this has translated as the weakest on record.

I just wish the guitar was louder in the mix on the album. It's lost amongst everything else, whereas live, it is much louder, and stronger.

[Miss Pear]

Have to say I was disappointed by the recorded version of this as well. Loved it live, but yes, the guitar parts seem very low in the mix in the studio version. This is supposed to be rock, dammit!

[Nikolai]

It's a perennial quibble of mine with a lot of recent Manics songs that they sound so much better live with a bit more rocking guitar than the studio versions. Call it artistic evolution or whatever, and it's totally fair enough, but they're a lot less of a true 'rock' band on record than they were in the 90s. Even with an album like Journal, which I absolutely love, stylistically it is hugely similar to the Holy Bible, but if you cut into the core of the Holy Bible, took a sample and put it under some sort of weird musical microscope, you'd see a huge wedge of metallic, nasty rock at the core of its DNA. Whereas with Journal, as superficially 'post punk blah blah' similar to the Holy Bible as it is, if you did the same test you'd probably be surprised to see more of a jangly indie disposition forming the true musical undercurrent of the album. I think this every time that I listen to the two albums back to back.

As for Let's Have A Bit Of A Barney, I think the absolutely monumental, thumping bass-line is what gives it its balls and makes for a compelling song. Are you lot listening to it on a half decent sound system? I'm not some audiophile tosser, but I think there'll be a big difference to hearing this song nice and loud on a good system as opposed to on crappy PC speakers or whatever.

Futurology generally isn't a very rocking album, but it's totally redeemed by the fact that it's still absolutely bloody fantastic and full of good songs. I'd still like a truly 'spiky, nasty, post punk' album at some point, but I like the new direction they've taken with this latest opus.

[gallafield]

Sadly, my hi-fi died years ago. Admittedly, I have only listened to Futurology through a pair of £20 headphones, but if you compare the solos in SPLAM to the riff in LGTW, they're a lot higher in the mix.

Still a great song though.

[Radiomanic]

Originally Posted by Nikolai

I'd still like a truly 'spiky, nasty, post punk' album at some point, but I like the new direction they've taken with this latest opus.

Oh definitely, because they sure as hell didn't release it last month! Futurology is a good album for sure, but not what they said it would be. Maybe in another 5 years or so they'll really do it, who knows with them they could go the other way (god forbid) and make another PFAYM.

[Porco]

Well, it is spikier than RTF! But so is a marshmallow wrapped in cotton wool floating on a sea of styrofoam in a boat made of bubblewrap I guess.

[UEF]

JFPL reminds the last spikey record. We were conned!