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#1861
19-07-2014, 04:06
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Just got it a few days ago - like RTF it's straight in my top 5 manics albums (probably hoping between 3/4 just now). Possibly a slightly controversial moment, but ovefr the last 2 albums I've loved the guest slots they've had - with other people singing 90% and just letting James drift in and out in the "grander" moments shall we say.
Between the Clock & the Bed is phenomenal. Absolutely stunning song I think.
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#1862
19-07-2014, 16:30
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I didn't want to post my thoughts on the album immediately, as it takes me a while to form proper opinions on albums and I didn't want to give it a kneejerk 'oh my god I love/hate it!' reaction straight away. Then I went on holiday for a few days and only went back to it on the journey home on Thursday evening.
Overall I really like it! At first I was a bit thrown, because all the pre-album blurb suggested it was going to be an all-out rocky, spiky anti-RTF and well, it isn't (I really don't get any THB comparisons either, but I wasn't expecting it to sound like that anyway). But once you get over that and enjoy the songs for what they are, it's actually a decent album. At first the beginning part of the album reminded me of how I felt about the opening few songs of Truth, as it's very top-heavy with singles/tracks we all heard well in advance of the album's release, but now I've heard the other album tracks more it's less of an issue than the first few listens. Futurology has grown on me a lot since it was debuted on the last tour, although still not sure about it as an album opener. The album versions of Europa and Let's Go To War have grown on me a lot, as to begin with they felt a bit like watered down versions of the ones we'd heard live. I prefer to treat them as two completely different listening experiences now and there's a place for both. I like The Next Jet To Leave Moscow, even if the intro reminds me of Chariots of Fire. And whilst on similarities to other songs, the intro to Sex, Power, Love and Money reminds me of the theme tune to Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe for some reason and the chords remind me of Rendition. I wasn't sure what to think of SPLAM at first, but it's grown on me and is a bit of fun. Don't really think James is 'rapping' either; it's more shouty singing and it's not the first time he's done that (certain lines on Prologue to History were done in a similar vein), so it doesn't bother me. The track I'm still having issues with and am likely to start skipping before long is Divine Youth. It's not that I hate it or anything, but I just find it jarring amongst the rest of the album and think it would have been better suited to RTF. I really like Dreaming a City, Black Square (parts of Black Square remind me of Picturesque and the 'slowly passing always' line makes me think of the 'passing always' line in Removables) and Between the Clock and the Bed. Although with the latter, it's more James' aaaaah's that make the song for me than Green Gartside's contribution (not that I dislike him on it)...and sorry to say but the intro reminds me of an off-key version of the intro to Yellow by Coldplay  I do like the rest of the song though; it reminds me of early 90's Duran Duran (something from The Wedding Album maybe). Misguided Missile has grown on me; I wasn't fussed about it to begin with and it took a while to click. Still think the chorus is much more interesting than the verses though. Also not massively bothered about The View From Stow Hill and given the subject matter I would have thought it would have fitted better on RTF. Mayakovsky is another one that's grown on me, but I wish it wasn't the album closer and actually might have been better as a bonus track. I would rather have had some of the bonus tracks on the album tbh; I love Blistered Mirrors (so damn catchy and rather Beatles-esque), Empty Motorcade (sounds like a cross between something from the FD and Lifeblood eras, which is no bad thing in my eyes) and The Last Time I Saw Paris pleasantly surprised me (although I can understand why that was left off the album). So yeah, overall I do like it, but have doubts about some of the tracklist placing, which have affected the flow of the album for me personally. It feels a bit schizophrenic in places, but I'm impressed it's something a bit different and about as experimental as this band are likely to get (by other bands' standards it might not be 'experimental' but I'm not talking about other bands). I'm glad it seems to have been well-received by the critics and a number 2 album is pretty good going for a band at this stage of their careers in a sea of blandness like Ed Sheeran. This and RTF have definitely restored my faith a lot after the total disappointment of Postcards. The last couple of albums feel much less contrived and more the band just doing what they want to do...which is all I really wanted from them in the aftermath of Postcards.
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#1863
19-07-2014, 21:54
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The Next Jet to Leave Moscow really wants to be a song by the Clash. But it is great.
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Read Less At... #SnapReviews
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#1864
19-07-2014, 22:10
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#1865
19-07-2014, 22:51
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I've stopped listening to it already.. Not because I particularly dislike it, just sorta happened.
Synths doesn't equal Kraftwerk by the way boiz
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Facebook! Twitter! "To the hideousness of nineteenth-century industrialization is added the desolation of twentieth-century obsolescence. The Black Country looks like Ceaucescu's Romania with fast food outlets." Theodore Dalrymple 
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#1866
20-07-2014, 00:25
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This Is My Truth So Shut Your Face
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#1867
21-07-2014, 13:32
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I went away on the weekend to Edinburgh and only came back this morning but I listened to the album on the way up and back. I'm definately noticed more flaws in a sense but they're not massive.
I think the only tracks that should not have made it are Mayakovsky (Is this the most pointless instrumental they've ever done? I don't like the melody, the vocal contribution sounds amatuer and it is just such a "Meh" moment for me. I don't like "Let's Go To War" as much as I did - I guess the main issue I have with it is the chorus - it doesn't strike me as being as powerful as it could have been if it was James on vocals. That said, it is still enjoyable but less so. I don't think SPLAM should have made it also as far superior tracks were clearly the obvious choice but I applaud them for adding it. My strongest tracks are: Futurology BTCATB MM BS DAC(H) TVFSTH EGDM
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LET'S GO TO WAR!
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#1868
21-07-2014, 21:36
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 When I posted an apology to my friends some time ago (got into the Manics end of 2011) for bombarding them with Manics posts, I got quite a few 'likes' LOL. Always a pleasure seeing someone as 'obsessed', most of my FB friends (apart from the Manics' ones, obviously) don't have any reactions/likes/comments to my Manics-related posts which makes me feel slightly unsure about my mental health sometimes!  Is it normal to spend so much time thinking about a band from a foreign country when you are a middle-aged mother of three...
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"So I knew I had to do something with my life. I was terrified of living my whole life, and at the end looking at it and having blown it."
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#1869
22-07-2014, 00:40
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(Just kidding. Please don't call the priest for an exorcism. )PM is on its way. And I think most of my friends may actually have "unfollowed" (or whatever you call it) my status updates full stop. Kinda see where they're coming from; I'm not pleased with one of my friends' Nickelback obsession either. Yes. Nickelback.
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#1871
22-07-2014, 11:43
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#1872
22-07-2014, 11:48
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"All of my sins are attempts to fill the voids
All of my voids they are filled with sin" Voids turn up in a few other places on TIMTTMY, I seem to recall.
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#1873
22-07-2014, 12:10
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Sorry, I'll shut up. It's still not smutty JDB appreciation Wednesday, is it? 
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#1874
22-07-2014, 12:16
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No one's going to fill my void!
 (says FacelessSenseOfVoid)
__________________
23/08/01 CIA, 06/04/05 Civic Hall, 24/05/06 Camden Barfly, 11/10/06 Birmingham Barfly, 12/05/07 Cardiff Uni, 21/05/07 Civic Hall, 27/05/07 Manchester Apollo, 02/06/07 Colston Hall, 09/06/07 Reading Hexagon, 08/12/07 Birmingham NIA, 12/12/07 Brixton Academy, 28/02/08 O2 Arena, 30/05/09 Roundhouse, 12/10/10 Derby Assembly Rooms, 14/12/10 Birmingham O2 Academy, 19/05/11 Civic Hall, 17/12/11 O2 Arena, 06/11/12 Rough Trade, 13/09/13 Newport Centre, 23/09/13 Colston Hall, 27/09/13 Manchester Ritz, 29/03/14 Cardiff Motorpoint, 31/03/14 Leicester De Montfort, 06/04/14 Civic Hall, 08/07/14 Rough Trade, 14/05/16 Genting Arena, 09/07/17 Llangollen, 06/10/17 Drama Studio, 16/03/18 Absolute Radio, 14/04/18 Rough Trade, 27/04/18 Birmingham Arena, 05/05/18 Cardiff Motorpoint Twitter: @KhizzyJ
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#1875
22-07-2014, 14:32
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Linear Mode
