Album 15

[Tim]

Having listened to it on ytube i can safely say that this is definitely a collection of tracks in an album format. Other than that, about 90% of it is instantly forgettable with the opening and closing tracks showing what could have been, most of the music is so lacking in anything to pull me in with moments of deep cringe like dear stephen. Maybe that'll change as i listen to it more and not through a compressed stream.

[TheUglyLie]

To anyone who’s recently downloaded the piano versions, you might want to check the files. It seems that PRP Piano version currently downloads as the album version of Critical Thinking…

[savemejebus]

Had time this morning so after at least 20 listens to make sure I'm not being hasty my out of 10 thoughts

01 - Critical Thinking - 8/10 hands down best song on the album, and the only one that doesn't have B-Side vibes to me.
02 - Decline & Fall - 2/10 *bad pensioner food
03 - Brushstrokes of Reunion 2/10 *bad pensioner food
04 - Hiding in Plain Sight - 6/10 Would have scored higher except for the unnecessary sighing that's just cringy.
05 - People Ruin Paintings - 2/10 *bad pensioner food
06 - Dear Stephen - 2/10 - 0/10 I can't even...even worse than *bad pensioner food
07 - Being Baptised - 5/10 Should have been a great b-side instead we get this
08 - My Brave Friend - 6/10 I'm probably being overgenerous as I'm still grieving and the lyrics hit hard.
09 - Out Of Time Revival - 5/10 - Could really have been something but ruined by being too busy and overproduced
10 - Deleted Scenes - 4/10 - Another victim of being too busy and overproduced
11 - Late Day Peaks - 4/10 - Another victim of being too busy and overproduced
12 - OneManMilitia - 7/10 - A decent b-side shoehorned into an album track


No matter how much I listen the majority of the record is just overproduced mush, the demos show that there were the bones of decent songs but (with the exception of the first and last tracks) James (I'm assuming) pushed to overload them with unnecessary extra production so now they sound like expensively polished rejected b-sides from Intimism and the Great Western .

On the bright side it's miles better than PFAYM and marginally better than RIF and TUVL but then again, compared to the rest of their discography that's like saying it's less annoying to step in cow shit than dog shit. At the end of the day it's still shite. Bottom tier material in their dicography.

Imagine what the album could have been if the record company sent them into a decent studio with a good producer with with a strict month deadline. Barred James from any armchair producing and told them to stop faffing about with their imagined 80's grandeur obsession and gave these notes:

1) Ye are not an orchestral band, strings (and synths) should not be louder than guitars
2) Stop trying to make your guitar sound like a fucking steel drum
3) Let the fucking songs breathe.

Oh and just to chime in on International Blue, I can see no defense for it's existence. At the end of the day it's a piss poor take on an song idea that they already got right with The Girl Who Wanted to Be God.

*bad pensioner food = the blandest of beige, tasteless material that has no actual flavour, texture or nutritional value so that it can be eaten without chewing and is supposed to be eaily digestible and innofensive to everyone. The sort of yellow label crap that they give pensioners in bad retirement homes because it's super cheap and has no nutritional value whatsoever.

[The Gutless Wonder]

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

I still find it glorious a week on.

Same!

[rosetree]

Originally Posted by IntlDebris

Out of Time Revival, Deleted Scenes, Late Day Peaks: all three of these have loads of bits I like - lovely synths, some nice melodic bits - but they're done in such a ploddy way that it saps the life from them. It really feels like a symptom of the album not being written and recorded as a band.

There's something to be said for the lyrics in each song, connecting with the music. 'Out of Time Revival' 'just another beach another final sunset,' is not going to be an upbeat harmony throughout as James works with the lyrics and like Deleted Scenes a slower pace with meaning and flowing without overuse of instruments to a stop. Late Day Peaks, circadian rhythm peaking and slowing through day and 'on a long lost road' enhanced by the lyrics and sound. I love the experimentation they have used over the last albums and I think the music is always poignant with the lyrics.

The writing and songs they've made over the years, carry lots of thought and feeling within the songs, though I love the Manics and I've always respected their ability to make intelligent music.

[Marconi Delorian]

Originally Posted by savemejebus

Had time this morning so after at least 20 listens to make sure I'm not being hasty my out of 10 thoughts

01 - Critical Thinking - 8/10 hands down best song on the album, and the only one that doesn't have B-Side vibes to me.
02 - Decline & Fall - 2/10 *bad pensioner food
03 - Brushstrokes of Reunion 2/10 *bad pensioner food
04 - Hiding in Plain Sight - 6/10 Would have scored higher except for the unnecessary sighing that's just cringy.
05 - People Ruin Paintings - 2/10 *bad pensioner food
06 - Dear Stephen - 2/10 - 0/10 I can't even...even worse than *bad pensioner food
07 - Being Baptised - 5/10 Should have been a great b-side instead we get this
08 - My Brave Friend - 6/10 I'm probably being overgenerous as I'm still grieving and the lyrics hit hard.
09 - Out Of Time Revival - 5/10 - Could really have been something but ruined by being too busy and overproduced
10 - Deleted Scenes - 4/10 - Another victim of being too busy and overproduced
11 - Late Day Peaks - 4/10 - Another victim of being too busy and overproduced
12 - OneManMilitia - 7/10 - A decent b-side shoehorned into an album track


No matter how much I listen the majority of the record is just overproduced mush, the demos show that there were the bones of decent songs but (with the exception of the first and last tracks) James (I'm assuming) pushed to overload them with unnecessary extra production so now they sound like expensively polished rejected b-sides from Intimism and the Great Western .

On the bright side it's miles better than PFAYM and marginally better than RIF and TUVL but then again, compared to the rest of their discography that's like saying it's less annoying to step in cow shit than dog shit. At the end of the day it's still shite. Bottom tier material in their dicography.

Imagine what the album could have been if the record company sent them into a decent studio with a good producer with with a strict month deadline. Barred James from any armchair producing and told them to stop faffing about with their imagined 80's grandeur obsession and gave these notes:

1) Ye are not an orchestral band, strings (and synths) should not be louder than guitars
2) Stop trying to make your guitar sound like a fucking steel drum
3) Let the fucking songs breathe.

Oh and just to chime in on International Blue, I can see no defense for it's existence. At the end of the day it's a piss poor take on an song idea that they already got right with The Girl Who Wanted to Be God.

*bad pensioner food = the blandest of beige, tasteless material that has no actual flavour, texture or nutritional value so that it can be eaten without chewing and is supposed to be eaily digestible and innofensive to everyone. The sort of yellow label crap that they give pensioners in bad retirement homes because it's super cheap and has no nutritional value whatsoever.

It's time for a Wire-led Manics album, no doubt. James can arrange and play guitar, no producing. Cate le Bon can produce.

[savemejebus]

Originally Posted by TheUglyLie

To anyone who’s recently downloaded the piano versions, you might want to check the files. It seems that PRP Piano version currently downloads as the album version of Critical Thinking…

They've fixed this now and can happily say that for me, the piano version, is by a million miles the far superior version of PRP.

[IntlDebris]

One week in, quite a few plays, thoughts:

Critical Thinking - Still brilliantly daft, great energy, still want to hear the album this should have been on.
Decline & Fall - I think I like this less with every listen.
Brushstrokes of Reunion - Should have been the lead single, getting along with this fine now, not top drawer but if they're going to do Manics-by-numbers, at least having a bit of melancholia behind it like this makes it stand out.
Hiding in Plain Sight - As one of the vehement naysayers on its first release, I'm surprised to find myself really enjoyin this now.
People Ruin Paintings - A late-album mellow track a la Glasnost and Black Dog, elevated above its station and would be better suited in a less conspicuous position, but a genuinely lovely song with nicely spacious production.
Dear Stephen - Fucking painful.
Being Baptised - Gorgeous and unassuming.
My Brave Friend - Honestly, some touching words, but still goes in one ear and out of the other. Couldn't tell you what it sounds like other than sharing the same shade of yellow as most of the album.
Out Of Time Revival - Fine verses, poor choruses, ploddy ploddy plod.
Deleted Scenes - The shimmery electronics suit this most of all these songs, and the weird drums still surprise me. Bit more energy and I'd be behind this one. Chords are still really obvious though.
Late Day Peaks - Alright song in there somewhere, but at the end of a run of energy-sapped plodders it's just too much. Just a bit of a shrug of a song.
OneManMilitia - The chord sequence is so fucking cliched and it does not rock despite trying its hardest. Even with their modern polished sound, they managed Broken Algorithms and Sequels to Forgotten Wars, why is this so tame? OneManHomeGuard more like.

So I think the album's biggest issue isn't in the songs themselves, or even inherent in the production, but it's the lack of distraction from the weaker moments. Most of these songs would be fine, even very good, on another record, but the mix of saccharine melodies, excessive polish and low-energy performances just gets too much. Putting the three most energetic snogs right at the start of the record does it no favours, but I just think it needs more of them. Much like PFAYM, SATT and RIF - even though, as an album, it sounds very different to them - it ends up all blurring into one. There are very few surprises, other than occasional synth twinkle, the odd unusual chord change. There are eight songs here I'd have few complaints about if I didn't have largely the same complaints about almost every other song on the album. Frontloading it with the weirdest track and the most energetic pieces just makes the second half in particular feel incredibly homogenous. Ultimately, it ends up being far less than the sum of its parts.

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

As suspected, album has entered at number 2. I don't think I'll bother spending all that money next time when they clearly have a fanbase that doesn't care any more.

[ron the little seal]

I'm really happy that people love it, both for ye as fans and the band putting stuff out to diminishing engagement.I don't hate it but even with week of listening, it's kinda boring, a few nice lines. It feels like weaker tracks of what they've done before, I can hear echos of futurology, rtf etc. I think the last few years have been great period for manics music. Nicky's album had some stellar moments, even in exile, lyrically and musically is up there with the best of post Richey stuff.

It'll become an ep for me

5/5

Critical thinking
Hiding in plain sight
Brushstrokes of reunion

3.5/5

My brave friend
One man militia

Be interesting to see the songs live and I'm enjoying the demos

[savemejebus]

Originally Posted by FacelessSenseOfVoid

As suspected, album has entered at number 2. I don't think I'll bother spending all that money next time when they clearly have a fanbase that doesn't care any more.

I'm guessing that you don't mean for it to read this way but that really reads like you're pissed off at the fans that didn't bother to spend extra money during a cost of living crisis on a cynical attempt to game the charts just to give a group of pretty well off musicians an ego-boost. (and that's not even talking about the quality of the music).

On a separate note I'm hoping that everyone that ordered the "Ultimate Bundle" was emailed a link to download the piano version free too, right?

[Porco]

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

I still find it glorious a week on.

Originally Posted by The Gutless Wonder

Same!

Ditto.

Wonderful album for me.

Originally Posted by FacelessSenseOfVoid

As suspected, album has entered at number 2. I don't think I'll bother spending all that money next time when they clearly have a fanbase that doesn't care any more.

I think the vast majority of responses have been very positive, but no album is going to appeal to everyone, and the negative opinions are largely coming from people who wanted to like the album but (so far) are disappointed, which would indicate they do still care, I’d say.

Obviously participating in the multi-version circus is a personal choice for each of us though, one copy ought to be enough, I think any more is like buying a football shirt (or indeed an overpriced T-shirt or Hoodie!) - you (should) know you’re being fleeced and you’re choosing to do it to support your team. For me, the Manics are the only band I’d do it for, and though I’d love for as many people as possible to enjoy the album, the chart position and reaction of other fans (current or erstwhile) doesn’t really sway my decision to buy multiple copies at all.

[almostfamous]

No2 then but No1 on both the physical and sales charts.

Tbh good result I was worried we'd fall below "Party nextdoor" lol.

[Porco]

Originally Posted by almostfamous

No2 then but No1 on both the physical and sales charts.

Tbh good result I was worried we'd fall below "Party nextdoor" lol.

‘Take the Carpenter
Out of the sales chart’

The charts are just silly these days anyway. Except when the Manics get a number 1 obviously.

[Son of Stopped]

We beat The Wombats (or Wombats as they've rebranded).
That's a victory. Plus number one on physical!

I'll do a track ranking at some point. But Critical Thinking should have better targets. It's like he's listened to a David Icke talk (from 2012 as well!) but didn't want to cause too much trouble.
It just looked at the hand that feeds rather than biting or breaking.
Still, we beat the Wombats. I was not asked if they should reform and even then they've probably sacked half their original line up.
But yes, CT_ making itself clearer. Might even attempt a ranking one of these days.

Edit: my sodding fingers have pressed an emoji again