Manics closing tracks

[hummingbird]

Originally Posted by MSPKYE

THESE. It's a beautiful track! And I love how it just ends abruptly, like a massive musical full stop.

ABSOLUTELY

Andy sort your ears out

[beautifuldistortion]

The lyrics of Cardiff Afterlife are some of the best on the album!
As said by others the abrupt ending suits it perfectly.
"for I witnessed splendour and evil that no one saw..." Superb lyrics

[Porco]

Horses for courses and all that, but I disagree almost entirely with the OP's overall point. IMHO, GATS is the only one of the closing tracks that is below average for the respective albums they close. And I don't even dislike that as much as many seem to.

I literally do not understand how anyone could think Cardiff Afterlife is the worst track on Lifeblood. Unless they just really, really hate Cardiff or Taxi Driver or something(?!).

But again, horses for courses, people like what they like…

[Suicide Aldi]

Originally Posted by beautifuldistortion

The lyrics of Cardiff Afterlife are some of the best on the album!
As said by others the abrupt ending suits it perfectly.
"for I witnessed splendour and evil that no one saw..." Superb lyrics

+1
One of my favorite lines!

[Borderliner]

Condemned to Rock n' Roll is my favorite closing track.

[cherrybomb]

Lifeblood is without doubt my least favourite Manics album, like about half of it. Bloody adore Cardiff Afterlife though!

[Glass Tiger]

Condemned, No surface and William's Last Words for me. Never liked Cardiff Afterlife.

[Suicide Aldi]

Can I give an honerable nention to Freedom of speech aswell?
Love that one!

[beautifuldistortion]

Originally Posted by Suicide Aldi

Can I give an honerable nention to Freedom of speech aswell?
Love that one!

I love that song!
To be fair most of the closing songs work - Don't be Evil even works 'cos it closes postcards
And just chucking it out there - Found That Soul is my favourite opener!

[sculptureofabloke]

Yeah they're my favourite band in the universe ever which probably doesn't put me in a great stead to be impartial about this but I'll give it a go anyway. Marks out of ten...

Condemned To Rock N' Roll - 7
Much prefer the two previous tracks, think either of those could've been great closers anyway and as much as I like Condemned it's the last couple of lines that lets it down for me. As an era, Generation Terrorists was bombastic, boastful, full of swagger, full of shite and ambitious but the last track of their debut ends with more of a whimper than any of the defiance they'd been hinting at in interviews and comes across in half the rest of the album and even the song itself.

Gold Against The Soul - 9
It's a bit of a self-indulgent wankfest towards the end which I appreciate sounds like a criticism, but it's not. Eh, when someone I don't like gets self-indulgent, they're wankers. When my favourite band do it, they're legends. I've listened to all the albums chronologically more times than I can count and I think Gold Against The Soul to Yes is probably the clearest transition between any two Manics albums. Love the lyrics and James' vocals throughout everything 93 were just brilliant.

PCP - 10
Yeah... every time I go to see Manics this is the song above all that I really hope to see them play but it hasn't happened yet. I think they're only on half a dozen or so plays since Richey sodded off? For a AA side and such a generally popular song I'd have hoped to have seen it by now. Best album of all time in my eyes, and out of the 13 tracks on it they've got it spot on. Hah, straight after Intense Humming Of Evil, one of the most harrowing songs I've ever heard. It's like they've said, ok yeah that was depressing, now it's time to dance. And like I said about Condemned ending on a whimper, "Pass the prozac, designer amnesiac" sounds like it could've been a whimper but by fuck it isn't.

No Surface All Feeling - 8
As much as I love it, I'm kinda surprised by how often it gets played live. I think I've seen it more than I have Australia. Surprising opener for Newport in September.

SYMM - 8
Seems to split fans a bit more than the others, this one. This Is My Truth was the first Manics album I bought. Got it with a fortnight's paper round money hah. At the time I'd never heard anything like it and I dare say they track is one of the reasons why the album has been in as many bargain bins as it has. It often gets slated lyrically but thinking about it, the lyrics came from a man who has an answer for everything but found a tragedy so upsetting he was seemingly lost for words and I find that oddly beautiful. I think overall the album is brave musically. Love the solo. Haven't got a clue about structures and chord sequences and whatnot, all I know is it's different and I like it.

Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children - 8
Bluntly, Know Your Enemy is a bit of a mess but for me that's part of its charm. I think the track gets a bit more powerful for being preceded by Baby Elian in a similar way that PCP does for being preceded by Intense Humming Of Evil, they've both got that sucker punch feel about them. Fair point, too.

Cardiff Afterlife - 9
No prizes for guessing what this one's about, obviously. Fair enough, Nicky's hardly been one to shy away from wearing his heart on his sleeve but I love the verse "For I witnessed splendour, and evil that no-one saw, and I felt kindness, and vanity for sure". As much as Nicky obviously loves and misses Richey I find that verse beautiful, a bit warts and all, it acknowledges that he wasn't perfect and makes him more human.

Winterlovers - 3
Na Na fuck off

William's Last Words - 10
Fuck, am I turning into a Nicky boy? Absolutely sublime. Eh, lets be honest, Nicky isn't the best singer in the world but neither was Lou Reed, even the shittest singer can perform a decent vocal if they can can convey whatever sense they want to. The last couple of lines always leaves a lump in my throat.

Don't Be Evil - 7
Completely agree with the sentiment of the lyrics, like to joke to myself that it's about this place. As an album, Postcards From A Young Man has three or four songs that I love and the rest of the album I can give or take except The Descent which I'd rather not take. I think it works well as a closer but doesn't really reflect the rest of the album, but then again which closers do?

30 Year War - 10
Ok, hardly the boldest statement considering but I think this is probably my favourite Manics song of the decade. I do think it's got a bit of a sore thumb factor on Rewind The Film though. Great album, but it's a personal, reflective, melancholic and subdued affair until the angry one at the end. Wonder if it'd have been more in place on the next angrier European album as they've alluded to in interviews but either way right now, it's a fucking tease.

[darkanddivine]

Never an absolute strong point, but interesting tracks at least. Condemned wins because it's in Drop D. No Surface is a towering beauty, and PCP needs no introduction. I think Cardiff Afterlife is a good song but depending on your opinion, the production might take the edge off it, but it has a nice level of interest given that it's a simple nice pop song. Same goes for Freedom of Speech, it's an experimental production, and for me that's what lets it right down but the song itself is pretty good. I always got the impression Gold Against the Soul was as close as they could get to aping some of the Faith No More esque funky rock of the time. It's pretty beastly, even if it comes across as a bit cheesy, the guitar work almost saves it but not quite. SYMM as has been much discussed is an interesting and fitting musical end to the album, but the lyrics would be better if they weren't there. Not keen on any of the last 3 album closers, but JFPL aside I don't like the albums much either.

[hummingbird]

Originally Posted by darkanddivine

SYMM as has been much discussed is an interesting and fitting musical end to the album, but the lyrics would be better if they weren't there. .

Amen to that

[amnesic]

We need to remember that musical tastes are subjective and you bring your entire lifestory to how you interpret a song. I don't see why some people saying that they don't like certain closing tracks should lead to that person being dismissed as silly. I don't like Cardiff. It doesn't do anything for me. That is a subjective opinion which is just as valid as another subjective opinion that it is the dog's bollocks (am I showing my age using that phrase?)

[sculptureofabloke]

Originally Posted by amnesic

We need to remember that musical tastes are subjective and you bring your entire lifestory to how you interpret a song. I don't see why some people saying that they don't like certain closing tracks should lead to that person being dismissed as silly. I don't like Cardiff. It doesn't do anything for me. That is a subjective opinion which is just as valid as another subjective opinion that it is the dog's bollocks (am I showing my age using that phrase?)

How did "the dog's bollocks" ever become a compliment anyway?

[andy]

Originally Posted by sculptureofabloke

How did "the dog's bollocks" ever become a compliment anyway?

Cos dogs bollocks are always fantastically plump and round