The entire "Rewind the film" on radio

[manic cow]

Just got round to listening to it for the first time, and I'm impressed.

This Sullen Welsh Heart, 3 Ways To See Despair and Running Out Of Fantasy are my favourites so far. Rewind The Film has really grown on me as well after the initial shock and horror of the first new manics song I'd heard for ages not being sung by James!

Also liking the back to back eurovision style anthems of Anthem For A Lost Cause and As Holy As The Soil. I hear hints of The Winner Takes It All in anthem, which should be a bad thing but somehow isn't.

Love the verses for Show Me The Wonder but still not convinced on the chorus, and I'm not getting the attraction of 30 Year War yet - it seems like another clunky 'tackle the big issues' song, which seems to be a bit of a theme for their closing tracks. Although perhaps it'll grow like SYMM did.

On the whole though, impressed! Better actually get round to ordering the album now!

[hummingbird]

I think Anthem for a lost cause is the better choice for the single than 30 year war. Better chorus for the radio

[tzb]

Originally Posted by tzb

From my first full listen:

01 This Sullen Welsh Heart 6
02 Show Me The Wonder 2
03 Rewind The Film 7
04 Builder of Routines 6
05 4 Lonely Roads 4
06 (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline 8
07 Anthem For A Lost Cause 7
08 As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) 6
09 3 Ways To See Despair 9
10 Running Out Of Fantasy 6
11 Manorbier 3
12 30 Year War 8

Overall 6/10

This is just my opinion, but SATT is a better album.

OK, so 5 listens or so in things are improving:

01 This Sullen Welsh Heart 7
02 Show Me The Wonder 3
03 Rewind The Film 9
04 Builder of Routines 7
05 4 Lonely Roads 4
06 (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline 8
07 Anthem For A Lost Cause 7
08 As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) 6
09 3 Ways To See Despair 9
10 Running Out Of Fantasy 8
11 Manorbier 5
12 30 Year War 9

Overall, and writing SMTW off as the oddity it is, I'd say we're at about 8/10.

Originally Posted by hummingbird

I think Anthem for a lost cause is the better choice for the single than 30 year war. Better chorus for the radio

Agreed.

[AK47]

Absolutely love the album but going to stop listening to the band for a month or two. RTF is so beautiful, sad and emotional that I'm feeling quite miserable as a result.

[mar]

Originally Posted by AK47

Absolutely love the album but going to stop listening to the band for a month or two. RTF is so beautiful, sad and emotional that I'm feeling quite miserable as a result.

Listen to another album?

[roi]

I love Builder of Routines, which I didn't expect to like. Sounds like the Boo Radleys again (NOT Wake Up Boo though, more like Giant Steps) On the whole it's very much a grower, not quite sure what I think of some of the tracks yet.

[Jay]

01 This Sullen Welsh Heart 9
02 Show Me The Wonder 8
03 Rewind The Film 9
04 Builder of Routines 7
05 4 Lonely Roads 9
06 (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline 8
07 Anthem For A Lost Cause 8
08 As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) 7
09 3 Ways To See Despair 9
10 Running Out Of Fantasy 10
11 Manorbier 6
12 30 Year War 10

[Porco]

Not sure which thread this should go in really.

Anyway, having finally listened to a proper copy of the album (iTunes, my CDs are still in the post…) rather than the radio recordings, I wanted to post that the crossfades from 4 Lonely Roads -into- (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline and Running Out Of Fantasy -into- Manorbier are PURE WIN.

[Manualex16]

Originally Posted by Porco

Not sure which thread this should go in really.

Anyway, having finally listened to a proper copy of the album (iTunes, my CDs are still in the post…) rather than the radio recordings, I wanted to post that the crossfades from 4 Lonely Roads -into- (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline and Running Out Of Fantasy -into- Manorbier are PURE WIN.

This makes me want to listen to the album in a legal way so much

[Manicben]

Okay, so on first listen I believe it to be a bit of a mess of an album, in the same sense that KYE was. I like it and it's an improvement on the last outing. The band always describe themselves as 2 bands. This to me sounds like both those bands made an album together for the first time. It has the upbeat pop songs, but also has the more experimental indie songs. The highlight for me really is Tokyo Skyline. I can't compare it to anything that they have recorded before, and this is refreshing and exactly what I want from this band.

I'm going to break from the established scoring system and go with how I have rated it on itunes, everything is marked out of 5.

01 This Sullen Welsh Heart 4
02 Show Me The Wonder 3
03 Rewind The Film 5
04 Builder of Routines 4
05 4 Lonely Roads 4
06 (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline 5
07 Anthem For A Lost Cause 3
08 As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) 3
09 3 Ways To See Despair 4
10 Running Out Of Fantasy 5
11 Manorbier 4
12 30 Year War 4

I'm not as fond of anything with the happy horns on it.

[allisvanity]

I also prefer a five star rating!

This Sullen Welsh Heart - 4
Show Me The Wonder - 3
Rewind The Film - 5
Builder of Routines - 3
4 Lonely Roads - 5
(I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline - 4
Anthem For A Lost Cause - 4
Shining Light / As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) 4
3 Ways To See Despair - 4
Running Out Of Fantasy 4
Manorbier - 3
30 Year War - 5

All in all, very good.

Lot of people suggesting that Anthem For A Lost Cause sounds like something from PFAYM. If that's the case it would have been the best song on PFAYM by a pissing country mile.

[Scarecrow]

Sounds more like a Great Western song than a Postcards song to me. No complaints though.

[tzb]

Originally Posted by allisvanity

Lot of people suggesting that Anthem For A Lost Cause sounds like something from PFAYM. If that's the case it would have been the best song on PFAYM by a pissing country mile.

Absolutely.

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

Let's not forget that James wrote AFALC, so it probably would have fitted on TGW (not a bad thing, I absolutely adore TGW).

[Mr Richey]

I've now listened to the album so many times that it's ingrained in my memory along with the rest of the Manics output. It has officially earned a home So I feel confident in saying that these are my final scores;



"Show Me The Wonder" isn't that bad but it has no place on this album. I would have prefered "What Happened To The Blue Generation" to be on there somewhere, maybe after "Anthem For A Lost Cause". And I would have prefered it to have been recorded properly too as the b-side is obviously a demo.