RTF - (hysteric) reactions, ranking...

[Nicolas De Staël]

First impressions: it's a 9... Really like the sound of this album.
Stand out tracks, for now: "Anthem for...", "This Sullen...", 3 Ways To See Despair", "Manorbier" (Wow, I love that one!!!), "30 Year War" and "Tokyo Skyline".

[dolphin]

Originally Posted by Donkey

lol, Manics' fans don't like The Kooks


one thing: This album is shit. I said the same about PFAYM when it was released and the reaction here was the same as it is now. But when you look at album rankings nowadays, most of the people put PFAYM down saying it's a horrible album.

I do really want to defend Donkey's assertion here as someone has since posted an opposite view.

Having seen the comments when PFAYM came out, it did get a largely positive ride initially on this site but it's now viewed far less favourably. People right now are ranking it very low on the scale of Manics albums and several have posted very negative comments about it, far more so than appeared when it was first released.

I'm saying nothing here about the quality of either Postcards or the new album but just supporting Donkey's warning that RTW is very likely to lose its gloss for many in the fullness of time.

[Marcellin Caillou]

It wouldn't bother me if I never heard the album again.

[UEF]

Show me the Wonder is the best song on it. Sullen Welsh Heart is my second fave, which is odd as it sounds like MSP writing a Mumford and Sons song.

[The Crow]

Its such a soppy LP, tooo lovey dovey. Where the hell are the guitar riffs or Rock numbers? James's vocals seem to be superb on this LP, like he was 28 yrs old, I wonder if they've used any vocal correction.

I like RTF & 30 Year War the most, the rest feels like a soundtrack to a movie.

[Dac X Lee]

To me this album sounds quite like a compilation of acoustic-ish b-sides.

Anyway, pretty good as usual. The Manics' songs and albums repertoir satisfies both my lively and my chilling moods.

[starstruck]

just going through my first listen - an instant 7, may well climb up a bit after greater listening.

don't like it? fair enough. don't like them anymore? then fuck off to the Busted or McFly forums around the world. valid criticism and debate are welcome here, methinks, but if you just want to badmouth them, away with you.

[Marat Sar]

I am seriously beginning to feel as if this might be their best work. Mind you, I've removed "Anthem for a lost cause" because to me it sounds like a PFAYM song (which I abhor) and, well, now the tracklist just runs flawlessly. Everything is so light on this album, every song begins like it's so expected and effortless. Even 3 Ways To See Despair - with a soft bit before it falls into that bluesy rock stomp. This makes the tracklist almost irresistable for me.

Part of this is also the sound of the thing. Enough can't be said about how well it is mixed. I don't think I've heard pop music mixed better than this and I don't think it's even possible. I Miss The Tokyo Skkyline is not a mix, it doesn't sound like that. It's not volumes turned up and down on individual tracks and then panning and effects applied to them - it is the perfect relation of the elements present in the song, the sliders are set in fucking STONE.

On the other hand, emotionally this is the hardest piece they've done. If you buy into the lyrics, really attempt to get what they're about with these, some songs become nearly unlistenable for their sheer sadness. I mean, As Holy As The Soil That Buries Your Skin anyone? You do of course understand who this song is for? I cannot begin to tell you how fucked up that is.

3 Ways to see despair comes close with: "A pale admission that makes it seem worse" and how JDB repeats that, the emotion in the delivery. Then there's that bit on RTF - "I want the world to see all of the love and security, my childhood dreams" - which is just... whooh... And perhaps all of "This Sullen Welsh Heart", which I for one consider an epilogue to "Tolerate".

Devastating shit, yo! Devastating. It's written really really well, musically it's experimental and very delicate and friendly at the same time. An album of superb Manics b-sides, produced, mixed and mastered to the absolute zenith of what pop music can sound like. Pinch me, am I dreaming? I really did not see this coming after the monumental drudge that has been their output since lifeblood.

A wonder really.

And the very definition of a grower too. Man do these melodies open up. And the sonic landscapes they're in.

So yeah, right now I'm thinking 9.5 or 10. Please don't fade or fall apart!

[The Gutless Wonder]

Release day! Just have to wait for my copy to arrive now!

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Marat Sar

I am seriously beginning to feel as if this might be their best work. Mind you, I've removed "Anthem for a lost cause" because to me it sounds like a PFAYM song (which I abhor) and, well, now the tracklist just runs flawlessly. Everything is so light on this album, every song begins like it's so expected and effortless. Even 3 Ways To See Despair - with a soft bit before it falls into that bluesy rock stomp. This makes the tracklist almost irresistable for me.

I think the tracklist is very good but can be refined: maybe the way SMTW burst into the record all of sudden after the softness of TSWH it's a bit ear-scratching, You just don't expect those horns...it's a great song but it sounds like a slap in the face in that contest! IMHO they should have put AFALC at no.2 and then SMTW...it sets the tone better since it keeps the quiet mood of the first song.

[zaza_3121]

Originally Posted by UEF

Show me the Wonder is the best song on it. Sullen Welsh Heart is my second fave, which is odd as it sounds like MSP writing a Mumford and Sons song.

Musically, it would fit great on "Into The Wild" soundtrack.

[dolphin]

Early listenings are instilling in me a sense of disappointment and of an opportunity lost.

Attempting something different is a fantastic idea, especialy when most Manics albums are a modest variation or development of the Manics 'sound'. Within the context of a what is perhaps a more reflective approach, I would have preferred more experimentation or at least a more raw musical landscape. The title track is one of few examples here of really attempting something outside of the box while most of the other songs are just too much like the acoustic MoR that proliferates from any number of other sources.

The lyrics are admittedly pretty good in places if rather cliched but I'm not hearing too many memorable tunes popping out.

The manics have always had tracks that dropped the pace down a notch on previous albums. Backwards in time, there's Some Kind of Nothingness, Golden Platitudes, This Joke Sport Severed, Facing Page..., Doors Closing Slowly and that's just the last couple of albums. My opinion is that there's nothing on RTW that is as good as any of these songs.

All in all, I have to agree with previous posters that said it was soppy, sounding like a collection of b-sides and not caring much if I don't hear it again.

[RND]

By now we all know that manics are always manics and will never deliver 'something different', whatever that would be.
This album is manics again, and next one will be of course.
And also, album is very good and I am enjoying it. Some songs are superb and will become classics (TSWH, 3WTSD, for example).

I have one little problem. AFALC.
I had to put headphones down and stop. I considered taking this tune out of the mix, and pretend it never existed.
Feelings were much worst than when I heard that Autumnsong is going to be a single, or when I heard Umbrella episode.

Somebody has to convince me that this song is total parody or some other kind of a good joke.

[Schampout]

I really like it, gave it an 8 from initial listening but think it might go up. Very subtle and very Welsh, favourite tracks are Show Me The Wonder and This Sullen Welsh Heart. James's vocals are brilliant (and Richard Hawley is superb on Rewind the Film). It may be because I wasn't around to experience the early Manics at the time, but I really don't mind this Manics sound at all. THB will always be my favourite album, but I think they do subtle just as well as they do angry, political guitar rock.

[Marat Sar]

Originally Posted by Jay

I think the tracklist is very good but can be refined: maybe the way SMTW burst into the record all of sudden after the softness of TSWH it's a bit ear-scratching, You just don't expect those horns...it's a great song but it sounds like a slap in the face in that contest! IMHO they should have put AFALC at no.2 and then SMTW...it sets the tone better since it keeps the quiet mood of the first song.

I agree that the first three tracks are harder on the ear than the rest, sequencing-wise. But from "Builder of Routines" on, to the very end, this is just pure ear-candy. A smooth, colorful flow of impressions unlike any tracklist I've heard before. Very special indeed. I wouldn't break this up for anything. AHATS is perfect where it is - if it comes right after Tokyo Skyline without "Anthem's" dullness ruining it, and has the radio promo version's intro (that Beefheart sample). Even if the beginning was better with AHATS as #2 (and I agree, it really is) it would mean I lose this moment here, which is much better than a better beginning.

It just has a spiky start, that's it. Not only is SMTW quite brutal, but RTF is too long. But that's what it is and there's virtue in it. You get this symphonic, 14-minute emotional rollercoaster and then settle into a smooth groove, and the end with ROOF-Manorbier-30YW again mirrors the beginning's ups and downs.

The most important thing about the beginning is spot on, though. The very first song - TSWH - is inviting and seems there are things to discover in it, despite having very few elements. The chance of getting to listen to it really draws you into the album and that's an oipeners job well done.

Originally Posted by RND

I have one little problem. AFALC.
I had to put headphones down and stop. I considered taking this tune out of the mix, and pretend it never existed.

Same here. Even the title is a SATT era title. Just cut it to your b-sides folder, think of it as a throwback to the SATT/PFAYM era. And replace the album version of AHATS with the one that begins with the Beefheart sample from the promo if you can get your hands on it. For sequencing reasons, it flows better. I can't suggest this enough as it really takes RTF from an 8 to a 9, possible 9.5 for me.

Also, if you paste "Anthem" onto the SMTW single, it makes a decent b-side and fits well with the a-side. Kinda sounds like an EP, in the vain of the Empty Souls and Richard Nixon EP's that really were EP's, rather than singles if you collected all of the b-sides.