Album 15

[theplague]

Originally Posted by Tish

I've always loved the demo version of SKON that Nicky sings but the full version is so over produced and epic it overwhelms the song entirely. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger until by the time the gospel choir kicks in at the end I just want to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

And how I love all that

[savemejebus]

That's the problem with PFAYM, any decent song ideas were sacrificed at the altar of commercialism and the Manics Temu wall of sound production efforts.

Can you imagine if Mike Hedges (or probably anyone except Dave Eringa) had been there producing and stopping the shite excesses.

[Europa Gluten Free]

This is the maddest thread.

People angry with Wire writing a certain song.
People angry with Jimbo for not voting.
People angry with Wire for writing another certain song.
People thinking that PFAYM is an underappreciated album! (Holy shit ha!)

Critical Thinking indeed!

[Routine Builder]

*Considers whether there is merit to the PFAYM is good argument.
*Remembers the solo to It's Not War....

My big problem with PFAYM is that it's effectively two EPs smashed together. You've got the first half which are the over produced singles and then the second half of interesting album tracks. Their last shot at mass communication didn't really have anything to say. And yeah suffers from Eringa's production which makes every album sort of sounds the same. The guest collaborators are buried so deep in the mix that you ask what's the point? PFAYM feels fractured without a strong identity, RiF is similar but atleast benefits from less pressure on the singles.


PFAYM turns 15 this year.....

[theplague]

Originally Posted by savemejebus

That's the problem with PFAYM, any decent song ideas were sacrificed at the altar of commercialism and the Manics Temu wall of sound production efforts.

Can you imagine if Mike Hedges (or probably anyone except Dave Eringa) had been there producing and stopping the shite excesses.

Every album since Lifeblood, except JFPL, should/could have hade Mike Hedges to save it production wise.

But, I can’t actually say that I find PFAYM to be thaaaaaaat far off from EMG in production. EMG more interesting absolutely, but similar soundscape.
Can’t really see how PFAYM is so much more a sacrifice on the altar of commercialism. More than GT, GATS, EMG, TIMTTMY, SATT…

Well, I like it
…

[Tish]

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

This is the maddest thread.

People angry with Wire writing a certain song.
People angry with Jimbo for not voting.
People angry with Wire for writing another certain song.
People thinking that PFAYM is an underappreciated album! (Holy shit ha!)

Critical Thinking indeed!

We’re all just desperate for a new song to come out so we can talk about that and stop rambling on about any old bollocks.

[*Found That Soul*]

Sorry if I have missed but is there detail on who wrote / sang each song yet?

[Glyn]

Originally Posted by *Found That Soul*

Sorry if I have missed but is there detail on who wrote / sang each song yet?

Wire's 3 songs are Critical Thinking, HiPS & Onemanmilitia.
Being Baptised is a JDB lyric but not sure if the other 2 have been mentioned yet

[*Found That Soul*]

Originally Posted by Glyn

Wire's 3 songs are Critical Thinking, HiPS & Onemanmilitia.
Being Baptised is a JDB lyric but not sure if the other 2 have been mentioned yet

Thanks!!

[Son of Stopped]

Originally Posted by Glyn

Wire's 3 songs are Critical Thinking, HiPS & Onemanmilitia.
Being Baptised is a JDB lyric but not sure if the other 2 have been mentioned yet

(Was I) Being Baptised so far from Music Week feature "Brush Strokes* Of Reunion" is another James written.
*Arguments? I envy anyone who doesn't burst into "Beeeecoz of YOUUUUUU" whenever they see that title!

[TheUglyLie]

Originally Posted by Tish

When did they say that?

Catching up on the thread and had some thoughts.

With regards to JDB abstaining from the vote to stay in or leave the European Union (the word “Brexit” can do one IMO), and as to when the band gave us political view points we might hold them to, let’s remember this is a group that wrote “…and we say there’s too much white in the Stars and Stripes, and we say there’s not enough black in the Union Jack”.
They’re more that capable of understanding what flag waving nationalism looks like, and I’d be surprised if JDB didn’t see elements of that, at the very least, in the leave campaign.
For me personally that was enough to get me off my sofa and go to the polling station.
I wonder how he feels in retrospect knowing that the result ended up being so close…

On JFPL being undertaken instead of PFAYM I see JDB’s lyrics to TNWTTAL as referencing his thoughts and approach to ‘mass communication’
“I hear you’ve got something to say, but first you need some people to say it to, right before you raise from the dead”

[TheUglyLie]

Originally Posted by Mr Richey

Yeah, Nicky Wire mocking the notion of “It’s okay to not be okay” sounds like a proper riot �� And to openly mock the concept of “Be kind” in one song only to then say “It takes guts to be kind” later in a song that’s ostensibly about how we should all forgive fucking Morrissey?! Jesus wept…

This jumped out to me straight away as well from the review! Hopefully it’s just the way those two or three lines have been quoted that makes them seem ‘uneven’ and the whole songs, as well as the entirety of the album give better perspective.
After all, the albums promo blurb has talked about how this is an album of “…opposites colliding - of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution.” sooooo…

[TheUglyLie]

Originally Posted by theplague

A little more excited about the new record now.

PFAYM is so underrated by people on here, a bunch of the songs on there are really really great.

Totally agree re PFAYM. The title track is one of the best singles the band have ever released, and has often kept me going just as much as ‘Faster’ might. I think it got a bad rap because many fans saw the possibility of a JFPL 2, at least musically. Or maybe an album more harsh than that, and the band went in a different direction.
However, I also think that PFAYM doing well gave us the possibility of RTW and Futurology being undertaken, so every cloud :Joey:

[TheUglyLie]

Originally Posted by MSPKYE

Can’t format it cause I’m about to see Idlewild but here’s a copy and paste job

Q&ARecord Collector
01 Jan 2025

Nicky Wire on empty phraseology, Morrissey’s handwriting and more

The title track is an amazing rant. How long has that been building up?

It’s the first time, bar Ballad Of The Bangkok Novotel [B-side of 2001 single Ocean Spray], that I’ve gone in the studio without a written lyric. I had ideas and phrases, but I just fucking went for it instinctively, and then refined it. It’s us showing a bit of a sense of humour, as well as a lot of spite. It’s what our DNA was based on. It’s just about the way we’re bombarded with endless empty phraseology which has infected all parts of life.

What did Morrissey write to you on the postcard that inspired Dear Stephen?

I’ve got postcards off Lawrence, the Mary Chain and The Smiths, which have pride of place in my workplace. All The Smiths are on there but Morrissey’s writing is so big, it just says, “Get well soon”. The idea of the song is that something seemingly unimportant – just a postcard that is nearly 40 years old – can still resonate and invoke so many rich and vivid memories. It’s a tribute to the tactile world and the power of those formative years, a love letter to being 16. It’s a song with many layers, the relationship between art and artists and my own hypocrisy. And the music James wrote for it is so fitting. It’s gorgeous.

What critical thinking inspired the album?

I feel my body decaying and falling apart, but I work incredibly hard to keep my brain just about hanging in there. My main references were Joan Didion, JG Ballard, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, Albert Camus, John Gray and RS Thomas. Then, Richey is a touchstone for me when it comes to critical thinking. I was listening to Archives Of Pain the other day, and it’s such an amazing lyric. He had these counterintuitive views of the world, which he was just so brilliant at managing. Just trying to keep your brain active is really important, and that includes reading stuff that you might completely reject. I think that’s the key to any kind of critical thinking – don’t live in an echo chamber.

What’s different about yours and James’ approach to lyric writing?

I think James still has a bit more belief, perhaps, in humanity and himself than I do. My lyrics always end up in a slightly more desolate place. He certainly gets more pleasure from the bliss of music or nature or whatever. He’s learned Welsh over the last two or three years and has become really good. He seems to have a broader perspective on life than my lifelong obsession with tunnel vision [laughs]. I mean, Being Baptised is a spectacular lyric. I said to James – quite openly and, of course, he shied away – “I just wish I’d written that lyric.” I would love to have the kindness in my heart to write that! There’s something so warm and appreciative and poetic in that lyric. Has he given me any tips on being a frontman? No!

The three of us are probably at the place now where, apart from moments of absolute coherence and joy, we just have different ways of coping with things, enjoying things or hating things, or whatever. We’re 55 and we have been in the band for 34 years. So there are going to be times where we’re not completely on the same page. It was a really hard album to make, but it’s probably benefited from that. I think, at our age, to still get across this much energy and engagement – it’s a pretty rare trick. Fifteen albums in 30 years is a fucking lot of songs! As told to Jamie Atkins

Two parts of this interview have made me think of a recent interview I saw with Stephen Fry on a podcast. When asked by the hosts what their podcasts could talk about more in the future (as the shows usual topics were those of the ‘modern’ era buzz words - free speech etc) Stephen Fry replied “Art, literature, creativity…” because he feels that it reifies the things as humans we find most difficult to comprehend.
In some ways I wonder if Nicky finds himself in a similar position. Confronted by a world that has started to reduce thought, discussion and, maybe even intelligence, down to catch all phrases, he too sees solace in the freedom that art brings in allowing us to properly explore all sides of what it is to be human.

[savemejebus]

Originally Posted by TheUglyLie

After all, the albums promo blurb has talked about how this is an album of “…opposites colliding - of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution.” sooooo…

a.k.a. studious hypocracy where they word salad on for an album and in the end the contributions will cancel each other out and amount to really saying nothing of substance.