Postcards From A Young Man Thread

[thequitenewkid]

Just a quick note about where Its Not War may finish in the charts.

Looking back over the past 18 months or so, it's shocking how few rock songs have made an impact on the charts. The only three (correct me if I'm wrong) to hit the Top 10 are Muse-Uprising, Kasabian-Fire and Biffy Clyro-That Golden Rule which ended 9,3 and 10 respectively. Not sure about you, but I don't think the Manics are in the same sales league as Kasabian and Muse, so even a Top 10 finish would be going very well. Factor in radio play and the state of the charts these days, the outlook is bleak for any future singles.

These relatively big bands couldn't do much

Courteeners - You Overdid It Doll (28)
Editors - Papillon (23)
Paul Weller - No Tears To Cry/ Wake Up The Nation (28)
Vampire Weekend - Cousins (39)
The Futurheads - Heartbeat Song (34)
Arcade Fire - We Used To Wait (75)
The Enemy - No Time For Tears (12)
Arctic Monkeys - Crying Lightning (12)
The Cribs - Cheat On Me (44)
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust (28)
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (20)
Green Day - Know Your Enemy (12)
Ian Brown - Stellify (35)
Maccabees - Love You Better (35)
White Lies - Fairwell To The Fairground (35)
Morrissey - Im Throwing My Arms (21)
Mumford & Sons - The Cave (20)

These are the highest charting singles for every band. Also - except Mumford, Franz Ferdinand, White Lies and Green Day - each band did not have one other single in the Top 40. So the idea of a rock band like the Manics having 3 or 4 big hits is incredibly unlikely.

I hope they do, and I've bought all three versions of the new single, but the charts are so pathetic nowadays that it will take a miracle just to get the Manics in the Top 20.

[hummingbird]

i'm not sure about singles 2 and 3 but the SATT singles did really well and that was only 3 yrs ago when the singles charts were in the same state they are now. Don't remember rock bands doing particularly well then either. R&B and pop always dominates the top 10 but YLAINE and Autumn song still did really well. With the multi formats and the die-hards buying the single plus the casuals that are out there buying manics product I'm confident they'll do well. Die hard fans don't get singles into the top 10. Others need to be buying it aswell.

[Son of Stopped]

As poor as the Arcade Fire single charted, they are currently number one in the album charts? (Oh joy!!! The 70's "Album Orientated Rock" is back...)
Hopefully the video will spice things up for the Manics?

[everlasting]

There's a lot of hip hop / rap shite coming back big time right now looking at the recent charts and sales seem to be pretty high. A top 10 placing for It's Not War will be a good result in fairness. The album, however, should be a top 3 I reckon, hoping for a #1.

I ordered all 3 of the single versions the other day, still need to order the deluxe album. If it comes with a dvd then that'll be sweet, however as long as I get the album i'll be happy!
I'm just really curious as to how it's going to sound, after reading all the "track by track" previews I still have no idea!

[amay]

I think they should manage top 10 for first single at least. Despite most of those singles not charting highly,the respective albums sold well. YLAINE did surprisingly well 3 years ago,hopefully this will be the same. Maybe people will recognise something half decent out of the rubbish that charts nowadays...

[Son of Stopped]

If you don't buy the album then NICKY WILL CRYYYYYY as Arcade Fire had a number one this year.
You don't want to make Nicky cry do you?

[The Gutless Wonder]

Pester Michael Sheen fans. 'He's in the video!!!!'

[thequitenewkid]

There is certainly a move in rock music away from singles and towards albums. You only have to look at pop albums that do rubbish, yet have 2 or 3 top singles. I would take a Manics No.1 album over a No.1 single any day, although it would be nice to have both!

Also, despite dire warnings, sales of singles (99% digital) are actually rising fast, which makes a higher chart position harder to get. Appearing on The X Factor is seen as one of the very few ways of ensuring a hit, because so many tweeny-boppers who like Joe McElderry now download music legally, whereas many "proper" music fans buy only albums or download illegally. The last single I bought was Hurts - Better Than love, and that was three months ago and I only bought it because the album isn't out til next week.

Realistically, I reckon about 12-15th is about right. And to have more than one Top 40 single from one album would be very difficult.

[Pricha]

I´m delighted with the song "Postcards from a Young Man", it´s very introspective...Perfect, it touch inside...

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

The 4 new songs aired the other day sound awesome, I really love the title track

[tuckedaway]

The album just got another positive review on the blog Music Fan's Mic:

Initial Thoughts: Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From A Young Man
Words: Gareth O’Malley

One last shot at mass communication, they called it. Come on. That really was unnecessary - for a minute there we were all thinking that ‘Postcards From A Young Man’ was going to be Manic Street Preachers’ swansong. It won’t be anything of the sort, it’s since been revealed.

Just for a moment, though, think what might have been if the Manics were indeed calling it a day after this, their tenth album. All I know is it would be one hell of a way to say goodbye. No exaggeration: if ‘Journal for Plague Lovers’ had never been made, I’d have no qualms about calling ‘Postcards’ the trio’s best record since ‘Everything Must Go’.

Speaking of their 1996 album, lots of people have been saying that LP10 is something of a sequel to it. In broad terms, I would agree: ‘Postcards’ is a massive record: big hooks, big production, big everything, so in that respect the two are quite similar.

However, unlike its predecessor, and, let’s face it, every Manics record save ‘Journal’ and, well, you know the other one - ‘The Holy Bible’ or something - ‘Postcards’ is not dragged down by filler. For starters, ‘(It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love’ works much better in album context, and then things just get better from there.

Each song present on this record is top-drawer Manics. The last time they tried to shoot for stadiums, it was with the patchy ‘Send Away The Tigers’; before that, it was the limp piano pop of ‘Lifeblood’. But it now seems that ‘Journal’ reignited the band’s fire after three mediocre albums, and they’re back to doing what they do best: creating brilliant rock songs with heart and meaning. These songs (and in particular, ‘Some Kind of Nothingness’, one of the best they’ve ever written) could propel them to new heights.

Twenty-four years on from their formation, it could be argued that Manic Street Preachers have never sounded so good. One thing’s for sure, though: they’ve reminded us once again just how much we need them.

Initial Thoughts Rating: 8.8

http://musicfansmic.tumblr.com/post/...stcards-from-a

[The Gutless Wonder]

Want to hear Some Kind Of Nothingness even more now!!!! Nice review!

[manicspain]

I belive that will be 4 singles

[manicspain]

1- it´s no war
2- some kind
3-golden platitudes
4-postcards