MANIC STREET PREACHERS Best Album Poll

Holy Bible and Everything Must Go are both excellent. I really liked TIMTTMY as well. It reminds me of Fall a lot. I'm going with Holy Bible though because the lyrics are so brilliant and thought-provoking.

"prejudice burns / brighter when it's all we have to burn"

1st 3 are unfuckwithable

Ira Robbins likes the lyrics only on The Holy Bible. Just thought you should know

Know Your Enemy. I don't understand why people don't like that record.

for some reason i never gave that one a chance

Gold Against The Soul is very underrated.

Holy Bible.

Never been a huge fan of the debut outside of the singles - I think the second album is better.

Holy Bible is their best.

I do want to defend TIMTTMY though - lyrically awful in places (SYMM) but it features some of their most underrated tracks - especially the atypically beautiful Black Dog On My Shoulder.

Know Your Enemy has some great tracks (the first two singles, "Convalescent") but also their most juvenile lyrics and quite a few throwaway tracks.

Holy Bible, but would take an album that grafted the best halves of their first two albums together over it, if you see what I mean.

Some of the tracks on Generation Terrorists were better in their earlier ep form

which of these LP's would be the best for someone (er, a friend of mine...you wouldn't know him) who relly wants to like the Manics, but finds the 7 or 8 songs he's ever heard by them to be overwrought and undermelodic?

GATS is the big sounding, melodic stadium rock album, so that might be good. Everything Must Go is pretty tuneful as well.

Holy Bible without a shadow of a doubt.

If you don't like "Faster" (from Holy Bible), "A Design for Life" (from EMG), or "You Stole the Sun" (from TIMTTMY), you probably will not like anything by this band. That said, if you're feeling nihilistic, I'd recommend the Holy Bible, which in general really needs to be heard as a whole to understand. If you're feeling contemplative, I'd recommend EMG.

Sleepflower is an awesome song.

Damn, I made a mistake with the poll closing date. Wasn't meant to be so long.

Gold Against the Soul

This is actually really difficult. Generation Terrorists has some good stuff, but doesn't sound particularly nice -they were a more brilliant idea than a brilliant band at that time. The Holy Bible is utterly perfect, but I can't bring myself to listen to it any more so I can't vote for that. Everything Must Go is excellent, Nicky's lyrics only fray slightly at the edges. This Is My Truth I liked for a few listens, but then found it had nothing more to offer - plus it's got SYMM on it, which is unredeemable. I'm surprised they've had three albums since, actually (I did like 'Found that Soul', it was claustrophobic in a good way).

But I'll go with Gold Against The Soul too, I think. I may have been influenced by the photo at the head of this too. It sounds really warm, has some cracking tunes on it (esp 'Sleepflower' and 'Life Becoming a Landslide') and they seemed to be having as much fun as they could at that point. Best of all is the fact that it is a kind of resigned betrayal of everything they'd stood for 'til then.

The Holy Bible is utterly perfect

Richey's pro capital punishment/anti gun control/"political correctness gone mad!" lyrics are pretty risible. But I can grin and bear them, and 4st 7lb, Faster, even Revol, border on a kind of genius and kind of make up for the badness.

kind of, kind of.

WTF people still rate the Holy Bible?

Lifeblood (2004)

Didn't even know this existed.

It's crap apart from the 1st song.

1st album is very long and apart from a few good singles, incredibly boring. Gold Against The Soul is really good with very few bad moments from what I remember. Holy Bible is ace, but can be a little challenging in places. Thought Everything Must Go was annoying and MOR-y, but TIMTTMY was much better, that year's answer to "The Bends". It's a melancholic album but it suited my mood at the time and I played it to death. Listening back though, most of the songs don't achieve very much after the 2 minute mark and go on a bit too long. I love "I'm Not Working", "My Little Empire", "Born A Girl", "Black Dog"... shit I'm gonna bang it on tonight when I get home.

Haven't heard or paid attention to anything after that.

Lifeblood (2004)
Didn't even know this existed

The two singles off it ('Empty Souls' and 'The Love of Richard Nixon') both reached No.2. I read somewhere that they were the two lowest-selling No.2s in chart history

That doesn't say much for the number threes those weeks.

wtf was up with that richard nixon song anyway?

it was very strange. Number two? What was number one, everything else?

Those historic top threes in full:
Eric Prydz 'Call on Me' - 'The Love of Richard Nixon' - Kelis 'Millionaire'
Elvis 'One Night' (taking the historic 1000th number one slot!) - 'Empty Souls' - The Killers 'Somebody Told Me'

WTF people still rate the Holy Bible?

I think I would enjoy it if I played it this evening (even though I won't), which I certainly couldn't say for any of their other records

i guess i'm meant to vote for the holy bible or emg, but generation terrorists is the one i totally fell for at the time, so, that.

I'm very surprised by the love for Gold Against the Soul. There are some good tracks on it, but I find it to be the work of a band that hasn't quite evolved fully yet. The Holy Bible is a dense magnum opus that is unrelenting and uncompromising, and a major artistic statement. It's like the audio equivalent of some 1000 page Russian epic novel that requires your effort and attention, but is rich with stark and harrowing images, and horrific insights into the human condition. EMG is way less angsty, and the songs are more introspective and sometimes forlorn. It makes me think of a quiet Sunday afternoon spent reflecting on memories. Really the work of two different bands, these two albums. I love both of them.

Richey's pro capital punishment/anti gun control/"political correctness gone mad!" lyrics are pretty risible.

I read that interpretation on Pitchfork's review of the album, but I don't think the pro-capital punishment and anti-gun control lyrics are meant literally. I think it's an angry and sarcastic criticism of a hypocritical American mentality on retribution and justice, and a dismissal of the small-headed thinking of the human race in general, one in which he feels the ultimate means of addressing is only through its annihilation ("all I preach is extinction"). The sentiment resembles "kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out," which is not meant literally, and can't really be construed as a pro-capital punishment and pro-weapons message so much as a nihilistic response to the difficulty of correcting society's problems.

What of that 'unreleased' USA mix, the extra disc on the 'deluxe' edition?

... of the Holy Bible, I meant.

Holy Bible (never bothered with the redux reissue; didn't think I needed to) but Lifeblood is the most underrated.

res otm

Holy Bible is the only one I was ever into.

Not sure if res otm or not. I think the lyrics are absolutely sincere - it's just that they're only there to provide examples of the deeper idea - a howl for honesty and against tokenism. I don't think there's a deep commitment to capital punishment as an end to strive for, say, but there is a deep commitment to capital punishment as a logical end IF the purpose of the justice system is moral condemnation. But he takes no view on whether that is its right purpose or not, he just wants a proper facing up to the consequences. The PC stuff is absolutely of a piece, given that its whole purpose is a pretence to avoid consequences

These are pretty contradictory and difficult issues and about as out there as pop music is ever likely to get (it's pretty crazy stuff to try to address in three-minute lyrics - one of those slim Camus books would be a better format than your epic Russian novel I reckon) so it's hard to know what *I* think about it, let alone to work out whether I agree with you. In any case, it's hardly risible.

"Fuck the Brady Bill" is pretty risible. Their idea that gun control would "disenfranchise the black communities who don't have licences. The white rednecks in America do have licences" (Wire) is something of a minority reading.

And "a proper facing up to the consequences" is surely what the string 'em up brigade have always called for. Richey said "it isn't a right-wing song, but a lot of people don't like seeing a rapist get off with a £25 fine". That "but" seems to be doing the same work as in "I'm not a racist but..."

(it's pretty crazy stuff to try to address in three-minute lyrics - one of those slim Camus books would be a better format than your epic Russian novel I reckon)

OTM, the album always struck me as wildly over-ambitious lyrically, even as a moping teen, which is perhaps part of its power.

Sure these are difficult issues. To accept the straw man, no, a lot of people don't like seeing a rapist get off with a £25 fine. But I'm not sure how a song apparently advocating sterilisation, thus occupying the other extreme end of the spectrum which is already well covered in the mainstream media, contributes to the debate. OTOH "all I preach is extinction" is a great nihilistic howl so it succeeds at some level. xp.

I couldn't go at it quote-for-quote xp, but isn't that last bit exactly what I was getting at (taking 'face up to the consequences' to mean facing up to the consequences of your choice)? Namely either be tough on crime and punish properly, or take some other approach like rehabilitation and do that properly - don't say you're tough on crime and then fine rapists/release everyone early/plant bilingual signs around Bosnia

re: quoting, I just had the biog to hand :) But I still don't see how the song differs from a standard right-wing POV. Maybe I misunderstand, but it sounds like you're saying they're aiming for a kind of Modest Proposal - but if that's the case it's not outrageous enough, since their proposal would be deemed quite reasonable by a fair number of people.

I'd forgotten about the intro - it rather suggests the target is the contradiction between the seeking of capital punishment and condemnation of the killer for the same actions, with the nationalism theme suggesting that the distinction is an arbitrary one. Not what I'd had in mind, but maybe the modest proposal is an accurate reading of it

(NB the site I used for the lyrics offers an 'Archives of Pain' ringtone)

How in the hell could you ever think these lyrics, especially on the Holy Bible, are sincere? Was the part of your brain that detects irony cut out through your nose or something? The lyrics are so typically 90s "screw the world and system! humans are animals!" type shit.

It's like listening to Crass - Penis Envy and thinking they're all dowdy, uber-conservative traditionalist women.

Well that's me told

burt stanton straight to the point

burt stanton never suffered from teenage angst

Generation Terrorists is the only one I've ever heard, so I guess I'll vote for it.

Whatever else the Holy Bible's politics are — extreme, experimental, confused, sometimes nuts — they're not ironic. Remember it was in part inspired by visiting Auschwitz, so there's a sincere fascination with stark moral choices, retribution for hideous crimes, and the potential for anyone, under certain circumstances, to do repellent things. The band have talked about reaching the point where extreme left-wing ideas meet extreme right-wing ones. It's not meant to be comfortable or even entirely coherent but it sure as hell isn't ironic.

Wonder if there's anything else from the Howard Gray sessions - that's who they should've done the album with.

International Blue is a pleasant surprise, I was dreading more Postcards For A Young Man / Send Away The Tigers stodge. Best song since JFPL.

I flippin' love Lifeblood, me. I wish they would announce what rarities they play in advance, like they did with 'Natwest...'. Was denied the WTF moment when I saw them last, when it made an apparance.

*NOT announce.

new track "Dylan and Caitlin" is a duet w/ The Anchoress. It's alright - I really like "Distant Colours" though

Anyone heard the new one in full yet?

I have. tbh though I liked the singles in isolation, I'm not very taken with it as a whole just yet

Hmm. I haven't heard it yet but that description doesn't bode well!

It's another one of those Send Away The Tigers / Postcards For A Young Man cheesy 'pop'-reboot albums but far more likeable than either of those. But then again to me all of their albums after Lifeblood with the exception of JFPL have been ultra-disposable so who knows if it'll be one to return to. I'd would say though that International Blue is by far their best tune in nearly 10 years

I was really enjoying Broken Algorithms as thinking it gave off some genuine Generation Terrorists vibez, but then I realised it basically steals from the melody of Spectators Of Suicide. Still, one of the better ones

I hesitate to say Nicky Wire is the weak link in the band as his efforts as a music writer are increasingly impressive (bet it was his idea to release demo CDs with every deluxe edition) but his lyrics have largely been utter mince for 20 years, really wish he could rediscover some self-awareness

I'm not sure what the press photos for this are meant to communicate.

What a miserable bastard The Wire has turned out to be

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/12/manic-street-preachers-jobs-meaning-jeremy-corbyn-doesnt-understand-that-resistance-is-useless

what music writing has he been up to of late?

It's another one of those Send Away The Tigers / Postcards For A Young Man cheesy 'pop'-reboot albums but far more likeable than either of those.

Well, I like Send Away the Tigers and even have time for a couple of tracks on Postcards... so I'll probably like this. The older I get, the more I realise that the Manics lyrics were always a bit pony, even when Richey was in the band (a couple of exceptions on their third album aside) ... I'm more interested in JDB's guitar playing and inimitable voice.

Listening to Resistance Is Futile for the fifth time at the moment. I'm really loving it! It's classic energetic Manics. I'd agree that the overall sound approaches that of Send Away The Tigers/Postcards For A Young Man but also with a good deal of Everything Must Go and a nice occasional dose of Generation Terrorists/Richey-era.

SATT and Postcards have never been my biggest favourites - I certainly like them but was never overwhelmed (despite the inclusion of a duet with my fave singer Ian McCulloch on the latter).
I think the new one impresses me more than those two albums already.
I'm not -as- blown away as I was, and still am, with Futurology - but I'm pretty sure that this one will end up high in my Manics albums ranking.

They were strangely fascinating on "Sunday Brunch".

lmao i missed that this came out last month

i only just started but "I'd agree that the overall sound approaches that of Send Away The Tigers/Postcards For A Young Man but also with a good deal of Everything Must Go and a nice occasional dose of Generation Terrorists/Richey-era" is promising, i'd be really into a more balanced version of postcards

I tried with it a few times but I can only seem to get into the singles and the opener, but I'll keep at it intermittently

so far... i'm extremely unsure about it lol

I still haven't heard it yet!

i can never trust my first impressions of records when i'm listening to them at work, but something about it isn't clicking even though it's obv packed with hooks

i like the anchoress duet a lot though

"hold me like a heaven" is pretty awesome too, i don't think they've ever written a ballad like it

my favorite song atm though is "sequels of forgotten wars," which uncoincidentally is the song that sounds like it belongs on futurology

oh wait, on third listen: this is actually all pretty great, it's def a more balanced postcards but it also makes me think of what lifeblood would sound like if it were more aggressive, lotta textural synths

One month in and I'm still listening to 7 out of 12 tracks (only 1 on in the 1st half), which is unheard of for recent Manics albums/me. Second half of the album is just fantastic. Of course, none of of these songs are in the live set.

Hmm. I'm not taken with the new one on first listen - I'm hoping it'll improve.

I am mightily impressed. After lots of listens over the last month, I'm pretty sure my Manics top 5 albums is now:
1. Futurology
2. Gold Against The Soul
3. Everything Must Go
4. Journal For Plague Lovers
5. Resistance Is Futile

It sounded far better on third listen, and I agree that the back half is stronger. Ultimately, though, I feel roughly the same about this album as I do about Postcards and would rank it the same at the moment. It may grow further - I hope so.

First half save for International Blue is very Postcards 2. That earlier album is not exactly my least favourite (Tigers has lower lows) but it just feels so watered down and forgettable. I'm taken with the better songs on the new album due to getting some genuine pre-TIMTTMY feelings from something like In Eternity.

so they covered In Between Days when i briefly caught them at a festival last week, and it was....pretty great. still always weird to see a 6 person band up there nowadays though...

i also realised that it had been 20 TWENTY YEARS since the first ever gig I went to, which was one of the first shows of the This Is My Truth tour in Bournemouth with Catatonia.

TWENTY YEARS.

Yeah, I saw them on that tour too! I seriously thought this band were done circa the Greatest Hits collection and Lifeblood, as much as I love that record. That they rebounded back so strongly is amazing to me - the last 11-12 years of their career have been strong, IMO.

the new remaster of TIMTTMY replaces "Nobody Loved You" with "Prologue to History," and while I guess I should be offended by the revisionism, it's an undeniable upgrade, even if I'd also have swapped in "Black Holes for the Young" where "You're Tender and You're Tired" sits.

anyway Brad maintains the ability to anticipate how I hear things a few months in advance cause RIF now sounds like another strong album when I was sure it represented a step down. so I remain thinking their consistency is sort of ridiculous at this point.

oh, and for anyone out there still looking for hidden gems, the recent b-side "Mirror Gaze" should have been on the album proper, and not only because of its great opening lyric "I've made some sense of emptiness / I've learned to love me less and less" and its clear debt to "Blinded by the Light". (the Wire-sung "Concrete Fields" is surprisingly good too)

for some reason I keep forgetting Rewind the Film exists and then it knocks me out every year when the weather starts to cool

also "the endless parade of old Etonian scum line the front benches, so what is to be done?" is extra satisfying at the moment

https://i.imgur.com/CO4c4nE.jpg

I know it has...some detractors on here...but every year I like TIMTTMY more. it's their Up - overlong and eternally grey. which i love

nah, it's mostly crap.

I also quite like it. It's probably two songs too long but the sustained sullen mood it hits makes it stand out among the four Manics albums I've heard

been really digging the late records lately...mostly pretty sad/weary songs by aging dudes who know/sense that things are pretty unlikely to change drastically for the better in their lifetimes. I made a lil playlist of the best post-JFPL stuff for the curious

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NZ4Po28IbM49eefsOIJAx?si=663f94e2bbf34c0e

Oh that's handy, i haven't heard the last one at all. Futurology was remarkable for a band so long in the tooth, can't think of any bands from that era who have pulled something that good off in the last ten years, i was properly amazed.

of the post-JFPL albums I'd go

Rewind the Film
Postcards From a Young Man
Futurology
Resistance is Futile

a couple decent b-sides in this period as well. they should pester underworld to produce their next one.

I am surprised Gold Against The Soul did as well as it did because it is my favorite Manics album and I thought my vast minority was more vast than that.