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Life Blood - Manics


Larsen B

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Anyone bought it yet?

I reackon it's their third best album and definitely an improvement on Know Your Enemy (although that ain't hard). It's only let down by a few duff tracks which are too middle of the road, especially I Live To Fall Asleep. Best tracks are 1985, A Song For Departure, To Repel Ghosts and Solitude Sometimes Is.

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Albums don't need killer tracks .

my god' date=' they've brainwashed you too !

"if you tollerate this [shite'] your children will be next"

the manics are almost like sleep inducing demons from Buffy...I won't fall under their spell....never !

they are the Lighthouse family of the rock world...and that's the truth

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I downloaded it about a month ago -

The first time I listened to it - it really offended me. I thought it was the worst thing they've ever done (See if you condense Know Your Enemy into a nine track album, cutting out all the overblown, pretentious nonsense, you actually have a really good album - Try it and burn it onto a CD. My tracklisting is:

1. Found That Soul

2. Ocean Spray

3. So Why So Sad

4. Year Of Purification

5. Dead Martyrs

6. The Convalescent

7. Royal Correspondent

8. Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children

9. We Are All Borgeouis Now

Anyway, I've moved so far away from the point, I cannae mind what I was saying. Oh yeah, Lifeblood.

It's good when you give it a chance. I think we've talked before on here about how ace James' voice is and loads of folk agreed, so with this in mind it has a truly brilliant vocal performance throughout. It's certainly not punk and it's not even rock, I would say. The "elegiac pop" tag Wire has been touting is just the usual pretentious nonsense, but it is more like "pop music." This is no bad thing, though. I've every New Order and Depeche Mode album, and I would class them as pop music too. The thing Lifeblood has in common with these two other artists is the quality of lyrics and "mood" of the music, if you like. 1985 is musically, lyrically and vocally truly brilliant in my opinion. They are playing to their strengths so much on that track it hurts. Not since "Tolerate" have they encapsulated everything I like about them in one song. The single is brilliant, "Cardiff Afterlife" is the song they have wanted to make since after Everything Must Go but have never been brave enough to actually record. There are many great tracks on the album - Like I say - You have to give it a few listens to truly enjoy it. (I think anyway.)

Give the album at least a few listens. It ain't like anything they've ever done. Or will do again. They've changed. But give it a go if you like Bradfield's voice, at least. It's certainly not as truly dreadful as Wattsville Blues, Miss Europa Disco Dancer, Intravenous Agnostic, SYMM or any of the unforgettable tossed off rubbish at the end of Generation Terrorists.

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my god' date=' they've brainwashed you too !

"if you tollerate this [shite'] your children will be next"

the manics are almost like sleep inducing demons from Buffy...I won't fall under their spell....never !

they are the Lighthouse family of the rock world...and that's the truth

index.jpg

not always.

I haven't heard all of the new album, but it sounds passable. I've never really listened to the 1994 onwards stuff in much depth, but it's a pretty big swing in sound, what with all the synths and stuff. I've decided to go see them in December, they still pulled off a pretty good live performance of one of the new songs (Song for Departure) on Jool's Holland,(Nicky Wire's still doing that weird leg-stomp thing he's been doing since 1993) and they still do a few old tunes so it should be enjoyable. You have to give them credit for making it to number 1/2 in the top ten after a four year break and a relavtively bland come-back single.

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I downloaded it about a month ago -

The first time I listened to it - it really offended me. I thought it was the worst thing they've ever done (See if you condense Know Your Enemy into a nine track album' date=' cutting out all the overblown, pretentious nonsense, you actually have a really good album - Try it and burn it onto a CD. My tracklisting is:

1. Found That Soul

2. Ocean Spray

3. So Why So Sad

4. Year Of Purification

5. Dead Martyrs

6. The Convalescent

7. Royal Correspondent

8. Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children

9. We Are All Borgeouis Now

Anyway, I've moved so far away from the point, I cannae mind what I was saying. Oh yeah, Lifeblood.

It's good when you give it a chance. I think we've talked before on here about how ace James' voice is and loads of folk agreed, so with this in mind it has a truly brilliant vocal performance throughout. It's certainly not punk and it's not even rock, I would say. The "elegiac pop" tag Wire has been touting is just the usual pretentious nonsense, but it is more like "pop music." This is no bad thing, though. I've every New Order and Depeche Mode album, and I would class them as pop music too. The thing Lifeblood has in common with these two other artists is the quality of lyrics and "mood" of the music, if you like. 1985 is musically, lyrically and vocally truly brilliant in my opinion. They are playing to their strengths so much on that track it hurts. Not since "Tolerate" have they encapsulated everything I like about them in one song. The single is brilliant, "Cardiff Afterlife" is the song they have wanted to make since after Everything Must Go but have never been brave enough to actually record. There are many great tracks on the album - Like I say - You have to give it a few listens to truly enjoy it. (I think anyway.)

Give the album at least a few listens. It ain't like anything they've ever done. Or will do again. They've changed. But give it a go if you like Bradfield's voice, at least. It's certainly not as truly dreadful as Wattsville Blues, Miss Europa Disco Dancer, Intravenous Agnostic, SYMM or any of the unforgettable tossed off rubbish at the end of Generation Terrorists.[/quote']

Aye aye min

I was pondering the boozed up conversation you and I had about the Manics at the Campbell nuptials on Saturday.

I wonder if the problem the Manics have, which New Order didn't have, is that they are still known by everyone as Manic Street Preachers, and therefore where most people associate them with The Holy Bible as one of the greatest albums ever written, they struggle to bring themselves to accept the new direction the band has taken post-Richey.

New Order have cemented themselves as New Order, and very few people simply know or refer to them as Joy Division minus one. The Manics continue to suffer from the problem of being hamstrung from progress by the usual delusional fanboys who cannot realise that Richey, and the influence he had over the band's creative process, is not coming back and the band should be allowed to organically move on.

That said I still have not picked up a copy of the album, but I have appreciated the stuff they have done post-Richey, I think that the albums stand well on their own, and people really need to stop comparing everything that they do to what was an album, and an era, which will never be repeated.

In short, get over it and move on.

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Lifeblood is the best album they've made in ten years. The closest any track comes to being less than great is Emily, and even it has redeeming features. In particular 1985, To Repel Ghosts and Always/Never are astounding. The best three tracks they've done since Richey fucked off. And yes, that means better than A Design For Life.

They'll never be the same band they were with Richey ever again, and how could they? The man could say more in one line than most bands say in their whole fucking career, and going by the change in sound that has ensued, he obviously had an influence over the sound, no matter how conscience or unconscience it was. After all, just before EMG, he was the one saying they should take a Pantera-meets-NIN direction. With this album, they've sort of taken a bit of a NIN direction, so perhaps he had more influence than he's ever been given credit for. It's hardly unfeasible that he was the one who said to the rest "let's create a fusion of Guns N' Roses and Public Enemy!"

They'll never make an album as good as The Holy Bible, Generation Terrorists or Gold Against The Soul ever again. They don't have the same bite that they once did, but who can blame them? You lose someone you've spent your whole life with and it makes you take a new outlook on life. But, taking 1995 as Year Zero, this is their best album to date.

I'm looking forward to more excellent pop albums from them in future.

The official aceness of Manics albums: THB>GT>GATS>LB>EMG>KYE>TIMTTMY

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Gold Against the Soul sounds like Bon fucking Jovi in parts and has their most embarassingly cringeworthy song (Nostalgic Pushead) and two of the most pointless manics songs ever written (Drug Drug Druggy and Symphony of Tourettes).

The proper official aceness of Manics albums: THB>EMG>LB>TIMTTMY>GT>KYE>GATS

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Gold Against the Soul sounds like Bon fucking Jovi in parts and has their most embarassingly cringeworthy song (Nostalgic Pushead) and two of the most pointless manics songs ever written (Drug Drug Druggy and Symphony of Tourettes).

The proper official aceness of Manics albums: THB>EMG>LB>TIMTTMY>GT>KYE>GATS

Youve obviously never heard bon jovi then. :ding:

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Gold Against the Soul sounds like Bon fucking Jovi in parts and has their most embarassingly cringeworthy song (Nostalgic Pushead) and two of the most pointless manics songs ever written (Drug Drug Druggy and Symphony of Tourettes).

The proper official aceness of Manics albums: THB>EMG>LB>TIMTTMY>GT>KYE>GATS

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??? GT worse than TIMT???? That's blasphemy!!!! That album contains everything that was great about them in the early days. As for EMG, it's over-rated in my opinion. I was playing through the songs on my guitar the other day, trying to think of ways to make them a bit more exciting because they sound too Britpoppy for my liking. And i just got bored and ended up playing GT songs instead. Much more fun. Also, as far as I'm concerned, it marks the start of the Wire's lyrics turning into meaningless rubbish. I mean, take La Tristesse Durera and No Surface, All Feeling. Both Wire penned lyrics. La Tristesse is a great lyric which encaptulates the sadness and struggles of an old war veteran. No Surface is about.... god knows.

As for Symphony Of Tourette, at least it's better than Nirvana's pityful attempt at the subject.

(I should probably point out I was a Bon Jovi fan in 1993. As a matter of fact, I got into both bands at the same time...)

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