Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 13:42

Good boys, they have made making a case for the Manics in 2015 incredibly easy by just releasing one of their greatest albums and singles last year a mere 25 years into their career.

I can honestly think of no other rock band that has done something similar, most don't last 25 years and those that do tend to look pretty desperate 25 years into a career, but not the Manics.

Sustained by a song writing partnership that seems incapable of not writing some good songs, the muse may have weakened on the occasional album but it was always there even on their weakest efforts.

Futurology is one of the great albums and contains one of their great songs:



Simple Minds keyboards and a Clarence Clemonsesque sax solo ( probably electronic ), wonderful lyrics.

And album infused with Krautrock, electronica and massive choruses.

So having established that they still get Number 1 albums on merit let's look at their worst albums and see what we can resurrect from that.

Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood are generally considered their low point

And yet they contain songs like:



and



An obvious and beautiful REM pastiche, probably an apology for their comments about Michael Stipe listening to the lyrics.

Who else would write a song listing Richard Milhouse Nixon's redeeming features:



Somehow got to Number 2 in the charts.



Massive bright rock song

Another Number 2 hit.

They are incapable of releasing albums without merit.

The trouble with Lifeblood and Know Your Enemy was that old failing of the CD generation - lack of quality control - there are fantastic 30 minute albums struggling to get out of both.

As for the rest, most people will know some of their work, everyone knows their back story.

They are hated as well as loved, their crimes are playing melodic rock music, being mouthy, intelligent members of the working class and being Welsh. It is usually a combination of those things that turn people off - Rockist, Welsh and intellectually threatening, not content to play the cartoon working class card like Oasis and their ilk.

They are the last great British Rock Band, I doubt there will be another, everything is too fragmented these days.

But 100 BCB points for anyone who can name a rock band still turning out work as good as their best 25 years into their career and still selling out stadiums on the back of their latest albums.
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
Jimbly
Posts: 21957
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 23:17
Location: ????

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby Jimbly » 07 Apr 2015, 13:57

Beyond a couple of songs. They bore me rigid. Can't stand the high pitched sqweely vocals.

To me their crimes are just being boring.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

User avatar
jimboo
Posts: 7316
Joined: 29 Dec 2005, 17:43
Location: taking a foxy kind of stand

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby jimboo » 07 Apr 2015, 14:00

When Motown Junk was released and they said that they would make one album , my hopes were high. Motown Junk is a fantastic record. The album came and i went.

The run of singles made me aware of them and on a singles only basis i really liked them. A chance encounter in a charity shop saw me pick up the first four albums for 25p each. I still play them and have periodically bought the odd album with pleasing results. Remarkable band really , maligned on here , unjustly i think. Their 'crime' is that they will not sort out the harsh treble laden, all mid range production they insist on having. They are wonderful in bursts , their sound is too harsh to listen to for very long.

They have made some wonderful records though. I am a fan.
If I jerk- the handle jerk- the handle you'll thrill me and thrill me

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:02

painted nails wrote:Beyond a couple of songs. They bore me rigid. Can't stand the high pitched sqweely vocals.

To me their crimes are just being boring.


Cloth eared rubbish

They have written some of the greatest rock music in history.

next!
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
Jimbly
Posts: 21957
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 23:17
Location: ????

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby Jimbly » 07 Apr 2015, 14:06

Copehead wrote:
painted nails wrote:Beyond a couple of songs. They bore me rigid. Can't stand the high pitched sqweely vocals.

To me their crimes are just being boring.


Cloth eared rubbish

They have written some of the greatest rock music in history.

next!


Nurse, the screens......
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:11

jimboo wrote:When Motown Junk was released and they said that they would make one album , my hopes were high. Motown Junk is a fantastic record. The album came and i went.

The run of singles made me aware of them and on a singles only basis i really liked them. A chance encounter in a charity shop saw me pick up the first four albums for 25p each. I still play them and have periodically bought the odd album with pleasing results. Remarkable band really , maligned on here , unjustly i think. Their 'crime' is that they will not sort out the harsh treble laden, all mid range production they insist on having. They are wonderful in bursts , their sound is too harsh to listen to for very long.

They have made some wonderful records though. I am a fan.


They are indeed a fantastic singles band, it has probably what has sustained them as a going concern for 25 years, they have the knack of writing popular rock songs in a way that few other bands have since the demise of Brit Pop and Oasis.

Some of their albums are over long, but that was failing with most people when presented with the possibilities of a full CD album.

Few albums have managed to utilise the whole of a CD with worthwhile music.

I don't get the trebly mid range production problem, I just hear bright, shiny rock music, I will have to forget you ever said that in case I start to hear it that way as well.

I imagine that they are one of those bands that non-fans would listen to a greatest hits album and realise they knew practically every song on it because they have, despite reaching a pretty obvious commercial peak between EMG and TIMTTMY, sustained a pretty high profile career from Mowtown Junk all the way to Futurology ( which was a Number 1 or 2 album depending on which of the myriad charts you use these days ).

Which is pretty remarkable and close to unique, Radiohead have done something similar for not quite as long.
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:13

painted nails wrote:
Copehead wrote:
painted nails wrote:Beyond a couple of songs. They bore me rigid. Can't stand the high pitched sqweely vocals.

To me their crimes are just being boring.


Cloth eared rubbish

They have written some of the greatest rock music in history.

next!


Nurse, the screens......


Radiohead are boring, I fail to see how loud, brash, melodic, guitar driven rock music can possibly be boring.
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
Jimbly
Posts: 21957
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 23:17
Location: ????

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby Jimbly » 07 Apr 2015, 14:17

Who mentioned Radiohead? Not me. Where you hear bright shiny rock music, I hear reheated old cliches set to simmer on a low plod.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

User avatar
Dr Markus
Posts: 17670
Joined: 07 Jan 2012, 18:16

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby Dr Markus » 07 Apr 2015, 14:27

Copehead wrote:Radiohead are boring



:o How very dare you. If they were Welsh you wouldn't saying that!!!!!!!!
Drama Queenie wrote:You are a chauvinist of the quaintest kind. About as threatening as Jack Duckworth, you are a harmless relic of that cherished era when things were 'different'. Now get back to drawing a moustache on that page three model

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:36

painted nails wrote:Who mentioned Radiohead? Not me. Where you hear bright shiny rock music, I hear reheated old cliches set to simmer on a low plod.


I mentioned Radiohead, because they are boring rock music.

In my view it is difficult to make boring rock music because a loud racket made with guitars and drums is inherently exciting.

And if you want music that isn't cliched and you are still listening to rock music you are in for a long and lonely vigil.

The cliches are the best thing about rock music, they make it instantly understandable, they give it context and familiarity.

Take Walk Me To the Bridge - the bright keyboard chords - a hoary cliche reminiscent of 80s pomp Simple Minds, and they are fucking fantastic.

The faux sax solo at the end is all 80s E Street Band cliche, and also fucking brilliant.

The idea that that song is a simmer on a low plod is risible and barely worthy of spending time commenting on, either you haven't listened to it or you are a lost cause when it comes to rock music.

The whole album - Futurology - is propulsive and driven, it is propelled by that old cliche motorik, one thing it does not do is plod.
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:37

Dr Markus wrote:
Copehead wrote:Radiohead are boring



:o How very dare you. If they were Welsh you wouldn't saying that!!!!!!!!


They disappeared up their collective arse many years ago.

I buy their albums out of duty
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby clive gash » 07 Apr 2015, 14:42

Finally Copehead gets to chat MSP!

Copehead wrote:I fail to see how loud, brash, melodic, guitar driven rock music can possibly be boring.


Then I suggest you listen to a Manic Street Preschers record and prepare to be enlightened.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby naughty boy » 07 Apr 2015, 14:42

neville harp wrote:Finally Copehead gets to chat MSP!

Copehead wrote:I fail to see how loud, brash, melodic, guitar driven rock music can possibly be boring.


Then I suggest you listen to a Manic Street Preschers record and prepare to be enlightened.



:lol: :lol:

Beautiful.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
Jimbly
Posts: 21957
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 23:17
Location: ????

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby Jimbly » 07 Apr 2015, 14:44

I don't really listen to new rock music beyond what I grew up with these days. Partly because all I hear are reference points to stuff I already know or its my age where I've no interest in what a gobby vocalist thirty years younger than me has to say. I've my son for that pov.

These day I'm more interested in jazz or artists from my younger years that I didn't have the money to investigate further.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby clive gash » 07 Apr 2015, 14:54

Preschers :x
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:54

neville harp wrote:Finally Copehead gets to chat MSP!

Copehead wrote:I fail to see how loud, brash, melodic, guitar driven rock music can possibly be boring.


Then I suggest you listen to a Manic Street Preschers record and prepare to be enlightened.


I have listened to every single MSP album multiple times and I am enlightened.

Rock music is great and the Manics make great rock music.

The sort of people who don't like it are self abusing mummy's boys who don't like beer, rugby and loud music.
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:56

neville harp wrote:Preschers :x


Gollum?
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:57

HOMOPHOBIC BULLY BOY wrote:
neville harp wrote:Finally Copehead gets to chat MSP!

Copehead wrote:I fail to see how loud, brash, melodic, guitar driven rock music can possibly be boring.


Then I suggest you listen to a Manic Street Preschers record and prepare to be enlightened.



:lol: :lol:

Beautiful.


easily pleased :?

I think you'd appreciate Jim Davidson
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
copehead
BCB Cup Stalinist
Posts: 24763
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:51
Location: at sea

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby copehead » 07 Apr 2015, 14:58

painted nails wrote:I don't really listen to new rock music beyond what I grew up with these days. Partly because all I hear are reference points to stuff I already know or its my age where I've no interest in what a gobby vocalist thirty years younger than me has to say. I've my son for that pov.

These day I'm more interested in jazz or artists from my younger years that I didn't have the money to investigate further.


Bad luck man.
Dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Image

Bear baiting & dog fights a speciality.

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Beyond the BCB 130 - The Manic Street Preachers

Postby naughty boy » 07 Apr 2015, 15:04

Looks like you're on your own, Copeypoos....
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.


Return to “Beyond the 130: BCB cult acts”