The Friday Canon: MANIC STREET PREACHERS

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

The Manics (BA Hons, Swansea) are responsible for many things: a reasonably popular London club night, skyrocketing feather boa sales, the gratitude of the Goan tourist board and of course, thousands upon thousands of rabid fans desperate to bleed all over Steve Lamacq in 'tribute'. But what do you poptimists make of their back catalogue? 33 UK Top 40 singles means you get ELEVEN ticks to dish out. Eyeliner pencils at the ready!


[Poll #1105942]
Fleetwood Mac: (link)
1. Go Your Own Way
2. Dreams
3. Little Lies
4. Don't Stop
=5. Albatross
=5. Tusk
=7. Big Love
=7. Oh Well
=7. Sara
=10. Black Magic Woman
=10. Say You Love Me

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Early canon today as I'm off for my werk wobs lunch! Happy ticking :)

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Happy wobs lunching!

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why The Holy Bible has got this reputation as the only Manics alBUM it's OK to like when it's got t0ss like 'Revol' on it.

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

REVOL IS GRATE SHUT UP U KILLED RICHEY

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Revol is good! I'm not sure why I'm defending it!

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

OHHHHHH YESSSSSSS!!!

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I like the Manics. I know they're a bunch of slogan-waving, vain, hypocritical and over-hyped, semi-talented Fall Out Boy precursors but in a similar manner to the way I like Hard-Fi, at least they're, y'know, trying.

Mind you, I never realised how much "before my time" a lot of their stuff was. I was between the ages of 5 and 7 when most of this was released.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Have they had a wide-ranging effect on the Welsh music scene?

They're a rum case, the Manics.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I understand from my, ahem, contacts that the new album is actually quite good. But then as Bill Wyman* once said of Elvis Costello, that's what loyal fans are for.

*not that one, as far as I know.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Oh chr1st I just found an article about the Observer Music Mag's list of ten right-wing rockers, going on about "Strange that Elvis Costello is kept off these lists, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?"

Er, as you were.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I only ticked ten. My missing tick is because of the existential absence caused by the Holocaust and Richey.

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

I'm sure one of their more recent songs I heard on radio 2 and liked! But not enough to tear me away from generation terrorists NONSENSE. I liked JDB's solo offering, perhaps I mean that, Nicky Wire's was absolute PISH.

I think that might be the most unflattering picture of Sean Moore evar (though it's hotly contested I believe).

Still can't believe they ever released She Is Suffering - it should obviously been ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart. Or maybe Of Walking Abortion.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

There are no flattering pictures of Sean Moore FTB he is short and fat.

HOW PRECISELY

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

is "If You Tolerate This..." about the Spanish Civil War????

Poptimists keen to hear the annual airing of "The Masses Against The Classes" should be at the CLUB POPULAR ALL #1s ALL THE TIME club night on Saturday 6th January, by the way.

Re: HOW PRECISELY

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

I'd take If You Tolerate This over SPANISH BOMBS any day.

Erm it is about the idealism of fighting for something you strongly believe in which in this case is the Spanish and their bombs and their guns and their guns and their bombs.

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

Nicky Wire solo canon going to be done separately then, good call.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

ALL SH1T, ALL THE TIME!

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

yeah. they fall into a giant fetid lacuna in my indie love.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG "P.C." MEANT POLICE CONSTABLE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

If you like Aneurin Bevan so much why don't you go and live there?

*stands, applauds*

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Comment of the year!

4rilz (fsvo)

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

dead emo hottie alert

2 things

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

1. I should give them another go - they seem to have inspired/nurtured (possibly by building a bridge of some sort of 'credibility') in many of my friends a love of fun and glam. And pop - am I right in thinking that the first wave of non-FT Poptimism attendees were the Stay Beautiful crowd? Also I understand that No Manics = No Shampoo! But though I could see this in their fans, I never saw it in them. In my theory of humour = all, they're a joke I don't get.

2. From an outsider, right, it seems clear where they fall off: they lose Richie, they take a couple of years off, and when they return they're ugly old men. But I still get the impression (as seen in friedslice's comment above) that it's the record after that the fans stopped loving them.

Re: 2 things

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

1. I like them less than some on there but I think they were a "had to be there" band. I wouldn't have imagined they picked up many new fans after the rhetorical glory years, though of course Moggy's comment above reminds me that they're very definite ancestors of a lot of now-stuff.

2. I think Everything Must Go is a fairly bad record but it has its moments (4 ticks for A Design For Life? You big contraries you) and obviously there was loads of goodwill towards them right there. The theory was, I think, that either they would never make another record or that the big stadium plod-rock of EMG was to prove to themselves/Richey that they could have been huge if they wanted and it would be back to spikiness soon enough. Obviously neither of these was correct.

EASIEST SET OF TICKIES EVER

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

although the EMG singles perhaps deserve a little more of my love, but not in comparison to the PROPER EARLY FUNNY STUFF.

i still l♥ve them really, how could i not?

also, bah to no MOTOWN JUNK

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

This canon is clearly 4 REAL

Everything up to and including EMG is, er... fine, everything since.... *shudders at the thought of 'Ocean Spray'.

I've always loved 'No Surface All Feeling' (the last track on EMG). Should've been a single.

[datura800.livejournal.com]

I used to be OBSESSED with the Manics. And I got turned on to so many great books and artists through their wonderful album and single sleeves.

'Autumnsong' was much MUCH better than 'Your Love Alone...' and 'Let Robeson Sing' is one of their all-time best moments.

33

[koganbot]

Did any other performer never to get into the U.S. Top 40 (or Top 100) have as many British hits* as the Manic Street Preachers? (I checked, and both Cliff Richard and Boney M made it into the U.S. Top 40 (once each).)

*I'm calling a "British hit" as anything in the Top 40, though that's a dubious def'n, especially during the era that precedes download stats but follows the time when lots of people actually bought physical singles.

Re: 33

[koganbot]

(Wait, Cliff had nine Top 40 U.S. singles, two in the top ten even, though I have a memory of none of them.)

[koganbot]

I've never heard a note by them, by the way (unless it was sampled).

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i am not aware of anyone having sampled the manics.

ALSO "roses in the hospital"

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

should be called "hospital in the roses", OBV.

(is this a Great Pop Things joke, i'm sure i haven't made it up myself)

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

also also i think every record in the first half of the poll exists in my house (several of them more than once).

she is suffering is the only one i'm not sure about...

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

Finally!!

I ticked the first 11.

First two albums = 4 Real

After that = bit rubbish.

[martinv.livejournal.com]

Obviously I was a Manics fan. Er, was? Seen them twice in the last year. They've still got it. Send Away The Tigers is an entertaining album, Lifeblood was underrated (I ticked 'The Love of Richard Nixon', 'Your Love Alone...' and 'Autumnsong' from this period if anyone cares.) Very difficult to only choose 11, to be honest.

The only ones I would definitely not tick are 'Slash'n'Burn', 'Australia', 'You Stole The Sun' and 'Found That Soul.' I like all the others.

The large bits of the Manics canon I don't rate are half of Generation Terrorists, half of This is My Truth, and almost all of Know Your Enemy. Other than that it's all good.

Shocked at how badly 'Stay Beautiful' is doing! :o