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

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.

Re: 2 things

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

1. Yeah, I get the impression that 'getting into them' may involve more work on that time machine :(

Re: 2 things

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

2. also that half the songs on EMG were richey lyrics.

Re: 2 things

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

EMG wasn't quite the NIN meets Pantera that Richey promised though was it. Oh how different Small Black Flowers could've been...

Re: 2 things

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i LIKE small black flowers, it's got HARP and everything...

Re: 2 things

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

oh for sure. it's one of my faves on EMG.

Re: 2 things

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

several of the other tracks could've done with being moar nin meets pantera though ;)

Re: 2 things

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

why give them any sort of go? is life not a bit too short to spend time 'trying' to 'get' the sodding MANICS???

Re: 2 things

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Because four-white-boys-with-guitars isn't going away any time soon, so one that leads to being expansive! and ridiculous! and flamboyant! (IE all the things that you prize elsewhere) is something that should be studied and pointed towards. Also I am not as allergic to 4WBWG as you, I just despair that it's all Libertines rehashes from here on in.

Haha they even had their diva moment = a portaloo at Glasto 97 that was marked 'exclusively for the use of MSP'!

Re: 2 things

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Actually I think there's something EVEN WRONGER when boys-wiv-guitars try to do glam and flamboyant (this way => placebo, dear christ) - however there is a lesson I wish BWGs would take from the Manics, ie singing. The Manics singer has a really, really great voice, and while it's hardly ever enough to make me care, it's the reason they don't actively anger me.

Re: 2 things

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Good point! Katie and Kat's friend Pete once pointed out that once bands get past the sh1t-drummer stage, the voice is a real problem because no-one thinks of practising or getting lessons at it as they would with EG the guitar, they think they should just open their mouths and out it flows.

I get the impression that Manics fans really look down on Placebo fans such as me.

Re: 2 things

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think the voice is one of the LEAST good things about them!

Re: 2 things

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

well yeah he's very pompous but he can hit and sustain notes which puts him waaaay ahead of most other indie boys! (the bar here is v low)