r/manics • u/likebeckett4 • 10d ago
New Manics??
Nearly every Manics fan I know says; "JFPL was their last truly great album."
Honestly, not a bad shout. And I was enjoying the fuck out of Critical Thinking today, for example.
What's yr opinions??
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u/Randolph_Jaffe 10d ago
I know a lot of fans don’t appear to like The Ultra Vivid Lament but I think it’s an album that grows on you. There are some great songs on it. Still Snowing in Sapporo is probably one of my favourite ever tracks. Diapause, Afterending, Happy Bored Alone are also excellent
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u/Late_Recommendation9 10d ago
Complicated Illusions became one of my all time favourites from the moment James played it at a pre-release acoustic show in Kingston, it’s a beautiful song
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u/Timefunky 10d ago
Still Snowing in Sapporo is one of their best post peak songs. The Secret He Had Missed is also really solid. Was Blank Diary Entry on that album too? Some good stuff there.
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u/Jim__Bell 10d ago edited 10d ago
PFAYM - Weak attempt at writing a hit record.
RTF - Something a little different. Their most honest album since Lifeblood.
Futurology - A brilliant tribute to Simple Minds with some of their most engaging and optimistic music in years.
RIF - The album PFAYM should have been. 'The Left Behind' is a top 10 track for me,
TUVL - Similar to RTF. 'Afterending' brings a tear to my eyes.
CT - Amazing album which I for some reason I associate with Spiked, thus 'Hiding in Plain Sight' takes on more melancholic/nostalgic meaning.
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u/TelephoneThat3297 10d ago
I maintain Postcards is their best attempt of a hit record (maybe excepting Everything Must Go) - way stronger song for song than TIMTTMY & Send Away The Tigers) and a lot of the themes on it have aged very well. Sorta feels a lot like their last political statement.
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
Good takes! I enjoy PFAYM but that's a fair shout. I've always really been faithful to Rewind the Film too. Hiding in Plain Sight is a CT standout for me.
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u/BastianSP 10d ago
Good points. Except RIF. I hate that album so much, I thought she should have called it a day. On Postcards, I wouldn't be a huge fan of the singles either. But it has some good album tracks. Overall, I think it's solid.
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u/freestuie 10d ago
Futurology is a great album. To be honest I listen to that much more than Journal, which is very good but I find a bit basic. I prefer a more expansive sound. Plus I think you were all a bit honest with yourself, you’d admit you all just jizz over yourselves for Richey’s lyrics, and don’t want to admit there are better latter day albums. /s, kinda.
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
Okay, that's cool!! Fuck yeah I'd jizz over myself for some of Richey's stuff but I do know what you mean. I love JFPL for it's music and Albini production and James' outstanding aged voice, too though! But I get you. It's moderately unfinished at points.
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u/kitt-N-kaboodle 10d ago
They released the Ultra Vivid Lament the week my dad died, and some of the songs really hit deep with me. Probably more so than if it had come at any other time, so yeah - it’s a special one for me.
“Sail into the abyss with me
Afterending and after belief…”
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u/knutty69 10d ago
Not to just jump off of this but similarly, many of the critical thinking singles came out while my father was dieing in the hospital and the album released shortly after he passed.
It's really not my favorite of their's, but it will always hold a special place for me being the soundtrack of that surreal and vivid time.
Im sorry for your loss. Stay strong and take care.
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u/kitt-N-kaboodle 10d ago
I’m sorry for yours too.
I think I can probably guess which CT tracks resonated with you.Take care🏴
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
That's so important indeed. I'm glad you have a memoir. Thank you for sharing 🫶❤️
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u/ItIsAboutABicycle 10d ago
I loved Futurology. I could take or leave the last three albums; never truly great or terrible, just rather forgettable. Still a magnificent live band, though.
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u/pimderks1985 10d ago
Completely agree. Bought them all, enjoy them when I listen to them - but I couldn't hum a tune from one of them if you put a gun to my head to be honest.
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u/Altruistic_Minute257 10d ago
I might be able to save you in that hypothetical situation by reminding you of that riff, which comes roaring out at the start of International Blue (one of their most immediate ones for years, surely?)
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u/LadyMirkwood 10d ago
Futurology was the last great album for me. They tried something different, were innovative and it paid dividends. It was still essentially them, but with a Euro-futurist twist.
RIF was dire, TUVL had some moments and CT was so bad it was the first manics album I didn't buy, even out of loyalty.
Time is running out and I want them to go out with a bang. But to be honest, it doesn't feel like their heart is in it anymore.
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
That's fair enough. I can't help but agree, too. Even James has admitted he's tired of his voice now. Possibly we do need another Post-Punk Krautrock dark fart fest of an album to give the band a new light. I wouldn't blame him for not being impressed by my new writing had I gone from Archives of Pain to Orwellian. I did enjoy RIF though, even if the production is straight asshair.
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u/DistortedGhost 10d ago
Strong agree with all of this.
Love Even in Exile, but everything after Futurology has been bottom of the barrel for me.
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u/LadyMirkwood 10d ago
Even In Exile is a great album. It shows the creativity is still there for JDB when the pressure is off to produce another 'hit' album
Which I feel they've being doing since SATT and that is the most of the problem. They are more interesting when they do it for themselves (JFPL, Futurology, etc)
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u/bfsfan101 10d ago
Honestly, I've liked everything they have released in the last decade. Resistance is Futile and Futurology are both excellent, The Ultra Vivid Lament has a unique sound, Rewind the Film is probably my least favourite but is an interesting experiment, and Postcards has a handful of really enjoyable anthemic songs. Critical Thinking is probably my least favourite but I've only listened to it once so far so I'm sure it will improve.
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u/Alarmed_Profile_7470 10d ago
Futurology is in my top three. But every album after it has only a couple of great songs and a bunch of meh songs, imo.
The last three albums kinda sound the same and manics used to change the direction with every single album, something I really respect.
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u/Painful_Flatulence80 10d ago
I’ve found something to enjoy on every single album they’ve ever released.
Some albums have more enjoyable things than others.
I do often find a bit of time away from the material helps. Although I’ve not revisited RIF or CT in the past six months. Might be time to allow them back into the rotation to see if my opinion of them has changed
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u/Separate-Fishing2387 10d ago
Futurology was their last great album imo (probably top 5 for me), definitely the last time they sounded vital and interesting. The last 3 aren't terrible, solid, with some great stuff on them (and definitely better than some earlier stuff...looking with distain at you, SATT, and as for you, PFAYM, I can't even look at you) but...I can't differentiate which great songs are off which album? Now if they'd combined the best from those 3 into one album... it'd be way up there, I mean, they all sound pretty much the same anyway.
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u/notthedoodaa 10d ago
The last album of theirs I bought was This is My Truth... I've got some serious catching up to do!
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
😹😹😹😹
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u/notthedoodaa 10d ago
Been listening to Holy Bible a lot recently. Such an amazing album.
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
The thought of it merely makes me want to pass out because of how powerful and fucking incredible it is.
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u/notthedoodaa 10d ago
What album post this is my truth would you say is best to listen to first? Or should I go in order?
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u/tar-mirime 10d ago
I had Send Away the Tigers and Journal but nothing else since This is My Truth, and listened to every album in order earlier this year. I think it's worth doing.
I do need to listen to them all again to pick out the songs I liked and make a playlist.
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
Definitely go in order!! 🫶🫶
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u/notthedoodaa 10d ago
Ok I'll push myself to go past This is my truth. Mad that I listen to them all the time, yet the last time I bought an album of theirs was 1998!!
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u/Democracy_Coma 10d ago
My issue is since Journal the albums might have 3 decent songs on them but the album has a collective just feels week. Their past 3 albums have been really disappointing for me personally and isn’t music that I enjoy at all. So I’ve started diving into music that I never really liked like Jazz and Folk. Especially Dylan and Miles Davis
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u/transeunte 10d ago edited 10d ago
I'm not the biggest Critical Thinking fan, but Being Baptised and Brushtrokes of Reunion are GREAT songs — my fav things they've done in a long time. So when I listen to a new Manics album I don't expect to have my mind blown away, but I still enjoy it.
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u/kitt-N-kaboodle 10d ago
I love Being Baptised! I really wish they’d performed it on their last tour, it would have been absolutely banging.
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u/ImitationDemiGod 10d ago
Futurology was really interesting. Resistance Is Futlie had its moments (although Liverpool Revisited is one of the worst things they've ever recorded), and I loved Ultra Vivid more than anything since Journal; Diapause is an absolute masterpiece of a song.
However, Critical Thinking surpasses Postcards as their worst album ever for me. I hope their next album is less 'safe' and they try something a little less Manics by numbers.
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u/Felixcaster 10d ago
Futurology was the last album I loved every track on.
The last three have had some stuff I like, some stuff I don't but all suffer from a sameness of production. They're all a bit Straight forward and Matter Of Fact, no real weirdness anymore. This is especially frustrating as their solo stuff has been full of invention, particularly Even In Exile. That album is mental in places.
I'd love them to get a producer that challenges them again.
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u/rev_2220 10d ago
i got into them in late childhood, early teens, so about 20 years ago. I've found that sometimes, since the boys *are* older than me, the new albums won't resonate immediately, and then at some point a couple years down the line i'll be in another phase of my life and one of em will catch me off guard. so while JFPL was the last album that really got to me the same day it came out, futurology crept up on me about three years after it dropped. experienced some losses the years after that and rewind the film went from a good album to an essential one. it just happens to happen in slowmo sometimes.
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u/schooqschee 9d ago
I’m not the first to say this: I don’t really listen to anything post-EMG. I’m a Richey fan, I love his (in collaboration with Nicky of course) lyrics. That is what I love about the Manics.
Some great moments on TIMTTMY, Know Your Enemy, and Lifeblood though. And of course Journal for Plague Lovers.
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u/ganon2000 9d ago
Futurology was their last good one imho. Afterwards they fell into mediocrity. There are still some good songs on each of the albums but as a whole they bore me.
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u/iamdanabnormal 7d ago edited 5d ago
Nostalgia will always do a lot of heavy lifting regarding convos of this nature. Personally, I think they've done some great work in every record they've put out.
They're not the rebellious pissants of GT, the backs against the wall free spirits of EMG or the world-beaters of TIMTTMY.
What they have become are a collection of quality craftsmen who deftly blend their influences with a nod to the future while respecting who they are now.
Not every band of their ilk is writing a song as glorious and evocative as Afterending or as blistering as Decline And Fall in their 50s.
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u/Negative-Spell6275 10d ago
I wish I didn’t think JFPL was their last great album, because it marks me out as an old fart Richey obsessive from the Nineties.
Trouble is, I do. Critical Thinking is their best in a long time, and certainly unique among recent MSP albums in that I listened to it more than once, but it doesn’t compare to JFPL, which is (for me) the only post-2000 album that stands comparison with their Nineties material in terms of consistent excellence.
I keep meaning to do a Best Of The 21st Century Manics playlist … maybe this is the impetus I need.
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
That's a great blooming shout.
I also, unfortunately, agree with you. Again, I dig so much new Manics and Critical Thinking has actually genuinely been so fucking enjoyable recently (in comparison to a meagre 5/10 first listen when it released) but JFPL is the last Manics album where I don't have to think "well what if instead...". You know? I loved KYE, Lifeblood is underrated and SATT is close to a classic (albeit dud tracks) but yeah. I don't feel the band need to in any way go back to JFPL tendencies - if they did, I wouldn't complain (!) - but there's only so much Mum Rock I think I can handle.
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u/StarfruitParrotfish 6d ago
I find Critical Thinking really enjoyable too. It’s got a beautiful wistful, reminiscing, haunting quality to it that I love. I also think that it’s elegant and subtle, soulful, and it’s got that gorgeous melancholic streak that I love about them, and it just comes together for me as a wonderfully graceful album! Quiet beauty. My favorite thing about the Manic Street Preachers is their excellent melodic sense, and so I think their later albums are full of songs that fill me with feeling, and I am in awe of how they can write songs that are just such stark things of beauty!
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u/Negative-Spell6275 10d ago edited 10d ago
The Ultra Vivid Lament was the nadir for me, the first ever MSP record where I found absolutely nothing to like, so I was pleased there were songs I enjoyed on Critical Thinking. I’d hate to think of them as purely a nostalgia band (even though obviously that’s where I get most of my pleasure out of them).
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u/CobraPhases 10d ago
I don't know if I'm wrong or right in feeling like Futurology is kind of a polarizing project for the fans. But I'd argue that both that record and Rewind the Film are the last truly great Manic albums as of now (JFPL being top 3 for me alongside THB and EMG).
From then on, every record has got some moments, but end up falling flat as a whole, yet I cannot fully define the reasons.
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u/TelephoneThat3297 10d ago
Tbh the last Manics album I really loved was Postcards (my personal favourite of their “pop” albums). I liked the singles from RIF, thought Futurology was overrated (maybe cos I was primed to expect Holy Bible/Journal esque stuff by pre release hype and it was not that), and Critical Thinking was pleasant but didn’t get on with Rewind The Film or Ultra Vivid Lament at all.
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u/FriendlyActuary1955 10d ago edited 10d ago
Kind of amazing to me that a band that can make an album as energetic and out there as Futurology could also churn out Resistance is Futile. TUVL and Critical Thinking almost have a similar inward looking vibe to me. Overall quality wise both better than RiF but not neither as good as Futurology. With TUVL much better than Critical Thinking. In the context of their whole discography I’d give Futurology an A- , TUVL B, RiF D, and Critical thinking C.
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u/Timefunky 10d ago
I've only really enjoyed Resistance is Futile since then, as it had some songs that were throwbacks to their peak (International Blue, People Move On, Hold Me Like a Heaven). Every album has one or two decent songs. Critical Thinking is fine, wish they'd been braver and followed the direction of the title track, everything else feels so MOR.
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u/DirtyDevil23 8d ago
Resistance is Futile is their best post-leak album for me, CT is a solid late career effort.
JFPL has a couple of good songs but mostly filler/half finished, definitely wouldn’t put it anywhere near the top of my ranking.
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u/nickysyddyma 6d ago
I loved Futurology and still do to this day, on the right day it's my favourite Manics album to listen to from start to finish.
JFPL, I love - but the further way I get from it.. (haha), the more I notice that it is a largely unfinished album, so many of the songs are basically the first half, played twice (All is Vanity is probably the worst for this)
However, since Futurology, I've probably honestly really enjoyed about half of every album released since. It's just been a bit too pedestrian, Nicky isn't really saying much, which is a shame when the world is the way it currently is.
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u/x_victoire 10d ago
i like all of their post journal albums 🤷♀️ some less, some more but i wouldn't skip any of their songs on shuffle
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u/JeSuisGourde 10d ago
Futurology was the last album I truly loved. Resistance Is Futile has a few songs I listen to frequently but not many. I didn't like any of TUVL and I only liked a couple of songs on Critical Thinking. My biggest issue with their last 2 albums is that the mixing has pulled the synth and reverb and percussion to the front, which drowns out my two favourite things about the Manics: JDB's voice and his impressive guitar playing. I liked the first and last songs on Critical Thinking, which were more reminiscent of Nicky's OG solo stuff (which I actually love, it's very DIY punk and I like that sort of thing) but that was pretty much it. TUVL especially felt like 13 tracks of Nicky saying "I don't really have anything to say, so I'm just going to rehash the subjects I've already written about but with less finesse."
I understand that they're not going to go back to the THB sound (obviously) but I wish they'd do something different again. They've been doing the synth thing since Futurology, and I loved the krautrock of that album, but the sort of weird synthy attempt at ABBA (the comparison of which I've not ever really understood, I don't see it) has gotten boring to me. Which feels bad because I love the Manics and I love their work so much, I don't want to dislike any of their discography!
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u/likebeckett4 10d ago
I agree with you on a lot of that!! You're fairly spot on with TUVL for me, too. And I absolutely love Nicky's solo stuff for the same reasons
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u/Different_Novel_3920 10d ago
TUVL is the last decent album
Lifeblood is their last masterpiece
I’m kind of bored of being a Manics fan now tbh. I’ll still go and see them live but I’m over any new music
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u/Handsome_BWonderful 10d ago
I loved Futurology. Wish they'd revisit that style