Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must POLL

'A Design For Life' seems like an obvious choice but really, all songs are so good. I myself was leaning heavily towards 'No Surface All Feeling' but the pretty harp music won me over for the gorgeous 'Small Black Flowers'.

ooooof, instinct is to go for one of the last three songs but I may need a fresh listen to pick

one of the best-sounding rock records ever imo, both shiny and serrated

my fave would be "Elvis Impersonator" or "Everything Must Go"

voting 'kevin carter' for having the audacity to turn the story of a talented conflict photographer fatally haunted by the horror of what he documented into stadium mor with gibberish lyrics where the hook is just the name of the song's subject repeated over and over and over

obviously that is 2 thirds of the point of the Preachers

i like the "click click click click click"

and his death was only two years earlier, too!

it's the tribute he would have wanted

"Elvis Impersonator" may be the last willful evidence of a sense of humour that they recorded, albeit superblack bitter humour, the mid-tier stadium mor idol seeing exactly what his life means in the mirror-image dyed quiff of his alter ego

"Miss Europa Disco Dancer" is funny if you're Nicky Wire.

also "the future's fucked, fundamentally" are words to live by, or the other thing

on the other hand the galloping strings on the chorus of "Everything" totally remind me of "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" and it's their last best swoony tune

now many years have gone by since my teenage obsession with early manics into the holy bible, i'm pretty happy to call this their best album. by far. fantastic bsides too.

Further Away is great. but Design For Life is undeniable despite the overplay.

and yeah, absolutely wonderful production throughout

fantastic bsides too

all things considered it is wild how prolific they were at the time, especially fond of "Black Garden"

now many years have gone by since my teenage obsession with early manics into the holy bible, i'm pretty happy to call this their best album. by far. fantastic bsides too.

Yeah the teenaged me would never have entertained thinking this was a better album than THB but it's the record of theirs I feel the most emotional attachment to these days without a doubt.

Undecided but leaning towards Elvis Impersonator.

INTERIORS.

lol i was about to type “interiors” in all caps

alternately, “the girl who wanted to be god”

^ My second favourite.

I have to imagine that one caused some rockist jaws to drop at the time

I listen to this, Lifeblood, Futurology and Journal For Plague Lovers far more than the first three albums these days.

No Surface, All Feeling. Never really got into this album

yeah if I'm gonna honor my teen self I may have to go with NSAF, the hard-panned distorted ending gets me every time

one of the most melodic things they ever did

Nice activity in this thread! (It's the first time I ever posted a poll.)
I am hoping that every song will get voted for at least once. I do wonder if 'Australia' doesn't get enough credit/acclaim, hoping to be wrong there (I love it).

Always was puzzled at the similarity between 'Kevin Carter' and early Radiohead b-side 'The Trickster', both of which came out within months of each other

back to back I guess they don't sound that similar but I always heard them as the same

man, 22 years ago to the very month, 1st year of uni, took a train on my tod from liverpool to manchester to go the academy to see my top 2 extant bands at the time, manics and gorky's. holy bible was my favourite album of all time and i was in love with a design for life, had diligently bought both versions of the CD single. i guess the album had just come out and so i am sure i was listening to it en route. bought 2 different bad t-shirts from merch. both shows were really great, gorky's had more fans in the crowd than i expected. the manics played every song i really wanted to hear, including motown junk, and i loved all the new songs. the whole experience was just mind blowing, by miles and miles the best gig i had been to in my life to that point. i vividly remember the buzz on the train back. with perspective gained from the last 2 decades i can say with confidence that this album is bad and the songs on it are bad.

^ Nice activity

Kevin Carter is used as the theme for a current affairs programme in Wales, I feel like I've heard it a million times

Re: Roberto
That read like a lovely relatable anecdote - until the sudden twist ending.

i've never watched the Manics as a 3 piece and tho i still like this record if it was the kind of thing i listened to much of nowadays which it isn't really this was the last time when i could be arsed tbh

that shit happens. I saw Tool shows when i was 14 that made me feel like i'd taken some major hallucinogenics. i'd probably had a pint and a half of strongbow at best. with perspective gained from the last 2 decades i can say with confidence that i was AT A TOOL CONCERT TAKING TOOL SERIOUSLY :-(

Man, I used to cane This Is My Truth... as a sad miserablist 6th former. I'm not sure how I managed it

Kevin Carter is used as the theme for a current affairs programme in Wales

it's the tribute he would have wanted

I imagine most of the running time of the programme is taken up by the theme tune.

i'd say james was still writing some compelling stuff at that point, but its where more lyrical badness started. My Little Empire is a good example.

I am the only American I've ever met who listens to these guys. I'm sure there are others, but not many.

Interiors, easy

Kevin Carter is used as the theme for a current affairs programme in Wales

It was also used, slightly edited, as Kevin McCarra's theme tune on the Guardian Football Weekly podcast.

it's the tribute he would have wanted

it's the tribute he would've wanted

literally beat me by a second

Man, I used to cane This Is My Truth... as a sad miserablist 6th former. I'm not sure how I managed it

― brand new universal harvester (dog latin), Thursday, May 3, 2018 1:51 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm not sure how you managed it either. The majority of the times I've listened to it, I've barely made it halfway through. Like, many of the tracks are fine on their own, but even 20 years ago I was surprised at how much of a slog it was. Thankfully, they've made better records since.

funny I just relistened to TIMTTMY last niht and it sounded great - despite the length there's nothing I'd ditch beyond "You're Tender and You're Tired" and uh the lyrics of "S.Y.M.M."

I am the only American I've ever met who listens to these guys. I'm sure there are others, but not many.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, May 3, 2018 7:24 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i introduced my brother to the Manics back around the time this album was released and they're basically his favorite band of all time now.

i'm currently listening to the new one and it's really good. a shade below Futurology but pretty close. I agree with Turrican in that I really only listen to the post-Richey era, and i think they've really picked it up over the last several. I had written them off after KYE and Lifeblood, but they came back stronger.

TIMTTMY is the only Manics album I don't think much of. It wears me out with its length, its many slow songs and the droning music.
I don't see 'You're Tender (...)' as the worst offender by far though - that'd be 'I'm Not Working'.

I could probably do without all of these: Ready For Drowning, My Little Empire, I'm Not Working, Be Natural, Nobody Loved You, S.Y.M.M., and also band favourite You Stole The Sun From My Heart - they always play it, I never care for it.

Not sure about You're Tender And You're Tired.

I'd keep: Everlasting, If You Tolerate This, Tsunami, Born A Girl, Black Dog.
(And not start out with two long, slow songs in a row.)
Might be a nice EP in the end.

i'm currently listening to the new one and it's really good. a shade below Futurology but pretty close.

Seconded, I'm very impressed with Resistance Is Futile. And Futurology has in fact become my favourite Manics album - this band manages to have their 12th and 13th album rank among their best work in their impressive career (which IMO only includes one album that's mostly a dud).
My top 5 would be:

1.Futurology
2.Gold Against The Soul
3.Everything Must Go
4.Journal For Plague Lovers
5.Resistance Is Futile

I like 'You're Tender and You're Tired'!

I like it fine but it adds nothing to the album for me. I'd swap in "Prologue to History" to add some desperately needed energy. Then again, I love "I'm Not Working," so.

'Prologue to History' wouldn't have fit on the album. The thing about the 'Tolerate...' B-sides is that 'Prologue to History' and 'Montana/Autumn/78' give a taste of what the album could have been but never was.

everything must go

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Baffling that they never released Girl.. as a single. Would have made more sense than Kevin.. They had a crack at it with Stephen Hague which is much less your reverb/echo-heavy thing and more like something off Gold Against The Soul.

(i went with Girl Who Wanted To Be God)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

"Removables" is a pretty good In Utero ripoff.

I'd expected more votes for No Surface All Feeling, maybe for the title track as well. Design For Life wasn't on my personal shortlist to vote for but it's a deserved winner, it's quite the anthem and it still sounds amazing no matter how often I've heard it.

I'm a bit sad that Australia didn't get any votes at all. It was a contender for me. I love its escapist sentiment.

Still love Design For Life. I saw them play Wembley supporting the Stone Roses, their first post-Richey show. Remember clearly hearing them soundcheck with that song, how it carried on the air, and even absent the lyrics and all of that rage it immediately sounded like something huge for them