MANSUN: Classic or Dud?

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Appropos of absolutely nothing, I just threw on Mansun's ATTACK OF THE GREY LANTERN from way back in `96, and despite their penchant for silly song titles ("Take It Easy, Chicken," "EGG SHAPED FRED"?!?!), their predeliction for deplorable album cover art (see SIX, which made Marillion look respectable by comparison), and their thoroughly crap named (a truncation of the Verve track, "A Man Called Sun," I'm told) I still think they had something. Are they actually quite good to your ears, or are they simply, as someone wrote, merely the Fixx of the 90's (which to some might even be a compliment)? Do tell.....

― Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I wanted to like them (not sure why: I think it's the droogie misspelt-lookin'-but-what-might-they-mean quality of their name) but one listen to something right around '96 seemed pretty hollow. I gotta slow connection, name the one song I oughta hit up mp3-wise and I'll go honour some o' that fire when I get home from work

― John Darnielle, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I was delighted to see this thread set up. I have a special place in my heart for the bombastic prog silliness of Mansun and Muse - Mansun in particular. They were a big early-teen obsession of mine, but I too still think they definitely had something. Ludicrously over-the- top production and daft tempo and texture changes - but all underpinned with real pop savvy. "Little Kix" was more conventional and polished, but wasn't great. "Six" and "Attack..." are great fun. Still have "...Lantern" on cd but have lost my cd copy of six. Am left only with a cassette copy my brother made which leaves out the hilarious, daft, brilliant spoken-word mid-album intro "Witness to a Murder". Pah!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hmmm...there's a few classics you could choose from. Wide Open Space is great, so is Naked Twister. Theres two songs on Six called "Inverse Midas" and "Anti-Everything" that flow straight into each other - methinks this is the finest piece of Mansun music-making so dig it up!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I was once a huge fan. I was even familiar with their rather ropy b- sides output at one stage. As such, it's difficult to gain perspective now that I've been 'cured', as it were. They did have something, alright, but what it is isn't easy to tell. I played some of their songs the other day myself, and I can't say it was a very enjoyable experience. I seem to remember Mansun fans praising Six's rawness, but it was the most over-produced thing I'd heard in eons. And as for Paul Draper's hilariously childish lyrics. Avoid, if like me, you don't want to find yourself cringing at your teenage folly.

― Shane, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Awful lyrics, bad hair, ridiculous over-production, pretentious but with little intelligence to back it up, concept albums (!), and hideous prog-indulgence. My best mate at uni was obsessed with them, and I bought Lantern and Six to appease him and make him shut the fuck up about them. I wish I hadn't. I've still got them somewhere. I think the second-hand shop beckons.

― Nick Southall, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I would like to like them. I like their mad ambition, and I like the way they manage to sound both punk and prog on the same track. But I haven't definitively decided whether they're any good or not.

but thanks for this thread, you've reminded me that they're coming to Dublin and if I play my cards right I could get to see them.

― DV, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Six", I think is absolutely great. I remember when I first heard it, it was such a blast, & so far away from other dreary corporate NME guitar fodder at the time. I don't much like anything apart from "Six" - one of the b-sides to "I can Only Disappoint U", "The Golden Stone" is really really nice, in a kind ov Bowie/Hammill way. I wonder if the retreat from mad proggery on "Little Kix" was due to rekord company pressure.

― Norman Phay, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Attack of the Grey Lantern is a great fuckin' album. The lyrics are terrible but I don't give a damn with how lovely the production is. An album that is much more then the sum of its parts due largely to the segues and shifts in rhythm. (You need the UK version, Alex. Mucho better sequencing!) Six, on the other hand, had way too much plodding wankery to it.

― bnw, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What was so bad about the Six album cover? It just seemed pretty plain and ordinary to me......no big deal either way, I thought.

― patrick, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

You might have seen the American one, which is rather plain. The UK one is distinctly different.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, go back and have a look. It's awful. It's badly drawn, has pretentions of abstract art, looks like one of those crap pictures of steps that always go upwards but go round on a square/circle without ever going down, etcetera, it REFERENCES ALL THE SONG TITLES, they've drwan in some really pretentious books that the guy is reading, oh good lord it makes me squirm.

― Nick Southall, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It was different in the US? Lucky bastards.

― Nick Southall, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It seems to have Doctor Who in the background. It can't be all that bad.

― thom, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oh grr.

I listened to 'Attack..' for the first time in ages the other day, actually. I remember listening to it obsessively for a bit a few years back trying to figure out whatinole whas going on: why is the vicar in every other track? Who's this Mavis woman?

Today's opinion: good hooks and good tunes, but since whatever they're going on about is utterly impossible to decipher the songs just come across as a dozen variations on "we're a bit mad, us. Strippers! Priests! Stripper priests!" which isn't bad in itself per se but does get a bit wearying.

― thom, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I like Wide Open Space very much... I thought it was Tears for Fears at first listen.

― brian, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I wanted to like them too. Have the first two, and never ever play them. Way overproduced, way way too much like Tears for Fears. And yes, the album cover stinks. I guess I should sell mine.

― Sean, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, the US cover must be very different from the UK cover! I've not seen the one you are talking about.....mine is rather plain....downright drab and minimal, really.

― patrick, Tuesday, 7 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

saw them in mancnchester on saturday night. they played for an hour, did 6 new tedious songs, got the audience to do that clap over the head movement, and they had the shoddiest set/light show i ever did see. the six album was great, the debut had it's moments, the last one was over-produced swill, and they're about 2 be booted off parlophone. good riddance.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

didn't devoto attempt to collaborate with this band ? did it not work out ? i think there are demos of some of that stuff (but i don't know)

― George Gosset, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

they did a song together which sounded exactly like Iron Maiden.

in fact, most of Six sounds like 7th son era maiden done really shit.

― Wyndham Earl, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

eleven months pass...

Just heard on the radio that Mansun have decided to split, see the official Mansun website for a statement.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 2 May 2003 17:39 (twenty-two years ago)

And the cries of millions weren't heard.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 2 May 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

This is one of those break-up announcements where it's shocking to find out that the band was still around in the first place.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 2 May 2003 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

They took Sinead O'Connor's cue, apparently.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 2 May 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

......so, whatever you do, if you see a member of Mansun on the street for the LOVE OF COMMON DECENCY LEAVE HIM ALONE. Don't ye all rush at him, hounding him for autographs, disturbing him as he goes to sign on the dole all at once.LEAVE STOVE ALONE!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 2 May 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Seriously, this was the kind of band I was more or less supposed to like. I tried and I tried, and I really liked the concept of mixing Britpop with prog. Only trouble was, the songs just didn't work. The melodies simply weren't strong enough.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 2 May 2003 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought mansun's melodies were very strong, but their last album was an absolute turd. i saw them live less than a year ago, and they were not so good. chad had put on so much weight it was frightening, the new songs were drivel, and they were barely on stage for 45 minutes. i liked the first two albums, but it's (sniff) for the best.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 2 May 2003 22:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I still play their first album. I don't think the melodies were the problem so much as the completely daft lyrics.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 2 May 2003 23:12 (twenty-two years ago)

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