The Album Club: Hard Reset

[Lexi Darling]

Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible

This was excellent! Really enjoyed the guitar work especially, really great riffs that sound like an interesting mix of flashy vintage rock and the dirtier 90s style. The songs really bounce and pop, even though it has a clearly sinister and twisted vibe to it. The vocalist has an enjoyable snarl to his vocals that I wasn't as hot on at first but he grew on me a lot over the course of the album. I should have listened to this back in the late 2000s when I first heard of it through MB, just never got around to it. I regret that haha, this feels like it's somewhere in the middle of old school punk, 90s indie/alt and 70s glam rock, but somehow I kinda feel a maybe even more timeless vibe from it? But whatever the subgenre this is just a straight up great rock album that did what very few albums do for me these days and actually made me want to listen to the whole thing again right away. Thank you SGR for the great nomination!

[DJChameleon]

Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible


I listened to this on Tuesday but just getting around to the review now. I loved it in the beginning for like the first five tracks or so then it started to all feel the same to me. I had to start paying more attention to the lyrics to decipher the different tracks. When I listen to music, I mostly focus on the instrumentation and the beats(Hip Hop related). I enjoyed the album as a whole though and the last track made me think of Green Day and reminded me that I needed to get back into listening and working through all the Green Day albums.



I see why this album is acclaimed in the indie blog circles.

[Lexi Darling]

Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible


I listened to this on Tuesday but just getting around to the review now. I loved it in the beginning for like the first five tracks or so then it started to all feel the same to me. I had to start paying more attention to the lyrics to decipher the different tracks. When I listen to music, I mostly focus on the instrumentation and the beats(Hip Hop related). I enjoyed the album as a whole though and the last track made me think of Green Day and reminded me that I needed to get back into listening and working through all the Green Day albums.



I see why this album is acclaimed in the indie blog circles.

I feel you, it definitely does kinda sink into a formula after a while. I was listening to it while ironing and sewing and not really paying attention to where each track began and ended, to me it was all just dope riff after dope riff. If I were listening to it doing nothing else I can see it starting to wear thin toward the end for sure.

[DJChameleon]

Changing Landscapes (Zompopa) - Arthur King (Toy Revolver) - Starts August 7th


This is the current album. I will change the OP a little bit later on tonight.

[Lisnaholic]

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible.

There was something about this album that reminded me of a mid-career Beatles album. They have in common being packed with excellent fast-tempo pop/rock songs. In the case of the Beatles, it was George Martin's ambition (I think) that every track should be strong enough to be a single, and if a market for singles still exists, there's an album-ful of them on The Holy Bible.

I struggled to follow the lyrics, but I liked the guy's voice, and as I usually do, I was more focused on the guitars, which really were top-quality throughout. Perhaps they could've been allowed to escape from the 4-5 min pop-song structures more often. On Archives of Pain we get a hint of how that would've sounded. Something else that I would have liked to hear more of is the instrumental intro to Mausoleum: so good, but only 10 seconds long   But instead, Manic Street Preachers keep their songs short and keep the intensity level high. The track This Is Yesterday provides about the only calmer moment, but there are no places were the album actually flags or loses pace at all. If there's a low point, I'd chose Revol, which struck me as being not as interesting as the rest.

My only complaint is the spoke-word samples that start several tracks: my experience is that those things get irritating quite quickly - and can date a song really fast if they include (as here) mentions of Mrs.Thatcher or other political figures. So I was annoyed when I heard an industrial-type vocal start the track The Intense Humming of Evil, but in fact the band redeemed themselves completely when the song-proper began: it has a convincingly industrial vibe and is one of the most interesting tracks of all imo.

So yeah, great album from start to finish: 9/10. 

[Lisnaholic]

I feel you, it definitely does kinda sink into a formula after a while. I was listening to it while ironing and sewing and not really paying attention to where each track began and ended, to me it was all just dope riff after dope riff. If I were listening to it doing nothing else I can see it starting to wear thin toward the end for sure.

I always write my reviews first, then go back and read what other people have said about the album. You and DJ both make a very good point here, so I'd like to mention that I was feeling the same and stopped tha album about halfway through. Then I came back to it, refreshed, and enjoyed it more, if anything. So again, it reminded me of how I used to listen to early Beatles albums: they were guaranteed to deliver great songs, so you could just put them on at any point and listen for as long as you want - not like some fancy prog concept album which requires something different from the listener.

And yes, Mrs. Waffles, thanks for mentioning the dirty sound, the riffs, the influences, etc so that people don't get the wrong impression (from me) that The Holy Bible sounds like sixties pop.

[SGR]

Sorry for the delay, I'll get my review of Warsaw Village Band up soon

[DJChameleon]

Sorry for the delay, I'll get my review of Warsaw Village Band up soon

No problem after you drop your review. I will slide you up to full member from associate.

[DJChameleon]

just a friendly reminder it would be cool if people suggested two albums that they would like the album club to listen to.

[SGR]

Warsaw Village Band - People's Spring

This is interesting stuff. Gotta say, not familiar with polish folk. And to be honest, the music here didn't resonate with me on any personal level. The language of course wasn't English, so I couldn't connect on that level either. It all felt very foreign, and maybe that's part of the point. This music isn't representative of an American experience or cultural backdrop - far from it. If anything, it sounds more middle eastern in its guitar work and vocal performances. I gotta say, the strings tired on me - and many of the songs, despite the foreign and alien aesthetic (to me personally), mostly felt very monotone. There's just not a lot of variety in the sound textures here. It all starts to blend together.

That said, interesting album - not something I'd ever likely listen to of my own accord, and I can appreciate it for giving me a taste of something different.

I just think I don't get it. Or at least, it will take me more time until I do.

6/10

[SGR]

Yeesh, I've written about The Holy Bible seemingly endless times at this point - should I really do it again?

[Lexi Darling]

just a friendly reminder it would be cool if people suggested two albums that they would like the album club to listen to.

Sure, here's my two picks:
Emerald Web - Dragon Wings and Wizard Tales (1979)
King Gorm - King Gorm (2020)

Both kind of sum up the vibe I've been feeling these past few days. The latter is a fairly obscure release from a band that features a synth youtuber I follow but it's on YT if you search.

[Lisnaholic]

It was very interesting to read your honest, first-timer's review of People's Spring, SGR. Thanks for giving the album a go even if it's not something you'd ordinarily pick out for yourself. Can't argue with any of the points you make, and I especially agree with what you say about a lack of variety in their sound. Pretty much like I said in my own review, there are several tracks that just seem to recycle the same formula and wear you down as a listener.

Yeah, it's true: a song with foreign-language vocals tells you right out of the gate that there's gonna be a cultural level missing between you and the song. For me, that's not always an obstacle: I just think of the voice as being another instrument and enjoy the music the way I might with any instrumental track.

 

Yeesh, I've written about The Holy Bible seemingly endless times at this point - should I really do it again?

This comment intrigued me, SGR, so I went to our sister-website (or should it be birth-mother website) and discovered that there was a whole Manic Street Preachers thread, opened in 2007. Here's just a couple of things that you put in that thread:-

I think my favorite Manics song would be...maybe Of Walking Abortion...

I recently managed to win an autographed LP of the Holy Bible on eBay. I won't lie, this is like my holy grail of LPs and oh yeah, it's gonna be framed.

So you're clearly a long-time admirer of this album!

[SGR]

It was very interesting to read your honest, first-timer's review of People's Spring, SGR. Thanks for giving the album a go even if it's not something you'd ordinarily pick out for yourself. Can't argue with any of the points you make, and I especially agree with what you say about a lack of variety in their sound. Pretty much like I said in my own review, there are several tracks that just seem to recycle the same formula and wear you down as a listener.

Yeah, it's true: a song with foreign-language vocals tells you right out of the gate that there's gonna be a cultural level missing between you and the song. For me, that's not always an obstacle: I just think of the voice as being another instrument and enjoy the music the way I might with any instrumental track.

Yup, that's exactly how I approach foreign vocals as well, but the thing with that is that the vocal performance has to sound pleasing from a vocal standpoint if I can't understand the lyrics (or at least contrast with the music in a way that's interesting or pleasing). I didn't really get that from People's Spring - compared to something like this that hits the mark in both ways for me:

This comment intrigued me, SGR, so I went to our sister-website (or should it be birth-mother website) and discovered that there was a whole Manic Street Preachers thread, opened in 2007. Here's just a couple of things that you put in that thread:-

So you're clearly a long-time admirer of this album!

Oh yes, long time admirer of the album and the band. It's my favorite album of all time. I even got the chance to see them perform the whole album in its entirety during the 20th anniversary tour during their short leg in the US. They don't come to the US that frequently anymore, so it was an absolutely special experience. They killed it too. I even got the chance to heckle them a bit with 'PLAY NIXON!!" (referencing "The Love of Richard Nixon", from Lifeblood) - they didn't play it haha

[Lisnaholic]

That's great that you got to hear such a favourite album done live. "...don't come to the US that frequently...": I was surprised to discover that MSP are from Wales!

Yup, that's exactly how I approach foreign vocals as well, but the thing with that is that the vocal performance has to sound pleasing from a vocal standpoint if I can't understand the lyrics (or at least contrast with the music in a way that's interesting or pleasing). I didn't really get that from People's Spring - compared to something like this that hits the mark in both ways for me:

Yes, absolutely agree about the vocal has to sound right. Your example works well because the voice blends right in, and in fact there isn't a lot of singing in the song - so song structure plays a part too: I don't think I'd want to listen to a foreign-language equivalent to Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands for example; it's long and repetitive and it's only the meaning of the words that hold your interest.