Manic Street Preachers - Resistance is Futile, Out 04/06/18 + UK Tour!

I get it now. Cheers, Diamond Dag.

 

I've enjoyed the CD very much. As a fan from the start I wasn't expecting or wanting a remake of Generation Terrorists.

It's a fine album, full of well written songs and is probably better than some of their more recent output.

On the UK chart side of things I see that the album didn't manage to hold off The Greatest Showman soundtrack and entered the charts at number 2.

Interestingly the sales of 24k were about 4K higher than first week sales for Futurology, which is not bad considering sales have decreased even over the last few years. About a quarter of those sales were vinyl which is impressive, probably boosted by the bundles sold via their website.

 

Judging by the last two albums on vinyl, I wouldn't expect any improvement in sound quality over the CD.

 

Well, I got it, and it does sound better than the CD, not by much, but slightly noticeable improvement in DR.

 

After listening to this I can't help feeling they need to shake things up a bit. I was thinking they need to flex their musical muscles and try a big 70's rock record ala The Who.

Resistance If Futile is very good, but I can't help thinking there is a sameness that they have been repeating since Lifeblood (not counting the throwback Journal For Plague Lovers.) For most bands this wouldn't be considered a bad thing, but those early records are so varied it's odd that they have kept the same template for a decade or more.

 

I feel the same about this album, they need to take a long break or do something very different

 

Futurology came out in 2014. That's a long break. Remember when bands put out two albums a year ?

One would be hard-pressed to name another band whose last four albums are as stylistically diverse as Postcards From A Young Man, Rewind The Film, Futurology and Resistance is Futile.

D.D.

 

That basically describes every slab of Manics vinyl. I guess we should take every slight DR improvment we can get, given how bad the digital versions are.

 

Giving this another spin right now. Distant Colours is a great song. One of their best, I'd say. It will sound fantastic live.

D.D.

 

Looks like this will get a US release:
Manic Street Preachers - Resistance Is Futile (Vinyl LP + CD)

Also, for the first time in their career the Manics play Mexico (Corona Festival in Nov). Hope this means US dates around the same time!

 

Been listening to this album A LOT lately - and I should be mainlining it all through this summer (it's gonna be my "summer of '18 record"), and not only does it get better and better, it coalesces into an ALBUM that works as a whole, like a good album should. While there some songs on it that are better than others, there's no "clear-cut, stand-out" tracks, or fillers that you skip. It's a theme album in the best way. Also, I've noticed how the sequencing is perfect. Probably the best sequenced MSP album yet. My only criticism still stands; that it's a bit over-produced and a bit too "poppy" for my taste - but the aesthetics fit the songs to a tee, so the production actually works.

James' guitar playing is just marvelous too - it doesn't hit you in the face at first, but he's doing some killer rhythm stuff on this album, and while he's not showing off with his solos, they fit the songs perfectly and tastefully. As usual, he's serving the songs and not his ego, like a lot of "guitar heroes" tend to.

I should mention that I recently heard the 3 bonus tracks from the Japanese release, and all three songs are great!
Two of them (Holding Patterns & Mirror Gaze) are as good as any other songs on the album, and would've fit nicely in there somewhere, and there's a mellow acoustic of "International Blue" that James just knocks out of the park with his singing - that would've made for a nice "hidden track". But alas, we get a tight 45-miute album rather than a (slightly) bloated 65-minute epic.

 

I like your assessment. I find that this is an album that I also want to play often like I did/ do with Futurology. Resiatance has done well in the UK, deservedly so. Highlights for me would be International Blue and Dylan and Caitlyn with a classic duet. I'll seek out the bonus tracks as I never buy just one format or version of Manics albums. They are a classic example of a band that produce quality b-sides. I did manage to snag a 7" International Blue thats supposedly pretty rare.

 

Happy to have one of those myself. Hoping they do a “Distant Colours” 7” with “Mirror Gaze” on, too.

 

I hope so too. I have to add that I'm in the usa so getting the 7" was a chore. Worth it though.

 

New video for People Give In



I must say, as a side note, I finally received the deluxe set two weeks ago and fell in love with it at first listen. I think this hasn't happened since Postcards from a Young Man back in 2010. I heard the singles many times before, but when I listened to them within the context of the full album I actually came to like them very much. I haven't listened to the demos yet because I want to give this album a month's worth of listen, but I've heard it about 12 times already and I'm loving it with every listen, not a single boring song in my opinion.
I understand why many might find this a little weak or not as good as the others, but it's something I really can't explain personally, but there are some albums I fall in love with I make instant connections with and I guess this is one of them. Definitely not one of the Manics' best albums, but for the last four or five albums they've been following a certain pattern of musical orchestrations, collaborations and even artistic imagery that I've always dug and love. I'm looking forward to the album in which they shift directions, but until then I would be a happy listener if they stuck to their guns, personally. One of my favorite albums this year!

 

I've only listened to it a couple of times and it didn't have much of an impact. Futurology is one of my favorite albums of the last 15-20 years, but Resistance Is Futile hasn't really hit a nerve yet. Maybe it'll come later. Any news about European dates?

 

So after listening to this album a lot now (all 17 (?) songs released for it), I have to say that my favorite song has to be the Japanese bonus track "Mirror Gaze". Too bad it's a Japanese-only track (it's not even on youtube - I may just upload it there), as it's a great freaking song, and would've fit well on the album proper, better than half the songs already on it. I think my least favorite song (besides the two sung by Wire - just don't like his voice) has to be Vivian.

Now I'm hearing that they have a bunch of songs written (not yet recorded) ready to go, so next album shouldn't be too far off.

 

Just saw them live at Beautiful Days and they were excellent. Like the new LP too.

 

Still no news about any European dates? I had also expected a "This Is My Truth" 2oth boxset/tour announcement by now! :-D

 

If you add Send Away The Tigers and Journal For Plague Lovers to that list then you pretty much have every type of great Manics album and an unrivalled latter half career renaissance.

For me, they’re now descending from that purple patch with the new album but it sounds like they struggled a bit to put it together with the start-stopping of the sessions due to their new studio. I guess they’ll return to form in 2020!

 

It's interesting, too, that Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood are considered their "problem" albums. Those albums definitely aren't in the same class as the records that came after, but there are artists with far, far worse career low points. I mean, they're hardly in Tonight or Never Let Me Down territory, are they?

I quite like Resistance Is Futile. I think it's biggest crime, though, is that it's just another Manics album. I felt that way about Postcards From a Young Man, as well, and though neither album is at all bad, they do lack that special something all their absolute best albums seem to have. If I had to define what that quality is, I'd say it's the sense that they're challenging themselves. Resistance and Postcards basically do something they and their fans know they're wholly capable of, and I've enjoyed both over many listens, but the results are always more satisfying when they pushing themselves a bit harder.

 

Agree that Resistance Is Futile sits with Postcards From A Young Man on that shelf of albums that aren't quite prime Manics. I think it's almost trendy to dump on Lifeblood but for all its gloss, it's a better record than most give it credit for. Some of my favorite Manics tracks are on there - Emily, Empty Souls and especially To Repel Ghosts. Know Your Enemy is a struggle for me - I think it collapses under the weight of its own ambitions and pretensions. It's like someone ran the band through a centrifuge, separated out their least-attractive aspects and said "Here you go. Run with it." Too much Nicky ? Might be time to take another run at this one...

D.D.

 

There's plenty I like about both Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood, even though neither would scratch my top five. Know Your Enemy could have been a strong 9-12 song album, but at over an hour long it's just too much, and worse, too much that blurs together. That said, I probably listen to it, or at least songs from it, more often than This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. In hindsight, Lifeblood might have actually been a better follow up to This Is My Truth, and I think they would have had a better idea what they wanted to do with Know Your Enemy after the catharsis of Journal for Plague Lovers.

All that said, I don't think they've done anything that was flat out embarrassing, which is pretty impressive for a band with 13 albums. If I were them, though, I'd put out another b-sides comp before heading back into the studio. There's an album's worth of excellent b-sides from Send Away the Tigers alone.

 

The general Manics discussion reminds me of a ‘lesser’ trodden path of their top tunes I made a while back:

Trumpet Keys (Alternate Route to Manics Street), a playlist by mitchellow on Spotify

 

I've been listening to this one a lot lately, and while I never disliked it, I have to say my appraisal has gone up quite a bit. It's definitely a better album than their most recent, and maybe better than the last four. Right now, I think I'd rank their output like so:

The Holy Bible
Everything Must Go
Journal for Plague Lovers
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
Send Away the Tigers
Lifeblood
Futurology
Know Your Enemy
Resistance Is Futile
Rewind the Film
Postcards from a Young Man
Gold Against the Soul
Generation Terrorists