What's an example of klezmer harmony on this? Never picked up on that influence.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 02:00 (three years ago) link
So, I do think the brief lead guitar break and solo in Archives of Pain are supposed to evoke a Klezmer dirge, probably more in approximation than any studied imitation. That's the one I had in mind, but... are there others? I thought there were several, but glancing at the tracklist now, I don't recall any others. Sorry to disappoint!
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 03:15 (three years ago) link
lol no worries
I do agree w brad that this perfect album sounds exceptionally perfect and prescient at this time. I think I've said this elsewhere but JDB's overall work on this album is unbelievable and that sometimes gets overlooked amidst the tragedy of it all.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 03:39 (three years ago) link
I think the view that it's James's masterpiece has been gaining traction? I haven't read much about this band tbh, at the time I was more plugged in most articles concerned the resentment of "old fans" toward new fans who got onboard with everything must go.
It's a major masterpiece album and James deserves a great deal of the credit for that, yeah.
Agreed that PCP is basically a postcript. It's the lightest track on there by far. Probably a necessary measure.
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 04:18 (three years ago) link
relistening once more and freshly in awe of the solo in "This Is Yesterday", a moment of theatrical uplift worthy of Queen
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 04:51 (three years ago) link
This Is Yesterday is my favourite track on the LP.
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 5 April 2020 06:34 (three years ago) link
"why do anything when you can forget everything?" kills me every fuckin time
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 06:50 (three years ago) link
"fuck the brady bill" was inspired by the "left" libertarian canard that the bill was intended to strip gun rights from poor african americans. [citation needed]
― Paperbag raita (ledge), Sunday, 5 April 2020 08:06 (three years ago) link
this is yesterday is probably my favorite track on the album too. i was taking a walk the other week and listening to THB and the line simon quotes just crushed me. and yeah it is definitely JDB's album as much as richey's, he really took the challenge of those lyrics (some of which probably seemed virtually unsingable) and ran with them. it's on a whole other level than any other manics album (tho i'm enough of a fan that i can find something to love about all of them).
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 08:15 (three years ago) link
I'm amazed by artists like JDB and Elton John that routinely write to other people's lyrics. I'm only an amateur songwriter but I find my lyrics and music are always informing each other, and the ability to change one to suit to other seems crucial
And I agree that many of Richie's lyrics look unsingable on the page, so that's an even greater feat in JDB's case
― Vinnie, Sunday, 5 April 2020 11:10 (three years ago) link
his geetar playing is totally unreal throughout too
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link
"fuck the brady bill" was inspired by the "left" libertarian canard that the bill was intended to strip gun rights from poor african americans. (citation needed)
the language might be blunt but "gun control efforts by a racist system disproportionately impacts black people" is a pretty defensible take
https://blogs.ischool.berkeley.edu/w231/2018/02/27/racial-bias-in-the-national-instant-criminal-background-check-system/
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
It may be Richie’s brainchild, but JDB’s soul carries the vision. Wouldn’t have worked otherwise.
― Mule, Sunday, 5 April 2020 15:34 (three years ago) link
The way that they force the lyrics to fit the vocal melodies has always struck me as pretty singular and something I'm surprised doesn't get mentioned more. (I know only their early albums and have no idea if they continued doing this.)
― visiting, Sunday, 5 April 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
oh they did
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 April 2020 17:06 (three years ago) link
yes it just evolved from "how do I make a song from this inscrutable polemic" to "how do I make a song from nicky wire listing off his collection of posters"
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 April 2020 17:16 (three years ago) link
"fuck the brady bill" was inspired by the "left" libertarian canard that the bill was intended to strip gun rights from poor african americans. (citation needed)the language might be blunt but "gun control efforts by a racist system disproportionately impacts black people" is a pretty defensible take
. That's a convincing take on the line in the context of the song. So the idea is Sam Colt made men equal (to one another). It was another footnote after all...
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 19:07 (three years ago) link
Dissing the guy who inadvertently video taped the Kennedy assassination seems uncalled for tho - any ideas what that one's about?
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
'Assassination porn' is my best guess.
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 19:15 (three years ago) link
Like, comparing the fascination with the Zapruder tape to pornography. Abraham Zapruder was the first to watch it in private. Idk.
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 19:24 (three years ago) link
like being able to watch the crucifixion on repeat
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 April 2020 19:27 (three years ago) link
Wow. Glad I asked, thx Brad
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 5 April 2020 19:58 (three years ago) link
Been thinking about this album and thread in the last couple of days (I don't dare listen, it's like opening pandora's box). Assumed the prescience referred to had something to do with covid-19 LOL. Not sure why I thought that since the conversation here highlights its relevance to this particular moment: That reducing everything to opposing dualities/binaries is bullshit and reality is a clusterfuck. Duh. Embarrassingly slow on the uptake. I mean, I don't even call myself a liberal.
I'm very slow at everything including reading, so I don't read a lot of books. But there were two periods in my life when I read a book every 2 or 3 days. The first one was in the 8th grade, this was the only album in the world that mattered, it was all-enveloping so I went online and found a list of Richey's favorite books and read almost all of them over a period of some months. The thing is, that seems to be the common narrative, seems to be everyone's story about about this record. And people talk about this like it's embarrassing, like it's not absolutely incredible that maybe tens of thousands of kids responded to this album that way.
In terms of the emotional/psychological impact, no other rock music was the same combination of bleak and immersive. I never listened to a lot of metal and the only other music that came close to that for me was gangsta rap. Like I said, I don't dare play this album in certain moods because it's so potent, it usually puts me in a deep funk. But I'm glad that I was 13 and not 35 when I heard this. It's much harder now for music to penetrate like that.
― Deflatormouse, Wednesday, 8 April 2020 00:43 (three years ago) link