- Artists:
- Manic Street Preachers »
- Label:
- Columbia Records »
It’s ironic, obviously? The days of Manic Street Preachers being ‘Underdogs’_ in any sense of the expression are long gone. Then again, if this track is indicative of where they’re going with Send Away The Tigers, their new album due in May, then perhaps they’re intentionally working their way back into rock ‘n’ roll obscurity, into the fog of the forgotten.
To be as succinct as possible, ‘Underdogs’ is atrocious, embarrassing and utterly inessential – neither fans nor newcomers should take to it, whatever their past investment, and one-of-three Nicky Wire’s claim that the song’s a return to the band’s halcyon Generation Terrorists days is so far wide of the mark that he must’ve been talking about another record. That or he’s as disillusioned as those who still feel the Manics have something vital up their sleeves.
Unappealingly basic of structure and retarded of lyric – “this is for the freaks,” repeats James Dean Bradfield over ‘n’ over like any freaks out there give a fuck about something so depressingly substandard – this song should be tossed into a pit of starving hungry dogs and consumed like last night’s leftovers. It has no place in the make-up of modern music, regardless of its free download status. You’d have to get paid to listen to this toss.
Download the song for free, if you must, here
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Manic Street Preachers
tell us what you
really think
i agree with the sentiment...
but i also agree with the first response. seems a bit like verbal masturbation here and rather predictable...
...much like the track i guess. Lyrically the song is a complete disaster. embarrassing in fact. but musically, it's far from the worst thing in the world.
the new single proper is great however and some of the album tracks off the sampler are great. again though the lyrics really do ruin something being potentially amazing. pass the duties onto Jimmy Dee Bee.
i really want to download this now
just to hear quite how bad it is...
Generation Conmen
They were always all mouth no trousers, and if you listened to the way they talked about themselves during those 'halcyon days' you'd think they were making the likes of 'Never Mind The Bollocks', rather than the never-more-than-slightly-punky soft rock reality. Motown Junk was good. It was a LONG time ago, and JDB proved himself a good emotive balladeer, but the babble about being important and world changing....never.
importance
They stopped being conmen the days they created 'The Holy Bible' and 'Everything Must Go'
There's a reason fans and critics still do give them a chance with every new album, and that's because if you've made those two albums then you're almost forgivable for anything.
Even 'The Love of Richard Nixon'.
Conmen they aren't. Desperate maybe, but we can let them off.
This really is dreadful
...and the Manics have a 10 on my profile. Fortunately, the 'proper' new single is much better...
...
oh god its bad
^Absolutely agreed with Richey^
Except that I rate 'Gold Against The Soul' way above 'Everything Must Go'. But this is moot: there IS a reason people love them so much. It just has nothing to do anything that's happened in the last 9 years.
I like this song
so I feel like a right wanker now, naturally
The music's not that bad at all,
but the lyrics are fucking dreadful. I don't agree with the 2/10 score, 5/10 would have been fairer perhaps?
It's like the man say, though - you've got it, then you lose it, and it's gone for good.
And they quoted Hanif Kureishi on their website. Which I did in a recent mailout. The same fucking quote. So people'll think I nicked it off them. BASTARDS.
turn it around...
they nicked it from YOU.
I'll back you up
it was
on their myspace
and it is dreadful! laughably so.
it's not great
but i really rated Lifeblood and the new single with nina pearson is pretty good.
so i'm hopeful.
also
the shot themselves in the foot with the singles they chose to release from Lifeblood.
Though that may have been Sony's decision as opposed to their own.
Agreed.
Bar "The Love Of Richard Nixon" Lifeblood is much better than people gave it credit for, nowhere near their best, but still better than the two albums before it. 1985 was the best song they had done in a while.
As for this song I agree with the general consensus here, lyrically it is embarrassing (Bradfield really should start taking over more here) but musically not bad, however it does not fill me with hope for the album.
However, the proper single, with the woman from the Cardigans is excellent.
I think you do not mean
disillusioned? Rather the opposite...?!
Anyway, youre wrong the songs really really great...its like the best thing theyve ever written...who longs for them richey james days now?
I'm kind of confused
I thought this was a fan only release?
the song is
pretty fucking silly but tuneful punk. which is exactly what Generation Terrorists was in the cold light of day. reminds me of Love's Sweet Exile without the 'orrible solos. they've done worse in better times and this download is more a wee gift to the remaining hardcore fans than anything... it's not bashing you over the head with the self-importance of a comeback single. so it seems like people are just determined to hate them. daft little rocker, 2/10? what exactly are they supposed to do, you know? they get shat on for being pompous, but the knives are still out when they have a bit of fun? the message seems like: don't sound like you're as old as you are... but don't dare try and sound as young as you're not? if they can't win in the eyes of so many, then they ARE Underdogs aren't they? i don't know. this IS the worst song on the album, for what it's worth.
Lifeblood
... has "1985" on it. That in itself makes it worth having...
Interestin how these days it's bash the Manics time
they 're in their 30's and millionaires - don't expect them to have that teen angst that reached it's pinnacle on the Holy Bible, it can't possibly exist any longer.
What we do have are a handful of songs on all their albums that piss on most of todays current indie scenesters from a great height - and as others have mentioned, each album has one or two songs that are so fucking good it justifies the existence of the whole album
I've got the new album - it's definitely a return to their rock roots. Some of the lyrics ( unfortunately ) are pretty cringe worthy but JDBs voice is immense and the songs are good. At first I was disappointed but it's growing with repeat plays, even features "son of Design for Life" .....and it's bound to get panned in the Press because it's the trendy thing to do and doesn't have that post - rock smell to it.
Diver is well off the mark here
Why does Nicky Wire still write the lyrics?
It's obvious he's run out of ideas, and he's just not very good at it anymore.
I agree that you can't doubt JDB's musical and singing abilities - despite the many misfires over the years, he's quite literally worked miracles with some of the lyrics he's been given (could anyone else have turned Richey's bilious outpourings on 'The Holy Bible' into memorable songs?), and the Manics' success in general has been thoroughly deserved on the back of his ear for a massive, massive tune - but increasingly since 'Everything Must Go' they've sounded less and less comfortable and natural, almost like they're deliberately trying to make everything they do sound forced and hamfisted... Which is, to a formerly rabid devotee such as myself, really fucking depressing.
I don't think it's a question of people expecting them to emulate previous glories - I don't think ANYONE could make an album that touched The Holy Bible for lyrical brutality x jagged musicality x total personal breakdown hell factor. How could anyone expect that? More importantly, who in their right mind would WANT them to try and relive what must have been a pretty distressing period in the band's personal history, to say the very least?
The problem is that it's the MANICS who keep making the comparisons to former glories, and it's starting to wear a bit thin. Not to mention the fact that it makes them seem a teensy bit desperate to please people - and surely that, crucially, was never the point of the Manic Street Preachers?
ref The Holy bible
I agree, what JDB did with those lyrics
was pretty extraordinary - so twisted it took me many listens to get my head round them.
Well reasoned post Seymour
'the trendy thing to do'
If you knew me, you'd know I've never alligned myself with anything considered 'trendy', at any time, ever. Be it music, fashion, drinks, looks, girls, magazines, films... try as hard as I might to be cool, I am a geek through and through, and geeks just can't keep pace with trends.
I dislike this because it is an awful, awful song. I like(d) the Manics, a lot. Their albums are not yet relegated to cardboard boxes/the top shelf/my basement - they're out for all to see. But this is really, really bad.
I get the lyrics. I get the song. I understand who it's aimed at. Years ago it would have been aimed at me. Perhaps I grew up. I'm glad I did, to be honest.
I never had a girlfriend when I liked the Manics... actually that's a lie: I went WITH my girlfriend the last time I saw them.
Anyway, yeah. Bad song. End of.
LOL
Hope you're not suggesting that the Manics were directly related to you not having a girlfriend Diver.
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