UK vs US: Manic Street Preachers - UK Institution, US Never Charted
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- Another great example of an artist I love who's huge across the pond, but relatively unknown in the US. The Manic Street Preachers are a stadium level band overseas with 13 top 10 albums including five #2 albums and two #1 albums. They've never charted in the US. Plus they have one of the most interesting histories of rock lore with the disappearance of Richey Edwards. So lets review The Manic Street Preachers.
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Great band- I have never seen an American show the Manics before! Thank you for the video.
Thanks so much - yea - I'm a fan and an ever increasing fan.
Great review Alan! I never realised the Manics weren't that popular in the US. All the alternative radio stations and clubs played them, and I saw them at Webster Hall about 12 years ago. A lot of people in the audience were waving Welsh flags, which I think the band really appreciated. To me, they were huge. I'm shocked to learn they never made the US charts.
That's so cool you saw them at Webster Hall - cool venue. But yea - amazing not a charting album in the US.
i remember hearing about this band. not sure if i ever listened to them. feel like i must've heard a song or two. that’s pretty wild story bout the one dude disappearing. reppin’ the Second Coming shirt - right on!
Watching your interview got me in the mood - love that shirt - so awesome. Really good band by the way. ...but still a work in progress for me - still so much in the backlog from them.
I listened to a few Manic songs, and I'm afraid they were a bit meh for me. A band in search of a tune, generally. But a good looking vocalist, if that counts. Not really for me.
But that is one of the big problems. In my day (but "It isn't my day" - Amy McDonald, great songwriter), we listened to an album ten times before discarding it. We had invested our money; we wanted our money's worth. And if it really didn't strike a chord after ten listenings, we passed it on.
Now, I go on TH-cam. I listen to four of five songs for 30 seconds. Yep, I really find them interesting. Or "maybe" - might be worth another listen. Or anything else, scratch them from the list of possibilities.
But we have so many choices nowadays and we don't listen in depth - or at least I don't. Instant reaction - green, orange or red, and rarely green. There are so many possibilities, and so few bands we really give a chance.
Or is it that so very few bands deserve a chance. They are just a bunch of noises adjacent to the next bunch of noises chasing a record contract by sounding like everybody else.
I don't know the answer. But I know that I gave far more attention to crap bands than they deserved in the 70s, and I am strongly inclined not to bother now.
Yep, I'll die, but I'm not convinced that several generations behind me will hold a different view. Where is the band that sounds truly different but also stuns its audience on the spot? This is not a rhetorical question.
I’m glad you gave them a shot. Sorry didn’t appeal to you. As you know for a new album to make it into my collection I have to listen to it at least 5 times. Many new artists get tossed. We get pickier as we get older. Plus time isn’t so much on our side anymore. And music imprints on us more when we’re younger and more impressionable.
I've never really listened to them that much but know they are very popular here. Maybe its the vocals with me not being distinctive enough. Great series you covering. the Ultimate band for many of us this side of the pond that never made it in the states is T.rex . Probably not your thing but a very talented star and very influential on many who followed
Thanks so much - yes T. Rex would be a great choice. I only have a couple of their albums which are pretty good IMHO. I don't have enough of their albums probably to do a video though at this point. Thanks again.
@southsheff I think James Bradfield (Manics) is a terrific singer but each to their own. You’re probably only familiar with a handful of their later radio friendly songs.
@@jimmycampbell78 I'm confused - I have 11 Manic Street Preachers albums and so far I really like them. That's why I did the video.....
@@TheAlanRosenbergShow I was replying to @southsheff's post above. Apologies I was on another mobile device earlier and when I reply on that it doesn't show exactly who I am replying to...
@@jimmycampbell78 No apology needed - maybe I was in the wrong place - just wanted to clarify - thanks so much and I love communication between the viewers - always hope for a little community to go back n forth. Thanks so much.
Another fine showcasing! I can't really think of a Welsh band that made it big in the U.S. I don't think The Stereophonics or Super furry Animals have either and Budgie were probably only known by hard rock fans. Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey must be the best known Welsh artists?
Thanks. Yea you’re right. Neither Stereophonics or Super Furry Animals went beyond cult status. I occasionally see Stereophonics CDs for cheap but never gave them a shot. I know of them. I know their singer joined the Who at Albert hall on my dvd. What albums do you recommend?
@@TheAlanRosenbergShow Word Gets Around is probably considered their best but I like 'Far From Saints' s/t much more, it's Kelly Jones with Texan Patty Lynn and Dwight Baker, a really good album.
@@markspooner1224 Thanks so much - hitting a record show Sunday and on occasion I see Stereophonics for cheap. I know they have a great reputation and if Kelly Jones can sing with The Who - gotta be something there. Best, Alan
Catatonia? I used to hear Mulder and Scully and Road Rage a lot on US alternative radio, still do occasionally.
@@carybenjaminportway I dare say that Bonnie Tyler got/get's some airplay too.
I've heard of them.But that's all but I nevr got into punk though.I'll check them out on Spotify
Hi Alan - hows it going. Sorry I havent been around, been away in Melbourne on holiday. As for the Manics - excellent band but another mystery as to their failure to chart in America. To English, to smart no idea. Tragic story re Richie Edwards but they did amazingly well to carry on and be so successful. Am not all in on them but I have best of and Rewind the Film. Similar Wings Mull Of Kintyre - No1 in the UK and Europe - America just didnt get it - go figure lolol. Cya Doug
Wow Doug - Mull Of Kintyre - what a great topic.....Wasn't that like the biggest single in the UK of all time for awhile. Here in the US, pretty much unknown, except for McCartney fans. I love that song too. So cool. Though it is a mystery why it was soooooo big. But yea very cool track. Thanks.
That T-shirt...... I'm so old that it's hard enough for the first coming much less the second coming 😂😂 Familiar with the band, but never gave them too much listening time. PS Ritchie lives down the block from me. He has a lawn care service 😮
lol- Richey lives down the block from you.. Funny I heard he was practicing voodoo over at Marie Lavaous House Of Voodoo.
@@TheAlanRosenbergShow He works there part time on weekends. I think the Stones set list is becoming set. Not expecting too many changes here on our. I do hope for some surprises, however.
Ocean colour scene is unknown.
Certainly relatively unknown here in the US. A cult band here at best.
Have a look at Wolf Alice, Alan.
Never heard of Wolf Alice - I'll research - thanks.
Ocean Colour Scene
I love Ocean Colour Scene and I've never met anyone here in the States that love them or even know them. Yea - I'll do them on an episode of US vs UK.
What album should I start with
I would start with Forever Delayed - which is an earlier greatest hits collection. It was my first by them and drew me in to their music.
The studio album you should start with is Everything Must Go.
@@jimmycampbell78 Yea - that one or This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours .
Given more credit than they deserved. Good band, but hardly an institution. Over-hyped by a fawning UK "music" press
Interesting. They definitely got lots of press Q magazine etc. Though I thought much of it was pretty critical of them. But they've certainly had a long successful career, based on live performances and their very impressive chart positions - thanks so much from someone actually there.
Oh, Alan, surely you jest when you say, “Maybe, in a way, they were too smart for American audiences.” Do you mean the audiences who’ve analyzed and intelligently discussed the super smart lyrics of their fellow countrymen, including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Woody Guthrie, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder (specifically, his social commentary songs) and Lou Reed (just to name some of the cream of the crop)? Maybe, the albums by Manic Street Preachers never chartered in the U.S. because American audiences, as a whole, just don’t think the band’s music is great. Maybe, American audiences are used to clever word play that heightens music that is excellent to begin with. I have only heard three of the band’s albums: “The Holy Bible,” which did nothing for me; “This is My Truth Tell Me Yours,” which I would describe as meh; and “Everything Must Go,” which I think is okay. I’ve also spent a few hours, spread out over a few days, listening to random songs from Manic Street Preachers fan suggestions on Reddit. As you and I like/love so much of the same music, I wanted to share your excitement about the band. I discovered some songs that I think are good or very good, most notably:
“Suicide Is Painless” (which I had previously heard and which was the only song I knew by the band); “A Design for Life;” “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next;” “Australia;” “Yes;” and “Faster.” Overall, though, what this band offers is nothing special to me, personally.
Thanks as always for your insightful comments. I was thinking about the music at that time. All the amazing artists you mentioned were like 20 years earlier, and that fanbase probably wasn't listening to music like the Manics at that time. But point well taken. They certainly got little to no US radio play which is crucial. But perhaps like you said, maybe to most people they're just not that good. To me, when compared to other "new" artists at that time, they were at least as good as many of those, so I think they would have possibly gotten some US success. I actually prefer their later day albums over The Holy Bible - more mature and more melodic stuff - but Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth are my favorites, so clearly the Manics are not for everyone. Thanks as always.