47 This Is The Day 4.63

 

It's no huge surprise that This is the Day lands in last place. Although, I do prefer it to a few of their other singles it is rather uninspiring and I wouldn't have bothered with it if he hadn't have been from he Manics. It would still probably fit in on This is My Truth or a b-side of one if its singles.

 

Highest - gooddelta, chez wombat (7)

Lowest - Dandy* (2)

 

46 Postcards from a Young Man 4.67

 

Oh dear, this is all the things I dislike about the Manics in the last 10 years. If it wasn't for James' voice this could be Stereophonics or any number if shite middle-off the road mid-tempo loving rock bands that people who don’t really get obsessed with music sort of like. I'm sure some people like it but it just feels formulaic. It does manage to get a whole lot better after the two minute mark which saves it from being totally useless but by then it's arguably too late.

 

 

Highest - Jester (8)

Lowest - Dandy* (1)

 

45 (It's Not War) Just the End of Love 4.89

 

Lead single from the ill-fated Postcards from a Young Man album. Maligned as being a mixture of a Steps song, Daniel Powter's Bad Day and Tonite Tonite's Cranberries-like intro. It's passable in comparison to the rest of the album but it lacks a spark. They seriously didn't understand how the charts work if they expected this to be a hit. A nice enough solo brings it back from the edge again but with so much of their later material, it's too little too late.

 

 

Highest - gooddelta, chez wombat (8)

Lowest - Dandy* (2)

Edited July 31, 201311 yr by AnthonyT

 

44 Indian Summer 5.60

 

This is just, frankly, so mundane that it actually risks taking away from the majesty that it hoped to emulate in A Design for Life. You'd have to wonder if they had any self-awareness at all while re-treading their golden phase. Sean almost replicates the closing drum coda from that single too. I'm almost embarrassed by this single.

 

 

 

Highest - Jester (9)

Lowest - AnthonyT (4)

 

43 Some Kind of Nothingness 5.63

 

 

More middle of the road nonsense with Ian McCulloch adding not much in particular. It was supposed to be some sort of sister piece to Kylie's Some Kind of Bliss but is nowhere near as lightfooted as that was. Again, it gets better in the second half.

 

 

Highest - Severin (8)

Lowest - Dandy* (4)

 

42 New Art Riot 5.75

 

In stark contrast we go right back to near the start of their career.

 

A staggeringly biting lyric where lines like "Hospital closure kills more than car bombs ever will" attack the establishment. The searing intelligence is already at work and the youthfulness is infectious. James voice has a wholly different tone about it but his burgeoning guitar work that would become their trademark for the next few years is evident. It's hard to believe that this song came out in 1990.

 

 

Highest - richie (8)

Lowest - Severin, chez wombat (4)

 

41 Underdogs 5.78

 

Underdogs is a bit of a tribute to the Manics obsessives - but I've always found it amateur-ish. It did signal at least some sort of energy after what many had seen as the bloodless Lifeblood (has an album title ever been so inappropriate).

 

It was a a teaser single from Send Away the Tigers available on limited edition 7" and download.

 

Highest - Severin(8)

Lowest - richie, chez wombat (4)

 

40 Ocean Spray 5.80

 

On first listen - when I heard the parent album "Know Your Enemy" - I instantly heard similarities to Blur's Coffee + TV. Unfortunately, it was a bit slower than that song and so felt a bit drabber. Famous for being their first single written by James Dean Bradfield it did improve after a few plays and would probably make the cut if Know Your Enemy was culled of half its tracks - something I've often thought would vastly improve the album.

 

 

Highest - Grebo(9)

Lowest - richie, Dandy* (4)

 

39 Let Robeson Sing 5.90

 

Gaining comparisons to REM due to its solo acoustic guitar into - perhaps an irony not lost on them. It moves in a stately manner with great reverence as an ode to Paul Robeson, a political activist, culminating in one of the most dignified moments of their career with a quote from Robeson himself about an end to racism.

 

 

 

Highest - chez wombat(8)

Lowest - Grebo, Sinner, richie, Dandy* (5)

 

38 Umbrella 6.10

 

Fairly predictable run through of the Rihanna song - it's hard to f*** it up, really but also hard to make it anything other than a serviceable pop song.

 

 

Highest - Severin, gooddelta, chez wombat , Jester, AnthonyT, RabbitFurCoat (7)

Lowest - richie, Dandy* (3)

 

37 The Ghosts of Christmas 6.17

 

A surprisingly sprightly song echoing lots of garage rock sounding bands from the 70s. It sounds like a joke and it's almost a relief to hear the band having a sense of humour. Given away at Christmas 2007.

 

 

Highest - Grebo (9)

Lowest - richie, (4)

That's the first lot done. Another 12 tomorrow.

 

Only a few lamentable losses so far.

 

36 So Why So Sad 6.22

 

I'm surprised to see this so low.

 

I found this single quite uninteresting. I appreciated that James was able to create songs in a huge variety of genres and it is a fairly decent attempt at a hi-treble 60s pop song but there's something missing in the chorus. There were much better tracks on the album but maybe they wouldn't have gained the attention that this did.

 

 

 

Highest - Jester (9)

Lowest - richie, (4)

 

35 Suicide Alley 6.25

 

Released in late 1988 when they were still unsigned - Suicide Alley was pressed on 300 copies - any of which are very hard to find. It slowly received attetion and at one point in mid-1989 NME made it single of the week, accelerating the buzz around the band. Counterfiet versions were circulating in 2001. It was included as a 7" in the super-deluxe release of National Treasures in 2012.

 

 

Highest - richie (8)

Lowest - AnthonyT (4)

 

Edited August 2, 201311 yr by AnthonyT

 

 

 

 

34 Slash 'n' Burn 6.30

 

The opening track on Generation Terrorists and I feel it is justly below all the other singles that were released from that album. The solo involved isn't as "Manics" as many of the other solos in their early singles, which goes in its favour. I've always found it fairly pedestrian but the riff at the start is quite hooky.

 

Highest - richie, Severin, gooddelta, Jester, grebo (7)

Lowest - chez wombat, Dandy* (5)

Edited August 2, 201311 yr by AnthonyT

 

33 Jackie Collins Existential Question Time 6.40

 

Widely regarded as one of their finest songs on the album it was given a video for promotion but wasn't given a full single release. Nothing on the album was. I never liked the cyclical nature of the chorus lyrics. I prefer many of the other songs on the album to this.

 

 

Highest - chez wombat, grebo (8)

Lowest - richie (4)

 

32 The Love of Richard Nixon 6.50

 

If this wasn't the Manics I don’t think I would have listened to it more than once. As it is, I like it purely because it reminds me of a certain time and not because it's great. Somehow some people, including critics, thought it was great - I still can't hear it myself. Still a shocking lead single - especially since the far more "Manics" tracks like Empty Souls or the standout A Song for Departure were passed over - I still maintain that would have improvement the fortunes of the album and have given them their third number 1 single if it had been the lead single.

 

The Love of Richard Nixon still debuted at number 2 behind Eric Prydz's Call On Me but at at sales of just 15,000 and a second week placing of number 22 it clear that it was the obsessive fans out in force in week 1.

 

 

Highest - Severin (9)

Lowest - Dandy* (4)

 

31 Empty Souls 6.60

 

 

And pipping the Nixon single is Empty Souls - which will, for many reason, always be seen as its twin single.

 

In the week that would almost certainly be the week of the 1,000th number 1 in the UK charts very few major artists chose to release a single. In early 2005 single sales were pretty abysmal - nothing in Jan sold more than 27,000 - so any new single by any of a huge number of international rock or pop acts could have walked away with this seemingly unwanted prize. The Manics chose to release Empty Souls that week - I'm not even sure if they or their record company were aware of the significance of that week's number 1. Anyway, it wasn't to pass. An Elvis re-issue manged the top spot and Empty Souls limped to number 2 on sales of 11,500 - which as far as I know is still the lowest tally for any number 2 singles.

 

Highest - Jester (9)

Lowest - richie (4)

 

30 Love's Sweet Exile 6.88

 

Not a terrible song at all and about the standard for Generation Terrorists, with a rip-roaring solo that is a highlight on the album - for me anyway. Sean's drums keep your attention the whole way through. I haven't a clue what it's about.

 

 

Highest - grebo(9)

Lowest - chez wombat (5)

Edited August 17, 201311 yr by AnthonyT

Tellingly only 4 tracks (New Art Riot, Jackie Collins', Slash n burn and Exile) feture any kind of contribution from Richey. I expect his presence to be felt more the higher we get.

Nothing I'm too surprised about at this level. A couple I'm fond of but that aren't among their best.

 

And you could comfortably have the new single bottom of the pile.