Watch Johnny Rotten act like an ass to Henry Rollins and Marky Ramone last night

[anon61221983]

@ficuswhisperer

Perhaps it would have made more sense to say that the art form had a veneer of seriousness – much like a dark comedy.

Sure, and I think that was built by the practitioners entirely consciously.

@ficuswhisperer

if you’re not “in on the joke”, it can be very hard to understand what’s actually going on.

Since critics were the first people to begin using the terminology to describe certain kinds of music, it eventually got “away” from them, and people in the various scenes began to use it for their own ends…

@ficuswhisperer

and thank you for challenging my assertions and keeping me honest

We all need that, to help us think harder about the world around us… me too!

@ficuswhisperer

especially as you’re far more learned on this topic than most of us

I like to think smartly about low culture… gotten me real far in life!

[politeruin]

@anon61221983

And I keep meaning to get into Manic Street Preachers… What’s a good first album to check out?

Someone suggested generation terrorists which seems fitting given the thread and it’s fun but rather dated so you’re best off listening to the 20th anniversary reissue which beefs up the sound. Their most interesting stuff has always been the non-singles and b-sides and their music can vary wildly from the granite obelisk that is the holy bible to the quite lovely elegiac pop of lifeblood so it’s really difficult to recommend a starting point. A spotify shuffle playlist maybe and see what stands out.

At the moment i’m going with journal for plague lovers as their best, it’s like the holy bible 2.0, was released 15 years on from that album and made up solely of lyrics richey left behind before he went missing.

Marlon J.D.

[anon73430903]

@anon61221983

And I keep meaning to get into Manic Street Preachers… What’s a good first album to check out?

@politeruin

Their most interesting stuff has always been the non-singles and b-sides and their music can vary wildly from the granite obelisk that is the holy bible to the quite lovely elegiac pop of lifeblood so it’s really difficult to recommend a starting point.

I agree that picking a starting point is very difficult, they have recorded thirteen albums now. I would start by suggesting that you leave Gold Against The Soul, Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood until later. They are not bad and have very good parts, but in my opinion they are their weakest albums.

@Beanolini

‘Generation Terrorists’ for their punk roots, or ‘Everything Must Go’ for mainstream appeal.

@politeruin

At the moment i’m going with journal for plague lovers as their best, it’s like the holy bible 2.0, was released 15 years on from that album and made up solely of lyrics richey left behind before he went missing.

I have thought about this all day and I really can’t pick between Generation Terrorists, The Holy Bible, Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours.

Generation Terrorists is the most obviously punk influenced, they were also going for a Sex Pistols style situationist aesthetic at the time. Just don’t get the original US release, it has several songs missing.

The Holy Bible was the band trying to reassert musical control after being asked by their record label to make Gold Against The Soul more US friendly. It is probably their best work, but the subject matter can be hard to deal with, the album starts with a song about sex slavery in a Randian society and then goes on to deal with suicide, anorexia, the holocaust, totalitarianism and the banality of evil.

Everything Must Go was the first album after Richie’s disappearance, and the last to feature his lyrics until Journal For Plague Lovers. Musically, it’s more indie than punk, but the band rejected the Britpop label used by the press at the time. It’s also marks the start of their most successful period.

This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours is more indie than Everything Must Go and continues the success of the previous album.

All of them have 20th anniversary releases now.

I’d also recommend Journal For Plague Lovers, but only if you liked the Holy Bible.

[petzl]

I cannot not look at Mr. Ramone without imagining what he looks like without that ridiculous mop on his head.

[Israel_B]

I thought Henry was the bald dude and was thinking he’d gone to shit but after clicking through saw he was still pretty much his old self just 20 something years older than the last time I talked to him in NYC.

Saw Black Flag with Henry in the earlier part of the 80s in Dallas. Great show. Saw the Ramones a few times over the years, always great. Never really had interest in the British bands besides The Clash.

Seeing Marky there makes me miss Joey. He was really a nice guy.