It's okay to not be okay - live your best life

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

21/02/25 : Critical Thinking - Manic Street Preachers

Our fourth visit with the Manics and, whilst I like their earlier stuff, their '21 offering left me very cold, so my expectations are not high here.

But, actually, I didn't mind this at all - it has all the general hallmarks of the Manics but, whilst it harks back to their earlier sound, it also takes a few more risks and does some surprisingly interesting stuff. I can't see it getting them any new fans, but if you at least tolerate them, then maybe this should be next for you - I might even listen to it again and that's considerably higher praise than I was expecting to give it. 

We're at #2 with a new entry this week - they will have been gutted not to have hit the top spot. And what powerhouse of an album kept them off it? Yup, there's no stopping Sabrina as she takes her third week at #1, with the rest of the top five being PARTYNEXTDOOR/Drake (another new entry), The Wombats (and again) and Central Cee (the lad's doing well). And there's really quite the selection of new entries to sample this week

PARTYNEXTDOOR/Drake (#3)
Drake's involvement generally means I'm perplexed as to how it's so popular - and this is no exception. It's not terrible, but it's just a guy randomly burbling over some nice noises.

The Wombats (#4)
I was expecting to like this and I did - it's maybe a bit more contemplative than I was expecting, but it's got a nice vibe to it. I do have to mention the album cover though - it's a close-up of a teddy bear's eye and it's surprisingly creepy!

Louis Dunford (#8)
Never heard of him, but the name is giving X Factor winner vibes. But actually, I quite liked this - he's like a Southern Sam Fender but with synths instead of guitars. There are some top lyrics on here as well - it'd be great as a festival sunny Sunday afternoon slot. Wikipedia tells me he's the son of Linda Robson - but unfortunately it doesn't tell me whether he went to the Pauline Quirke Academy.

Punk Rock Factory (#22)
Well, that's not a great name, is it? I'm not expecting great things, but who knows quite what I'm going to get. Well, I wasn't expecting that - it's an album of "punk" (think early Green Day) covers, but not the sort of covers you'd expect because it includes Will Smith, B*witched, Take That and NSYNC. It's amusing for a track or two, but a whole album is waaaay too much.

M Huncho (#30)
Last time I met him he got a "surprisingly enjoyable" - this time I didn't mind it, but I did think it was altogether pretty similar to PARTYNEXTDOOR, so I'm not sure why I think I preferred this. But I guess there's the argument that #30 feels a much more reasonable chart position than #2.

Rizzle Kicks (#59)
This feels like another one which is a bit calmer than expected - I didn't mind it, but it's not really my sort of thing. But they will have been expecting a higher chart placing than this, surely?

Richard Dawson (#74)
Never heard of him either, but the name is giving male singer-songwriter vibes. And he is, but in a most peculiar style - it's like stream-of-consciousness folk, with the lyrics sometimes making sense, but often getting nowhere near. Also, somewhat bizarrely, the tune being sung rarely pays any attention to the melody being played. It's amusingly eccentric but I'm not sure I'd say I loved it.

Last week I said that Inhaler would be at #67 this week, so I'm going to take #79 as at least a partial win - I'm guessing the Manics will hold up remarkably well so I'm going for #17. And this week's Taylor stats are one in the top thirty and six in the entire chart - she's losing it, I tell you!

Wikipedia has a reasonable amount on the album and it tells us this is their fifteenth album (and their sixth to get to #2) and Nicky Wire tells us it is "a record of opposites colliding – of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution" (which obviously I knew). There's a load of other bollocks in there if you're interested, but I didn't understand a load of it. The critics were very nice about the album with it getting pretty much four stars out of five across the board and commercially it's done best here, but it's also got to #25 in Ireland, #27 in Germany and (obviously) #37 in Japan.

"Customers also listened to" Doves, Stereophonics, Travis and Pulp - some bands with a few years under their belts there (Pulp formed in '76!). I liked this one though - it felt reminiscent of their peak era, but also didn't seem to be resting on their laurels. In terms of other new albums, I'd recommend checking out Louis Dunford which is really pretty decent and Richard Dawson just for the peculiar experience it provides.

14/02/25 - In which the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
28/02/25 - Enjoyable