mien_mo_man

Van Morrison is God

In general, the things that connect britpop bands are arrogance and presumption. The bassist of Blur declares himself the best bassist in Briannia, the guitarist of that band is the best ever to walk the earth, my band is the best of all, I’m the coolest guy on the planet, and so on... A haughtiness from working-class folks who have developed an inferiority complex. I mean, what would Oasis be without the rhythm section of the guy with the bald head who no girl liked and who no journalist or vj interviewed? And indeed, there you have it, they kicked him out. And what about Blur without a guitarist? And Suede without Butler prima and the makeshift-amateur but highly effective keyboardist who’s so trendy that (I’m convinced) even Brett Anderson would be jealous? And the Verve without a guitarist? And Ashcroft without Verve? All completely off their rockers, and all ending up like those who are off their rockers.

Thank you for your clarification (it certainly wasn't your duty) regarding the use of the term Brit Pop in your review. On this, I agree avec toi. What I don't agree with is the end of the aforementioned bands: some have simply matured and therefore didn't feel the need to meet certain standards again (I'm thinking of Blur, whom I never really liked); others (Oasis and Verve especially) have become full of themselves: I still remember the interviews with Ashcroft who kept repeating, answer after answer, that his band was the best in history. Take that, you thickheads! Others have lost their spark, and others have lost important members (again, Blur, or Suede); Manswear (does anyone remember them?) were just posh mods and fashion victims and it's fitting they were the first to go extinct (back in the day they were the rivals of Oasis, even before Blur); Pulp simply sank back into the centuries-old anonymity from which they came, but this time unable to stomach the idea of returning to the shadows, and broke up. Suede, simply put, Butler or no Butler, keyboardist or not, bisexual attitude or glam bowian, lost support in terms of sales, and like everything that is pop—meaning it was commercially born—if it doesn't find popular support, it's as if it had no reason to exist (at least in my opinion).

Look, as it's written and thought out, I like the review, but I don't agree with one note of what you've written, neither about the album, which seems tired to me, nor about the story of Britpop or however you want to call it: bands like Suede and Pulp have ended up suffering from creative drought, and then you have to tell me what the Verve have to do with Oasis, or what they had to do before Urban Hymns. If you put all the bands in the same pot, a bit like with grunge (where Mudhoney and Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees are all different and all "grunge" at the same time), then I can think that the Verve were Britpop, but don't tell me they made the same music, because there's a huge difference between Pulp, Suede, Oasis, Blur, Verve, Mansun, Beautiful South, etc. At this point, if it’s a "geographical" categorization, let's throw in Radiohead, Catherine Wheel, Manic Street Preachers, and Supergrass as well.

Look, I’m giving you a solid 5 out of 5 because I liked you a bit, even though the Staind haven't had much to say for a while, in my opinion. I liked Break The Cycle too, but only up to a certain point. Good analysis of the tracks, the touches of irony do the rest.

Hell, change your nickname to Heaven, forget about metal and embrace New Thought or Wicca. You'll see, they suit you much more than all the hells.

We're here, we're really here... do you know who my favorite performer at Woodstock is? Havens, the opener!

LIVE AND LET LIVE and not LIFE AND LET LIFE

I always thank you, dear few loyal commentators of my reviews. As you know, for me, reviews are often a pretext to talk about something else. So, I liked the idea of questioning "what to do when the magic moment has vanished?" That’s why, dear Green Manalishi, I talk little about the album in question. Thank you.

visage, or how to create a myth around nothingness. the apotheosis of the eighties, the void becoming the focus, like the candy that's just a hole with mint around it. the packaging containing the disc, the lack of future with a dazzling present inside, the eighties with music all around. if everything happened, it’s because everything had its reason. it's time to reconcile with the past and take this record for what it is, namely a good glam electro-pop album made by people who knew from the very start that the project, the sounds, and the twenty years wouldn’t last forever. among the twenty years of '68, those of '77, and these of Visage, it's natural that I choose the first two, but living your youth to the fullest is not a crime. on the contrary.