 Back in the old days of fanzines, people often wrote rants about issues that bothered or affected them, and zines were a good way of expressing their opinions. Unfortunately this doesn�t translate to the internet, as when people read a rant in an online fanzine and react to it, instead of going away and carefully writing down their own thoughts, and sending them to the fanzine, they more often than not react by personally insulting the person who wrote the rant. So I thought I should explain, that if you have any reactions to what Tabitha�s written, please don�t abuse her personally, instead, write how you feel about the Manics fan scene and I�ll include it in the zine. One of the reasons I haven�t included any of my own rants in my zines recently is because they just don�t translate to the internet. Rants may resemble angry message board posts, but they infact began life within the fanzine culture. And whereas on a message board the person with an unpopular or different way of seeing things is most likely to be insulted, in fanzine culture the reader actually went away and thought for a while before writing their own article on the subject at hand. A fanzine editor would never have accepted a reaction full of personal insults anyway. Although the many people who made up the fanzine scene had different opinions, they could at least express what they thought within the fanzines without resorting to calling anyone else names. So that�s my short introduction to what a Rant is. React accordingly or not at all. Send your views on the Manics fan scene to [email protected] to appear in a future issue of the fanzine. I've been having serious attacks of insomnia lately, so I've been finding myself surfing the 'net early morning WAY before I have to get ready for work. This more-of-a-lack of sleep has made me a little cranky. This morning, I found myself at a Manics website. Now, I'm a Mooro Militant 'til I expire, but I have to admit that I find JDB sometimes fetching. They make a great team. I've spent some time thinking about the dynamic between them (family/work partnership, blah blah blah). After reading some of the website I wandered onto the message board. I wish I hadn't. I've heard (and nearly participated in) my share of arguments on why the Manics are still around, that they've lost their way, that they've changed, blah blah blah. I (like many others) like their "new" music as well as their "old" music. I feel that there is a thread that travels through an artist's songs, and when I feel that the thread has snapped, or cut, I pull back. I still favor the artist (sometimes) but the emotional investment isn't there as it was. I haven't heard the thread snap yet for these guys. I bristled at my discovery because I am also an American Manics Fan (hereafter known as AMF) Yes, I capitalized that. Not just North American (Canada gets more play than we probably ever will) but a citizen and resident of the United States of America. We here in the States have had few chances to gather and bother our idols as those elsewhere (I no longer live in New York, nor do I have the time set aside to travel there (over 1,000 miles) put myself up, etc etc etc) It really chaps me when I have to hear people who are fortunate enough to be able to make it to gigs (without involving a passport, airplanes, nor ships) whining about how Manic X didn't sign his/her t- shirt/cd/poster/whatever and how the Manics are just in it for the money, the music is shite, yadda yadda yadda...bitch, moan. It's amazing how living on an island can make you seem insular. Being over here (and as young as I was when I got into the Manics) I didn't have a lot of access to many early resources, interviews, videos, what have you for a long time. On the one hand, I've missed out on a lot. On the other hand, it's kept me from the bitchiness that makes me hate being a fan of anyone. This proprietary attitude makes me want to scream. From what I've been able to read, hear, think for myself I've come to a few conclusions. 1. The Manic Street Preachers are a band. James Bradfield, Nicholas Jones, and Sean Moore are individuals who belong only to themselves, their families, and each other. They don't belong to us; they don't wholly belong to their record company (though Sean must be loving that employee discount!). Yes, we the fans buy the records, tune in to the radio broadcasts, log on for the internet chats, buy the tickets for the concerts, and so on... but we do not OWN them. They are human beings, and human beings have bad days, get tired, have mood swings (didn't James say they were all extremely moody?) and are not always smiling. Have the Manics ever come out with that BS "we love our fans" tired claptrap that other bands spew when they first come out? Have the Manics ever pretended that they "do it for the fans"? Maybe I'm missing something, but the answer to those questions is no. I'm sure they appreciate what we do, and on some level may be touched, but that's it. They aren't YOUR family, they aren't YOUR best friends. DEAL with it. Stop taking everything that happens at a signing personally. Besides, all you whiners are lucky they get to see them in person more than once every 10 years. You've been spoiled. Fuck off. 2. I hear this one over and over without the proper backup: "The Manics are only in it for the money. Why else would they release Best Of collections (ahem, Sex Pistols did it, Joy Division after the fact did it, Clash did it - I could go on)?" Hmmmm... because they CAN? Because it's in their contract? I, as an AMF, am MORE THAN HAPPY that they released Lipstick Traces. Import albums aren't cheap, and I have other things to do with my hard-earned money than spend it all on expensive import singles (hello, Virgin Megastore) I no longer have that luxury. And what's wrong with Forever Delayed? People just seem to be spinning out of control over something essentially meant for those people who (wisely) don't want to spend their money on six albums by a group they may or may not like. And what's wrong with targetting an audience? Maybe I'm just using logic (try it, you might like it) but it's business, and music (like all the other arts) is a business. We would like it not to be so, but it is. I just don't buy this "MSP is out to fleece the masses" message. Altruism and ideals don't pay the rent. Until something more abstract can be used as currency, everyone will need money. Even artists. Am I the only person who remembers that the Manics made no bones about the fact that they wanted to be signed by a major label for scads of cash from the get-go? 3. When the Manics first came onto the scene, they were angry, they were bristling with a message, they had to get it out. They're not young anymore. They may not feel the same urgency or call to "revolution"... hell, two of 'em have started families. Just because they aren't screaming anymore and James isn't trying to fit his mouth and music around convolution doesn't mean that they are less passionate. Perhaps they've learned the art of subtlety. Perhaps they've realized that it takes more than what they had to muster. Sean (you know, the drummer) has mentioned in interviews that they need others to carry the torch, so to speak. 4. When we grow, we change. We like to think that we evolve as we get older. Not always the case. Just because the music doesn't sound like something you want to slamdance by doesn't mean that there is no merit to it. Who can deny that the group has grown musically? That James' voice sounds better and more mature with each passing year? Those who just refuse to be satisfied. If it pains you that much, find someone else to bitch over. There are quite a few candidates. 5. I have had it with the Richey-obssessive types. He's gone. He's not coming back. You don't seem to understand that. Even if he was to appear miraculously tomorrow, would he still be a Manic Street Preacher? The others have stated no - IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS - and they are the only ones who can make that decision, not you. HE walked away from it. HE gave it up when he drove back to Cardiff that February morning. HE made that decision to stop it all. If he is dead, then I feel doubly-bad for all close to him. If he isn't, he still gave it up, and I hope he has found peace. He certainly didn't get it from people who wore mental instability and pain like a badge of honor. Suffering shouldn't be (and ISN'T) a fashion statement. Cheapen someone else's pain, why don't you? Like Joy Division, Richard wasn't always down-down-gloomy. You want proof? Get the Forever Delayed book. Or would that shatter your illusions too much? 6. You people are such sheep. If the Manics slagged off chocolate tomorrow, most of you would stop eating it and declare it evil. If they went to the Maharishi, you'd forgo eating meat and start listening to Kula Shaker. I'm touching on an issue that would be personal to AMF's: they don't completely hate the U.S.A. and its inhabitants. The band has said over and over again through the years that a lot of their influences were Americans. Like many of us (and other inhabitants of the planet) they do not agree with many "American" economic, social, and political policies and practices. That's it. There's nothing wrong with a healthy disagreement, but automatically starting in with the names and stereotypes when one of us admits our nationality is just counterproductive and stupid. It shows YOUR ignorance, not ours. Learn to think for yourselves, research on your own, and take what Nicky says with a grain of salt. His humor is very subtle, and what may seem like vitriol is, at times, a simple winding-up. I would have posted all that there on a Manics message board, but I didn't want to waste my time arguing with someone whose obvious purpose was to wind people up. So I vented on you. |
