Manics Top 50s - 29th Sep 2021

Three more charts arrived yesterday with some strong number 1 choices that you'd probably expect to make the final 50, but maybe sit outside the upper echelons.

First up is Adam, who many of you will know from his position as host of the excellent What Is Music? podcast.  And if you don't, it started life as a podcast doing a deep dive into the Manics back catalogue, album by album, track by track....oh he knows the lines better than I do, but give it a listen if you haven't already.  There are some cracking interviews too!  With his musician hat on he's also recently covered Know Your Enemy in its entirety, so seek that out if that's an album that makes an appearance in your own chart.

Adam is the first person to include a song from the new album in the top 10, earning Diapause a whopping 42 points in the process.  The Holy Bible, Know Your Enemy, Lifeblood and Futurology are the eras that appear most, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone that listened to the Manics season of the podcast.

Next up we have Marc, who has a huge selection from the GT era and before (In the By Era charts, like it or not I count the pre-GT songs in with GT and its B-sides).  There's then a good spread across the other albums as far as Journal For Plague Lovers, with only a couple of songs after that featuring.  However, one of those was number 11, so plenty of points on the board for International Blue.

The third chart today comes from Emily, another Manics fan many of you will know through Manics queues, fanzines, the Secret 7"s and many more (that's my blog cop-out for lack of research).  There are songs from almost every era here (Lifeblood, take a bow) and lots of diversions into the less wandered paths of the Manics back catalogue.  Emily also manages to get points on the board for two songs that received no votes last time out - Black Garden and Wake Up Alone.  We don't like songs feeling lonely, so let's see if we can end up with fewer songs left pointless at the end of this run.

There's already a queue of other charts waiting to get on tomorrow's blog, so keep the conveyor belt rolling!

Adam Scott Glasspool @adamglasspool

1. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

2. Faster

3. Motorcycle Emptiness

4. Hold Me Like A Heaven

5. No Surface All Feeling

6. I Live To Fall Asleep

7. Epicentre

8. Yes

9. Diapause

10. Little Baby Nothing

11. Europa Geht Durch Mich

12. Archives Of Pain

13. A Design For Life

14. My Guernica

15. This Joke Sport Severed

16. So Why So Sad

17. Ready For Drowning

18. International Blue

19. Black Square

20. Peeled Apples

21. A Song For Departure

22. This Sullen Welsh Heart

23. Door To The River

24. 4st 7lb

25. Sleepflower

26. Golden Platitudes

27. The Everlasting

28. 1985

29. Be Natural

30. Ocean Spray

31. The Next Jet To Leave Moscow

32. The Masses Against The Classes

33. To Repel Ghosts

34. Born A Girl

35. Of Walking Abortion

36. Dreaming A City (Hughesovka)

37. Still Snowing In Sapporo

38. William's Last Words

39. Sepia

40. Empty Souls

41. The View From Stow Hill

42. Cardiff Afterlife

43. The Convalescent

44. Everything Must Go

45. This Is Yesterday

46. Slash N' Burn

47. 30-Year War

48. Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children

49. The Intense Humming Of Evil

50. Enola/Alone

By Era

Generation Terrorists 3

Gold Against The Soul 1

The Holy Bible 7

Everything Must Go 5

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 5

Know Your Enemy 6

Lifeblood 6

Send Away The Tigers 0

Journal For Plague Lovers 3

Postcards From A Young Man 1

Rewind The Film 2

Futurology 5

Resistance Is Futile 2

The Ultra Vivid Lament 2

Others 2

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Marc Edison @marcsedison

1. This Is Yesterday

2. Slash N' Burn

3. Life Becoming A Landslide

4. Donkeys

5. Sleepflower

6. Born To End

7. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)

8. Democracy Coma

9. Tennessee

10. Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds

11. International Blue

12. All Is Vanity

13. From Despair To Where

14. Faster

15. Little Baby Nothing

16. Love's Sweet Exile

17. Motown Junk

18. Autumnsong

19. Motorcycle Emptiness

20. You Love Us

21. A Design For Life

22. Kevin Carter

23. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky

24. 1985

25. 4st 7lb

26. The Girl Who Wanted To Be God

27. Strip It Down

28. Mausoleum

29. Peeled Apples

30. Underdogs

31. Baby Elian

32. Walk Me To The Bridge

33. Removables

34. Another Invented Disease

35. Archives Of Pain

36. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

37. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

38. Epicentre

39. We Her Majesty's Prisoners

40. You Stole The Sun From My Heart

41. Glasnost

42. Of Walking Abortion

43. Roses In The Hospital

44. Dead Martyrs

45. Bored Out Of My Mind

46. The Second Great Depression

47. New Art Riot

48. Teenage 20/20

49. To Repel Ghosts

50. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll

By Era

Generation Terrorists 17

Gold Against The Soul 6

The Holy Bible 6

Everything Must Go 5

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 1

Know Your Enemy 3

Lifeblood 3

Send Away The Tigers 4

Journal For Plague Lovers 3

Postcards From A Young Man 0

Rewind The Film 0

Futurology 1

Resistance Is Futile 1

The Ultra Vivid Lament 0

Others 0

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Emily @emilymjhyatt

1. No Surface All Feeling

2. Faster

3. Show Me The Wonder

4. Hold Me Like A Heaven

5. Tsunami

6. Patrick Bateman

7. Nobody Loved You

8. Wake Up Alone

9. Sleepflower

10. Removables

11. Be Natural

12. Umbrella

13. She Is Suffering

14. A Design For Life

15. Donkeys

16. Prologue To History

17. Born A Girl

18. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll

19. Red Rubber

20. Sex, Power, Love & Money

21. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart

22. Winterlovers

23. Gold Against The Soul

24. Let's Go To War

25. People Give In

26. Die In The Summertime

27. Rewind The Film

28. Autumnsong

29. Complicated Illusions

30. Life Becoming A Landslide

31. Of Walking Abortion

32. Black Square

33. Divine Youth

34. Postcards From A Young Man

35. Working Class Hero

36. William's Last Words

37. Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children

38. Misguided Missile

39. Firefight

40. PCP

41. Distant Colours

42. Bag Lady

43. Miss Europa Disco Dancer

44. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

45. Hibernation

46. Virginia State Epileptic Colony

47. The Next Jet To Leave Moscow

48. The Masses Against The Classes

49. Black Garden

50. Judge Yr'self

By Era

Generation Terrorists 1

Gold Against The Soul 6

The Holy Bible 7

Everything Must Go 5

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 5

Know Your Enemy 2

Lifeblood 0

Send Away The Tigers 3

Journal For Plague Lovers 3

Postcards From A Young Man 2

Rewind The Film 2

Futurology 6

Resistance Is Futile 3

The Ultra Vivid Lament 1

Others 4

Manics Top 50s - 26th - 27th Sep 2021

Today we're catching up with some of the top 50s from the last few days while I was away following our boys, including a returning top 50-er first who stuck with the same number 1 as last time.  Looking at Lyns' previous chart it seems to be some songs from Rewind The Film that were more fresh in the memory back in 2015 that have stuck around but maybe slipped down the pecking order a bit more with time.  Otherwise, a strong showing for the first five albums plus Futurology.

Next up are two charts with the same number 1, making an early push for top spot overall.  Alice again has a big presence from the first five albums, with Journal For Plague Lovers also featuring more and four picks from The Ultra Vivid Lament being the biggest haul from the new album so far.

The third chart in this batch is actually a sub-chart of sorts, you can find a link below to Alex's blog featuring an in-depth run-down of his top 100 Manics songs which he compiled independently of these charts, but of course the top 50 can just slot straight in here!  Well worth a read for a more detailed discussion of his picks.

There are currently another two charts from today waiting to be blogged, so they'll be up on Thursday as chart activity starts to increase.  Tough decisions are being made!

Lyns @AndDarkWithin

1. Sleepflower

2. You Love Us

3. No Surface All Feeling

4. From Despair To Where

5. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart

6. Be Natural

7. Yourself

8. Motown Junk

9. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)

10. Archives Of Pain

11. Democracy Coma

12. Dreaming A City (Hughesovka)

13. Theme From MASH (Suicide Is Painless)

14. Patrick Bateman

15. All Is Vanity

16. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

17. Yes

18. Everything Must Go

19. Postcards From A Young Man

20. 4st 7lb

21. Tsunami

22. Prologue To History

23. Judge Yr'self

24. Motorcycle Emptiness

25. Futurology

26. Life Becoming A Landslide

27. Peeled Apples

28. Slash N' Burn

29. She Is Suffering

30. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

31. Ready For Drowning

32. Revol

33. Nobody Loved You

34. Rewind The Film

35. This Joke Sport Severed

36. This Is The Day

37. Ballad Of The Bangkok Novotel

38. Walk Me To The Bridge

39. Mayakovsky

40. Donkeys

41. 30-Year War

42. Hibernation

43. Mr Carbohydrate

44. Divine Youth

45. Empty Souls

46. The Everlasting

47. Bag Lady

48. Manorbier

49. Cardiff Afterlife

50. Nostalgic Pushead

By Era

Generation Terrorists 6

Gold Against The Soul 9

The Holy Bible 7

Everything Must Go 4

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 6

Know Your Enemy 1

Lifeblood 2

Send Away The Tigers 1

Journal For Plague Lovers 4

Postcards From A Young Man 1

Rewind The Film 3

Futurology 5

Resistance Is Futile 0

The Ultra Vivid Lament 0

Others 1

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Alice Lewis @AliceBoothLewis

1. Faster

2. Enola/Alone

3. From Despair To Where

4. Yes

5. Too Cold Here

6. Little Baby Nothing

7. Rewind The Film

8. This Sullen Welsh Heart

9. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)

10. Motown Junk

11. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart

12. Me And Stephen Hawking

13. Quest For Ancient Colour

14. Everything Must Go

15. Sleepflower

16. This Is Yesterday

17. Still Snowing In Sapporo

18. Let Robeson Sing

19. A Design For Life

20. Roses In The Hospital

21. A Song For Departure

22. Slash N' Burn

23. The Everlasting

24. Of Walking Abortion

25. This Joke Sport Severed

26. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

27. Ocean Spray

28. Under My Wheels

29. Be Natural

30. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

31. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky

32. Autumnsong

33. Nobody Loved You

34. Running Out Of Fantasy

35. Australia

36. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

37. International Blue

38. Futurology

39. Complicated Illusions

40. Tsunami

41. The Secret He Had Missed

42. Solitude Sometimes Is

43. Marlon J.D.

44. Yourself

45. Facing Page: Top Left

46. She Is Suffering

47. You Love Us

48. Journal For Plague Lovers

49. Motorcycle Emptiness

50. People Give In

By Era

Generation Terrorists 6

Gold Against The Soul 5

The Holy Bible 7

Everything Must Go 6

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 5

Know Your Enemy 2

Lifeblood 2

Send Away The Tigers 1

Journal For Plague Lovers 6

Postcards From A Young Man 0

Rewind The Film 3

Futurology 1

Resistance Is Futile 2

The Ultra Vivid Lament 4

Others 0

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Alex Factor (RIP) @LeesonPalmer

https://necessaryevil.blog/2021/09/27/love-their-mess-and-adore-their-failures-manic-street-preachers-100-greatest-songs/

1. Faster

2. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)

3. Yes

4. A Design For Life

5. Of Walking Abortion

6. Tsunami

7. Motorcycle Emptiness

8. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

9. 4st 7lb

10. 1985

11. Life Becoming A Landslide

12. Everything Must Go

13. Motown Junk

14. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky

15. Sepia

16. Slash N' Burn

17. Archives Of Pain

18. From Despair To Where

19. No Surface All Feeling

20. The Love Of Richard Nixon

21. All Is Vanity

22. Black Square

23. Walk Me To The Bridge

24. Show Me The Wonder

25. Comfort Comes

26. So Why So Sad

27. Peeled Apples

28. Sleepflower

29. Spectators Of Suicide

30. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

31. Journal For Plague Lovers

32. Hold Me Like A Heaven

33. Kevin Carter

34. Nostalgic Pushead

35. We Her Majesty's Prisoners

36. Roses In The Hospital

37. Umbrella

38. Democracy Coma

39. Stay Beautiful

40. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart

41. Europa Geht Durch Mich

42. RP McMurphy

43. International Blue

44. Methadone Pretty

45. Mausoleum

46. Prologue To History

47. Autumnsong

48. Intravenous Agnostic

49. I Live To Fall Asleep

50. Judge Yr'self

By Era

Generation Terrorists 9

Gold Against The Soul 7

The Holy Bible 8

Everything Must Go 7

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 3

Know Your Enemy 2

Lifeblood 3

Send Away The Tigers 1

Journal For Plague Lovers 3

Postcards From A Young Man 0

Rewind The Film 1

Futurology 3

Resistance Is Futile 2

The Ultra Vivid Lament 0

Others 1

Manics Top 50s - 25th Sep 2021

Next up is a returning top 50-er who keeps the same top two from his previous chart, let's face it our charts will probably change a lot over time but our absolute favourites are probably going to remain the same for the most part.  Unless of course one of the new songs has really hit home straight away, but we've yet to see one break the top 10 yet.

Richard thought this could perhaps be the only Lifeblood number 1, but the gauntlet has now been laid down if anyone else is prepared to match him!

The blog will take a short break due to some little-known Welsh band playing a couple of gigs that I'll be attending, but keep your charts coming and I'll catch up with the admin on Wednesday.

Richard @RichardE1875

1. A Song For Departure

2. The Everlasting

3. Faster

4. Motorcycle Emptiness

5. A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun

6. Distant Colours

7. Stay Beautiful

8. This Is Yesterday

9. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

10. You're Tender And You're Tired

11. Autumnsong

12. You Love Us

13. From Despair To Where

14. PCP

15. Further Away

16. Golden Platitudes

17. Underdogs

18. No Surface All Feeling

19. You Stole The Sun From My Heart

20. A Design For Life

21. Life Becoming A Landslide

22. Die In The Summertime

23. Sleepflower

24. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

25. Ready For Drowning

26. Tsunami

27. Prologue To History

28. Everything Must Go

29. I Live To Fall Asleep

30. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

31. Empty Souls

32. Still Snowing In Sapporo

33. A Song For The Sadness

34. Show Me The Wonder

35. Australia

36. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)

37. Nobody Loved You

38. His Last Painting

39. To Repel Ghosts

40. Send Away The Tigers

41. 4 Ever Delayed

42. Just A Kid

43. Some Kind Of Nothingness

44. Anthem For A Lost Cause

45. Europa Geht Durch Mich

46. Solitude Sometimes Is

47. Enola/Alone

48. Imperial Bodybags

49. Happy Bored Alone

50. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

By Era

Generation Terrorists 3

Gold Against The Soul 4

The Holy Bible 4

Everything Must Go 8

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 8

Know Your Enemy 2

Lifeblood 5

Send Away The Tigers 4

Journal For Plague Lovers 1

Postcards From A Young Man 3

Rewind The Film 2

Futurology 1

Resistance Is Futile 2

The Ultra Vivid Lament 2

Others 1

Manics Top 50s - 24th Sep 2021

Today's top 50 has a strong Holy Bible presence in the top 10 and a large proportion of songs from earlier in the Manics career, as well as a decent showing from Journal For Plague Lovers.  The Ultra Vivid Lament also manages to keep up its 100% record in the new charts sneaking in at number 50!

Postcards continues to feel a little left out at the moment though....but keep them coming and ensure you push your own favourites up the overall chart!

 

Ricard Lawless @ricardlawless
1. Archives Of Pain
2. Yes
3. The Intense Humming Of Evil
4. Mausoleum
5. Die In The Summertime
6. Peeled Apples
7. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky
8. This Is Yesterday
9. Me And Stephen Hawking
10. 4st 7lb
11. Sleepflower
12. Motown Junk
13. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
14. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart
15. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
16. William's Last Words
17. Comfort Comes
18. Removables
19. A Design For Life
20. Crucifix Kiss
21. Marlon J.D.
22. Tsunami
23. To Repel Ghosts
24. Charles Windsor
25. Life Becoming A Landslide
26. From Despair To Where
27. Patrick Bateman
28. Of Walking Abortion
29. There By The Grace Of God
30. Nostalgic Pushead
31. New Art Riot
32. The Everlasting
33. Interiors (Song For Willem de Kooning)
34. Intravenous Agnostic
35. Sculpture Of Man
36. Symphony Of Tourette
37. Repeat
38. Little Baby Nothing
39. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)
40. Walk Me To The Bridge
41. We Her Majesty's Prisoners
42. Stay Beautiful
43. This Sullen Welsh Heart
44. You Love Us
45. Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children
46. Europa Geht Durch Mich
47. Kevin Carter
48. Ready For Drowning
49. Sepia
50. Still Snowing In Sapporo

By Era
Generation Terrorists 8
Gold Against The Soul 9
The Holy Bible 10
Everything Must Go 6
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 4
Know Your Enemy 2
Lifeblood 1
Send Away The Tigers 0
Journal For Plague Lovers 5
Postcards From A Young Man 0
Rewind The Film 1
Futurology 2
Resistance Is Futile 0
The Ultra Vivid Lament 1
Others 1

Manics Top 50s - 23rd Sep 2021

Today we have the first two new charts to set the ball rolling, both of which contain at least one song from The Ultra Vivid Lament, meaning that it immediately gets some points on the board even at this early stage after what seems like a strong initial reaction from fans.  Postcards manages to score a big fat zero though, but as with all of the albums its champions are sure to arrive at some point.

Some of the big hitters from previous charts are already throwing their weight around, but also some of the deeper cuts are already picking up votes, as always I'll be keeping my eye out for whether we'll end up with fewer no vote songs than last time.

Still loads of time to get your own charts in, in fact I may even put the deadline back by a few days given I got myself a ticket to Llandudno, so I'll be on the train on deadline day!  Watch this space for now on that score, just enjoy compiling your charts! 

Richard Goldspink @SilentRefusal
1. A Design For Life
2. Motorcycle Emptiness
3. Faster
4. From Despair To Where
5. Everything Must Go
6. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart
7. Journal For Plague Lovers
8. Tsunami
9. This Is Yesterday
10. International Blue
11. Love Letter To The Future
12. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)
13. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
14. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
15. Prologue To History
16. Theme From MASH (Suicide Is Painless)
17. Peeled Apples
18. Blank Diary Entry
19. Running Out Of Fantasy
20. Donkeys
21. Anorexic Rodin
22. Baby Elian
23. This Joke Sport Severed
24. Sepia
25. Comfort Comes
26. We Are All Bourgeois Now
27. All Is Vanity
28. Solitude Sometimes Is
29. Welcome To The Dead Zone
30. So Why So Sad
31. Another Invented Disease
32. You're Tender And You're Tired
33. The Second Great Depression
34. Empty Souls
35. The Year Of Purification
36. This Sullen Welsh Heart
37. Black Square
38. Too Cold Here
39. Virginia State Epileptic Colony
40. Motown Junk
41. I Live To Fall Asleep
42. Futurology
43. Facing Page: Top Left
44. Us Against You
45. Fearless Punk Ballad
46. Groundhog Days
47. Out Of Time
48. Distant Colours
49. The Secret He Had Missed
50. Happy Bored Alone

By Era

Generation Terrorists 4

Gold Against The Soul 5

The Holy Bible 4

Everything Must Go 3

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 4

Know Your Enemy 5

Lifeblood 3

Send Away The Tigers 6

Journal For Plague Lovers 6

Postcards From A Young Man 0

Rewind The Film 2

Futurology 2

Resistance Is Futile 2

The Ultra Vivid Lament 3

Others 1

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Lauren @GreenBitterfly

1. Tsunami

2. Faster

3. A Design For Life

4. Kevin Carter

5. This Is Yesterday

6. Let Robeson Sing

7. Motorcycle Emptiness

8. Little Baby Nothing

9. No Surface All Feeling

10. Born A Girl

11. Ocean Spray

12. Australia

13. From Despair To Where

14. Interiors (Song For Willem de Kooning)

15. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky

16. Nobody Loved You

17. Archives Of Pain

18. Umbrella

19. William's Last Words

20. This Joke Sport Severed

21. International Blue

22. This Is The Day

23. Empty Souls

24. 4 Lonely Roads

25. Europa Geht Durch Mich

26. Walk Me To The Bridge

27. Dylan & Caitlin

28. The Intense Humming Of Evil

29. 4st 7lb

30. Prologue To History

31. So Why So Sad

32. Askew Road

33. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)

34. Removables

35. Yourself

36. Doors Closing Slowly

37. Enola/Alone

38. The Secret He Had Missed

39. Anthem For A Lost Cause

40. Virginia State Epileptic Colony

41. Love's Sweet Exile

42. Show Me The Wonder

43. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

44. Yes

45. Stay Beautiful

46. Autumnsong

47. Slash N' Burn

48. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

49. Together Stronger

50. Cardiff Afterlife

By Era

Generation Terrorists 5

Gold Against The Soul 3

The Holy Bible 6

Everything Must Go 9

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 4

Know Your Enemy 3

Lifeblood 3

Send Away The Tigers 2

Journal For Plague Lovers 4

Postcards From A Young Man 0

Rewind The Film 3

Futurology 2

Resistance Is Futile 2

The Ultra Vivid Lament 1

Others 3

Manics Top 50s - 15th Sep 2021

To mark the opening of the third edition of the Manics Top 50s, it seemed fitting to give the first chart to a well-loved member of the Manics Family who is sadly no longer with us after passing away last year.

Many of you will have known Andy through Twitter, having conversations about Manics songs and collectables as well as music in general or his beloved Manchester City.  Many of you will also have met him at Manics gigs.

Through both previous editions of the Manics Top 50s and the Manics Fantasy Setlists, Andy was a regular contributor and so I have no doubt that he would have been springing into action like the rest of us to get his chart prepared and his choices included.  

So while he didn't get the opportunity to enjoy The Ultra Vivid Lament as we're all doing now, we can still include his voice here by taking his chart from 2015 and making sure he has as much a say in the outcome of this as we all do.

andy @citymanblue

1. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

2. Little Baby Nothing

3. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)

4. Revol

5. 1985

6. Faster

7. Motorcycle Emptiness

8. A Design For Life

9. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

10. Stay Beautiful

11. Walk Me to the Bridge

12. Black Dog on my Shoulder

13. Enola/Alone

14. Europa Geht Durch Mich

15. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

16. The Masses Against the Classes

17. Sleepflower

18. From Despair to Where

19. Die in the Summertime

20. Roses in the Hospital

21. Yes

22. (It's Not War) Just the End of Love

23. Prologue to History

24. Mausoleum

25. Show Me the Wonder

26. Motown Junk

27. 4 Ever Delayed

28. Empty Souls

29. You Love Us

30. Virginia State Epileptic Colony

31. Dead Trees and Traffic Islands

32. This Sullen Welsh Heart

33. To Repel Ghosts

34. Peeled Apples

35. Mr Carbohydrate

36. Emily

37. Futurology

38. Ready For Drowning

39. Miss Europa Disco Dancer

40. Baby Elian

41. Sepia

42. Removables

43. Interiors (Song For Willem de Kooning)

44. Ocean Spray

45. Firefight

46. Further Away

47. Rewind the Film

48. Autumnsong

49. (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline

50. Found That Soul

By Era

Generation Terrorists 5

Gold Against the Soul 4

The Holy Bible 5

Everything Must Go 8

This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours 4

Know Your Enemy 4

Lifeblood 4

Send Away the Tigers 2

Journal for Plague Lovers 3

Postcards From a Young Man 1

Rewind the Film 4

Futurology 3

Resistance Is Futile n/a

The Ultra Vivid Lament n/a

Others 3

The Return of the Manics Top 50s!!!

Some of you may remember the original Manics Top 50s from summer 2013 or the return in 2015 where each time more than 60 of us locked ourselves away and deliberated for days, weeks and months over what to include, what to leave out and the vital battle of what would be your number 1 Manics song.  

Some of you weren't part of the coolest gang on Twitter at that point though and so there are occasional whispers as to when it will make a return.  So, with the release of The Ultra Vivid Lament and the return of live music, now seemed like as good a time as any!!!

Since 2015 we have of course also had Resistance Is Futile seeping into our consciousness, so it will be interesting to see how the songs from that album do against the rest.  And how have Rewind the Film and Futurology settled into the back catalogue after they were still fresh in the mind in the first two editions of the chart?  Will they trouble the older classics in the higher echelons of the chart?

Wherever your loyalties lie, the only way to affect the outcome is by sitting down, re-listening to the back catalogue (a chore I know...any excuse) and compiling your chart.  This time you also get the opportunity of writing about your choices and your own personal Manics journey if you wish, see the rules below.

I'm sure I've gained loads more Manics friends since last time, so it would be great to break the 100 barrier in terms of number of participants and make it even bigger than last time, not to mention statistically more reliable.  So spread the word, grab all your Manics-loving friends and get voting!!!!

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If you're taking part in selecting your 50 favourite Manics songs then it's obviously predominantly all about fun and revisiting all of the albums, B-sides etc. to make your choices!  But, for consistency, we need a few rules just so we're all working the same way.

The Rules!

• Each chart contains 50 songs, in order of preference from 1 to 50 (the ordering is important as scoring for the overall fans' chart at the end will depend on this - see below***).
• Each selection will be based on songs rather than versions.  Therefore 'You Love Us', 'Spectators of Suicide' etc. appear once only regardless of which version you prefer.
• Live tracks can be included if they have appeared on an official release, for example as a B-side, but don't have a corresponding studio version e.g. 'It's So Easy'.
• Cover versions are perfectly valid entries.
• Remixes are not included as they are other artists' interpretations of Manics songs.
• Solo tracks by James or Nicky are not included.
• Guest appearances by any Manics member under another band's name are not included.
• Songs released on bootlegs are not included (most will be covered by the above anyway).
• For a full list of valid entries go here (and do let me know if you think I'm missing any!!).

Submitting your Entry

Once you have your final 50, participants have various different options to submit their entry - firstly you can count down from 50 to 1 in true chart style on Twitter for a lively debate with your followers!!  If you do this, you could put your own personal hashtag against each entry (e.g. #ManicsTop50IanL) and let me know @Pyfbrown so that I can compile and publish your chart.  Each entry will go up on this blog with your Twitter name for anyone that misses the countdown to study and critique!!

However, if you would rather blog your own chart, make it into an artistic piece (like with some of the fantasy setlists) or just send me your chart without counting down on Twitter in this way that's fine too, you can send it to me at pyf78 @ hotmail . com (obviously remove the spaces, just trying to beat the spammers!).

This time, you can also have the opportunity (if you wish) of talking about your top 50.  With lots of different entries it can become difficult for me to find anything new to say in the blog the more charts we receive, so it's over to you.  Alongside your chart you can let me know the thoughts behind your choices, at what point in their story you were first introduced to the Manics, favourite albums, reminiscences about seeing them live, meeting them etc.  Bear in mind that you may be sharing your blog entry with others so a few paragraphs will suffice, but we want to hear YOUR truth!

Alternatively you may find that compiling a chart is just too hard, or you just don't have the time, as some did last time.  No problem, you can write a small piece detailing your Manics history and why ordering them was just too difficult and you can have your say even if your vote isn't included!

The deadline for entries to be considered for the overall fans' chart is November 30th 2021. But if you don't hit the deadline feel free to still compile your chart!!  All this means is your chart won't be considered when compiling the Unofficial Manics Fans Favourite Songs!!  Happy ordering!!



***Scoring will be on the basis of 50 points for a number 1, 49 for a number 2, all the way down to 1 point for number 50.  The scores from each entry will be added together to produce the overall chart.

Eligible Songs

To the best of my knowledge, listed below are all of the eligible songs for the top 50 as at September 2021.  Some songs may appear on more than one release, so the ones listed are simply those that fit into the chronology easiest as a guide for anyone hunting down any gaps in their collection.  No excuses for forgetting any now!!!

Suicide Alley (from Suicide Alley)

New Art Riot, Strip it Down, Last Exit on Yesterday, Teenage 20/20 (from New Art Riot)

Motown Junk, Sorrow 16, We Her Majesty's Prisoners (from Motown Junk)

Starlover (from You Love Us (Heavenly))

RP McMurphy, Soul Contamination (from Stay Beautiful)

Democracy Coma (from Repeat/Love's Sweet Exile)

A Vision of Dead Desire, It's So Easy (from You Love Us)

Slash N' Burn, Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds, Born to End, Motorcycle Emptiness, You Love Us, Love's Sweet Exile, Little Baby Nothing, Tennessee, Another Invented Disease, Stay Beautiful, So Dead, Repeat, Spectators of Suicide, Damn Dog, Crucifix Kiss, Methadone Pretty, Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll (from Generation Terrorists)

Ain't Going Down (from Slash N' Burn)

Bored Out of My Mind, Under My Wheels (from Motorcycle Emptiness)

Theme from MASH (Suicide is Painless) (from Theme From MASH)

Never Want Again, Dead Yankee Drawl (from Little Baby Nothing)

Sleepflower, From Despair to Where, La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh), Yourself, Life Becoming a Landslide, Drug Drug Druggy, Roses in the Hospital, Nostalgic Pushead, Symphony of Tourette, Gold Against the Soul (from Gold Against the Soul)

Hibernation (from From Despair to Where)

Patrick Bateman, What's My Name (from La Tristesse Durera)

Us Against You, Donkeys, Wrote for Luck (from Roses in the Hospital)

Comfort Comes, Are Mothers Saints, Charles Windsor (from Life Becoming a Landslide)

Yes, ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart, Of Walking Abortion, She is Suffering, Archives of Pain, Revol, 4st 7lb, Mausoleum, Faster, This is Yesterday, Die in the Summertime, The Intense Humming of Evil, PCP (from The Holy Bible)

Judge Yr'self (from Lipstick Traces)

Sculpture of Man (from Faster/PCP)

Too Cold Here (from Revol)

Love Torn Us Under, Stay With Me, The Drowners (from She is Suffering)

Penny Royalty (from Evening Session Priority Tunes)

Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier, A Design for Life, Kevin Carter, Enola/Alone, Everything Must Go, Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky, The Girl Who Wanted to be God, Removables, Australia, Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning), Further Away, No Surface All Feeling (from Everything Must Go)

Mr Carbohydrate, Dead Passive, Dead Trees and Traffic Islands, Bright Eyes (from A Design for Life)

Black Garden, Hanging On, No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me, Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (from Everything Must Go)

Horses Under Starlight, Sepia, First Republic (from Kevin Carter)

Velocity Girl, Take the Skinheads Bowling, Can't Take My Eyes Off You (from Australia)

Dixie, Glory Glory (from Everything Must Go 10th Anniversary)

The Everlasting, If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, You Stole the Sun From My Heart, Ready for Drowning, Tsunami, My Little Empire, I'm Not Working, You're Tender and You're Tired, Born a Girl, Be Natural, Black Dog on my Shoulder, Nobody Loved You, SYMM (from This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours)

Prologue to History, Montana Autumn 78 (from If You Tolerate This...)

Black Holes for the Young, Valley Boy (from The Everlasting)

Socialist Serenade, Train in Vain (from You Stole the Sun From My Heart)

Buildings for Dead People (from Tsunami)

The Masses Against the Classes, Close My Eyes, Rock and Roll Music (from The Masses Against the Classes)

Found That Soul, Ocean Spray, Intravenous Agnostic, So Why So Sad, Let Robeson Sing, The Year of Purification, Wattsville Blues, Miss Europa Disco Dancer, Dead Martyrs, His Last Painting, My Guernica, The Convalescent, Royal Correspondent, Epicentre, Baby Elian, Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children, We Are All Bourgeois Now (from Know Your Enemy)

Locust Valley, Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel (from Found That Soul)

Pedestal (from So Why So Sad)

Groundhog Days, Just a Kid, Little Trolls (from Ocean Spray)

Masking Tape, Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, Fear of Motion (from Let Robeson Sing)

Door to the River (from Forever Delayed)

There By the Grace of God, Automatik Teknicolour, It's All Gone, Unstoppable Salvation, Happy Ending (from There By the Grace of God)

4 Ever Delayed, Been a Son, Out of Time, Last Christmas (from Lipstick Traces)

1985, The Love of Richard Nixon, Empty Souls, A Song for Departure, I Live to Fall Asleep, To Repel Ghosts, Emily, Glasnost, Always - Never, Solitude Sometimes Is, Fragments, Cardiff Afterlife (from Lifeblood)

The Soulmates, Antarctic (from Japanese Lifeblood)

Everyone Knows-Nobody Cares, Everything Will Be, Askew Road, Quarantine (In My Place Of), Voodoo Polaroids (from The Love of Richard Nixon)

All Alone Here, No Jubilees, Litany, Dying Breeds, Failure Bound (from Empty Souls)

A Secret Society, Firefight, Picturesque (from God Save the Manics)

Leviathan (from Help: A Day in the Life)

The Instrumental (from Still Unravished: A Tribute to the June Brides)

Send Away the Tigers, Underdogs, Your Love Alone is Not Enough, Indian Summer, The Second Great Depression, Rendition, Autumnsong, I'm Just a Patsy, Imperial Bodybags, Winterlovers, Working Class Hero (from Send Away the Tigers)

Fearless Punk Ballad, Boxes & Lists, Love Letter to the Future, Welcome to the Dead Zone, Little Girl Lost (from Your Love Alone is Not Enough)

The Vorticists, The Long Goodbye, Morning Comrades, 1404, Red Sleeping Beauty (from Autumnsong)

You Know It's Going to Hurt, Heyday of the Blood, Foggy Eyes, Lady Lazarus, Anorexic Rodin (from Indian Summer)

The Ghost of Christmas (download only)

Umbrella (from NME Awards 2008)

Peeled Apples, Jackie Collins Existential Question Time, Me and Stephen Hawking, This Joke Sport Severed, Journal for Plague Lovers, She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach, Facing Page: Top Left, Marlon JD, Doors Closing Slowly, All is Vanity, Pretension/Repulsion, Virginia State Epileptic Colony, William's Last Words, Bag Lady (from Journal For Plague Lovers)

Alien Orders - Invisible Armies, Primitive Painters (from Japanese Journal For Plague Lovers)

Vision Blurred (download only)

(It's Not War) Just the End of Love, Postcards From a Young Man, Some Kind of Nothingness, The Descent (Pages 1 & 2), Hazelton Avenue, Auto Intoxication, Golden Platitudes, I Think I Found It, A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun, All We Make is Entertainment, The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever, Don't Be Evil (from Postcards From a Young Man)

I Know the Numbers, I'm Leaving You For Solitude, Distractions, Ostpolitik, Lost Voices (from It's Not War....)

Time Ain't Nothing, Broken Up Again, Red Rubber, Evidence Against Myself, Slow Reflections/Strange Delays (from Some Kind of Nothingness)

The Passing Show, Inky Fingers, Engage With Your Shadow, Kiss My Eyes For Eternity, Midnight Sun (from Postcards From a Young Man)

This is the Day, Rock 'N' Roll Genius, We Were Never Told (from This is the Day)

The Endless Plain of Fortune (from National Treasures The Selected Singles)

Wake Up Alone (from Back to Back to Black)

This Sullen Welsh Heart, Show Me the Wonder, Rewind the Film, Builder of Routines, 4 Lonely Roads, (I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline, Anthem For a Lost Cause, As Holy As the Soil (That Buries Your Skin), 3 Ways To See Despair, Running Out Of Fantasy, Manorbier, 30-Year War (from Rewind the Film)

T.E. Lawrence On a Bike, What Happened to the Blue Generation, Melancholyme (from Show Me the Wonder)

Death Of A Digital Ghost, See It Like Sutherland (from Anthem For a Lost Cause)

Futurology, Walk Me to the Bridge, Let's Go To War, The Next Jet To Leave Moscow, Europa Geht Durch Mich, Divine Youth, Sex, Power, Love and Money, Dreaming a City (Hughesovka), Black Square, Between the Clock and the Bed, Misguided Missile, The View From Stow Hill, Mayakovsky, Blistered Mirrors, Empty Motorcade, The Last Time I Saw Paris (from Futurology)

The Sound of Detachment, Caldey (from Walk Me to the Bridge)

Antisocialmanifesto, Kodawari (from Futurology)

Start Me Up (from Sounds of the 80s)

Together Stronger (from Together Stronger)

(Feels Like) Heaven (from Sounds of the 80s vol. 2)

People Give In, International Blue, Distant Colours, Vivian, Dylan & Caitlin, Liverpool Revisited, Sequels of Forgotten Wars, Hold Me Like A Heaven, In Eternity, Broken Algorithms, A Song For The Sadness, The Left Behind, Concrete Fields, A Soundtrack To Complete Withdrawal (from Resistance Is Futile)

Holding Patterns, Mirror Gaze (from Japanese Resistance Is Futile)

Still Snowing In Sapporo, Orwellian, The Secret He Had Missed, Quest For Ancient Colour, Don't Let The Night Divide Us, Diapause, Complicated Illusions, Into The Waves Of Love, Blank Diary Entry, Happy Bored Alone, Afterending, My Drowning World, These Dark Roads (from The Ultra Vivid Lament)