Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface (July 28, 2017) Album • Page 191

My top 4 would've been(for now)

Lead, SD
The Grocery
The Wolf
The Silence

 

My ideal final four would also be:

The Maze
The Grocery
The Wolf
The Silence

There are three very sane people in this thread.

 

Fixed it. Join us and we will rule the world (just not with The Wolf evidently).

 

I'm not a huge fan of it, but it seems to be the most popular among this thread and Reddit and I've read reviews saying it was their best song yet. I really love the last third, but the first half of the song I think is mediocre in my own opinion, sort of has the alien narrative thing going.

 

And what's wrong with that? That's what I really enjoy about "The Alien".

 

its a song that just builds and builds, and once you finally feel that you have reached the climax of the song it hits you with something even harder and more emotive. First you get the "you believe him or you dont" I sort of thought okay thats the big moment of the song and its fantastic, then you get the the only obvious equation you believe it or you don't which then feels like the new high, then you get hit with the next part which is really intense and right at the top of Andy's range and you are thinking okay this is it, then finally it hits you with the really high note at the very end of the phrase and the band just jams out on that chord progression. It feels like the perfect ending to a 3 song arc and very much feels like it could be a closer to an album in its own right

 

It's my least favorite part of the alien. Just more of a fan of traditional song structures and less narrative.


Both good songs. And I adore the last third of grocery. I just don't think it's their best according to my tastes.

I think it fits perfectly as the end to act 2. Just not as much as a standalone

 

After spending a lot of time with this since it came out. It has moved to #1 on the AOTY list. This thread moves too quick for me to stay up to date. I'm sure I'll be seeing this at the top of many others.

 

I still like this record. A lot.

 

No alchemist can bring back The Gold. It is gone.

 

I think I've finally settled in on a final, definitive ranking for these songs (I know y'all were doing this last week and before, but I'm slow and indecisive):

The Alien (probably #1 in ManOrch's discography)
Lead, SD
The Wolf
The Parts
The Mistake
The Grocery
The Sunshine
The Gold
The Silence
The Maze
The Moth

And yes, I understand this contradicts even what I said earlier today. This record rules though, and I love every song. It's a tough thing comparing them. But I think that's it for me.

 

At this point they wouldn't even be able to turn Lead(, SD) into Gold.

 

Read the Get Hurt review. Was just an all out attack on Fallon.

 

Yeah the get hurt review in particular was very bad

 

"During “Stay Vicious”, Fallon admits, “I still love rock'n'roll and I still call somebody ‘baby’.” Disregarding the rockism, sexism, mansplaining, and ageism that can be perceived in this lyric, it's easy to appreciate the honesty, at the least, of a guy admitting to being an anachronism"


Wow. Just....wow.

 

One of the more head scratching lines in there for sure

 

This charted number 7 rolling stone is dumb

 

Yeah, so much for a disappointing opening week, huh?

 

Cohen sucks. I can't stand his reviews and weird personal attacks on some artists

 

Wow. Rolling Stone was WAY off!

 

the snare hits in the verses "the grocery" are awesomely timed just in general, but they take on some added power in verse 2 given the lyrics. man, this record continues to impress in very nuanced ways.

 

Reading this article on Billboard, it says the same thing as Rolling Stone.

And it says Imagine Dragons is #7.

So I don't know what the heck is going on.

 

so wait, is the general narrative here in the middle tracks that the narrator walks into a grocery store, shoots and kills one (or multiple) people in it, attempts to kill himself, gun's out of bullets, so he flees, escapes by car, stops the car in the middle of the highway and causes an accident? am i even close and/or has any sort of timeline for this whole concept been put together anywhere online?

 

Maybe Rolling Stone just doesn't know what they're talking abo—

Oh. I was right.