Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface (July 28, 2017) Album • Page 206

i'm sure every little score isn't discussed in detail and writers definitely have some power over things, but like, i'm sure there's some maneuvering to hit an agenda (like an emo album won't get an 8.5 without legitimate critical/"coolness" buzz, manchester wouldn't get an 8, etc), but some no name album getting a 7.8 won't be discussed as much

 

the agenda as far as i can tell is having a consistent and coherent voice/brand and sometimes that def leaves great records stranded in the 7.0-7.9 range but i don't think there's anything necessarily wrong or bad about this

 

it only really comes off as weird when the review is incredibly gushing and positive and the writer talks about it being one of the best of the year and then it gets like a 7.7 or so. bring quite a bit of dissonance at that point

 

i guess i feel neutral about it bc without some kind of editorial pushback in place i'd be giving more records 9s, and the pushback is sort of like any form of editing, which is to consider something with as much distance and perspective as possible

 

makes sense. i've also been always of the mindset to only edit for grammar/clearness rather than actual content itself, but i'm also not in the journalism world and i know that's the standard, sadly.

 

Secrets of the universe may lie in an old gold mine in South Dakota

The mine.

 

So cool

 

How P4k albums are scored and how often writers haven't been super happy with the score that ends up on their review (in both ways, sometime's lower, sometimes higher, sometimes pretty far off, and sometimes because of editorial politics). I've heard it from at least two writers over the last two years.

 

So you'd think there's a chance this record for example might have scored higher if it was solely up to the writer?
If so would be a little interesting, because I'm pretty sure the past few ManchOrch reviews would have been 5s no matter what.

 

well yeah, because the past few manchorch albums have been nowhere NEAR as good as this one ;)


but really, I can't believe how good this album is. I always wanted to care about this band as much as everyone else, and now i finally can. I've had it on repeat all night and it's fucking excellent.

 

I think The Hotelier woulda for sure. Can't speak to this one specifically. Probably?

 

I'm with you to an extent. I've always picked up a new Manchester Orchestra record and whilst I've enjoyed songs here or there, nothing has hit me as much as ILAVLAC. This is another level though. An excellent album from start to finish.

 

I'm gonna be real honest right now and say that I'm not really feeling Black Mile on the whole, sadly. I expected to really love it, but something just isn't fully clicking with me. I think they've accomplished some great things with it, and applaud its cohesiveness, but unfortunately I find that to be possibly its downfall for me– the songs are so consistent in production and mood, which isn't inherently bad, but I just don't think their take on either of those elements here are quite my taste (at least not over an entire album). Although I feel it's exceptionally produced on a technical level, I just don't think I, personally, enjoy the production. I feel a distance to it, (at least so far) I've failed to be captivated enough to immerse myself in the world of this record like most of y'all seem to.

That said, I have a feeling maybe it's just not the right time for me. Something about this screams "winter" to me, so I think I may try this one again when the colder weather hits. I'm weird like that. When Blonde came out, I was highly anticipating it because Channel Orange is one of my top 5 albums of all time, but I didn't listen to it very much in the summer because it failed to click with me then (for similar reasons). I returned to it in the winter and it was like I was hearing a totally different album, now I absolutely adore it. I'm glad to see so much positivity about this album on here, I wish I could add to that right now, but it's nice to see regardless.

 

It definitely feels like a winter album, lyrically even, so it may help. I also loved listening to it up in the mountains, took on a new life for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

 

That's for sure how I felt immediately minus a few songs. It took me a while, but now I'm really into it.

 

Hopeful I end up really into it, as well. I have listened to it close to 10 times, but my feelings so far have been pretty much the same each listen, unfortunately.

 

wut

 

???

 

what did it say?

 

It was just reposting about the tour bundles that come with the 7", custom poster, tote bag, lanyard tag, etc.

 

didn't realize that was known info, sorry friends

 

oh weird, I can still see that post on their fbook.

 

No worries, just didn't want people freaking out thinking they missed something!

 

Manchester couldn't even be given a full month before brand new stole their thunder haha