The Manic

The past decade has seen the birth and evolution of so many progressive rock bands that it can be more than a little challenging to keep track of them all. And let’s face it, at this stage in the game it isn’t easy to come up with a band name that hasn’t been taken already. But occasionally a name is able to strike a blend of originality and absurdity such that it also sticks in one’s head and stands out from the rest…

Recorded live at the Oakwood Centre on 5th of May 2018.

Debut albums rarely come as ambitious as the Manic Street Preachers' Generation Terrorists. Released in England as a double album (it was trimmed to the length of a single record in America), the album teemed with slogans, political rhetoric, and scarily inarticulate angst. Since the Manics deliver these charged lyrics as heavy guitar-rockers, the music doesn't always hit quite as forcefully as intended. The relatively polished production and big guitar sound occasionally sell the music short, especially the lesser songs, yet the Manics' passion is undeniable, even on the weaker cuts. While the album is loaded with a little bit too much unrealized material in retrospect, its best moments – the fiery "Slash N' Burn," "Little Baby Nothing," the incendiary "Stay Beautiful," the sardonic "You Love Us," and the haunting "Motorcycle Emptiness" – capture the Manics in all their raging glory.

Taking the hard rock inclinations of Generation Terrorists to an extreme, the Manic Street Preachers delivered a flawed but intriguing second album with Gold Against the Soul. Inspired by Guns N' Roses, the Manics decided to rework their working-class angst as heavy arena rock; they seize upon the latent politicism of Guns N' Roses' tortured white-trash metal, interpreting it as a call to arms. Since the Manics are more intellectual and revolutionary than the Gunners, Gold Against the Soul burns with inspired, if confused, rhetoric. The Manics, however, aren't quite as gifted with hooks at this stage – their power derives from their self-belief, which they can't quite translate into songs.

The second album by progressive rock band I Am The Manic Whale. 7 more tracks of glorious progressive rock written about a variety of interesting subjects from time-travelling aliens to lifeboat men to Strandbeests. I AM THE MANIC WHALE is a progressive rock band formed in Reading, United Kingdom, in 2015, consisting of Michael WHITEMAN (bass guitar and lead vocals, plus occasional keyboards and guitar), David ADDIS (guitars and backing vocals), Ben HARTLEY (drums and backing vocals), and John MURPHY (keyboards and vocals). The music of I AM THE MANIC WHALE is inspired by many of the great progressive artists, particularly GENESIS, THE FLOWER KINGS, BIG BIG TRAIN, SPOCK'S BEARD and Neal MORSE.

I Am The Manic Whale is a progressive rock band formed in Reading, United Kingdom, in 2015, consisting of Michael Whiteman (bass guitar and lead vocals, plus occasional keyboards and guitar), David Addis (guitars and backing vocals), Ben Hartley (drums and backing vocals), and John Murphy (keyboards and vocals). As the debut album from I Am The Manic Whale, "Everything Beautiful in Time" features songs "about finding the beauty in things that are often not considered beautiful and how this changes with the passage of time". From the accompanying documentation it appears that the material for the album has been written over a decade or more, although only recorded in the last year…