Mansun - Legacy : The Best Of Mansun

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 24 / 9 / 2006

---

Review

Naming themselves after a Verve B side, ‘A Man Named Sun’, but deliberately slightly altering it to avoid court action, Mansun were a massive band from their initial concept in ‘95 and until they finally faded out in 2003. A year later in 2004 a 3 CD set was released which included tracks from their unreleased fourth album. ‘Legacy,’ which appears as a 17 track CD, and also as a 16 track DVD collection, however, is a good introduction to the band should you be too young to remember Britpop. Fronted by Paul Draper, whom compiled this compilation, I thought at the time they were a great singles band, but the only time I saw them live at the Kilburn National Club in London they bored me senseless. Mansun were, however, responsible for influencing the recently split up Hope of the States to form a band in the first place. ‘Legacy’ kicks off with ‘I Can Only Disappoint You’, which is a catchy beat based number. ‘Wide Open Space follows. A song about homelessness, it was a great little single and quite collectable at the time of its release in 1996. ‘Stripper Vicar’, which just preceded it, but follows it on 'Legacy’ was again a huge single, and very anthemic with something of a XTC groove to it. 1999’s ‘Being A Girl (Part 1)’ was another huge song, and, with a new wave edge to it, sounded like the Knack, while ‘Negative’ is very groove based, and sounds like decent early Radiohead, ‘Take It Easy, Chicken’, their very first single from 1995, has a killer guitar groove to it. Songs like this don’t exist anymore. ‘Legacy’ meanwhile has a jangly feel and, showing a band in complete control of its path, is as classic as the early Smiths. ‘She Makes My Nose Bleed’ also sounds classic and again is anthemic. When it was released in 1997 the band were still just about on a roll, but they started to lose it soon after. ‘Closed for Business’, another single from ‘97 sounds like a slowed down Led Zeppelin, while ‘Six’ sounds like a cross between INXS and the Police. ‘Getting Your Own Way’ is gothic and recollects Placebo, while ‘Electric Man’, one of their last singles, is a slick Britpop tune and recalls Suede. ’The Chad Who Loved Me’ sounds like a Bond theme tune before it becomes more groove based. ‘Egg Shaped Fred, the B side of ‘Closed for Business’ is very catchy and very Britpop, while ‘Slipping Away ‘, their last single from 2003, makes its CD debut as it was only released on 7 inch vinyl at the time. ‘Fool’ is a sing-a-long pop number , while ‘Tax Loss’, the final song, sounds like the Beatles.

Track Listing:-

1 I Can Only Disappoint U (Single Mix)
2 Wide Open Space
3 Stripper Vicar
4 Being a Girl (Part One) (Edit)
5 Negative (Edit)
6 Take It Easy Chicken
7 Legacy (Radio Edit)
8 She Makes My Nose Bleed
9 Closed for Business
10 Six (Single Version)
11 Getting Your Way
12 Electric Man (Radio Edit)
13 The Chad Who Loved Me
14 Egg Shaped Fred
15 Slipping Away
16 Fool (Edit)
17 Taxloss