[COLOR=green] Back in summer 2002, The Vines first appeared with Get Free and Highly Evolved,they were hailed in some quarters as the biggest band since Nirvana. They then went touring for what seemed like eternity and disappeared to record "the difficult second album" Winning Days, which before it's creation was given a thumbs up by those at the new smash hits, sorry NME, and yet with it's release last year both the vines and the record itself were critically murdered. Winning Days is not a bad album, i would go as far to say that it is probably better than highly evolved. The Vines should have never come close to breaking up, Craig Nicholls is clearly not suffering from aspergers, it's just a cover for him to tour not so much.


we need The Vines back in the world of music.

I like both albums. I love Craig's work, rock music or not. Aspergers or not, I don't care just as long as The Vines can rest. Honestly, I feel bad about being a fan since that means I'm one of those people who just HAVE to see them live. THat's what pressures them and that's probably what caused them to almost break up. I don't want to destroy the friendship they have. Note, HAVE not had. I've never seen them live but I don't mind not seeing them live in the future. JUst as long as they stay together, and have fun. I'm extremely thankful that they even shared these albums and demos with us cause these changed my life. They showed me what music is all about. It's not about talking fast with senseless rhymes or dancing with catchy music, it's not even about drugs or sex. It's all about emothions that speak through melody

NOTE: I wrote this with 100% honesty. Some of you may find it lame but who cares. I think it's worth writing.

HURRY UP VINES!!!!!!!!!!

i have this feeling that the 3rd album is going to blow us all away. i don't know why, but i just have that feeling. it's really weird. we'll just have to wait and find out if i'm right. i, personally, liked 'highly evolved' better than 'winning days', but winning days is a close second so yeah. i'm more than desperate for a 3rd album.

Yeah, I really anticipate the third album
and I don't think he clearly doesn't have Asperger's Syndrome
to me he clearly does

I think Craig has a way with music that I do not understand and I'm sure any album they make will be fantastic. He does say he has like a hundred songs, right? I am really excited for a new album..whenever that will be.
I think it's quite obvious he has asperger's syndrome. One day I was watching an interview of him on my computer (he did not seem high at all) and my sister comes up behind me and says "what's wrong with that guy? he looks like he might throw up"
the comment was really funny at the time cause craig was moving his head in this really weird repetitive way, and my sister didn't know anything about him. but if you watch the interview, his eyes dart back and forth the whole time and never look at the camera or the interviewer, and he moves his head in odd ways. Not odd as in bad, just different.

What side was that supposed to defend?

Eyes_between has a good point, just whose side are you on anyways?
But really now, what does it matter if he's a genius or a madman? He's important to so many people's life that his IQ test wouldn't have an effect. IQ Tests don't check perspective; merely how much information has been crammed between your ears.
I don't give a fuck what Craig is; he could be an alien transvestite borne from leftover fry grease for all it matters. We need some new stuff, guys, and that's a point he's concentrating on fixing.
As far as we know.

CRAIGS A GENE-ASSSSSSSSS lol. sorry from a movie....nah, i think he's a genius, he's got the most brilliant music and the things he says are weird but smart....

Flowers for algernon?

I don't know...

Anyway, I am suprised how much The vines affected me. I started searching for music because i realised i didnt like mainstream, and i had some cash so i went to bust buy and bought winning days ( i didnt no which one came out first) and i feel in a love with the music. i love both albums equally now that i have them. without the vines, i dont think i would be listening to any of the music i listen to now. so i hope we have many albums to come. the 3rd surely will be great, im sure it will have a very emotional impact on us because of all the things that craig has to write about now. even the music im sure will be better since the rest of the band also dealed with problems.

thats all i got...

Ahh is this forum being really wierd about showing new posts for anyone else?

Have you ever taken a real IQ test? It's not about whats been crammed into your head like the ACTs. All you need to know is how to do simple addition subtraction multiplication and division and know names of animals and countrys and stuff. Most of the questions are picking out patterns and such. It's all about perspective.

He's maybe a mad genius.

Anyway, i love his madness and his ingenuity

well they say genius and madness go hand in hand
so I think its a pretty dumb question
its not like you have to be one or the other

Yeah, I have that feeling too. It's like first album, "bam!" Second album, "Oops!", third album, "KABOOM!" Personally, I don't have a preference between the two albums. I love'em both!!



Yeah, that's the fun of it. He's stupid yet smart, crazy yet wise, INTERESTING

yea i was wondering the same.


Anyway, the 3rd album will be probably great...this is how i feel it too, but to cut heavily the touring and all the public stuff will be a suicide...and i'm not referring to the fans.

I think anyone who writes fuckin good music like Craig Is frikin genius ( Oh god i'm sounding like Anna Nicole Smith)

I don't really think he's mad, he gets a bit hyped up on stage and what have you, maybe it's the weed?!?!

Well i cant wait for the next album, There aren't many bands who are in it purely for the music, You never here them go on bout the money or the girls and shit like that.

So yeah pure fuckin Genius

I personally think Craig Nicholls has some disorder. He cannot interact in a social scenerio. When I met him at a gig he seemed really distant and was only interested in what I had to say about Kurt Cobain.

I'm not really sure what the original point of this thread was?

Anyway, I think The Vines grew alot artistically between Highly Evolved and Winning Days. I don't understand why so many people seem to think Winning Days is crap.

Im willing to wait
Wait untill im like 80.
I saw them live once and i wanna see them again
even if that means i have to go to Australia because they want to calm down things.
I dont care
as long as they make music and have fun with each other in doing it.
Thats the only thing that counts.

Not what hysteric, stupid groupies say.

lol hes a genius he has both parts of aspurgers

hes got the part i wish i had
he can do realy well in art cause he has patience for art (yes this really is a part) and hes a genius

the part i have wich he has less of is the temper. it sux i get into so much trouble cause o it.

hes clearly a genius.

(am i spelling genius rihgt?)

yes
but you spelt asperger's wrong

My friends and I like to pronounce it like Assburger's.
And I've taken a couple of IQ tests and it says average score, but that's not possible since they don't seem to have questions that have to do with psychology.
In my perspective, the whole IQ thing is a crock.
And why can't Craig be both genius and madman? Oh, and you forgot to add sexy beast of an alien as a choice.

You can't possibly have an average IQ if the test doesn't ask psychology questions? Like what kind of psychology questions?

Like questions that would be too long to bother putting on an IQ test. Psychology, writing, and music are my strong suits. Since two are a matter of opinion, it's impossibly difficult to interpret IQ from them. As for psychology, they have nothing concerning diagnosis of insanity, inner problems, personality types, etc.

I'm as anxious for the new album/tour as the next person, but seriously, I think people need to back off of them and give them their space. Bitching about it is not going to solve anything, or speed the process up any. They were on tour for 3 years straight basically, and then Craig gets diagnosed with aspergers on top of that. They are exhausted both mentally and physically... back off of them for a while longer, they haven't even been off tour and Winning Days hasn't even been out for a year yet and people are flipping out because they aren't on tour... what do you expect them to do, live the rest of their lives with jet-lag and on a tour bus, just because YOU want them to be on tour? I bet that the more time they get to themselves, the sooner they will be back. Just give it time, it will happen.


Oh, and Craig is a genius. He can be crazy at times, but that doesn't mean that he is a madman. Anyone that has ever listened to his music can tell that he is a genius.

Well, we're not really being impatient, but whatever. I suppose you have a point.

IQ tests roughly measure cognitive intelligence. They aren't personality tests and they aren't "Let's see how much you've learned in school." tests. They don't have history, biology, or economics questions why would they have writing or music questions? They have questions that gauge spacial, logic, language, and memory ability. Yes the tests are imperfect if you want to know someones complete intelligence level which would include social and creative skills but they give a basic idea of how well the individual can solve problems and understand concepts.

ive seen the VINES 2 times now i wish i have seen them mmore but what can u do Craig to me is like the koolest dude around but not as kool as KURT COBAIN
but Craig is an AUSSIE so that makes him a mad bloke the vines or shall i say Craig writes the best songs ever like 1969 in the jungle ammnesia animal machine etc theres no way Craig is mad just think every rock star goes nuts man just think of AXL ROSE Daniel Johns ETC its just the way it is craig is a true rock genius man he knows how to play a show man he screams he smashes guitars hits the odd band member with sumthing but thats rock and roll and i think the shit they all did on triple M garage sessions is funny as fuck all i gotta say is when the VINES bring out new stuff its gonna rock and if it dont ill still buy it because im a vines fan for life GO CRAIG YOU ROCK MAN AND YOU ALWAYS WILL DUDE

can you type dot and comma?

Yeah! I mean, a lot of the greatest people in time were once stupid or poor. Some only studied for two years. Craig an be a mad genius! that makes him fun!!

im just glad there is a VINES, my mum even loves them, they have changed my life loads and my style of music. i dont think of 'highly evolved' and 'winning days' seperatly, for me '1969' and 'ride' are right after each other because its all The Vines and everything they do is brilliant and the more i think about their next albem i get more exited. i haven't been lucky enough to see them live, i dont know when i will but i think it will be great, thankfully i live in Australia.
they have inspiered me so much, Craig seems like a real great guy. things you read, half of its probebly crap, you carnt realy judge someone unless you realy know them.
people arn't weired just because they are different, like if someone had three eyes you would tease them, but if you were ment to have three, everyone would be saying to each other "i hate this... i feel so weird only having two eyes"
O.K i dont know if thats relivent, but if you think about it you can relate.

I dont understand either- W.D. is a great vortex to be stuck inside.
I think the reviewer Iain Shedden got it right when he said that Highly Evolved and Winning Days were 'sister albums', and there's something sonically yin and yang connected going on there.
What does anyone think the concept of the 'concept' album the third album is rumoured to be ? Hopefully it will be a double (please)

Winning Days started to be called crap after it was just released and looked like it wouldn't sell as well as Highly Evolved. Most of the reviews I've read, written before the album was released, were actually pretty good.
Winning Days is my fave album by The Vines (although Highly Evolved is very close to it). I think Craig is a genius and madman, I like both sides of him .

I honestly do not know how anyone could call "Winning Days" crap. Especially those who liked "Highly Evolved." Even if someone does not like The Vines' music I still think it's stupid to not even give it a chance and excuse it for crap. I mean I know that some people are bound to not like it, but since the first album was so hyped I think its bullshit that "Winning Days" was brushed off.
I honestly think it shows growth upon the first album and is slightly better musically. the song "Winning Days" has the most goregous melodies and I think the lyrics are great because we can all relate to sometimes wishing to be a child again. I think every song on the album has great qualities. "Autumn Shade II" is excellent too as well. The songs "Animal Machine" and "TV Pro" bring such unique elements that I was immediately attracted to them.
I know that was a huge tangent, but I really hope that The Vines do not think less of Winning Days becasue of some shitty pre-judged reviews. It's all bullshit if you ask me. Craig has genuine talent for music.

Yeah, well, the media is on crack, kids. They think "J.Lo" is good...(we don't even know what to call her anymore; she keeps changing her name). That's one of the reasons I like bands more than solo artists; along with a much better band name (I hate when bands are named after one person!) you get group chemistry, especially with The Vines.
Winning Days...was a little better (in my opinion) than Highly Evolved. It seems like there was more thought in the process. But that's usually how it is: the first CD is good/great and the second is either 1) AWESOME or 2) crap.
Craig is something else. All genius, madman, sexy beast, poet, and guitarist. You can tag on whatever comments you like, but to many of us, he is a god. For some reason, I feel as though he will never die. He's like some sort of immortal being blessing the strings with the touch of his fingers and blessing us all with a piece of his soul.
Poetic.
And the original point of this thread was yet another giant thread of Craig compliments, basically. (No offense meant to whoever created this thread.)

well, I dont think hes a God

this thread wasn't started with a bunch of pet hates about craig, it was purely created to see if the fans of the vines were divided in regards to how they saw Craig Nicholls and whether the mountain of negative publicity had changed that opinion. Having seen the vines 6 times and met Craig 4 times I am a massive fan who regards him as a genius.

I agree, and I have this feeling that the 3rd album is going to blow us all away as well. It's just written in the greatness that has already occured on the 1st two albums. And, they're so young and focused.

I think Asperger's Syndrom is just a Medical Label to squander the typical musical greatness which occurs in certain humans. When the door is open this wide to greatness the individual is often changed as such.

I agree, and I have this feeling that the 3rd album is going to blow us all away as well. It's just written in the greatness that has already occured on the 1st two albums. And, they're so young and focused.

No negative publicity could dent the love I have of the Vines' beautiful eargasms
and here's to more wonderous music and a little bit of live touring
I believe a band has have to have something undeniable,unattainable and incredibly talented such as The Vines have, for lesser beings like journalists to try and deny it-there has to be envy on the journalist's part, 'newsworthy'=bitchy
It is clear The Vines have struck a chord with a large group of people who LISTEN and HEAR THE BEAUTY-and what unflinchingly beauty it is!
I think you should share and tell us about meeting Craig Genius

winning days wasnt critiquely butchered it was hailed. billboard i know loved it and i was on this site that had new albums that usually got 5 stars and winning days was one of them. i hav also heard rumours that craig has been writing alot of music in his bedroom and the next album will be called auttum shade 3

Really? I guess I just read a few bad reviews.
autumn shade 3 haha I wonder if there will be one ...it's funny cause he probally is in his bedroom writing music.

Having Asperger's syndrome has nothing to do with that...except that people with AS have a tendancy to focus all their energy on one thing and become talented in it--like music for craig and perhaps some others.
AS is basically difficulty with social interaction and understanding other people and their emotions and intentions.

word.

I just found out today, my friend's little bro as asperger's, he's into computers ( i know, irrelevant! but hey, just some trivia)

and i don't think craig is a madman.

i think every genious is a madman, and craigs a genious

The only bad reviews of Winningdays that I read were in British magazines such as the NME and Q. In america most magazines gave it 3 stars and Revolver (a metal magazine!!) gave it 4/4.