I think it's time that the vines broke the mold of their last singles (homesick excluded), left the rocky punk numbers alone for a minute, and show the world that they are capable of so much more than the formulaic singles that the amassed masses have come to expect.

For their next singles, I want to start some sort of a fan campaign or petition to release AS3 or A Girl I Knew as the next single. The world needs to be made aware of a different dimension in the band's repotiore and I think the encouragement needs to come from us- anyone with me? let's be having your votes then.

I'd love to see A Girl I Knew as a new single!
Sadly, I doubt that's going to happen. :/
Still, you've got my vote.

I totally agree that the ballads and "quieter" songs should make it out there more. There are still so many people who've only ever heard The Vines heavier items when they're also capable of producing really beautiful songs. I'd like to see them get more recognition for that.

They're both so great... I'd vote AS3, just because it might encourage people to listen to the brilliance of ASI and ASII.

Great idea. I vote for A Girl I Knew. Such a great song.

They've released Winning Days as a single too don't forget that.

I don't reckon any of the ballad songs on this album have commercial appeal (which is the whole point of a single in the first place). Orange Amber though should be a single that has a different vibe, lots of melodia.

Agreed on all counts.

A Girl I Knew = commercial suicide.

Orange Amber will probably be the ballad single.

If James Fucking Blunt can do what he did with the shyte he spewed out then The Vines can do it a million times better.

AS3 is currently charted on itunes I hear- if that isn't a reason to make sure it gets released as a single then I don't know what is.

... As someone else said, an interest in AS3 means an interest in the first two.

James Blunt is a record label product, with millions of dollars invested in him. Plus he had the benefit of having a hugely lame but memorable refrain in his biggest hit, "You're beautiful" which is repeated like a gazillion times. Autumn Shade 3 has one mention of Autumn Shade and doesn't hang around long enough to be memorable to a newbie hearing it on radio. iTunes sales don't mean jack cause that's probably from people who are already fans buying the entire album. Plus albums are still bought mainly on CD.

I accept what you say about the blunt-meister, but people bought that shit. The ballads on this album are a million times stronger than any of that shyte regardless of the money invested. AS3 is striking for more reasons than not having any particular hook. It's haunting and it's short and to the point. People will remember it, not to mention what an atrociously beautiful song it is. It's also completely different to anything else that's being spewed out by the radio at the moment- it has such potential to catch on- any of the ballads do. iTunes sales clearly do mean at least something if that tune is being picked out by people above everything else. If people are buying the entire album, then why aren't other songs up there? and your last sentence contradicts your penultimate point.... and I don't agree with it. I think people buy the CDs they really care about on CD, but otherwise it's download all the way. Vinyl is apparently making a big come back on the back of the decline of CD sales.

Yes, illegal download, that is.

A girl i knew I think is the worst song on the album (possibly their worst song ever, if u exclude a few old demo b-sides), and if released would be the nail in the coffin for the Vines.

Autumn shade 3 would just confuse people, its short and meaningless to anyone who isnt already a Vines fan. Although I love hearing them play it live, on the album it doesnt cut it for me, and i usually just skip it.
Someone before my post said AS3 was "haunting"??? I struggle to find whats so haunting about it, when it actually paints quite a calming picture....
Autumn Shade was haunting.... not AS3!



Anyways, if Merrygoround doesnt get released as a single, then the whole Vines camp has gone crazy!!! Theres a reason why it was the american record labels favourite..... cos its the best and most marketable!!!!

how can you not find AS3 haunting? the solo.... are you listening to the same album?

you seem to be against the release of a ballad altogether. Release of merrygoround would be the exact trap I would wish to avoid- releasing the same type of song again. They need to pick a single which shows a different dimension- and that means staying away from the rocky numbers for a single. People clearly think they know what to expect from a vines single- whatever the next one is, it has to be completely different.

Autumn shades solo was haunting, AS3's solo still sounds more happy go lucky to me.... maybe im exagerating a bit, but its certainly not haunting. Especially with the Gulls quacking sound effect!
This album, I've found the strongest songs are the louder ones. True as the night and She is Gone are the only 2 ballads on the album I really care much for.
I find I knew a Girl lyrically appaulling, and AS3 just has nothing to it. I understand the point of AS3, its painting a very visual picture, but its too short to be a single.

This album is being touted as a return to form, a comeback, The Vines started out witih loads of fans with HE, and over the years lost them... so a song like Merrygoround which I would say i the closest thing to HE isnt a bad single release choice. Most fans parted away from The Vines because their sound changed on WD and VV.
Anyways, if your talking about not releasing songs which are just "more of the same", the AS3 isnt a good choice, since 1.5 million people will probably realise they already have a verrrrrryyy similar song already in their record collection.


Im still very confused why Merrygoround wasnt inline for first single choice, its just as or even more commercial than Hes a Rocker, and lyrically and musically a lot better! I reckon if they had got a US deal, it would have been! I can imagine Merrygoround making it into quite a few car racing game soundtracks just like DLTTR.
I understand Get out and Manger werent first singles because they werent as commercial, theyll no doubt be future singles.

The word is 'appalling', and I disagree.

In theory, that might be the case, but in reality it's far harder to tempt ex-fans-probably-turned-haters back into the lair than to win potential new fans over. While I don't necessarily think a ballad would be the best choice for the next single, I do think you should work on consistency of your arguments, because here you talk about releasing 'the closest thing to HE' while later on you've dismissed AS3 because it was too much like songs we've already got in our collections.

I dislike Merry Go Round a lot. The chorus doesn't match the verses to me at all, and is a little to aggressive in my opinion.

As far as balleds go as singles...I would choose the first half of True as The Night because maybe the whole 6 minutes would be too much for radio. Other than that I don't think the others are very marketable.

And whoever said that Manger should have been the first single, I agree 100%! Then maybe Braindead?

I think that both AS III and A Girl I Knew are really good but i don't know if I'd choose them as singles. AS III might not really work that well with new fans because it's part of a "series". And A Girl I Knew just sounds too personal...maybe it's the lyrics that make me think it's use as a single is a bit questionable.

I do, however, think that you're right about mixing it up with the singles. I feel that the real gems on the album are never the singles (except winning days, which was going to be a single). There does seem to be a "single mold" for the most part and I was disappointed that they used "He's a Rocker" for the first single because it's a bit same old same old. I think Manger would have been a good single. Or maybe something a bit softer. I don't know, it's hard to figure out. AS III and A Girl I Knew are both so nice but I can't see either one as being a single really.

your twisting my words.
theres a difference between the 2 songs AS3, which is stupidly close sounding to AS, and Merrygoround which is more closely in the style of Highly Evolved (the album).
Highly Evolved is generally considered their best work, and I personally think merrygoround is the closest thing theyve done to that standard. Its the closet sounding to the album OVERALL, not to one particular song like AS3!!

The vines don't have a song which sounds almost identical to merrygoround, where as with AS3 they do!

If people really wana mix it up, lets campaign to get Jamola released as a single!

Feel free to beat me with vegetables on this...but I could see Jamola being in a commercial. It's perfect, no editing needed. And it would certainly get people's attention.

Of course, it's anyone's guess what the product could be...something angry I guess Anything but a car or itunes, let's not pigeonhole too much...

There's simply no market for songs like Braindead. The whole screaming thing just ain't commerically viable at all. Really, releasing that song is a big no no. It would plummet and be labelled as the same old stuff released by them again. If there's a song on this album I hope they don't choose- it's braindead.

As for Merrygoround- the tempo changes (as much as its a vines trademark) make it an uncomfortable listen as a single. And why on earth would you want to release a song on the grounds that it sounds like their first album? critics and listeners want to see a band progress and develop their sound. Releasing a song that sounds like HE is like saying to everyone "we've released 4 albums now.... and we haven't changed or developed at all."


I'm coming around to she's gone as a single. As long as they avoid releasing one of the rocky singles and plump for something different I'll be happy. People need to see that the vines can do something different to that which the uneducated/ uninformed masses expect, and critics need to see that the vines have developed their sound.

Do you honestly think that from HE and WD their ballads have progressed???

They had 1.5 million fans with HE, that means 1.5 million people already knowing they can do ballads.

The only ballad ive heard which has been a progression is Spaceship.

Other than that, the ballads on this ablum are a slight return to form.
ballads like Homesick and Winning Days and Country Yard still top any balad theyve come out with on this album.

When I say Merrygoround is the closest thing to HE, i mostly mean standard wise. This guitar and melody is to the level of what was on HE, for me Merrygoround has the most depth; thats why my heart stil says Merrygoround for a single, tho I do aggree with you on the slitely awkward tempo change.
I also aggree that Braindead is to heavy for a single, which is unfortunate!

I do think they have progressed- much of the reason I love the vines is an interest in how craig structures melodies and hamonies. On melodia I find the harmonies to be put together in an entirely new way and it lends to them sounding more atmospheric and ethereal. Why do you think spaceship was such a progression? because it was so transitional perhaps?

saying that the ballads on this album are a slight return to form is just an opinion- I could just as well say that they have never lost their form- AS2 and Going Gone being two fine examples of outstanding ballads.

I honestly don't see merrygoround as a track that stands out enough to be a single- it's good and all... but the tempo changes- like i said- make for an uncomfortable single. And again, saying it's of a HE standard is merely speculation. I don't hear it- again, merely speculation.

They could do worse than releasing 'hey.' It's got a greenday rhythm in the verse, and a chorus which is catchy as hell. At the moment - if we're rejecting as3 and a girl i knew- then it's between that and she is gone for me.

You guys are crazy!!!! it should totally be JAMOLA!!!!!! hahahaha.
no. i wouldn't go with Manger either. its not the vines. i do like it though. I would go with true as the night or braindead because they are pretty different and they already are kinda popular.

If i was to choose a ballad it would be she is gone.
Probably my favourite ballad on the album, because of the vocals.
The only bit that annoys me is when the drums comes in, and everything stops just so you can hear it.... kinda ruins the flow of the song.

Yeah I think "She is Gone" would be nice too now that you guys mention it!

I'm tellin' you guys, first half of True As The Night.

you can't have half a song as a single.... fair enough cut some of the song a bit so it fits... but you can't just slash a song in half and say that'll do. I'm sure Craig would be truly offended by that. I mean, would Picasso have been happy for you to cut one of his paintings in half and hang that in the tate? i don't think so.

yeh, and too be honest, for me its the 2nd hlf that actually does it for me!

Brain Dead could work as a single in America.


Animal Machine gets the occasional spin on US radio and the two songs are somewhat similar.

My bad, when I heard the Bowery Ballroom gig I only heard a version that played/recorded half of it and I thought that was the song, just those two minutes or whatever. So when I heard it in its entirety I was surprised to hear the other half. I figured that if Craig was ok playing only half the song then, then half the song could be a single, but looks like they did play the whole song. The song (full or half) is my favorite on the album, and bands do edit their songs like that for radio purposes.

Anyway, it was just an idea. No need to be so offended or defensive. It's the most marketable balled song imo, just putting my 2 cents in.

Oddly enough here in the UK, i just saw an advert for Film4 which used Animal Machine as the backing track!