Manic Street Preachers | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Dressed in glam clothing, wearing heavy eyeliner, and shouting political rhetoric, the Manic Street Preachers emerged in 1991 from their hometown of Blackwood, Wales, as self-styled "Generation Terrorists." Fashioning themselves after the Clash and the Sex Pistols, the Manics were on a mission, intending to restore revolution to rock & roll at a time when Britain was dominated by trancey shoegazers and faceless, trippy acid house. Their self-consciously dangerous image, leftist leanings, crunching hard rock, and outsider status made them favorites of the British music press and helped them build a rabidly dedicated following. For much of the bands early career, it was impossible to separate the rhetoric from the music and even from the members themselves -- the groups image was forever associated with lyricist/guitarist Richey James carving the words "4 Real" into his arm during an early interview. As the British pop music climate shifted toward Brit-pop in the wake of Suede, the Manics didnt achieve fame, but they did attain notoriety. Legions of followers emerged, including many bands that formed the core of the short-lived "new wave of new wave" movement. But as the group climbed toward stardom, the story didnt get simpler -- it got weirder. James behavior became increasingly bizarre, culminating on the groups harrowing 1994 album The Holy Bible. Early in 1995, James disappeared, leaving no trace of his whereabouts. The remaining trio carried on with 1996s Everything Must Go, the album that established them as superstars in England, yet that came at the expense of the arrogant, renegade gender-bending and revolutionary rhetoric that had earned them their initial fan base. It was a bizarre, unpredictable journey for a group that once proclaimed that all bands should break up after releasing one album. James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitar), Nicky Wire (born Nick Jones; bass), Sean Moore (drums), and Flicker (rhythm guitar) formed Betty Blue in 1986. Within two years time, Flicker had left the band and the group had changed its name to the Manic Street Preachers. In the summer of 1988, a fellow student at Swansea University, Richey James (born Richey Edwards), who had previously been the groups driver, joined the band as rhythm guitarist. They began recording demos, eventually releasing the single "Suicide Alley" in August. "Suicide Alley" boasted a cover replicating that of the Clashs first album, which indicated the sound of the group at the time -- equal parts punk and hard rock. A year after the singles release, NME gave it an enthusiastic review, citing James press release -- "We are as far away from anything in the 80s as possible." Indeed, the Manics were one of the key bands of the early 90s, and their career didnt get rolling until 1991. The New Art Riot EP appeared in the summer of 1990, followed by a pair of defining singles -- "Motown Junk" and "You Love Us" -- in early 1991 on Heavenly Records. The singles and the Manics incendiary live shows, where they wrote slogans on their shirts, created a strong buzz in the music press, which only escalated that May. James gave an interview with Steve Lamacq for NME in which Lamacq questioned the groups authenticity; after an argument, James responded by carving the words "4 Real" on his arm. The incident became a sensation, attracting numerous magazine articles, as well as a major-label contract with Sony. Many observers interpreted the action as a simple stunt, but over the next few years it became clear that the self-mutilation was the first indication of James mental instability. "Stay Beautiful" was the Manics first release for Sony, and it climbed into the British Top 40 late in the summer of 1991, followed early in 1992 by a re-recorded "You Love Us," which peaked in the Top 20. By the time they released their much-hyped debut album, Generation Terrorists, in February 1992 -- a record the band claimed would outsell Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction -- they had already cultivated a large and devoted following, many of whom emulated their glammy appearance and read the same novels and philosophers the group name-dropped. The Manics had been claiming that they would disband following the release of their debut, yet it became clear by the fall, when a non-LP cover of "Suicide Is Painless (Theme from M*A*S*H)" became their first Top Ten hit, that they would continue performing. Nicky Wire and Richey James had become notorious for their banter throughout the British music press, and while it earned them countless articles, it also painted the group into a corner. Comparatively polished and mainstream compared to its predecessor, Gold Against the Soul, the groups second album, appeared in the summer of 1993 to mixed reviews. Shortly after the release of Gold Against the Soul, the Manics support began to slide as the group began to splinter amidst internal tensions, many of them stemming from James. Nicky Wire ran into trouble over on-stage remarks about R.E.M.s Michael Stipe dying of AIDS, but Richey James was in genuine trouble. Suffering from deepening alcoholism and anorexia, James entered prolonged bouts of depression, highlighted by incidents of self-mutilation -- most notoriously at a concert in Thailand, when he appeared with his chest slashed open by knives a fan gave him. Early in 1994, he entered a private clinic, and the band had to perform a number of concerts as a trio. James mental illness surfaced on the groups third album, The Holy Bible. Reportedly recorded in a red-light district in Wales, The Holy Bible was a bleak, disillusioned record that earned considerable critical acclaim upon its late-summer release in 1994. Although the Manics critical reputation was restored and James was playing with the band, even giving numerous interviews with the press, all was not well. Prior to the American release of The Holy Bible and the bands ensuing tour, James checked out of his London hotel on February 1, 1995, drove to his Cardiff apartment, and disappeared, leaving behind his passport and credit cards. Within the week he was reported missing and his abandoned car was found on the Severen Bridge outside of Bristol, a spot notorious for suicides. By the summer, the police had presumed he was dead. Broken but not beaten, the remaining Manics decided to carry on as a trio, working the remaining lyrics James left behind into songs. The Manic Street Preachers returned in December 1995 opening for the Stone Roses. In May 1996, they released Everything Must Go, which was preceded by the number two single "A Design for Life." Their most direct and mature record to date, Everything Must Go was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and the Manics became major stars in England. Throughout 1996, the band toured constantly, and most U.K. music publications named Everything Must Go Album of the Year. Despite their growing success, several older fans expressed distress at the groups increasingly conservative image, yet that didnt prevent the album from going multi-platinum. Everything Must Go didnt just go multi-platinum -- it established the Manics as superstars throughout the world. Everywhere except America, that is. The album received a belated release in the U.S., appearing in August of 1996, and the group attempted an American tour, opening for Oasis. It should have led to increased exposure, but a blowup between the Gallaghers led to Oasis canceling the entire tour, leaving the Manics at square one. They returned to the U.K. and toured, receiving a number of awards at the end of the year. They didnt deliver their much-anticipated follow-up, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, until August of 1998. The album was another blockbuster success in the U.K., Europe, and Asia, but it didnt receive a release in America, since the Manics were in the process of leaving Epic in the U.S. For a while, there was simply no interest in the Manics by American labels, but another multi-platinum album and numerous awards in Britain revived interest. The band signed with Virgin, which issued This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours in the U.S. during June 1999 -- nearly a year after its initial release. Know Your Enemy followed in 2001, although it was not well-received, and the band moved to Sony for British distribution of 2004s Lifeblood. Both vocalist/guitarist James Dean Bradfield and bassist Nicky Wire followed this release with solo albums, and then reconvened in 2007 to record the edgier, punk-influenced Send Away the Tigers with producer Dave Eringa. After its release, the band quickly set to work on another album, using Richey James abandoned lyrics as inspiration. "All 13 songs on the new record feature lyrics left to us by Richey," the Manics wrote on their website in early 2009. "The brilliance and intelligence of the lyrics dictated that we had to finally use them." Titled Journal for Plague Lovers, the album was recorded on analog tape by veteran engineer Steve Albini and released that May. Postcards from a Young Man, the bands tenth studio album, followed in 2010. After releasing a compilation called National Treasures: The Complete Singles in the fall of 2011, the Manics released a super-deluxe 20th Anniversary edition of Generation Terrorists in 2012. Meanwhile, the band plugged away in the studio, working on a ludicrously ambitious project tentatively titled 70 Songs of Hatred and Failure. At one point they despaired of simply having written too much material, before hitting on the idea of releasing two very different albums. The first, a folky, almost entirely acoustic, emotionally raw effort entitled Rewind the Film, appeared in the fall of 2013, and the second, the "spiky" and Krautrock-inspired Futurology, was slated for May 2014. A documentary on the Manics, entitled Escape from History, arrived in 2017, followed by the full-length Resistance Is Futile in April 2018. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 27 Title: New Art Riot EP Released: 1990-06-22 Tracks: 4 Duration: 11:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 New Art Riot (03:10) 2 Strip It Down (02:26) 3 Last Exit on Yesterday (02:41) 4 Teenage 20/20 (03:01) |
 | Album: 2 of 27 Title: Generation Terrorists Released: 1992-02-10 Tracks: 14 Duration: 57:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Slash ’n’ Burn (03:59) 2 Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds (04:32) 3 Loves Sweet Exile (03:05) 4 Little Baby Nothing (04:58) 5 Another Invented Disease (03:24) 6 Stay Beautiful (03:10) 7 Repeat (UK) (03:12) 8 You Love Us (04:18) 9 Democracy Coma (03:43) 10 Crucifix Kiss (03:22) 11 Motorcycle Emptiness (06:08) 12 Tennessee (03:06) 13 Repeat (Stars and Stripes) (04:09) 14 Condemned to Rock n Roll (06:06) |
| Generation Terrorists : Allmusic album Review : 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 doesnt 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. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 27 Title: Stars and Stripes Released: 1992-08-21 Tracks: 8 Duration: 32:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Slash n Burn (03:57) 2 Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds (04:35) 3 You Love Us (04:18) 4 Democracy Coma (03:44) 5 Crucifix Kiss (03:22) 6 Little Baby Nothing (04:59) 7 Repeat (Stars and Stripes) (04:10) 8 Repeat (UK) (03:10) |
 | Album: 4 of 27 Title: Gold Against the Soul Released: 1993-06-24 Tracks: 15 Duration: 59:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sleepflower (04:52) 2 From Despair to Where (03:34) 3 La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (04:13) 4 Yourself (04:11) 5 Life Becoming a Landslide (04:15) 6 Drug Drug Druggy (03:26) 7 Roses in the Hospital (05:02) 8 Nostalgic Pushead (04:14) 9 Symphony of Tourette (03:32) 10 Gold Against the Soul (05:34) 1 Slash n Burn (03:44) 2 Crucifix Kiss (02:59) 3 Motown Junk (03:07) 4 Tennessee (02:29) 5 You Love Us (04:28) |
| Gold Against the Soul : Allmusic album Review : 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, arent quite as gifted with hooks at this stage -- their power derives from their self-belief, which they cant quite translate into songs. They are given a bigger, louder production on Gold Against the Soul, which makes the album a more visceral listen than Generation Terrorists, but the songs arent as consistently compelling as those on the debut. "From Despair to Where" is a vibrant anthem, and "Drug Drug Druggy," "Roses in the Hospital," "Yourself," and "Sleepflower" all have a similar energy, but the peaks dont arrive quite as frequently as before. Nevertheless, the rage is more articulate and the sound is stronger, making Gold Against the Soul a flawed but worthy step forward. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 27 Title: Life Becoming a Landslide E.P. Released: 1994-02-07 Tracks: 4 Duration: 12:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Life Becoming a Landslide (03:58) 2 Comfort Comes (03:29) 3 Are Mothers Saints (03:20) 4 Charles Windsor (01:39) |
 | Album: 6 of 27 Title: The Holy Bible Released: 1994-08-29 Tracks: 13 Duration: 56:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Yes (05:00) 2 IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt’sWorldWouldFallApart (03:39) 3 Of Walking Abortion (04:01) 4 She Is Suffering (04:43) 5 Archives of Pain (05:29) 6 Revol (03:04) 7 4st 7lb (05:05) 8 Mausoleum (04:12) 9 Faster (03:55) 10 This Is Yesterday (03:58) 11 Die in the Summertime (03:05) 12 The Intense Humming of Evil (06:12) 13 P.C.P. (03:57) |
| The Holy Bible : Allmusic album Review : Only in that brief moment in the 90s, when the record industry was grappling with the impact of alternative rock going mainstream and just as Brit-pop was hitting its stride, could the Manics release such a dark, difficult album on a major label, get it played on such pop-oriented programs as Top of the Pops and MTV’s Most Wanted, and make appearances at the Glastonbury and Reading festivals. And then, in a flash, it was over. Richey James went missing on February 1, 1995, and after that The Holy Bible was frozen in amber, forever seen as his last will and testament, just like how In Utero seemed like a suicide note in the wake of Kurt Cobains suicide in April 1994. After James disappearance, plans for an American release of the LP were shelved, but in retrospect, its likely that The Holy Bible -- like some latter-day Manics albums -- would never have had an American release at all. To those who know the album -- and its a small, dedicated group of partisans who do, since not only didnt it see American shores for a decade, but it didnt sell as well as previous or subsequent Manics albums in the U.K. -- it can comfortably be compared to the Clashs London Calling, but thats not quite accurate, no matter how much inspiration the Manics drew from the Clash. London Calling is a sprawling, exuberant celebration, so generous and big-hearted it cant be contained by a single album, whereas The Holy Bible is a bleak, introspective, insular album thats bracing in its darkness. Its not that The Holy Bible deliberately alienates listeners, but that it wears its pain too openly and presents it too vividly to be an easy listen. It can be a cathartic experience, but its the kind of experience that doesnt lend itself to everyday listening: not only was it too dark, it was too English for a mass American audience, but years later, those things dont seem to matter as much, and in its tenth anniversary edition it can finally be seen -- and easily heard by American audiences -- as a singular, bracing rock album, quite unlike any LP before or since. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 27 Title: Everything Must Go Released: 1996-05-20 Tracks: 42 Duration: 2:28:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (03:29) 2 A Design for Life (04:18) 3 Kevin Carter (03:25) 4 Enola/Alone (04:07) 5 Everything Must Go (03:41) 6 Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky (03:02) 7 The Girl Who Wanted to Be God (03:35) 8 Removables (03:31) 9 Australia (04:04) 10 Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) (04:17) 11 Further Away (03:38) 12 No Surface All Feeling (04:14) 13 Enola/Alone (live) (03:31) 14 Kevin Carter (live) (03:07) 15 Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) (live) (03:40) 16 Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (live) (02:49) 17 Everything Must Go (live) (03:30) 18 A Design for Life (live) (04:32) 19 A Design for Life (Stealth Sonic Orchestra remix) (04:50) 1 Dixie (00:43) 2 No Surface All Feeling (demo) (03:38) 3 Further Away (demo) (03:32) 4 Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky (demo) (03:04) 5 No-One Knows What Its Like to Be Me (demo) (02:58) 6 Australia (acoustic demo, Nicks House 96) (04:15) 7 No Surface All Feeling (acoustic demo, Nicks House 96) (04:02) 8 Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) (acoustic demo, Nicks House 96) (02:57) 9 The Girl Who Wanted to Be God (acoustic demo, Nicks House 96) (03:58) 10 A Design for Life (first rehearsal, Cardiff 95) (03:56) 11 Kevin Carter (first rehearsal, Cardiff 95) (03:22) 12 Mr Carbohydrate (04:14) 13 Dead Trees and Traffic Islands (03:44) 14 Dead Passive (03:19) 15 Black Garden (04:02) 16 Hanging On (03:01) 17 No-One Knows What Its Like to Be Me (03:05) 18 Horses Under Starlight (03:09) 19 Sepia (03:54) 20 First Republic (03:48) 21 Australia (Stephen Hague production) (03:58) 22 The Girl Who Wanted to Be God (Stephen Hague production) (03:33) 23 Glory, Glory (00:35) |
| Everything Must Go : Allmusic album Review : Months after the release of the harrowing The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey James disappeared, leaving no trace of his whereabouts or his well-being. Ultimately, the remaining trio decided to carry on, releasing their fourth album, Everything Must Go, in 1996. Considering the tragic circumstances that surrounded it, Everything Must Go is the strongest, most focused, and certainly the most optimistic album the Manics ever released. Five of the songs feature lyrics Richey left behind before his disappearance, and while offering no motivation for his actions, they do hint at the depths of his despair. Nicky Wire wrote the remaining lyrics, and his songs give the record its weight and balance, confronting the issue of Richeys disappearance in a roundabout way, never explicitly mentioning the topic but offering a gritty dose of realistic optimism offering the hope that things will get better; after the nihilism of The Holy Bible, the outlook is all the more inspiring. Furthermore, the Manics musical attack has become leaner; their music still rages, but its channeled into concise, anthemic rock songs that soar on their own belief. Above all, Everything Must Go is a cathartic experience -- it is genuinely moving to hear the Manics offering hope without sinking to mawkish sentimentality or collapsing under the weight of their situation. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 27 Title: This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours Released: 1998-09-09 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:12:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Everlasting (06:08) 2 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (04:50) 3 You Stole the Sun From My Heart (04:20) 4 Ready for Drowning (04:32) 5 Tsunami (03:51) 6 My Little Empire (04:09) 7 I’m Not Working (05:51) 8 You’re Tender and You’re Tired (04:37) 9 Born a Girl (04:12) 10 Be Natural (05:12) 11 Black Dog on My Shoulder (04:48) 12 Nobody Loved You (04:44) 13 S.Y.M.M. (06:16) 14 Socialist Serenade (04:13) 15 Black Holes for the Young (04:09) |
| This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours : Allmusic album Review : If Everything Must Go found Manic Street Preachers coping with Richey James sudden, unexplained disappearance, its follow-up, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, finds them putting the tragedy behind them and flourishing as a trio. Wisely, the group builds on the grand sound of Everything Must Go, creating a strangely effective fusion of string-drenched, sweeping arena rock and impassioned, brutally honest punk. Since the band never writes about anything less than major issues, whether it be political or personal, its appropriate that their music sounds as majestic and overpowering as their pretensions. Given that the first single was titled "If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next," calling the Manics pretentious is fair game, but they make their pretensions work through a blend of intelligence, passion, and sheer musicality. This Is My Truth sports more musical variety than its predecessors, which means it can meander a bit, particularly toward the end. Nevertheless, these misgivings disappear with repeated listens, as each song logically flows into the next. If the album ultimately isnt as raw or shattering as The Holy Bible or emotionally wrenching as Everything Must Go, its because the ghost of Richey has been put behind them. That doesnt mean that This Is My Truth is light, easygoing listening -- the portentous, murky closer "SYMM" guarantees that -- but its not as torturous as its immediate predecessors. But what it shares with them is a searing passion and intelligence that is unmatched among their peers on either side of the ocean -- and, in doing so, it emphasizes the Manics uniqueness as one of the few bands of the 90s that can deliver albums as bracing intellectually as they are sonically. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 27 Title: Know Your Enemy Released: 2001-03-14 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:12:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Found That Soul (03:05) 2 Ocean Spray (04:11) 3 Intravenous Agnostic (04:02) 4 So Why So Sad (04:02) 5 Let Robeson Sing (03:46) 6 The Year of Purification (03:40) 7 Wattsville Blues (04:29) 8 Miss Europa Disco Dancer (03:52) 9 Dead Martyrs (03:23) 10 His Last Painting (03:16) 11 My Guernica (04:56) 12 The Convalescent (05:54) 13 Royal Correspondent (03:31) 14 Epicentre (06:26) 15 Baby Elián (03:38) 16 Freedom of Speech Wont Feed My Children (03:00) 17 Just a Kid (03:31) 18 The Masses Against the Classes (03:23) |
| Know Your Enemy : Allmusic album Review : The massive success of the Manics post-Richey James albums put them in an awkward position. They were always known for their agit-prop and political posturing, which sometimes enhanced their music, sometimes distracted from it, sometimes saved it. But, as their star began to rise and Nicky Wire became the groups chief writer, they lost some of their bile and bite -- just as their music turned into lush arena rock. So, even if the sales and reviews were good, it was time to strike back with a harsh, political record -- hence, Know Your Enemy. The block-type cover art reveals that at a glance, and so does the ferocious opener, "Found That Soul," both suggesting their dark high watermark, The Holy Bible. Then, as the album dips into "Ocean Spray," briefly returning to the feel of This Is My Truth, it becomes clear that this, for want of a better word, is an epic. This is the album where the Manics tie all their disparate strands together, up the political ante, try new things, all in an attempt to prove theyre still vital. When it works, this can be pretty invigorating, but when it doesnt, its utterly maddening. The push and pull of the ridiculous and the passionate have always made the Manics a fascinating band, but here, it teeters precariously between sublime and silly. The Manics sound the most convincing when they return to raging rockers, or on their sweeping mid-tempo arena ballads. When they stretch, they fall on their face, whether its on the intentional disco parody "Miss Europa Disco Dancer" or on "So Why So Sad," yet another god-awful, lumbering Brian Wilson homage. Then, theres the politicizing -- strident polemics that still sound like rants from collegiate sophomores, those still infatuated with Marxism, railing about injustice from 50 years ago and learning a bit of art history, then peppering their discourse with references to reveal just how well-read they are. So, this results in the contemptible "Baby Elian" (merely a prelude to the albums launch concert in Cuba, where they earned the status as the first Western rock band to play and have dinner with Castro -- bully for them), the fine if forced "Let Robeson Sing," the awkward "My Guernica," and the charming "Freedom of Speech Wont Feed My Children," which finds Richard Gere to be the ambassador for ugly, hypocritical American liberalism, somehow tying "kissing the Dali Lamas ass" into the bombing of the Chinese Embassy. Now, the Manics, under James and Wire alike, have always walked this line (particularly on The Holy Bible, where it worked because of the intense rage of the lyrics and music), but here the targets seem a little lazy and obvious, and since they pour out over the course of a record that runs an interminable 74 minutes (including space that separates the 16th track and a bonus track), they no longer seem like quirks, they seem like crutches. They severely harm a record that rocks harder, sounds better, than anything since Richey James disappeared -- but lacks the sense of craft that made Everything Must Go a minor masterpiece. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 27 Title: Forever Delayed: The Greatest Hits Released: 2002-10-28 Tracks: 33 Duration: 2:36:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 A Design for Life (04:18) 2 Motorcycle Emptiness (05:06) 3 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (04:50) 4 La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (04:07) 5 There by the Grace of God (03:48) 6 You Love Us (03:15) 7 Australia (03:42) 8 You Stole the Sun From My Heart (04:20) 9 Kevin Carter (03:25) 10 Tsunami (03:51) 11 The Masses Against the Classes (03:23) 12 From Despair to Where (03:21) 13 Door to the River (04:41) 14 Everything Must Go (03:07) 15 Faster (03:54) 16 Little Baby Nothing (04:12) 17 Suicide Is Painless (Theme From MASH) (03:29) 18 So Why So Sad (03:46) 19 The Everlasting (04:07) 20 Motown Junk (03:59) 1 La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (The Chemical Brothers remix) (06:31) 2 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (David Holmes remix) (09:59) 3 Tsunami (Cornelius remix) (04:07) 4 So Why So Sad (Avalanches remix) (04:58) 5 Faster (The Chemical Brothers remix) (05:45) 6 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (Massive Attack remix) (04:55) 7 Kevin Carter (Jon Carter remix) (07:43) 8 You Stole the Sun From My Heart (David Holmes remix) (05:11) 9 Tsunami (Stereolab remix) (06:44) 10 Let Robeson Sing (Ian Brown remix) (05:01) 11 The Everlasting (Stealth Sonic Orchestra remix) (05:13) 12 You Stole the Sun From My Heart (Mogwai remix) (06:14) 13 A Design for Life (Stealth Sonic Orchestra remix) (04:50) |
| Forever Delayed: The Greatest Hits : Allmusic album Review : Manic Street Preachers have always been a band of very specific charms, something that has not translated outside of the U.K. particularly well. Although it boasts a generous 20 tracks, the 2002 compilation Forever Delayed isnt likely to change that situation, even if it has the lions share of their big singles, since a band devoted to sloganeering doesnt play outside of their province, or era, without some knowledge of their context. Plus, its bewilderingly sequenced -- not chronologically, not as a set list, not with the hits loaded toward the front but as if you had all six albums on shuffle play on your CD carousel -- this disc careens between its 20 songs, occasionally gaining momentum through its juxtapositions (the opening one-two punch of "A Design for Life" and "Motorcycle Emptiness" captures the essence of the two phases of the band) but more often illustrating the extreme difference in the band during the Richey James Edwards and post-Richey eras. And though they certainly dont avoid Richey -- his face is on the cover, he provides the subtext of the bands entire career -- they do submerge the unsettling The Holy Bible, a record as nakedly honest and disturbing as In Utero, by just including one song, "Faster," from what is surely their best album. True, its music is too dark to sit comfortably next to the later hits, but without it, Forever Delayed is missing the pivotal point in the Manics career, especially since Richey was at the heart of their music and worldview, even after his disappearance in 1995. His descent into despair is necessary to understanding the band, and its what fuels their two great albums: the harrowing The Holy Bible and the triumph of Everything Must Go. Though Forever Delayed contains many excellent songs not on either, the context is so jumbled the music is somewhat diluted and novices would be better to hear either of those albums first. [Initial pressings of Forever Delayed contained a bonus disc containing new remixes of classic Manics songs, none particularly interesting. It would have been much better to offer a second disc of non-LP B-sides and rarities, since there many out there waiting to be collected.] | ||
 | Album: 11 of 27 Title: Forever Delayed EP Released: 2003-01-16 Tracks: 6 Duration: 24:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 There by the Grace of God (03:48) 2 Automatik Teknicolour (03:39) 3 Its All Gone (04:04) 4 Unstoppable Salvation (02:53) 5 Happy Ending (03:27) 6 Forever Delayed (06:10) |
 | Album: 12 of 27 Title: Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers Released: 2003-07-14 Tracks: 39 Duration: 2:12:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Prologue to History (04:45) 2 Forever Delayed (03:38) 3 Sorrow 16 (03:46) 4 Judge Yrself (03:03) 5 Socialist Serenade (04:13) 6 Donkeys (03:13) 7 Comfort Comes (03:29) 8 Mr Carbohydrate (04:16) 9 Dead Trees and Traffic Islands (03:45) 10 Horses Under Starlight (03:09) 11 Sepia (03:56) 12 Sculpture of Man (01:55) 13 Spectators of Suicide (05:06) 14 Democracy Coma (03:43) 15 Strip It Down (live) (02:42) 16 Bored Out of My Mind (02:56) 17 Just a Kid (03:36) 18 Close My Eyes (04:29) 19 Valley Boy (05:10) 20 We Her Majestys Prisoners (05:22) 1 We Are All Bourgeois Now (04:35) 2 Rock and Roll Music (02:55) 3 Its So Easy (live) (02:55) 4 Take the Skinheads Bowling (02:31) 5 Been a Son (02:29) 6 Out of Time (03:34) 7 Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (02:59) 8 Bright Eyes (live) (03:15) 9 Train in Vain (live) (03:16) 10 Wrote for Luck (02:43) 11 Whats My Name (live) (01:46) 12 Velocity Girl (01:41) 13 Cant Take My Eyes Off You (03:14) 14 Didnt My Lord Deliver Daniel (02:07) 15 Last Christmas (live) (02:08) 16 A Secret Society (02:55) 17 Firefight (03:45) 18 Picturesque (03:55) 19 Everything Must Go (03:10) |
 | Album: 13 of 27 Title: Lifeblood Released: 2004-10-20 Tracks: 14 Duration: 52:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 1985 (04:08) 2 The Love of Richard Nixon (03:38) 3 Empty Souls (04:05) 4 A Song for Departure (04:20) 5 I Live to Fall Asleep (03:57) 6 To Repel Ghosts (03:58) 7 Emily (03:34) 8 Glasnost (03:14) 9 Always/Never (03:42) 10 Solitude Sometimes Is (03:21) 11 Fragments (04:02) 12 Cardiff Afterlife (03:27) 13 The Soulmates (03:44) 14 Antarctic (03:04) |
| Lifeblood : Allmusic album Review : Instead of being the return to form it was clearly intended to be, Manic Street Preachers sixth album, Know Your Enemy, sucked the life out of the band, collapsing in a heap of bad reviews and ill will. It was such a wrong move that even the band acknowledged that things went wrong, so they took some time off to regroup, issuing a hits collection Forever Delayed in 2002, with a B-sides and rarities comp Lipstick Traces following in 2003. The decks being suitably cleared, the band eased back in late 2004 with their seventh album Lifeblood, a record that takes the MOR/AOR inclinations of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours to heart. Gliding by on smooth surfaces of synthesizers and lightly sequenced beats, Lifeblood is simpler and hookier than the lumbering Know Your Enemy, which is a relative blessing: it results in a record thats easier to enjoy, even if its smoothness doesnt gloss over memories of what the jagged, visceral band the Manics used to be. Even on the grandiose, arena-ready Everything Must Go, they sounded like a tense bundle of nerve and ambition, a clear byproduct of punk, but here they sound not far removed from the legions of po-faced, sincere but dull groups that stumbled through the colorless aftermath of Britpop at the tail-end of the 90s. Apart from a sense of craft that thoroughly identifies them as pros, what separates them now are what have always been their hallmarks: Nicky Wires perpetually adolescent literate literariness -- which, at this point, is either endearing or infuriating (though as lines like "so God is dead/like Nietzsche said" and titles like "The Love of Richard Nixon" pile up, its hard not to tip toward the latter) -- and James Dean Bradfields keening, earnest vocals. When the music hit harder, Wires words made more sense and Bradfields singing tugged on the heartstrings, but with music as slick and seamless as this, they seem a touch anachronistic, the lone holdovers from when the band lived with abandon, giving their music an invigorating, reckless edge even when it was incoherent. But growing up was never going to be easy for the Manics -- they were either going to break up, embarrassingly ape their former glories (which they came perilously close to doing on Know Your Enemy), or they were going to deliberately, somberly enter adulthood, as they do here. Since they craft solid records, Lifeblood is a pleasant listen, but once you peel away the keyboards, sensitively strummed guitars and tasteful harmonies and concentrate on Bradfields nakedly open voice and Wires terminally collegiate lyrics, its hard to escape the unintentional pathos that winds up defining the album and, conceivably, the bands latter-day career. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 27 Title: Manic Street Preachers × 2: Generation Terrorists / Gold Against the Soul Released: 2007 Tracks: 28 Duration: 1:56:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Slash ’n’ Burn (03:59) 2 Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds (04:32) 3 Born to End (03:55) 4 Motorcycle Emptiness (06:08) 5 You Love Us (04:18) 6 Love’s Sweet Exile (03:28) 7 Little Baby Nothing (05:00) 8 Repeat (Stars and Stripes) (04:09) 9 Tennessee (03:06) 10 Another Invented Disease (03:24) 11 Stay Beautiful (03:10) 12 So Dead (04:28) 13 Repeat (UK) (03:08) 14 Spectators of Suicide (04:40) 15 Damn Dog (01:52) 16 Crucifix Kiss (03:39) 17 Methadone Pretty (03:57) 18 Condemned to Rock ’n’ Roll (06:06) 1 Sleepflower (04:52) 2 From Despair to Where (03:34) 3 La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (04:13) 4 Yourself (04:11) 5 Life Becoming a Landslide (04:15) 6 Drug Drug Druggy (03:26) 7 Roses in the Hospital (05:02) 8 Nostalgic Pushead (04:14) 9 Symphony of Tourette (03:32) 10 Gold Against the Soul (05:34) |
 | Album: 15 of 27 Title: Send Away the Tigers Released: 2007-04-30 Tracks: 10 Duration: 34:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Send Away the Tigers (03:36) 2 Underdogs (02:49) 3 Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (03:55) 4 Indian Summer (03:54) 5 The Second Great Depression (04:09) 6 Rendition (02:59) 7 Autumnsong (03:40) 8 I’m Just a Patsy (03:11) 9 Imperial Bodybags (03:30) 10 Winterlovers (03:06) |
| Send Away the Tigers : Allmusic album Review : Like many long-term relationships, Manic Street Preachers benefited from some time apart, as their seventh album, Send Away the Tigers, makes plain. Arriving on the heels of 2006 solo albums from both singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield and lyricist/bassist Nicky Wire, Send Away the Tigers finds the group recharged and revitalized, achieving the widescreen grandeur of Everything Must Go but infusing it with a harder rock edge that may not be as furious as their earliest work, but is no less committed. This surging sense of purpose was conspicuously absent on the Manics previous albums, which grew increasingly mannered in their attempts at majestic pop, culminating in the pleasant but too soft Lifeblood. Its hard to call Tigers soft -- it thunders even in its quietest moments, and when strings or keyboards are brought in, theyre drowned out by guitars. This doesnt sound like a desperate measure; it sounds like recommitment on the part of the Manics, especially since they havent abandoned the melodic skills theyve honed over the past decade. Theyve merely melded them to muscular yet mature rock & roll. Its that commitment to hard rock that makes Send Away the Tigers bracing upon its initial listen, but what makes it lasting is the songs, which may lack anthems on the level of "A Design for Life," but theyre something better: theyre small-scale epics, roiling with drama and coiled with tension, flirting with being overblown but kept grounded by the groups reclaimed righteousness and newfound sense of control. That leanness applies to the album overall as well -- where every Manics record since Everything Must Go grew increasingly over-stuffed, this has no flab, and its ten songs have a relentless momentum. Its still pretty bombastic -- the Manics were never about subtlety -- but the sweeping gestures are delivered with a sense of efficiency that makes Send Away the Tigers never seem heavy-handed, which is something that even their best albums often are. So, this isnt merely a return to form, then -- its also a welcome progression from a band that only a couple of albums back seemed stuck in a rut with no way out. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 27 Title: Journal for Plague Lovers Released: 2009-05-13 Tracks: 15 Duration: 52:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Peeled Apples (03:32) 2 Jackie Collins Existential Question Time (02:24) 3 Me and Stephen Hawking (02:44) 4 This Joke Sport Severed (03:02) 5 Journal for Plague Lovers (03:45) 6 She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach (02:17) 7 Facing Page: Top Left (02:40) 8 Marlon J.D. (02:50) 9 Doors Closing Slowly (02:51) 10 All Is Vanity (03:34) 11 Pretension/Repulsion (02:04) 12 Virginia State Epileptic Colony (03:25) 13 Williams Last Words (04:17) 14 Alien Orders/Invisible Armies (02:36) 15 Primitive Painters / Bag Lady (10:13) |
| Journal for Plague Lovers : Allmusic album Review : Richey James Edwards disappeared in February 1995, just months after the release of the Manic Street Preachers lacerating third album, The Holy Bible. He was officially presumed dead in November 2008 and just months later the Manics released Journal for Plague Lovers, an album thats an explicit sequel to The Holy Bible right down to its Jenny Saville cover art. The Manics pay tribute to their lost comrade by setting his last writings to music, getting Steve Albini -- beloved by Richey for his production on Nirvanas In Utero, a clear antecedent and close relation to The Holy Bible -- to produce a record unlike any theyve made since his vanishing. Tripping on barbed-wire guitars and twitchy as a raw nerve even when its draped in strings, Journal for Plague Lovers consciously harks back to the emotional bloodletting of Bible, only this manages to skirt the darkest corners of the soul, never quite feeling as desperately hopeless or unsettling as that bleakest of albums. Curiously, theres a feeling of comfort, even relief, to Journal for Plague Lovers, a palpable sense that the bandmembers are grateful to be confronting Richeys ghost head-on. Of course, the Manics never ignored Edwards, but he was notable as an absence -- not presence -- in their music: when he left, they chose to leave behind their arty punk for dignified arena rock. Here, they ditch that inflated sound -- although, truth be told, they were making inroads in this direction on 2007s Send Away the Tigers -- for tight, clanking, cantankerous guitars, so theyre not only singing Edwards words but playing his music, bringing him back into the band in a way that makes them full. Now that theyve completed the songs he left behind, its not that the Manics can finally put Richey to rest now, but rather that theyve found peace, that theyre finally ready to acknowledge and embrace the blackest portion of their past, and that the grieving has finally stopped and theyre moving forward. Indeed, Journal for Plague Lovers winds up being The Holy Bible in reverse: every moment of despair is a reason to keep on living instead of an excuse to pack it all in. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 27 Title: Journal for Plague Lovers Remixes E.P. Released: 2009-06-15 Tracks: 5 Duration: 22:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Peeled Apples (Andrew Weatherall remix) (07:44) 2 Me and Stephen Hawking (British Sea Power remix) (04:28) 3 Facing Page: Top Left (Adem remix) (03:40) 4 All Is Vanity (Errors remix) (03:09) 5 Doors Closing Slowly (The Horrors remix) (03:27) |
 | Album: 18 of 27 Title: Journal for Plague Lovers Remixes Released: 2009-09-15 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:03:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Peeled Apples (Andrew Weatherall remix) (07:44) 2 Me and Stephen Hawking (British Sea Power remix) (04:28) 3 Pretension/Repulsion (Four Tet remix) (02:43) 4 This Joke Sport Severed (Patrick Wolfs Love Letter to Richey remix) (04:25) 5 She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach (Pariahs remix) (02:18) 6 Journal for Plague Lovers (Optimo (Espacio) remix) (07:13) 7 Jackie Collins Existential Question Time (Saint Etienne remix) (02:24) 8 Marlon J.D. (NYPCs Wire Up mix) (04:57) 9 Facing Page: Top Left (Adem remix) (03:40) 10 All Is Vanity (Errors remix) (03:09) 11 Virginia State Epileptic Colony (Fuck Buttons remix) (05:29) 12 Bag Lady (Jonathan Krisp remix) (05:07) 13 Doors Closing Slowly (The Horrors remix) (03:27) 14 William’s Last Words (Underworld remix) (06:16) |
 | Album: 19 of 27 Title: Postcards From a Young Man Released: 2010-09-20 Tracks: 14 Duration: 09:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 (It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love (03:28) 2 Postcards from a Young Man (?) 3 Some Kind of Nothingness (?) 4 The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) (?) 5 Hazelton Avenue (?) 6 Auto-Intoxication (?) 7 Golden Platitudes (?) 8 I Think I Found It (?) 9 A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun (?) 10 All We Make Is Entertainment (?) 11 The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever (?) 12 Dont Be Evil (?) 13 Red Rubber (02:57) 14 Evidence Against Myself (03:00) |
| Postcards From a Young Man : Allmusic album Review : It’s tempting to view Postcards from a Young Man as the Everything Must Go to Journal for Plague Lovers’ The Holy Bible, but the analogy isn’t quite that simple. Everything Must Go was cathartic, the bandmembers exorcizing their grief after the disappearance of Richey Edwards, but Postcards from a Young Man is as celebratory as the Manics get, a record that recklessly flirts with joyousness. Once again, the band abandons coiled, tense art-punk for anthemic stadium-fillers, creating arrangements so overloaded they threaten to collapse in a tower of sitars, strings, mandolins, fuzz guitars, and cameos from Ian McCulloch and Duff McKagan. The presence of an Echo & the Bunnyman and a Guns N Roses is typical of the Manics’ almost ludicrous overreach: they blend moody Englishness with American hooks, which has been their plan since the outset, but they’ve rarely been as successful as they are on Postcards from a Young Man simply because they let their penchant for exaggeration run wild. With the notable exception of Nicky Wire’s lyrics -- whose small scale almost seems like a relief after the airing of Edwards’ unused words on Journal -- everything here is bigger than usual, the rhythms packing an unusual swing, the productions scraping the sky, and the hooks spilling out of James Dean Bradfield’s mouth and guitar alike. All this bustle winds up being the rarest of things for the Manics: it is fun. Granted, it is serious-minded fun with ambition, but with Manic Street Preachers you take fun whenever you can get it, and they’ve never sounded as ebullient as they do here. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 27 Title: iTunes Festival: London 2011 Released: 2011-07-03 Tracks: 4 Duration: 15:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Faster (03:59) 2 Autumn Song (03:36) 3 Life Becoming a Landslide (04:35) 4 The Everlasting (03:45) |
 | Album: 21 of 27 Title: Original Album Classics Released: 2011-09-23 Tracks: 41 Duration: 2:52:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Slash ’n’ Burn (03:59) 2 Nat West‐Barclays‐Midlands‐Lloyds (04:32) 3 Born to End (03:55) 4 Motorcycle Emptiness (06:08) 5 You Love Us (04:18) 6 Love’s Sweet Exile (03:28) 7 Little Baby Nothing (04:59) 8 Repeat (Stars and Stripes) (04:09) 9 Tennessee (03:06) 10 Another Invented Disease (03:24) 11 Stay Beautiful (03:10) 12 So Dead (04:28) 13 Repeat (UK) (03:09) 14 Spectators of Suicide (04:40) 15 Damn Dog (01:52) 16 Crucifix Kiss (03:39) 17 Methadone Pretty (03:57) 18 Condemned to Rock ’n’ Roll (06:06) 1 Sleepflower (04:52) 2 From Despair to Where (03:34) 3 La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (04:13) 4 Yourself (04:11) 5 Life Becoming a Landslide (04:15) 6 Drug Drug Druggy (03:26) 7 Roses in the Hospital (05:02) 8 Nostalgic Pushead (04:14) 9 Symphony of Tourette (03:32) 10 Gold Against the Soul (05:34) 1 Yes (05:00) 2 IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt’sWorldWouldFallApart (03:39) 3 Of Walking Abortion (04:01) 4 She Is Suffering (04:43) 5 Archives of Pain (05:29) 6 Revol (03:04) 7 4st 7lb (05:05) 8 Mausoleum (04:12) 9 Faster (03:55) 10 This Is Yesterday (03:58) 11 Die in the Summertime (03:05) 12 The Intense Humming of Evil (06:12) 13 P.C.P. (03:57) |
 | Album: 22 of 27 Title: National Treasures: The Complete Singles Released: 2011-10-31 Tracks: 38 Duration: 2:32:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Motown Junk (03:58) 2 Stay Beautiful (03:10) 3 Love’s Sweet Exile (03:06) 4 You Love Us (04:18) 5 Slash ’n’ Burn (03:59) 6 Motorcycle Emptiness (06:07) 7 Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) (03:43) 8 Little Baby Nothing (04:40) 9 From Despair to Where (03:37) 10 La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (04:14) 11 Roses in the Hospital (05:03) 12 Life Becoming a Landslide (04:14) 13 Faster (03:55) 14 Revol (03:05) 15 She Is Suffering (04:44) 16 A Design for Life (04:21) 17 Everything Must Go (03:42) 18 Kevin Carter (03:25) 19 Australia (04:04) 1 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (04:51) 2 The Everlasting (06:07) 3 You Stole the Sun From My Heart (04:22) 4 Tsunami (03:49) 5 The Masses Against the Classes (03:23) 6 So Why So Sad (04:02) 7 Found That Soul (03:07) 8 Ocean Spray (04:13) 9 Let Robeson Sing (03:46) 10 There by the Grace of God (03:48) 11 The Love of Richard Nixon (03:39) 12 Empty Souls (04:05) 13 Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (03:55) 14 Autumnsong (03:41) 15 Indian Summer (03:55) 16 (It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love (03:28) 17 Some Kind of Nothingness (03:48) 18 Postcards From a Young Man (03:35) 19 This Is the Day (03:38) |
| National Treasures: The Complete Singles : Allmusic album Review : Arriving roughly ten years after their first hits compilation, 2002’s Forever Delayed, 2011’s National Treasures: The Complete Singles has another decade to cover so it’s perfectly sensible that the collection spans two discs as it diligently marches through almost every single Manic Street Preachers released during their first 20 years. The absences are the province of trainspotters: anything released on Heavenly Records prior to “Motown Junk,” for instance, along with other stray exclusives and fan club bonuses. What is here is everything from 1991’s “Motown Junk” through 2011’s “Postcards from a Young Man,” with a new cover of The The’s “This Is the Day” added at the end as fan bait. Through these two discs, the band’s highs, tragedies, slumps, and comebacks are all evident, the first disc devoted to 1992’s Generation Terrorists through 1996’s Everything Must Go, the second capturing the band’s evolution into respected rabble-rousers. The second disc has the chart-toppers and Top Ten hits -- as late as 2004 and 2005 the Manics were reaching number two with “The Love of Richard Nixon,” “Empty Souls,” and “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” -- but it’s the first disc, containing the songs they recorded with Richey Edwards and the music they made immediately after his disappearance, that makes the strongest case for their legacy. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 27 Title: Rewind the Film Released: 2013-09-13 Tracks: 29 Duration: 1:50:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 This Sullen Welsh Heart (04:13) 2 Show Me the Wonder (03:18) 3 Rewind the Film (06:36) 4 Builder of Routines (02:28) 5 4 Lonely Roads (02:54) 6 (I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline (03:46) 7 Anthem for a Lost Cause (03:51) 8 As Holy as the Soil (That Buries Your Skin) (03:20) 9 3 Ways to See Despair (03:16) 10 Running Out of Fantasy (04:09) 11 Manorbier (04:31) 12 30-Year War (05:07) 1 This Sullen Welsh Heart (demo) (03:56) 2 Show Me the Wonder (demo) (03:19) 3 Rewind the Film (demo) (06:15) 4 Builder of Routines (demo) (02:42) 5 4 Lonely Roads (demo) (02:45) 6 (I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline (demo) (03:11) 7 Anthem for a Lost Cause (demo) (03:22) 8 As Holy as the Soil (That Buries Your Skin) (demo) (03:19) 9 3 Ways to See Despair (demo) (03:14) 10 Running Out of Fantasy (demo) (04:05) 11 Manorbier (demo) (03:27) 12 30-Year War (demo) (04:56) 13 There by the Grace of God (live at the O2) (04:00) 14 Stay Beautiful (live at the O2) (03:19) 15 Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (live at the O2) (03:50) 16 The Love of Richard Nixon (live at the O2) (03:33) 17 Revol (live at the O2) (03:35) |
| Rewind the Film : Allmusic album Review : Its hard not to view the title of Rewind the Film as a conscious allusion to how the Manic Street Preachers are pursuing their career in the second decade of the new millennium. Journal for Plague Lovers, the Steve Albini-recorded collection of new songs set to abandoned Richey Edwards lyrics, functioned as ground zero, the new Holy Bible from which they moved forward, first with Postcards from a Young Man, the companion piece to Everything Must Go, and now to Rewind the Film, a corollary to the melodramatic MOR of This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours. As with Postcards, the comparisons between Rewind the Film and its predecessor dont scan cleanly. Now in their third decade as a band, the Manics certainly are comfortable with mellow theatrics, perhaps even more than they were when they were channeling Queen on This Is My Truth, but theyre also keen to pursue gentlemanly adventures, threading a strong British folk undercurrent into their 11th album and sometimes taking the time to punctuate proceedings with a bracing bit of brass. Despite these subdued flourishes, contemplation is the order of the day here, Rewind the Film achieving an appealingly woozy, early-hours-of-the morning vibe, thanks in part to canny cameos from Richard Hawley, Lucy Rose, and Cate Le Bon, kindred spirits who can find the comfort in misery. Occasionally, Nicky Wires lyrics drift back toward free-floating angst -- "my ecosystem is based on hatred" is a line that feels perpetually adolescent -- but the combined effect of the sometimes tortured words and the gentle, never-conflicting currents of folk, anthemic rock, cinematic instrumentals, and mannered pop create a welcome impression of a group that acknowledges that theyve entered a comfortable middle age but are happy to fight against complacency however they can. | ||
 | Album: 24 of 27 Title: Anthem for a Lost Cause Released: 2013-11-22 Tracks: 4 Duration: 16:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Anthem for a Lost Cause (03:52) 2 Death of a Digital Ghost (03:33) 3 See It Like Sutherland (03:56) 4 She Is Suffering (live at the O2) (05:01) |
 | Album: 25 of 27 Title: Walk Me to the Bridge Released: 2014-06-27 Tracks: 5 Duration: 26:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Walk Me to the Bridge (live from Ancienne Belgique, Brussels) (03:30) 2 The Sound of Detachment (03:31) 3 Caldey (03:48) 4 Europa geht durch mich (Erol Alkans Mesmerise Eins rework) (07:28) 5 Europa geht durch mich (Erol Alkans Mesmerise Zwei rework) (07:47) |
 | Album: 26 of 27 Title: Futurology Released: 2014-07-04 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:01:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Futurology (03:05) 2 Walk Me to the Bridge (03:14) 3 Let’s Go to War (02:58) 4 The Next Jet to Leave Moscow (03:23) 5 Europa geht durch mich (03:24) 6 Divine Youth (03:22) 7 Sex, Power, Love and Money (03:13) 8 Dreaming a City (Hughesovka) (04:39) 9 Black Square (04:07) 10 Between the Clock and the Bed (03:35) 11 Misguided Missile (04:19) 12 The View From Stow Hill (04:08) 13 Mayakovsky (03:38) 14 Antisocialmanifesto (03:01) 15 Kodawari (03:20) 16 Ocean Spray (live at the O2) (04:35) 17 You Love Us (live at the O2) (03:31) |
| Futurology : Allmusic album Review : Always aware of the import of even their slightest movement, Manic Street Preachers place a lot of weight on their album titles and 2014s Futurology is designed as a conscious counterpoint to 2013s Rewind the Film. That record wound up closing an era where the Manics looked back toward their own history as a way of moving forward, but Futurology definitively opens a new chapter for the Welsh trio, one where theyre pushing into uncharted territory. Never mind that, by most standards this charge toward the future is also predicated on the past, with the group finding fuel within the robotic rhythms of Krautrock and the arty fallout of punk; within the context of the Manics, this is a bracing, necessary shift in direction. All the death disco, free-range electronics, Low homages, and Teutonic grooves, suit the situational politics of the Manics, perhaps even better than the AOR-inspired anthems that have been their stock in trade, but the words -- crafted, as ever, by Nicky Wire, who remains obsessed with self-recriminations, injustice and rallying cries -- arent the focus here. Unique among Manics albums, Futurology is primarily about the music, with the surging synthesizers and jagged arrangements providing not an emotional blood-letting or call to arms, but rather an internal journey. At times, this is broad, expansive rock & roll, possessed by insistent four-four rhythms unheard in the groups discography, but when the Manics do dip into disco -- as they do several times, most prominently on "Sex, Power, Love and Money" and "Dreaming a City" -- theyre underscoring how theyre making music for the head and the heart, not the feet or loins. Thats also why Green Gartside is such a welcome presence on "Between the Clock and the Bed": his Scritti Politti managed the divide between radical art and commercial pop, providing a touchstone for the Manics even if they rarely specifically mimic his sound. Theyre more infatuated with Neu! and Kraftwerk or Public Image Ltd, but these jagged, difficult sounds are filtered through the trios now instinctual arena-filling gestures and that tension is what gives Futurology a resonant richness. The Manics arent ditching what they are, theyre building upon it and finding an invigorating path into middle age. | ||
 | Album: 27 of 27 Title: Resistance Is Futile Released: 2018-04-13 Tracks: 12 Duration: 46:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 People Give In (03:55) 2 International Blue (03:52) 3 Distant Colours (03:29) 4 Vivian (04:15) 5 Dylan & Caitlin (03:53) 6 Liverpool Revisited (02:31) 7 Sequels of Forgotten Wars (04:21) 8 Hold Me Like a Heaven (04:18) 9 In Eternity (04:16) 10 Broken Algorithms (03:52) 11 A Song for the Sadness (04:20) 12 The Left Behind (03:10) |
| Resistance Is Futile : Allmusic album Review : The title Resistance Is Futile can be read two ways: it can be seen as a statement of defiance, a claim that no listener can withstand the bombast of Manic Street Preachers, or it can be seen as an admission that there is no reason to put up a fight in these politically charged times. The title and lyrics of "People Give In" -- a song where James Dean Bradfield sings "People get tired, people get old" -- may suggest that the Manics are on the verge of giving up the ghost as they approach middle age, but thats a feint. Resistance Is Futile is clearly the work of a band whose members cherish vitality above all other attributes, but the reason why the Manics remain an ongoing concern after a quarter century is that they never attempt to act like any other age than what they are. Which doesnt mean that the album doesnt deliberately call up ghosts. Its produced by Dave Eringa, who produced their 1993 breakthrough, Gold Against the Soul, and it leans into the anthemic stadium rock of that record, while also conjuring elements of the widescreen AAA rock of 1996s Everything Must Go -- a fusion that suits the Manics well, and is bolstered by a steely synth gilding that recalls alt-rock records of the late 80s. If the music unabashedly co-opts the past, the songs all deal with the present, mixing up the personal and political in equal measure. This seamless blend of aesthetics is also why Resistance Is Futile works musically. First, it comes on strong -- all sharp edges and gleam -- but once the blare fades, the melodies and their accompanying sweetness linger, leaving a lasting impression behind. | ||