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- Play.com Review
Celebrating the poetry left behind by long-missing band-mate Richey Edwards, Manic Street Preachers return with their ninth studio album, Journal For Plague Lovers. Evoking the despair of their darkest days, the band spit punk-fuelled venom as they painfully bring the lyrics of their troubled yet talented comrade to life.
On February 1st 1995, Richey Edwards, the former co-lyricist and bassist of Welsh alternative rockers Manic Street Preachers, went missing. A few days prior to his disappearance, a tormented Edwards gave the band a binder full of his personal musings on subjects as diverse as 'The Grande Odalisque' by Ingres, Marlon Brando, Giant Haystacks, celebrity, consumerism, and dysmorphia. 14 years on, and with Richey officially declared 'presumed dead' last November, the band have made the decision to put music to their missing friend's words and effectively make Manic Street Preachers a four-piece for the first time since their iconic release, The Holy Bible. At thirteen tracks long, with organic production from Nirvana's In Utero producer Steve Albini and artwork from Jenny Saville, this deeply personal homage picks up where The Holy Bible left off. A sampled dialogue extract of Christian Bale from The Machinist introduces the pulsating opener, 'Peeled Apples'. A possible reference to the mental struggles of Edwards and the anorexic images he conveyed throughout The Holy Bible, the sample makes no bones that this record is all about Richey. As the band fire out the demanding pop-punk opener, they show an incredible hunger to ignite their early sound to do justice to Edwards' lyrics. Whilst 'Jackie Collins Existential Question Time' and 'Me And Stephen Hawking' strike with an Everything Must Go-esque urgency, led by striking riffs and distorted vocals, the delicate tracks, including 'Doors Closing Slowly' and 'Facing Page: Top Left', offer a dizzying, spine-tingling contrast to Richie's quotations. The album's punky overtones reach their zenith on the final track, 'William's Last Words'. A poignant finale, Nicky Wire takes the reigns and heartbreakingly spells out the pain and sadness of Edwards' epitaph with a ballad that says goodbye to a lost poet of our generation.
Reigniting the hard-edged sound that saw them gain so many followers early on in their career, Journal For Plague Lovers is a poetic homage to the Manics' friend and irreplaceable band-mate. Sensitively constructed and extremely emotive, this painstakingly personal release is a staggering and monumental achievement that holds its own against some of the band's finest work.
Disc 1
- Peeled Apples
- Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
- Me And Stephen Hawking
- This Joke Sport Severed
- Journal For Plague Lovers
- She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
- Facing Page: Top Left
- Marlon J.D.
- Doors Closing Slowly
- All Is Vanity
- Pretension/Repulsion
- Virginia State Epileptic Colony
- William's Last Words
Disc 2 - Original Demo's
- Peeled Apples
- Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
- Me And Stephen Hawking
- This Joke Sport Severed
- Journal For Plague Lovers
- She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
- Facing Page: Top Left
- Marlon J.D.
- Doors Closing Slowly
- All Is Vanity
- Pretension/Repulsion
- Virginia State Epileptic Colony
- William's Last Words
Average rating (8 reviews)
Amazing
Cusackfan | 19/05/2009 | See all Cusackfan's reviews (5) »
Amazing. That is all I have to write. This deluxe edition is well worth the extra money as it is beautifully presented and any fan would be extremely happy with it. Would make an excellent present as well.
Frickin Awesome!
kingdave | 18/05/2009 | See all kingdave's reviews (6) »
What can I say!? A great release and follow up the fantastic Send Away The Tigers. The songs on this album could be from a mixture of previous albums. You get the raw sound of All Is Vanity and Bag Lady (hidden track), which is Holy Bible esque, Jackie Collins Existential Question Time which could have been on S.A.T.T. , Me and Steven Hawking- def a Everything Must Go sound to it, Virginia State Epilpetic Colony which could have been on Know your Enemy then to the softer side like This Joke Sport Severed which has a Lifeblood sound to it.
Fantastic Album and something for everybody.
The Last Goodbye
Bettlebum | 18/05/2009 | See all Bettlebum's reviews (9) »
- Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers)
- The Holy Bible - 10th Anniversary Edition
- Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers - Limited Edition)
- Know Your Enemy
- Forever Delayed
- There By The Grace Of God
- Indian Summer
- Journal For Plague Lovers Remixes E.P.
- The Love Of Richard Nixon
- The Holy Bible
- Indian Summer
- Umbrella
- Autumnsong
- Journal For Plague Lovers
- Journal For Plague Lovers Remixes
- Your Love Alone
- LifeBlood
- The Holy Bible
- Indian Summer
- This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
- Autumnsong
- Everything Must Go 10th Anniversary Edition
- Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
- LifeBlood
- Autumnsong
- Everything Must Go
- Everything Must Go
- Everything Must Go (10th Anniversary Edition) (2CD With Bonus DVD)
- Everything Must Go (Eco Friendly Packaging)
- Forever Delayed
- Forever Delayed (Slide Pack)
- Generation Terrorists
- Generation Terrorists / Gold Against The Soul (2CD Slipcase)
- Generation Terrorists / Gold Against The Soul (2CD)
- Gold Against The Soul
- Journal For Plague Lovers
- Know Your Enemy
- Lifeblood
- Lipstick Traces: A Secret History (Limited Edition Digipak)
- Lipstick Traces: Secret History Of
- New Art Riot (EP)
- Send Away The Tigers
- The Holy Bible
- The Holy Bible: 10th Anniversary Edition (2CD + DVD)
- This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
- X-Posed
