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Lifeblood

Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood Audio CD

A fair review of the Manic Street Preachers "Lifeblood" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Manic Street Preachers reviews here, or go back to the Manic Street Preachers tabs.

Band: Manic Street Preachers
Title: Lifeblood
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-11-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: 1985 2: Love of Richard Nixon 3: Empty Souls 4: Song for Departure 5: I Live to Fall Asleep 6: To Repel Ghosts 7: Emily 8: Glasnost 9: Always/Never 10: Solitude Sometimes Is 11: Fragments 12: Cardiff Afterlife

Lifeblood
The album featured two singles. Lifeblood being Manic Street Preachers 7th studio album and their 2004 release is a really good album and the sound is a mix between electronic music and rock. These being "The love of Richard Nixon" and "Empty Souls". The booklet has all the lyrics and contains a list of whom plays what on the album. 4/5.

Fall to the floor, my baby / I no longer believe
Even on 2001's Know Your Enemy, which critics hated, he managed to come up with "Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children," arguably the most nuanced and sophisticated thing he ever wrote. It's tempting to say that Nicky Wire is a bad lyricist, but that would over-simplify things. And in any case, he wrote half of the lyrics before 1996 too, and the works of Richey James weren't always divinely inspired either.

But now, Nicky hath declared, "Conquer yourself rather than the world. " On this very boring album, he proceeds to say nothing about the state of the world, and instead reveals his innermost thoughts and dreams. And as it turns out, Nicky's innermost thoughts and dreams are not really all that special.

In "1985," Nicky declares that "God is dead, like Nietzsche said. " The Manics quoted Nietzsche on their first album, too, but back then at least they put in enough effort to find a more obscure quote. Nicky then reminisces about his youth. What Nietzsche has to do with it is beyond me. Maybe Nicky is trying to encourage his young listeners to read more.

In "Solitude Sometimes Is," Nicky explains that sometimes he likes to be left alone. But he's not antisocial! He just gets tired of other people's company sometimes. One might point out that this is a minor issue that only matters to someone who is happily married and has at least two good friends, and thus wants for nothing in the way of human company. But to Nicky's sensitive soul, it's the kind of philosophical topic perfect for a mid-tempo song towards the end of an album.

Then there's "Emily. " It's about Emmeline Pankhurst, who was an important figure in the women's suffrage movement. I remember this from history class. If you don't, then Nicky doesn't like you. Why, you're probably the kind of person who is obsessed with Princess Diana! Nicky doesn't like Diana, because he thinks that her image is "obviously empty. " You see, unlike Pankhurst, Diana didn't really contribute to pressing social issues. Therefore, Nicky praises Pankhurst, in an album that completely ignores all pressing social issues. And even then he's just repeating himself, because he already did this in "Let Robeson Sing" on the last album. Back then he complained that nobody wrote protest songs anymore. So naturally, instead of writing them, he prefers to gaze vacuously at the distant past.

Only once on the whole album does Nicky say something sort of topical. This occurs in "The Love Of Richard Nixon," where he attempts to rehabilitate the disgraced president by pointing out his trip to China and his "war on cancer. " To which I might add that Nixon supported environmental conservation and ended the war in Vietnam. But that was only after he escalated that war and covertly invaded Cambodia. Nicky, ever the defender of the common man, ignores this. The song is permeated with the self-pity that characterized Nixon. In this one regard, it's actually quite accurate.

In "Glasnost," Nicky encourages his listeners to open themselves up to love. If they do this, he says, they can find their own "glasnost. " And afterwards, I guess, their lives can collapse and become governed by gangster capitalism. This is a very tasteless metaphor. Let me guess, Nicky votes Labour, watches BBC News, and likes to eat ice cream. Actually, maybe he votes Conservative now. Is there even a difference anymore? But either way, I'm sure he likes to eat ice cream. Maybe that can be the subject of the next Manic Street Preachers single.

"Cardiff Afterlife" is a wistful farewell to Richey James, the band's former lyricist and rhythm guitarist who disappeared without a trace over ten years ago. The thing is, Nicky already wrote a wistful farewell to Richey James. That was "Nobody Loved You," from the band's 1998 album. Why is Nicky returning to this topic eight years since? Maybe it's the only topic which still inspires him to any genuine emotion. Or maybe that crisis was the most interesting time of his life, and he wants to relive it.

Musically, the band has hopped onto the eighties-retro bandwagon, which allows Bradfield and Moore to use synthesizers, acoustic guitars, echo and other accoutrements. Some of the beats have a bit of an electronic tinge, and Moore's strong drumming adds energy to the right parts. But as the band's technical skill grows - James Dean Bradfield doesn't strain his voice anymore, and it sounds smoother and more confident than ever - the total fatuousness of Nicky's musings becomes obvious.

What does Nicky even do nowadays? In the last interview of his that I read, he made fun of the White Stripes. Now he can add them to his growing list of easy targets. Maybe next time he can make fun of musicians who coast on their decade-old successes and can't think of anything interesting to say.

Great return by the Manics
I remember how excited I was late in 2004 when my friend Arron came back from London - he happened to be there when this CD was released and brought a copy back to the US for me. OK, so I'm well over a year late in writing this. After the erracticness of "Know Your Enemy" (which I think, overall, is better than most give it credit for), I was interested to see what direction the Manics would take. While it doesn't have some of the epic highs that previous releases have had, I personally think this is the most consistently listenable "as a whole" album the group has released.

"1985" gets things going in grand style. Being a child of the 80's, references to George Orwell, Nietzsche (yes, he was very much someone worth reading back in my high school and college days), Morrissey and Johnny Marr brought back some memories. The song is one of those powerful openers - I recall cranking the song with the windows down zooming down Queen Anne hill in Seattle the first time I heard it. First single "The Love of Richard Nixon" is a different sound for the Manics, but it works. It's bouncy and lyrically interesting, trying to shed a positive light on one of America's more infamous presidents. Second single "Empty Souls" (along with "To Repel Ghosts") are about the closest things this album has to a burner - nice guitar work by James on both tracks.

The jewels of this CD, in my opinion, are three of the non-single tracks, "A Song for Departure", "Solitude Sometimes Is" and the closer, "Cardiff Afterlife". "A Song for Departure" has a great bass groove by Nicky and lyrically takes us to a place most of us have been at one time or another - the end of a relationship. "Solitude Sometimes Is" is my personal favorite - one of those songs that starts out quietly and builds up to a big ending. Once again, it hits home lyrically - we've all been at a point in our lives where we feel alone be it intentionally or through the events of our lives. I feel this song captures that essence perfectly. The closer, "Cardiff Afterlife", is a thing of beauty with some nice harmonica work.

"Glastnost" has some nice guitar work and is lyrically simple yet profound ("Embrace with us - make your own glastnost"). "Always/Never", "I Live to Fall Asleep" and "Fragments" also add to the overall mood of the CD. The only track that I'm not a huge fan of is "Emily". It's certainly not awful, but it's just kind of there and in my mind also the weakest song lyrically. I'd also agree with some of the other reviews that Sean's drumming on the whole seems to have been pushed to the background. I guess that's justified though when you take a look at the overall "mood" presented here. . . while it's not my personal prefernce, it makes total sense.

While the CD doesn't reach individual highs such as "Motorcycle Emptiness", "This Is Yesterday" or "A Design for Life" from the past, I think it's right up there, when taken as a whole, with "The Holy Bible" as MSP's most consistently listenable work. Fans of the band already have it - and if you're new to the Manics, this certainly would not be a bad place to start.

You Glorious Bastards
Wow. Welcome back, Manics. What a return to form after the so-so KNOW YOUR ENEMY. Geez. Wasn't ready for this amazing, poignant, blissful album. I'm in the minority on this but of their catalog I always liked TIMTTMY best and this is like a beautiful sequel. Pristine, cryastalline, pure. James Dean Bradfield has just the most incredible voice for pop. It's up there with Josh Groban. No kidding. I could listen to either one of them sing a Chili's menu. Okay, so, yeah, buy this album if you're into remarkable pop music with substance. "Solitude Sometimes" might just be my favorite song of the last year -- f*ckin' gorgeous. Let's stay on this course, guys, really. I like the hard and heavy stuff but, come on, we're all getting older and this is the direction you want to stay. Just beautiful music. If America had a friggin' clue music-wise, these guys would be U2 here. Seriously. God I hate American music culture. . . sigh.

A surprisingly good return to form.
Following on from a string of great albums (The Holy Bible, Everything Must Go, This Is My Truth. I've been a Manic Street Preachers fan for many years but felt tremendously let down by their last release, 2001's Know Your Enemy. . ), Enemy was all the more noticeable for it's sudden drop in quality. Even for a pretty loyal fan like myself, I got the distinct impression that the Manics were artistically spent and now merely topping up their pensions.

In contrast, their new album Lifeblood, is the sound of a band fighting to remain relevant (and doing so successfully), and as a consequence it's a record that crackles with energy, spirit and a renewed sense of purpose.

The singles 'The Love of Richard Nixon', and 'Empty Souls' make for an excellent one-two punch and album tracks like 'A Song For Departure' and 'To Repel Ghosts' are classic Manics tunes. In fact, in it's entirety, this is an album that succeeds in putting the Manic Street Preachers back into the frame as one of the finest British bands of their generation. Form is temporary, class is permanent, as they say.

You can see a complete list of all Manic Street Preachers discography, or go back to the Manic Street Preachers tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.