Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood
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Free Music Notes for Lifeblood
Free Music Review: If only all pop music could sound like this
Hit: 5 Stars
As a follow-up to 2001's unfocused "Know Your Enemy", the Manics released a Greatest hits package, along with a collection of b-sides and mixes. It appeared the band were cleaning out their closet and preparing for a potential hiatus, if not a complete split, from the musical world. News in early 2004 that the band were holed up in a New York studio with ex-David Bowie/Seahorses producer Tony Visconti working on material for a new album was met with widespread speculation among fans.
"Lifeblood", it turns out, is the most immediate, cohesive album the band have recorded. The album is produced with a slickness and sheen that would make any U2 fan stand up and pay attention, yet is thoughtful and well-written enough to stand shoulders above the over-produced top 40 bubble gum pop currently on radio.
Opener "1985" shines with layers of synths and guitars, and harkens back to mid-80s New order and, more recently, the Killers. The lyrics, in typical Manics style, name check everyone from Orwell to Morrissey. When vocalist/guitarist James Dean Bradfield sings "We've realized there's no going back" over the track's uplifting chorus, you realize that the sentiment is both one of sorrow and acceptance--a statement aimed primarily at the band itself (former member Richey Edwards plays a major role in the lyrical imagery of this album.)
First single "The Love of Richard nixon" is electro-pop with a memorable chorus, and lyrics that both condemn and lend a sympathetic ear to the embattled ex-pres. "Empty Souls" features a haunting piano riff straight out of the 'New Years Day" vein, with an atmospheric touch that sends the track more into Coldplay territory. "A Song For Departure" is one of the most melancholic, rising tracks the band have ever done, and is a contender to replace "Design For Life" as the traditional live show closer. "I Live To Fall Asleep" is a gentle, reflective jewell of a track that seems to encapsulate the "elegiac pop" feel the band indicated they were trying to achieve. Other highlights include the rousing U2-esque "To repel Ghosts", and album closer (and lament to former bandmate edwards) "Cardiff Afterlife".
Vocalist Bradfield is in fine fashion here, adding emotion and depth to each track. Principle songwriter Nicky Wire sounds almost world-weary in his lyrical approach on this album. Nearly every tracks deals, on some level, with the sorrow, longing, and pain, as well as joy, in looking back at life, or simply "moving on". He mentioned in interviews prior to the album's release that the album would be a statement of sorrow at the current state of the world--an album of "elegiac pop".
This is not the Manic Street Preachers of the "Generation terrorists" era--there's no spewed political vitriol, no punk-fuelled rants, no songs about depravity, culture, alienation, boredom and despair, no Slash-esque guitar solos. Only thoughtful comments at the state of the world set to a gorgeous backdrop of shimmering guitars and keyboards. The band has never sounded better, the songs have rarely been so personal and touching...if only all pop music could sound like this.
Free Music Review: "If We Can Still Fall In Love..."
Hit: 5 Stars
Better than anyone could have expected.
After the disaster of 'This Is My Truth...' and the failed punk bluster of 'Know Your Enemy' it is ironic that the Manics return with a blueprint based on the one true classic moment of 'This Is My Truth...'. 'If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next' was a majestic sweeping keyboard-led moment of great importance and that essence, that soul is where the Manics have drawn from on producing this stunning, stunning album.
The two classic tracks, as is right, book-end the album.
'1985' announces the return to form like nothing else. That intro is all New Order bass rumblings and nostalgia made real or scary. But the key is James Dean Bradfield singing on the chorus " We've realised there's no going back...". From any other band that might seem trite. But notice the wording..."We've realised there's no going back" not 'there's no going back'. This is a realisation at a certain age of certain things. And the whole album is shot through with it.
"We used to have answers/Now we have only questions..." could not have any more significance coming from any other band. We're older, we're wiser, we're bruised, we wish he were still here...And we're still 4 Real.
Which brings us to the second classic song.
"Conquer yourself rather than the world" is the quotation on the sleeve this time (Descartes) and again is a key signpost. The young Manics are gone, talk of releasing a million-selling double debut album and then splitting up is long since gone.
But then - crucially - so is their schoolboy friend, 'guitarist', lyricist and certainly conscience of the band. Richey James. If 'Australia' from 'Everything Must Go' was - implicitly - about the hope that Richey had just fled, and an identification with that, then this, the final song, 'Cardiff Afterlife' holds out no such hope that their friend is coming back.
'Cardiff Afterlife' is the obvious goosebumps, fighting back tears moment but it works because of that. Because there is no fake emotion ("If the love between us/Has faded away/Left in the rain/Scratching at the stains...") ,just something far, far better - an attempt to find a true, true moment to remember a true, true friend. With everything that entails: "Evil that no-one saw/And vanity for sure...". I love the surely intentional echoing of Richey's earlier lyric of "I have crawled so far sideways/I recognise dim traces of creation" in the lovely, chilling "The paralysed future/The past sideways crawl...".
So...
There is nothing you'll want to skip. And everything you'll want to return to here. 'Solitude Sometimes Is' is as beautiful and essential as the title, 'Emily' is real politics and real awareness. And so on.
Really.
Better than anyone could ever have dared hoped for.
Free Music Review: An amazing album! Best Manics album yet!
Hit: 5 Stars
Lifeblood represents everything a band could ever hope
to achieve within it's career. Everything from the songwriting
to it's intricate production represent a band at it's maturity.
Solid, heartfelt and beautifully crafted music.
The opening track "1985" gives the listener a taste of what's
to come. I'm not certain what the thinking was in choosing
"the Love of Richard Nixon" as it seems to be my least favorite
from an otherwise perfect album. "Empty Souls" however, ranks
as one of the Manic's gems. It grabs you and keeps you in!
The rest of the album is a nice mix of musical tapestry.
Most would say the middle of the album is their favorite, but
it's truely hard to pick an area as all tracks are exceptional.
My personal favorites include "Empty Souls" along with
"To Repel Ghosts", "Emily" and "Cardiff Afterlife". This album is a far introspective exercise then with previous albums.
While the bands lyrical content in some of the earlier work tends
toward more political and social issues, it seems the lyrical team of Nicky Wire/James Bradfield are beginning to embrace love, abandonment, self-doubt, and personal redemption in their lyrical themes.
Since I was not a big Manics fan previous to listening to this
album, I can say that it has wet my appetite for some of their
previous material. I've since purchased "The Holy Bible-Reissue".
"This Is My truth Tell Me Yours" and "Everything Must Go".
Some of the earlier material might not be for all, but it will provide one with a persepective on the beginnings of what I think is a band worth far more recognition then it recieves!
FIVE STARS AND THEN SOME!
Additional Recommedations; It is worth mentioning that the additional tracks on the singles "Love of RN" and "Empty Souls" include (total) six additional bonus tracks that really fit well with the album. "Litany", "All Alone Here", "No Jubilees",
"Askew Road", "Everyone Knows" and "Everything Is Everthing Was".
If you love this album, then ORDER THESE SINGLES! :)
Free Music Review: Absolutely wonderful
Hit: 5 Stars
I must say when I heard this album I was surprised to hear how good these guys still are. Most people will say that the Manics lost it after 'This Is My Truth' since 'Know Your Enemy' was bland and it showed the signs of a band that had lost their edge. Here comes Lifeblood with a point to prove and boy does it do just that. I was shocked to read the review of this album on Q Magazine, this is so much better than 2 stars and I don't even consider myself a big Manics fan so I know I can be objective, I don't like everything they've done. But I was surprised when I heard this album because it's so much better than what the critics had said about this. If anything, the Manics don't sound as angry as they used to. But I care if the music is any good and it really is that good. Empty Souls has to be the best Manics song I've ever heard, it's just an instant hit and catchy as hell. 1985 is a wonderful beginning to the album and The Love Of Richard Nixon is a good song but the production doesn't give it enough energy. All in all, Lifeblood is probably an album that would have fit in snugly between 'Everything Must Go' and 'This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours'. It certainly is their best since the era of those two albums.Free Music Review: Excellent Pop
Hit: 5 Stars
I had read a lot of lukewarm reviews before buying this album, so I went in with pretty low expectations. After each song ended, I feared that the next one would be a dull disappointment. But it never happened - every single song, to my surprise, was solid.
Of course, if you're still clinging to youthful energy of The Holy Bible and the Manics' other older albums, you might as well ignore this one. There's no raging guitar-rock here. And it's probably the band's least political album as well, so you won't get your righteous indignation fix. What you WILL get is a smooth, slickly-produced pop album that's easily the Manics' most consistent release since Everything Must Go. ...And honestly, if you ask me, this album is actually BETTER than Everything Must Go.
At its best - "I Live to Fall Asleep," "Cardiff Afterlife," or "A Song for Departure" - Lifeblood is ridiculosuly catchy and packed with emotional sincerity. And it's only slightly less so at its worst. So give it a whirl, and hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.