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manicsobsessedALL IS VANITY
HAVEN'T SHAVED FOR DAYS
GIVES ME THE APPEARANCE OF DELAY
THE LUXURY OF ONE MORE DYE
PRETEND HUMILITY THE UGLY LIE
I WOULD PREFER NO CHOICE
ONE BREAD ONE MILK ONE FOOD THAT'S ALL
I'M CONFUSED I ONLY WANT ONE TRUTH
I REALLY DON'T MIND IF I'M BEING LIED TOO
BRIDGE
IT'S NOT WHATS WRONG IT'S WHAT'S RIGHT
MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I'M TALKING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT TIMES
IT'S NOT WHATS WRONG IT'S WHAT'S RIGHT
IF YOU BUY VANISHING CREAM YOU NEED VANISHING CREAM REMOVER AT NIGHT
CHORUS
BORN - SCHOOL
DRUNK - FUCK - WORK
HOME - DOLE
DIVORCE - RETIRE - DIE
AND THEN WHAT AND THEN WHAT
AND THEN WHAT AND THEN WHAT
MAYBE'S YOU REALISE
IT'S ALL VANITY BABY
ALL IS VANITY HONEY
ALL IS VANITY
ALL IS VANITY
ALL IS VANITY
ALL IS VANITY
IT'S THE FACTS O' LIFE SUNSHINE
A lost soul... a found classic
MANIC STREET PREACHERS — Journal for Plague Lovers
Rating: 4.5/5
IF there’s one band from these isles that has a genuine connection with grunge icons Nirvana, it’s the Manic Street Preachers.
They formed around the same time and gave a much needed reality check to the synth-obsessed Eighties.
They went on to become defining bands of the Nineties with harsh, clever, high-octane rock shot through with moments of beauty.
And both bands had a tortured genius in their ranks... Kurt Cobain and Richey Edwards.
The doomed pair wrote impassioned, thoughtful lyrics and approached their work with total, near obsessive commitment. Richey once carved “4 Real” into his forearm with a razor blade to prove his “seriousness” towards his art.
They also liked to sprinkle a little glam on the proceedings and both were especially partial to eyeliner. Remember Kurt’s Bowie infatuation and his cover of The Man Who Sold The World.
And of course they both pressed the self-destruct button when it all became too much. Kurt stuck a gun in his mouth and the Manics’ guitarist disappeared, we believe, forever.
Now, let’s face it, the Welsh rockers haven’t been all that in recent years.
Their best post-Richey effort being probably Everything Must Go, a full 13 years ago, and that bore five songs with lyrics by their much-missed bandmate.
In 2009, however, we have the brave and brilliant Journal For Plague Lovers — each song using words that Richey Edwards left in a notebook.
The production is by none other than master knob twiddler Steve Albini, who gave Nirvana’s In Utero such a pin-sharp, raw and intense sound.
The Manics say that She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach is “the closest we’ve ever sounded to Nirvana” and Pretension/Repulsion sounds like “stuttering syncopated Krist Novoselic bass with Murmur REM guitars.”
Furthermore, they’ve set Richey’s words to some of their most thrilling tunes in years.
Take Jackie Collins Existential Question Time with its addictive “oh mummy, what’s a sex pistol” chorus or the handsome clatter of Me And Stephen Hawking with its reference to wrestler Giant Haystacks.
The cynics may scoff at an outfit relying on jottings from the early Nineties but such is the passion and sensitivity, Journal For Plague Lovers feels like a lost classic but for the here and now.
The Manics have got back their soul.
Source
This is the Manics' catharsis album: its lyrics were written by Richey Edwards, who gave them to his bandmates just before his disappearance, and are heard here for the first time. It's taken the band 14 years to put music to what turned out to be his last words, and you can see why - composing songs around Edwards's often-impenetrable thoughts must have been one of their toughest challenges. The result does them, and him, proud. Forgoing the arena-rock of recent years for something close to the barbed punk of their Holy Bible era - though less disjointed this time, and studded with hooks you could hang a feather boa from - they've made a complex but very listenable record. The focus isn't on Edwards's mental state, though there's ample evidence of it ("I'd like to go to sleep and wake up happy"), but on making a passionate rock album that honours the past yet is very much of the present.
4/5
Source
HAVEN'T SHAVED FOR DAYS
GIVES ME THE APPEARANCE OF DELAY
THE LUXURY OF ONE MORE DYE
PRETEND HUMILITY THE UGLY LIE
I WOULD PREFER NO CHOICE
ONE BREAD ONE MILK ONE FOOD THAT'S ALL
I'M CONFUSED I ONLY WANT ONE TRUTH
I REALLY DON'T MIND IF I'M BEING LIED TOO
BRIDGE
IT'S NOT WHATS WRONG IT'S WHAT'S RIGHT
MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I'M TALKING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT TIMES
IT'S NOT WHATS WRONG IT'S WHAT'S RIGHT
IF YOU BUY VANISHING CREAM YOU NEED VANISHING CREAM REMOVER AT NIGHT
CHORUS
BORN - SCHOOL
DRUNK - FUCK - WORK
HOME - DOLE
DIVORCE - RETIRE - DIE
AND THEN WHAT AND THEN WHAT
AND THEN WHAT AND THEN WHAT
MAYBE'S YOU REALISE
IT'S ALL VANITY BABY
ALL IS VANITY HONEY
ALL IS VANITY
ALL IS VANITY
ALL IS VANITY
ALL IS VANITY
IT'S THE FACTS O' LIFE SUNSHINE
A lost soul... a found classic
MANIC STREET PREACHERS — Journal for Plague Lovers
Rating: 4.5/5
IF there’s one band from these isles that has a genuine connection with grunge icons Nirvana, it’s the Manic Street Preachers.
They formed around the same time and gave a much needed reality check to the synth-obsessed Eighties.
They went on to become defining bands of the Nineties with harsh, clever, high-octane rock shot through with moments of beauty.
And both bands had a tortured genius in their ranks... Kurt Cobain and Richey Edwards.
The doomed pair wrote impassioned, thoughtful lyrics and approached their work with total, near obsessive commitment. Richey once carved “4 Real” into his forearm with a razor blade to prove his “seriousness” towards his art.
They also liked to sprinkle a little glam on the proceedings and both were especially partial to eyeliner. Remember Kurt’s Bowie infatuation and his cover of The Man Who Sold The World.
And of course they both pressed the self-destruct button when it all became too much. Kurt stuck a gun in his mouth and the Manics’ guitarist disappeared, we believe, forever.
Now, let’s face it, the Welsh rockers haven’t been all that in recent years.
Their best post-Richey effort being probably Everything Must Go, a full 13 years ago, and that bore five songs with lyrics by their much-missed bandmate.
In 2009, however, we have the brave and brilliant Journal For Plague Lovers — each song using words that Richey Edwards left in a notebook.
The production is by none other than master knob twiddler Steve Albini, who gave Nirvana’s In Utero such a pin-sharp, raw and intense sound.
The Manics say that She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach is “the closest we’ve ever sounded to Nirvana” and Pretension/Repulsion sounds like “stuttering syncopated Krist Novoselic bass with Murmur REM guitars.”
Furthermore, they’ve set Richey’s words to some of their most thrilling tunes in years.
Take Jackie Collins Existential Question Time with its addictive “oh mummy, what’s a sex pistol” chorus or the handsome clatter of Me And Stephen Hawking with its reference to wrestler Giant Haystacks.
The cynics may scoff at an outfit relying on jottings from the early Nineties but such is the passion and sensitivity, Journal For Plague Lovers feels like a lost classic but for the here and now.
The Manics have got back their soul.
Source
This is the Manics' catharsis album: its lyrics were written by Richey Edwards, who gave them to his bandmates just before his disappearance, and are heard here for the first time. It's taken the band 14 years to put music to what turned out to be his last words, and you can see why - composing songs around Edwards's often-impenetrable thoughts must have been one of their toughest challenges. The result does them, and him, proud. Forgoing the arena-rock of recent years for something close to the barbed punk of their Holy Bible era - though less disjointed this time, and studded with hooks you could hang a feather boa from - they've made a complex but very listenable record. The focus isn't on Edwards's mental state, though there's ample evidence of it ("I'd like to go to sleep and wake up happy"), but on making a passionate rock album that honours the past yet is very much of the present.
4/5
Source