Lifeblood

Welcome back, Manics. Wow. 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...

This album of theirs is one of my favorites. Can't recommend it enough. If you like eclectic rock, these guys will do it for you.

Hugely underrated album. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. To Repel Ghosts is one of my favourite songs ever.

A deluxe japan edition of this Manics works...first cd have original cd with 2bonus and the second cd is a fantastic collection of bsides and live version...and a great booklet!

'Lifeblood' is the Manic Street Preachers most "pop" album. The CD has been getting a mixed reception from the UK press and fans alike, and I don't know why. I found this to be an excellent album. Beautiful and introspective, the album displays an overwhelming sense of melancholy. The group is embracing maturity quite gracefully. 'Lifeblood' features a collection of songs that form a sort of mosaic of emotions reflecting the current state of the world right now. One of collective fear and depression. Who better than the Manics to reflect on that? The opening track '1985' is one of the groups finest songs. A reflection back on a time when the members of the group left behind adolescence and entered adulthood. An incredible song with lyrics that manage to drop references to Morrissey and Nietzsche. 5/5 'The Life of Richard Nixon' is a jarring track on a first listen, because it doesn't sound at all like the Manics. With a dancebeat background, it has a New Order feel to it. After a few listens, it really grows on you. Only vaugely political, some have suggested that the song is really about the band's former guitarist Richey Edwards who disappeared some ten years ago. 4/5 'Empty Souls' is the second strongest track on the album. A beautiful song with some devestating lyrics. It perfectly sums up the themes of this record. The words are at times almost poetic:" Exposed to a truth we don't knowCollapsing like the Twin TowersFalling down like April showersColossal endless like a marathon"5/5 'A Song For Departure' Another awesome track that at times becomes emotionally overwhelming. A beautiful interplay of piano and guitar. 5/5 'I Live to Fall Asleep'-This track has some dark lyrics to it. A very haunting song, perhaps another reference to Richey's disappearance? 5/5 'To Repel Ghosts'-Great track w/ some fantastic guitar work courtesy of Mr. James Dean Bradfield. Awesome. 5/5 'Emily'-Song whose lyrics reference Emmeline Pankhurst, the British Socialist who campaigned for women's suffrage in England in the 1800's. The most political song on the record. 4/5 'Glasnost'-Features some more terrific guitar work from Bradfield and lyrics that try to come to terms with growing older and accepting it. The most 'pop' song on the album. 4/5 'Solitude Sometimes Is'-Another track featuring some really great lyrics on it. It displays a much more 'poppier' sound than the group has displayed in the past. Terrific. 5/5 'Fragments'-This track sounds eerily like U2 at times.Again strong lyrics:"Two minutes of silence in a century of screamsTiny massive hands emphatic lonely soul"5/5 'Cardiff Afterlife'-A superb way to close off the album.A stunning interplay of guitar work, strings, and harmonica in the background. A dramatic closer. 5/5 I was just stunned by the reaction in the U.K. towards this record. It seems as if it's either love it or hate it. I don't get that. This is a masterful album. Those who want a return to the days of 'The Holy Bible', well, all I can say is that band disappeared long ago when Richey did. The group since has moved on and refined their sound down to what they call "elegaic pop". Accept it for what it is. I will always look forward to a new release from this group. By far my favorite album from 2004.Overall 5/5

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.

This is, without a doubt, the black sheep of The Manics catalogue. Even the band seem to hate it and nowadays you've got more chance of seeing Ritchie show up at a gig than you have of any of these songs played live. Which is a shame because I love this album WAY more than 'Send Away The Tigers', their supposed 'return to form'. Yes, it's The Manics doing something different... since when was that a bad thing? It's a keyboard heavy album with very little 'Generation Terrorists' or 'The Holy Bible' stuff about it.But the first six songs are all superb. Melodic and well-written and certainly better than some of the dreary stuff on 'This Is My Truth...' (the Manics low-point, IMO). And it was brave of the lads to put out 'The Love Of Richard Nixon' as the first single, basically The Manics doing New Order with just a hint of Mr Bradfields guitar on it. Superb and under-rated track. See also '1985', 'Empty Souls' and, my personal favourite and possibly the most under-rated Manics track EVER, 'To Repel Ghosts'...Admittedly, the second half of the album isn't quite as good, but still some strong tracks to be found there, 'Cardiff Afterlife' in particular.Don't believe the naysayers, this is a strong album and well worth a purchase.

This is an album that the manics themselves view as 'not so good' and as a result many fans blindly took them at their word and agreed. However this is far from a bad album. It is simply one of those albums that any band that has been around for 10/20 years is bound to experience. It is different in style and the use/lack of use of certain instruments.This does not make it a bad album - far from it. This album is one I find that can be listened to from beginning to end, with several tunes standing out such as the notorious Love Of Richard Nixon and the catchy I Live To Fall Asleep.The only problem with this album are the people who approached it with a closed mind and expectations based on previous albums such as Generation Terrorists and The Holy Bible. You won't find any of that type of material here, but you will find a great album that you should judge AFTER you have listened to it. At the time of writing this, the average rating on Amazon is 4-stars, which is good to see as this album is at least worthy of 4 stars.

Easily their most underrated album, although that feels like rather stating the obvious.Each track has something to offer, and the pure, crisp sound is a bit of a revelation. I can't give it the full 5 stars purely because it doesn't pack the sheer number of classic songs together, unlike their very best albums.But it's rather tragic how this album flew under the radar.

Given the cost, this is one for diehard Manics obsessives only, but there are some outstanding extra tracks. In addition to the standard UK release this Japanese import contains two bonus tracks and a second cd of b-sides, plus song lyrics for the main album tracks and a booklet of photos along the lines of the album cover. The second cd has a couple of really weak tracks (Askew Road and Failure Bound), two remixes of "There by the Grace of God" and two live recordings. What's left (with the two bonus tracks from CD1) would form a pretty decent Manics album. At least 4 tracks (Antarctic, Automatic Teknicolour, No Jubilees and Litany) would grace any post- 2000 Manics album (except Plague Lovers...). As with the bonus CD from Send Away the Tigers, it makes one wonder about the process for picking the tracks for albums, especially given the inclusion of the pretty dire "Emily". Not many people would shell out £25+ for a cd of extras, but Manics fans will find a lot to justify the cost. I hope that the Manics will release a special issue of Lifeblood at some point, but it doesn't seem to be in any plans yet a while. In the meantime this import will have to do.

As always MSP either strike gold with their albums and songs or they are decidedly awkward and difficult to engage you. Unfortunately this is in the later bracket. Starts great with 1984 then it's mostly downhill and as with such a lot with the Manics the fan is left frustrated. OK at right price to finish collection.