The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
None.
Personal Review:
The Manic Street Preachers are basically my favorite band – hands down. (with the exception of Joy Division, Sex Pistols and Nirvana). Their lyrics are deep and meaningful – and they’re just flat out amazing.
So, the A-Side opens with the song “A Design for Life” and it’s a pretty solid opening – the song comes from their 1996 album, “Everything Must Go” – which is a good album itself, but the song I am listening to is pretty nice also, I really can’t complain much, though the only disappointing part is that they open the album with a song that does not feature Richey on guitar. Then comes one of my favorite Manic Street Preachers songs, “Motorcycle Emptiness” – from their 1992 album “Generation Terrorists” – and well, the song is one of their meaningful songs that has some sort of emotion in it – unlike most other music by most other artists. You definitely need to listen to the song itself, as it’s pretty great. “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next” from their 1998 album “This is My Truth Tell Me Yours” follows, and it’s a pretty good song, I love how mellow it is, and the chorus is pretty cool too. The A-Side ends with “La Triste Durera (Scream to a Sigh)” from their 1993 album “Gold Against the Soul” comes next, and it makes for an excellent way to end the A-Side, it’s definitely a strong song, and the fact it still has Richey on it makes up for the fact the first song lacked him. Richey was definitely one of the most talented guitarists this world had to offer.
The B-Side opens with “There By the Grace of God” which was a single released to promote this album itself, and well it makes for a good opening track. Then we go back to a “Generation Terrorists” song with “You Love Us” and it’s an amazing track and I absolutely love this song. The musicianship is great too. We then go back to their ’96 album, “Everything Must Go” with the song “Australia” – you know, like the country. The chorus comes in and this song is another amazing one by the Manics. Oh, and the musicianship rocks on this song too. “You Stole the Sun from My Heart” from “This is My Truth…” comes next, and it’s a pretty good song, I love the chorus, it seems to be my favorite part of this whole song, and the guitar playing. Back to “Everything Must Go” with “Kevin Carter” comes up next, and all I can think about is how much it would suck to be named that. I’d be so paranoid hearing the song on the radio. It’s a good one, nothing too special though. “Tsunami” from “This is My Truth…” closes the B-Side, and it’s a pretty solid ending track, but the only real highlight to it is the sitar playing, that gets me real good. I’m a sucker for sitars.
The C-Side opens with their 1999 single, “The Masses Against the Classes” which makes for another great opening track – and I never knew this song was solely a single until now. It’s a pretty good song with kind of a punk sound to it, no complaints here! “From Despair to Where” from “Gold Against the Soul” comes up next, and it’s another great song from that album, the Manics really picked most of their great songs for this compilation. “Door to the River” comes next, and that is another song that was unreleased until this album, it’s a slower song, but it’s still pretty good – I do enjoy it a lot. Then comes “Everything Must Go” from… you guessed it, “Everything Must Go” – and it’s another good song, nothing overly special on this track, but it’s still a good one. Can’t complain much here. I still do love the Manics. Then comes the ever so amazing “Faster” from their 1994 album, “The Holy Bible” and this song is one of those songs that really gets me going, the lyrics are superb and the musicianship rocks, the vocals are great too. James is a great singer, and the rest of the band just do their own thing and it’s amazing. The album closes with “Motown Junk” which is a lot more amazing when performed live, but the song is still pretty good on it’s own – it was released a single in 1992.
The D-Side opens with “Little Baby Nothing” from “Generation Terrorists” – which features Traci Lords on vocals, and well, between her vocals and James’ this song is a great way to begin the final side of the album. This is also another one of the songs that has a real deep meaning to it, and well it’s a nice song. After that comes the 1992 single “Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless)” – and I bet some people didn’t even know there were lyrics to this song! It’s a sadder song, but still listenable – and deep meaning (I think.) I definitely would love to see this song opening the show. Also, the musicianship rocks. “So Why So Sad” from 2001’s “Know Your Enemy” follows, and well, it has a really 60’s pop sound to it, so that makes it absolutely amazing, I quite enjoy this song. Then “The Everlasting” from “This is My Truth…” comes next, and it’s a slower song, but hey, it’s one of my favorite Manic songs, and I love it! It is so perfect, and I love it being included on this album.
“Perhaps my best years are gone, but I wouldn’t want them back, not with the fire in me now” – Samuel Beckett (from the inner sleeve)
Interesting Facts:
None.
Track Listing:
A1 – A Design for Life
A2 – Motorcycle Emptiness
A3 – If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
A4 – La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
B1 – There by the Grace of God
B2 – You Love Us
B3 – Australia
B4 – You Stole the Sun From My Heart
B5 – Kevin Carter
B6 – Tsunami
C1 – The Masses Against the Classes
C2 – From Despair to Where
C3 – Door to the River
C4 – Everything Must Go
C5 – Faster
D1 – Little Baby Nothing
D2 – Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)
D3 – So Why So Sad
D4 – The Everlasting
D5 – Motown Junk
Label:
Music On Vinyl
Catalog Number:
MOVLP221
Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
Lyrics by Nick Jones & Richey Edwards
Music by James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore & Nick Jones
Produced by Nick Hedges, Steve Brown, Dave Eringa, Greg Haver, The Manic Street Preachers & Robin Evans
Engineered by Ian Grimble, Dave Eringa, Guy Massey, Ger McDonnell, Sean Genockey, Lee Butler, Alex Silva & Robin Evans
Mixed by Ian Grimble, Steve Brown, Owen Davies, Dave Eringa, Dave Bascombe, Marius De Vries, Andy Bradfield & Mark Freegard
Assistant Engineer – Lee Butler & Dave Eringa
Assistant Mixer – John Bailey
Vocals & Guitar – James Dean Bradfield
Drums, Percussion & Trumpet – Sean Moore
Guitar & Bass – Nicky Wire
Rhythm Guitar – Richey James Edwards
Other Albums I Own by The Manic Street Preachers:
“Generation Terrorists”
“Journal for Plague Lovers”
Released:
2010
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