This is definitely the most frustrating album, not because it’s bad, but because it could have been generational.

The album frustrates me massively because it was initially supposed to be two albums, a more introspective album titled ‘Door To The River (the title track later released in the Forever Delayed compilation) and Solidarity, which returns to their political writing. This is how they were re-released in their 2022 remaster and it does the tracks many favours, making the ... read more

A Tale Of Two Halves.

The first half of the album is absolutely stunning. The Everlasting is a beautiful track about longing for youth “In the beginning, when we were winning, when our smiles were genuine.” To me it also speaks to the position the band found themselves in without Richey, more on him later.

If you think you’ve never heard a Manics song, you probably have, and one of them is probably one of their only two number ones, If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will ... read more

This for the longest time was my favourite album of last year. A stark departure from Weller’s days with The Jam, and if you know me you know how much I adore that band.
Jumble Queen, Soul Wandering, Nothing and Flying Fish are particular highlights. Jumble Queen is nothing short of a vibe, and I’m surprised it wasn’t released as a single over perhaps Rise Up Singing, which in itself isn’t a bad track.
Soul Wandering to me speaks to a desire for some sort of purpose, ... read more

This one is a weird one for me. While I’m glad we’ve got Franz Ferdinand back it’s not entirely the return to form that I could’ve hoped for

Let’s start off with the 3 singles. As the Meat Loaf song goes, two out of three ain’t bad. Audacious and Night Or Day remind me a lot of their sound on Tonight, in a good way. Both are strong lyrically, instrumentally and vocally. Hooked by contrast does absolutely nothing for me, the lyrics are ass but at least the ... read more

Like a phoenix from the ashes.

This is my all time favourite album. Not a single bad track to be found, no filler whatsoever. This album is an absolute triumph start to finish.

Even without Richey’s fantastic lyricism, the Manics still deliver lyrically. From an instrumental standpoint, this sets the tone for the rest of the discography from here on in, bar Journal For Plague Lovers. The more radio-friendly tracks like Australia and A Design For Life are some of the best among the ... read more

This is one really frustrates me. I must admit I’m not massively clued up on The The but I was a little let down by this one having previously listened to Soul Mining, which I loved. The lyrics at times come across as on the nose and feel like they’re trying to be deeper than they actually are.

Probably the objective best Manics album.

Complete tour de force start to finish. As dark as an album comes but it’s a listen like no other. Very consistent listen as well and the political messaging is as good as it gets for the Manics.

Not much I can say will quite do it justice. Go listen to it for yourself.

I don’t think that Gold Against The Soul gets the plaudits it deserves. While the Manics hold back a bit on the political writing, it’s still there, though not done quite as well as Generation Terrorists. That being said, the more introspective lyrics of tracks like From Despair To Where are an interesting window into Richey Edwards.

In particular, Drug Drug Druggy and Symphony of Tourette hold the album back slightly with both feeling overproduced, and with slightly weaker ... read more

What a debut album this is. As far as a first album goes you could do much, much worse. The heavy political writing sets the tone for a lot of the rest of the discography, and is at its finest here. Motorcycle Emptiness, Little Baby Nothing, Stay Beautiful and of course, You Love Us are particular highlights.

Where I feel the album suffers is on some of the later tracks. A couple feel slightly unfinished but the lyrics and guitar remain strong as ever.

Also Repeat (UK) is so clear of Repeat ... read more