It’s hard to imagine now, but at the turn of the millennium The Manics were firmly out of favour. I remember seeing a picture in the NME of an overweight, dishevelled looking James Dean Bradfield with a caption saying something like, “Who ate all the pies”? Trust the NME to not see beyond the image. This Is My Truth… may have abandoned the angry, overtly-political, self-abusing sound of an earlier manifestation, and replaced it with something more radio-friendly, but the album was stuffed full with warmly melancholic masterpieces.
Now look at them. They’ve recaptured the popularity of the Holy Bible/Everything Must Go period, but let’s be honest, not the quality. ‘(It’s Not War) – Just the End of Love’ is a solid single with the orchestral lushness of ‘Everything Must Go’, but underneath is a slightly clunky track, with a jarring chorus, and a filler of a guitar solo that’s as boring as a trained weasel fighter beating up otters. Bad this isn’t, but nor is it the return to form everyone’s been banging on about.
Still, I’m glad they are loved once more. They always seemed like a deeply earnest bunch who sincerely cared about both their message and the music – though, as he would surely admit, the music for Nicky Wire is very much a secondary (or tertiary) concern. Plus, in my teens I listened to them to the exclusion of all other music for at least a year, and Richie was my idol…
Release Date 13/09/2010 (Columbia)
I started out writing for the Manchester Evening News as a freelance journalist back in 2008. The idea that I would be given free access to music and gigs seemed somehow miraculous to me, and I proceeded to take full advantage of the situation. When the M.E.N. decided to constrict its coverage to only the very biggest bands, Simon Poole approached me with a plan to make sure that all the very talented musicians of this world that pass through and/or live in Manchester would not go unnoticed. As the New Releases editor here at Silent Radio Towers, it remains my proud duty to cast a critical eye over the music and reviews that come my way in a manner that is both supportive and fair. Above all, I strive to write as entertainingly possible. Favourite musicians include the Pixies, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Mercury Rev, Os Mutantes, The Knife, Beach House etc etc. I'm a firm believer that all genres (except nu-metal) contain music of great quality...
