Manic Street Preachers "Journal for Plague Lovers"

Produced by Steve Albini, out in May, featuring Richey Edwards' lyrics and using the same cover artist as The Holy Bible.

Oh, and this is supposed to be the tracklist:

1. No
2. Friends With Black People
3. Doors Slowly Closing
4. She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
5. Library Of Disorder
6. Jesus And Mohammed Having Sex In A Vat Of Knives
7. Peeled Apples
8. Carrion (Featuring Sylvia Plath)
9. Me And Stephen Hawking
10. Tomorrow Is A Degraded Expanse
11. Facing Page Top Left
12. Jackie Collins' Existential Question Time
13. William's Last Words (Final Result Of The Battle Of The Cripples)

Thus making it a successor to ILM's 5th-favorite record of the 90s.

richey finally earning all them royalties

Aha! So this is the side the butter's on!

Heavy LOL

2. Friends With Black People
6. Jesus And Mohammed Having Sex In A Vat Of Knives
9. Me And Stephen Hawking
12. Jackie Collins' Existential Question Time

holy shit richey james is alive and lurking on ilx

Seriously: would download tracks two and six for the titles only.

The weird thing is that thy're obviously trying to replicate Richey-era edginess, except that Bible kept all the weirdness in the lyrics and had nice succinct song titles, whereas this comes off like a poor attempt at Mclusky-style humor. Still, I'm curious about the record as I have come around on most of Send Away the Tigers.

I bet track 2 will be my new favorite song ever!

Oh come on, not only is it totally lacking in subtlety, it's a week and a half earl...

y...

oh jesus it's real IT'S REAL

This is going to be awful, isn't it?

you just stop it right there!

This not real btw.

Hilarious.

The tracklist as a whole might be fake, but several of these titles have been mentioned in Mojo and NME.

It's true! But I bet "Friends with Black People" is still not one of them :(

The song 'Journal for Plague Lovers' is a total steal of 'Spirit Of Radio'.

Would actually buy this album on phyisical CD if it turned out to actually be real.

No 'Friends with Black People' :(

Peeled Apples
Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
Me and Stephen Hawking
This Joke Sport Severed
Journal For Plague Lovers
She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
Facing Page: Top Left
Marlon J.D.
Doors Closing Slowly
All Is Vanity
Pretension/Repulsion
Virginia State Epileptic Colony
William’s Last Words

http://www.newmusicfriday.com/newsletter/newsletter4347/Album-200.jpg

except that Bible kept all the weirdness in the lyrics and had nice succinct song titles

"Yes" – 4:59
"Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart" – 3:39
"Of Walking Abortion" – 4:01

okay, except that one.

I'm disappointed in the new tracklist, by comparison.

Does anyone think it is possible that this could be any good? It won't be, will it?

It's not, for me, about if it's going to be any good or not.

It's about themnot being that band with Richey in it, or just out of it.

Now they are older, more considered, and dare I say it, maturer.

Richey's lyrics can't have moved on in the same way.

It might be brilliant stuff! But there's still a danger that they turn into their own "tribute act" for a version of the band froma parallel universe, of 15 years ago.

Yeah, I mean, I'd include all that in working out whether it could actually be good or not. As you say, it's a bit tribute-acty, or like the famous kids of more famous dead parents who do posthumous duets. (I guess it's even more like "Free as a bird" or "Real Love", and it seems irrelevant whether those songs are good or not - I can't imagine wanting to listen to them for pleasure, they're just novelties.) They must have considered that this would seem cynical/desperate, and feel comfortable that they're not doing it for these reasons, but it's odd. I don't know how sure people can be of their own motives in these situations. And they can't seriously have some banal idea that it's "what Richey would have wanted" because by his own actions, whatever they were, he made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to be involved in anything of this sort, or any sort, ever again.

um. huh. i have nothing to say about this at all.

you will buy it though.

i dunno, they apparently did a whole album which i completely missed, looking at amazon just now. i probably will get it, on itunes, out of curiosity though.

It's quite good actually. It got some votes in this poll MANIC STREET PREACHERS Best Album Poll

The opening track is kicking around - surprisingly catchy and economical. The Albini "production" suits the material.

I'm really liking "Peeled Apples" a lot more than I thought I would - The kick into the chorus is epic.
Really looking forward to this now.

nice Jenny Saville cover

So this is around. And pretty good! I do miss the fake tracklist though. :(

The Wire-sung "William's Last Words" works surprisingly well.

Really liking this - the transition in the middle of "this joke sport severed" is massive on loud headphones.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8050110.stm
The new Manic Street Preachers album is being shipped to supermarkets in a plain slipcase because its artwork has been deemed "inappropriate".

Concerns have been raised that the cover for Journal For Plague Lovers, a portrait by artist Jenny Saville, looks like it is splattered with blood.

Singer James Dean Bradfield called the situation "utterly bizarre".

"We just thought it was a beautiful painting. We were all in total agreement," he told BBC 6 Music.

The frontman disagreed that Saatchi favourite Powell, who also painted the cover for the band's 1994 album The Holy Bible, had intended to depict a bloody face.

"It is her brushwork," he said.

"If you're familiar with her work, there's a lot of ochres and browns and reds and browns and perhaps people are looking for us to be more provocative than we are being.

"We just saw a much more modern version of Lucian Freud-esque brushstrokes. That's all we saw."

Bradfield added that the band were frustrated by supermarkets' attitudes.

"You can have lovely shiny buttocks and guns everywhere in the supermarket on covers of magazines and CDs, but you show a piece of art and people just freak out," he said.

Four of the main supermarket chains - Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons - are among the shops using the slip cover.

Asda told 6 Music they wanted to be extra cautious in case the artwork upset some of its customers.

Meanwhile Nicola Williamson, Sainsbury's music buyer, said: "We felt that some customers might consider this particular album cover to be inappropriate if it were prominently displayed on the shelf.

"As such, the album will be sold in a sleeve provided by the publisher."

Journal For Plague Lovers, the Welsh band's ninth studio album, sees them set the lyrics of former band member Richey Edwards to music, 14 years after the 27-year-old disappeared from the Embassy Hotel in London's Bayswater.

Bradfield says that the artwork was an integral part of the project and, for that reason, the band had never considered revising it.

"It's the first time ever that we actually feel controlled by the idea, which basically stemmed from Richey's words," he explained.

"So we're not going to censor it or anything, because it is what it is.

"It is bizarre that supermarkets actually think that that's going to impinge on anyone's psyche."

Journal For Plague Lovers is released in the UK on Monday.

that is ridiculous. I am still listening to this regularly - a few tracks I'm not too crazy about but still their best since at least This Is My Truth, if not longer.

So any new thoughts on this? I haven't gotten it yet, but "The Holy Bible" is one of my favorite albums of all time, and this was supposed to be a 'return to form' (something that is said upon the release of every album).

Its very good, yes. Nowhere near as good as THB or the 1st two obviously but it's their best album since EMG.

Hm. I actually don't care for the first two that much (a few songs excepted). I only really like the three that followed. Everything else has left me kind of cold. Maybe I will check this one out. It's gotten a lot of positive press, which seems to be rare for these guys nowadays.

"Jackie Collins' Existential Question Time" suuuuuuuucks

Only anticipating the Underworld and St. Etienne mixes and praying they are instrumental or are at least promo'd with instrumental mixes. This project is foul. If New Order were to record songs using lyrics from Ian Curtis' notebooks i'd be horrified.

they should have a song called "Rock'n'Roll Propriety"

If Ian Curtis had given them a notebook, having made clear they were lyrics to be used for songs, wouldn't that be fair game?

what tracks are being underworld'd and saint etienne'd?

isn't there a saint etienne track where bob, pete and sarah are talking about the manics? maybe some mumbling in "avenue" or something?

Saint Etienne remixed There By the Grace of God previously. Here's the cut n paste from the Manic press release.

Each track from Journal For Plague Lovers has been remixed and will be released as a digital EP on June 15th. The band hand-picked an impressive selection of remixers:

"It's been a pretty overwhelming response to be honest. We chose people for each track hoping they would bring us back something unique, that they'd find something we maybe hadn't in the track. Without fail, they've done that. Heartfelt thanks from us to everyone involved". - Nicky

The EP boasts the following artists and track remixes:

Andrew Weatherall - Peeled Apples
Saint Etienne - Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
British Sea Power - Me And Stephen Hawking
Patrick Wolf - This Joke Sport Severed
Optimo (Espacio) - Journal For Plague Lovers
The Pariahs - She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
Adem - Facing Page Top Left
New Young Pony Club - Marlon JD
The Horrors - Doors Closing Slowly
Errors - All Is Vanity
Four Tet - Pretension/Repulsion
Fuck Buttons - Virginia State Epileptic Colony
Underworld - William's Last Words
Jonathan Krisp - Bag Lady

"Jackie Collins' Existential Question Time" suuuuuuuucks

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=733

I just got this. I'm not really feeling it so far, unfortunately. It seems a little forced, but perhaps it will grow on me.

This record grew on me and now it's certainly one of my favorites of the year. Their best since Know Your Enemy, which to me is practically unbeatable (I know I'm in the minority there). This band is completely obscure in America which is strange because we like big anthemic stadium rock and they're so good at it.

The remixes are popping up here and there, including the Underworld one, which is amazing:

http://www.spinner.ca/2009/09/15/manic-street-preachers-williams-last-words-underworld-remix/

And hey, the Fuck Buttons one isn't bad either:

http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/fuck-buttons-remix-manic-street-preachers-stereogum-premiere_088251.html

This finally came out in the States, or at least finally became regularly available. Picked it up yesterday and it comes with a free download card for 10 remixes.

For some reason the fantastic Adem remix isn't on the 10-track remix release, and the awful Horrors one is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1PEpFpU1ec

actually, now that I've heard all 14 remixes, I think a well-sequenced version of them (well, taking out the negligible Horrors and British Sea Power ones) would rival the quality of the original record!

I am seeing them Monday!!!!!! and all the Seattle ILXors are sick of hearing about it :)

the remix package is pretty great, the saint etienne, fuck buttons & weatherall remixes are the stand outs imo.

spotify:album:3doPalwBWAITMK1gA8La2a

all 14 trax there fer nowt.

love the saint etienne cover.

i was looking forwards to crackers saying "fucks a catholic" though :/

This record is so good. My favorite release of 2009.

What I want to know is, how could they be so obscure in America. Last week they played their first NYC show in ten years at Webster Hall, a venue that holds 2,500. They didn't sell it out. They headline arenas in Europe, right?

They can't have played venues much bigger than 2,500 on their last few UK tours.

They are pretty big in the UK though - Journal For Plague Lovers hit #3 in the UK album charts and they would generally be a front-page in the music press kind of a band that (almost) everyone had heard of. Too sixth-form cerebral for the US, mebbe?

too specifically English for the U.S. imo - the anglophile population among music fiends in the US has been on the decline for two decades, really never recovered after the mid-eighties (huge peak for all-things-British luv on the west coast anyway). figuring out what the Manics are so mad about would take some effort & I think the consensus about "Holy Bible" was "somebody really loved a Nirvana record, eh?"

But we love our stadium sized anthems, and they're one of the best at it. At the very least, someone with big pipes should cover A Design For Life on American Idol.

no ffs no! dont!

I'm sure they'd love being described as "too specifically English"

Their politics are a bit confusing to put it mildly, but they have a way with a hook. My favorite has always been Know Your Enemy, which seems to be hated by the fans for reasons I cannot explain. But the new one is rapidly catching up. Oddly enough, I never quite understood the fuss over The Holy Bible, apart from Yes it seems kinda overwrought.

They'd have to change the "we only want to get drunk" line though.

Know Your Enemy was seen as a return to form and is better than the couple after it.

They'd have to change the "we only want to get drunk" line though.

Not if the person singing it is a Bo Bician-style rocker.

"We only want to get drunk, isn't it?"

I think the consensus about "Holy Bible" was "somebody really loved a Nirvana record, eh?

I thought that angsty, Nirvana wanabees were the marquee acts in the US in '94.

Yes, but they were obviously better at it than the Manics

Grunge isn't really their thing. They're best at U2-style arena rockers with big choruses.

I generally think UK rock bands fail in the US through inability to rock sufficiently or convincingly

and not being American

Still don't understand why they never broke through in the US. I'd never expect them to be Smashing Pumpkins/RATM style huge but would have expected them to be breaking into the top 40 albums without too much trouble. Then again I never understood why the Stranglers didn't cross over in the US either and they could certainly rock, at least live anyway.

Too androgynous pre-Holy Bible, too abrasive during Holy Bible, too reflective post-Holy Bible.

US radio is very conservative, and there's almost zero chance of a song called "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" ever catching on in the US. But they have plenty of others that shoulda been hits.

In the UK, what is their biggest song?

design for life
amongst fans Motorcycle Emptiness

tbh I think their melodies are just not the sort of things Americans like - "If You Tolerate This" for example, that mid-tempo rock bombast with a to my american ears really lounge-y vocal style - it never quite seems to click, and that wistful melodic quality up against that line - hard to make them sync. I get into it myself but it always sounds confused about what it's trying to be, to me. wants it both ways: pissed-off 'n' youthful plus stadium-huge & ready for the spotlight. Also, a lot of the time it's really hard to understand both what dude is saying and what he's talking about even when you can understand the words so I don't think it's timid radio programmers/audiences

Also, a lot of the time it's really hard to understand both what dude is saying and what he's talking about even when you can understand the words

LOL, the great communicators

The strangeness of JDB's delivery and the density of the lyrics are two things I love about them. I can quite understand why US radio wouldn't touch them but I'm surprised they never found a cult following of people who would find the opaqueness intriguing. I seem to remember Greil Marcus was a Know Your Enemy fan - he's the kind of person who would go for this off-kilter, ideas-stuffed approach. I reviewed the reissue of The Holy Bible for Blender, trying to pitch it as a weird cult masterpiece to a readership who would mostly go "Who?"

Greil Marcus was a Know Your Enemy fan

Yes. He raved about that album, particulary Epicentre, which is one of their best shoulda-been-hits. I think this band would definitely appeal to Americans who are into albums like The Bends or the last few U2 records. If I were a radio programmer, I'd put There By The Grace of God, A Design For Life and The Year of Purification on heavy rotation. They've got such a weird backstory, too.

I don't feel like they ever really tried to break them in America. I mean, my Anglophile self read about them all the damn time in my school's library copies of NME and Melody Maker, but I couldn't ever find their albums anywhere (granted this was middle of nowhere central Illinois). Anyway, the first thing I was able to buy them was a $30 import copy of Everything Must Go when it first came out. Seems like much of the stuff later came out domestically later on. Point being, I don't feel like they were really ever given the chance to break in America.

Have I mentioned on this thread that Underworld's mix/cover of William's Last Words is about a kazillion times better than the original?

Not only do I think this is a really good album (though my sentimental favorite remains Gold Against the Soul), but the combination of the album proper, the complete demo version, and the complete remix version, is really incredible. Listen to them back-to-back-to-back, demo then studio then remix, and it's like a musical Neal Stephenson novel.

honestly i bought that holy bible record once and i really fail to see what all the fuss was about

i had it built up like OMGITSOFUCKINGINTENSEANDROCKINGANDANGRY and i was like um...really doe? sound like U2 heard a few mid-90s touch & go bands...i dunno...like with all the shit going on in US underground rock back then i couldn't really feel it. seemed kinda weak to me...and the lyrics were pretty retarded if i recall, not that that kept me from liking tons of other retarded lyrics bands

i mean they didn't even kick up as much as, say, archers of loaf who i kinda considered an indie pop band in a lot of ways, let alone like jesus lizard or am rep shit

i always liked these dudes, which i guess makes sense considering i'm a U2 fan. i can see why they're not big here, i mean their rock tracks don't really "rock" in the way that would be successful here and they're not anthemic or soaring enough to get into U2 or coldplay territory; everything they do falls somewhere in between.

i sort of wish i could re-hear it for the first time after a memory wipe of all the hyperbole surrounding it. it's probably a totally decent major label rock record....like i bet i could like it as much as later queens of the stone age or the first foo fighters record

honestly i bought that holy bible record once and i really fail to see what all the fuss was about

I am not crazy about The Holy Bible either, apart from Yes. Know Your Enemy and the new one are both much better rock records, in my humble opinion. As for the soaring/rocking, at their best they can outsoar Coldplay any day of the week, and they can outrock U2.

I'm not saying they can sell out arenas here, but they can certainly be more well known than they are.

So, the new album is almost upon us...

What are people thinking?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EeOl01tIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

The first single is out there now...

Also, should we start a new thread?

'Journal For Plague Lovers' totally reinvigorated my love for the Manics, but I'm aware of how different this new album is meant to be, so I'm feeling pretty wary.

I have low expectations after what I've read about it.

Journal For Plague Lovers was my favorite album of 2009, and probably my favorite album they ever did.

If the Manics were ever to be big in the US, it was the first two, particularly the first album. That production, the riffs, his vocals. Plenty of post-Def Lep/Appetite sheen, which is basically the band they were. Only thing I can think of that is the the wordiness of the verses and, I don't know, is 1992 too late for all that stuff?

Should I get Plague Lovers? Is it as Albini-intense as the tracklisting suggests?

its terrific

Thought it was a big letdown after all the hype, and one nicky sung track is cringe-a-matic. I only listened to the album twice.

Outside of the opening tracks and the hidden track, it's not very Albini...ey. Dave Enriga's mixing seems to gloss over a lot of the grit. But the songs are their best in ages.

opening track*

Rewind The Film - I love it! If I had more educative opening comments to make I would start a new thread for the album.

I've given Rewind the Film another chance and I'm glad I did - not as stilted or awkward as I first thought. It occurs to me that, for a long time now, every new Manics record has felt like a reaction to/against the one that came before, but never in quite the same way. It's like a deliberate strategy they use to avoid complacency. At any rate, I admire their desire to really experiment: there's an instrumental, two duets, a track sung entirely by Cate Le Bon, one that sounds vaguely influenced by that Four Tet remix, and no electric guitars (but lots of everything else). It's much more compelling to me than Postcards (which I didn't hate).

I wasn't sure about Rewind when I first heard it but it became one of my favourite albums of last year - a record which squarely confronts feeling middle age in a way I haven't heard before. Looking forward to the next one too. I much prefer them when they're taking a bold stand in a particular direction to when they're doing straight-ahead anthemic rock.

I'm surprised at how palatable Wire's lyrics are here for the most part, mostly thanks to the direct approach. There's a no-bullshit quality to a line like "how I hate middle age / in between acceptance and rage" that suits them.

I love the use of guest vocalists. With that and the absence of guitar solos except on one track it's impressively egoless work by James - more than any previous album it's all about creating the right setting for the lyrics, not his role as frontman. And the sequencing is very smart: Manorbier and 30 Year War suggest a bouncing back from despair, first through serenity and then through anger.

I guess it's my duty to kick this thread every time there's a new Manics record. Futurology isn't as compelling to me as Rewind, but it is endearingly weird. Even more guest vocalists, and stranger ones to boot (Nina Hoss in particular is fantastic), two instrumentals, and a lot of rhythm tracks that make it seem like they've been listening to the remixes of their own tracks a lot. Wire embarrasses himself again a few times, but not at Know Your Enemy levels; he's helped along quite a bit by his newfound self-incriminating streak ("So you played in Cuba, did you like it, brother? / I bet you felt proud, you silly little fucker..."). Not an unqualified winner, but far from lazy.

i haven't listened to this yet but i absolutely will just because green gartside is on it

The Green Gartside track is the best thing they've done in ages.

James wrote the lyrics to The Next Jet To Leave Moscow btw.

the Quietus review srves as a handy guide to the many references I'd never have picked up on.

Looks like we might have a new album as soon as tomorrow, ’The Ultra Vivid Lament’.

The trailer for it is pretty cool and there's some promising sounding song snippets in there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg2HrqFsz14

another perfectly manics album title

Sorry, I was tired last night and thought they were going for a "here's our new album" style immediate release, but it's more traditional - out September 3rd. Track titles are also perfectly manics. Intrigued to see Mark Lanegan guesting.

Manic Street Preachers' 14th studio album ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’

1. Still Snowing in Sapporo
2. Orwellian
3. The Secret He Had Missed (Feat. Julia Cumming)
4. Quest for Ancient Colour
5. Don’t Let the Night Divide Us
6. Diapause
7. Complicated illusions
8. Into the Waves of Love
9. Blank Diary Entry (Feat. Mark Lanegan)
10. Happy Bored Alone
11. Afterending

Just going to give Orwellian a listen. What do you reckon Simon H.?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smImSentyaI

mark lanegan once again truly set on working with every single band goddamn

I like this song a lot! can't think of another band less suited to a lyric video though lol, I looked away immediately

Yeah, I like it a lot too! It's got a pretty anthemic feel at points, but isn't too much, and musically & vocally they seem on good form - JDB's voice sounds good, there's some nice guitar work and I like a few of Nicky's wee bass lines. No lyrical winces on this one either, though the title is almost too manics.

Lol @ the Manics agonising about picking a side in the culture war. What pathetic melts they’ve become. pic.twitter.com/uXMt5c3lqE

— Tom Williams (@shirleymush) May 19, 2021

ok how did they end up here lmao

i guess they said a lot of weird stuff about corbyn last decade, i hadn't been paying attention

they have always agonized about seeming politically independent idk

people on that twitter thread calling them melts - they are more like One Nation tories!

I never liked them tbh, especially that hideous spud of vocalist, but recently I noticed that Richey was very otm about how shit the Labour Was in the 90's - even before the advent of Blairism.

Party

they've always mainly struck me as being cranky idealists above all else, it's not like they're out there saying nice things about kieth

I think they try and project in their songs some kind of muddled idealism that sort of reminds me of that awful Ken Loach 1945 fetishism in some ways, but I don't think they really are idealists of any stripe - they are just trynna sound deep innit, in a sort of bullshit Dunty/Lynskey mode.

unfortunately by britpop era rock star standards they are basically ultraleft

Muted him for his use of 'melt'

the corbyn comments were like, dismissive of him as an "old school communist who hates the EU" and then i went digging further and found stuff from 2006 where they talked about how michael foot was still their political idol but he was futile trying to win an election from the left, the corbyn wing of the party is too idealist (back in 2006 when it barely existed) and blair is bad but they were hopeful maybe people like ed miliband would improve labor in the future

idk just depressing for a band who were so proudly radical at one point (even if not always the most coherently) to have ended up where they are now (and have been for ages i guess)

anyone who talks about the futility of Michael Foot without reference to both of the Falklands war and the internal backstabbers of the SDP, isn't worth taking seriously.

the Labour Party under Foot literally was 18-20 points ahead of the Thatcher govt before the establishment hatchet job and the war. Just blithely dismissing this as predictable and futile is the language and political currency of the melts tbf!

The early Manic Street Preachers had weird and contrary (and interesting) (and stupid) positions with Richey Manic, but Nicky Manic has never stood for anything more than pretty much what Jimmy McGovern or the like says, right? Probably less. Doesn't make him a terrible person – I know plenty of good people on exactly that line – but who gives a fuck.

I could never quite bring myself to vote for Jimmy McGovern!

it's pretty rare that anyone from rock bands says anything interesting tbh, but compared to the rest of the grim troglodytes in this band Richey was giving a Perry Anderson level of insight into the problems with Labour in that old NME interview I saw last week.

bark at the moon and have a few wee whiskeys?

oh look it's the Morrissey apologist shit-talking again!

cannae read em capatin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOzePXpgVx8

looked on RYM to see what people were saying about the new Manic Street Preachers single and laughed at this pic.twitter.com/iEYb6MIDWx

— tom (@malaiseforever) May 21, 2021