It’s now 14 years since Richey Edwards disappeared, and in that time Manic Street Preachers have become a very different band indeed. Mondeo-man aside, most Manics fans would accept they have never hit the creative heights without him that they did with him. So, the news that Journal For Plague Lovers would be recorded with lyrics left behind by Richey has created more anticipation than a band’s ninth album has any right to.
Having managed to sit on these notebooks for so long, the dilemma must have burned constantly in James, Nicky and Sean’s minds: When, and indeed, if, they should ever commit these to tape. Why they decided to wait so long is unclear. Regardless of the answer to this, one thing is clear. They have managed to sidestep the biggest banana skin in their path since Everything Must Go, and delivered their best album in years.
What they have presented to us is, unsurprisingly, a far cry from the “Pantera meets Screamadelica and Linton Kwesi Johnson” direction Richey suggested. (There’s a reason he had little to no musical input in the band). Instead, Journal For Plague Lovers is a blend of the sounds cultivated on Gold Against the Soul, Everything Must Go, and, yes, The Holy Bible.
James Dean Bradfield’s ability to make even the most unworkable of poetry into a memorable rock song has always been something which sets the Manics apart from the crowd. The Holy Bible demonstrated his ability to pick the most appropriate musical tone, and as a result, the album was as much a triumph for him as it was for Edwards. Journal For Plague Lovers is a similar story. At times the album is classic euphoric Manic vitriol, at others it is edgy, tense and disturbing. Steve Albini also deserves major credit for the way his production has freed the band of some of the stodgy bloatedness which has dogged them on occasion in the past.
As expected, the lyrical content is sometimes unnervingly dark. ‘Doors Slowly Closing’ is the apex of gloom. The song has previously been described by Nicky as ‘total Ian Curtis’, and cited as an example of Richey’s state of mind around the time of his departure. It is dense and disturbing, features lines like “Crucifixion is the easy life” and is set to an appropriately sombre musical background.
Many of Edwards’ classic lyrical traits are present on the album. On ‘She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach’ (A contender for ‘Bleakest Title of the Year 09‘), James sings “She’d walk on broken glass for love…Love bathed her in a bath of bleach”. And for all Richey’s mind was unravelling, he could still deliver his characteristically concise and unfathomable, lyrical couplets, such as “Riderless horses on Chomsky’s Camelot” on ‘Peeled Apples’.
The song which is most likely to be discussed on Manics message boards for years to come is ‘William’s Last Words’. It’s the Manics fanboy’s wet dream, reading like Richey’s long-awaited goodbye note, “Wish me some luck / As you wave goodbye to me / You’re the best friends I ever had”. In actual fact, the lyric was edited down by Nicky from a piece of prose left by Richey. As James has recently pointed out, someone as sensitive and smart as Richey wouldn’t be so crass as to leave behind such as thinly veiled clue about his plans to disappear. In spite of this, the context renders it impossible to be anything but choked by Nicky’s flat but heartbreakingly tender delivery.
So, the stakes were so high that Journal For Plague Lovers had to be something special. Mercifully, it is. It’s not The Holy Bible Mk II, which is a big factor in its success. It’s the sound of a band who are older, wiser and more likeable than the firebrands who promised to break up after one album. However, they’ve shown us that after all they’ve been through, they are still in touch with their roots. But how the hell do they follow this up? And, more to the point, should they?
No comments:
Post a Comment