Manic Street Preachers / National Treasures
Their singles alone... are enough, are enough, are enough
Manic Street Preachers
National Treasures
(Columbia/Sony)
* * * * *
Oh my me. Has it really been nine years since the MSP released their Best Of collection ‘Forever Delayed’? In that case, the band are forgiven for releasing a new one, not least because they’ve released some proper gems in that time, and the fact this is a singles collection – so it’s aesthetically different. OK?
Looking back, it’s pretty impressive that the Manics have only had one really purple patch in their career (represented here with 2004’s ‘The Love Of Richard Nixon’), otherwise keeping the tunes catchy and the political rantings just about plausible.
The 1990s singles are traditionally described as the band’s classic era: songs like ‘La Tristesse Durera’ and ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ stand up today as emotionally articulate, as pink as they are punk.
Their recent singles have put up a good fight however; ‘There By The Grace of God’, ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ are all bittersweet pop epics, untainted by memories of a massive Britpop fanbase who sang “we only want to get drunk” and actually meant it.
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