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Rating: The Welsh group Manic Street Preachers brought out this other little gem in the fall of 2004, often, however, disparaged as just another album not "up to standard."
It is, rather, an unusually profound work, almost cerebral, exuding strong emotions while at the same time managing to come across as almost detached, without excessive personal involvement from the "actors": the clear, crystal-clear, almost cold guitar sound, and the effects, an integral part of the sound structures - albeit never overused - can only give the impression of a sort of spiritual testament, more than a deserved homage to themselves, a nod to the times gone by, besides being perhaps the main ingredient of a work perhaps not indispensable but at least extremely intriguing.
The Manics' music is intense, powerful, strongly emotional, yet without practically ever resulting from the use of distortions, fast riffs, or intense scales: their innate ability to be delicate while at the same time making the listener's inner chords resonate almost brings to mind, in some fragments, R.E.M. (forgive the comparison, it is not a stylistic similarity with Michael Stipe and his band, although I think it is not an entirely far-fetched hypothesis).
The first gem that oozes nostalgia without shame is "1985," dedicated to the year the group was formed, supported by a keyboard loop of a few but almost transcendental notes, while James D. Bradfield sings "So God is dead like Nietzsche said, superstition is all we have left" - in my opinion, the true essence of the Manics' new musical course lies precisely in combining few, almost sparse, components, in that magical and sublime - or perhaps subliminal? - way.
Next is "The Love of Richard Nixon," the true symbol of "Lifeblood," absolutely perfect in its simplicity, balanced, with the characteristic obsessively rhythmic synth, and the regular and without excessive variations on the theme - noteworthy are the sporadic guitar inserts - which but seems to be the perfect soundtrack for a clip on the White House. The lyrics almost seem to appreciate the work of the despised Republican president '68-'74, though mixed with the awareness that the good Nixon did was erased by the evident mistakes of his administration.
"Empty Souls" shines greatly for the dripping and crystal-clear initial riff, which frequently returns to give the typical flavor to the song, otherwise well made and without excessive frills, except, perhaps, for the words "empty souls" which in the singing seem almost thrown in at random. Much more traditionalist is "A Song for Departure," where there is more rock and less psychological engineering - a good song, all things considered; "I Live to Fall Asleep" is perhaps the first song to significantly drop in quality, and be a bit empty and certainly repetitive and poorly communicative.
At this point comes what I consider to be the best piece of the album: "To Repel Ghosts." Truly unique is the perfectly successful mix between the riffing and the supporting keyboard, a suitably moderate verse, a pre-chorus that recalls, with a bit of imagination, the more spiritual System of a Down, and a chorus that is absolutely over the top, the result of which can only be a shiver down the spine.
On the other hand, "Emily" disappoints, perhaps lacking the characteristics that played their part in the aforementioned wonderful pieces, even if not entirely foreign to the album's sound, "Glasnost'" is a curious piece that oscillates, with more or less good results, between the playful and the masterful chorus and brief solo.
Among the last four tracks, "Always Never" and "Solitude Sometimes is "do not add much to what has already been shown - my guess is that they were recorded at the same time as "I Live to Fall Asleep," when a bit of tiredness and lack of ideas began to set in. Although very slow and far from the canons of "1985" and "To Repel Ghosts," "Fragments" is pleasant and, in its small way, original. "Cardiff Afterlife" closes the album on average levels, without glory or infamy.
Ultimately, an album undoubtedly not comparable, in more than one respect, to the band's historical production, but which testifies, through some absolutely undeniable gems, that the Manics' career was not yet over by 2004.
A personal note: my compliments to James Bradfield, exceptional in hiding his horrible Welsh accent, and replacing it admirably with an American one that is very pleasant.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 1985 (04:08)
In 1985
I placed a bet and lied
Losing all that I had
At least with all my heart intact
In 1985
Orwell was proved right
Torville and Dean's Bolero
Redundant as a sad Welsh chapel
In 1985, in 1985
So God is dead
Like Nietzsche said
Superstition is all we have left
Circle the wagons
We're under attack
We've realised there's no going back
We've realised there's no going back
In 1985
The civil war failed why
Kept hidden like scars of birth
Nature unable to soften the words
In 1985
My words they came alive
Friends were made for life
Morrissey and Mar gave me choice
In 1985, in 1985
So God is dead
Like Nietzsche said
Only 16 years of age he said
See all the tears for the walking dead
We've realised there's no going back
We've realised there's no going back
In 1985
I placed a bet and lied
Losing all that I had
06 To Repel Ghosts (03:58)
When the disappearing begins
The ghosts we kept within
Can break free from inside
And untie our blindfold eyes
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts...
So when the ghosts find you
Be careful but be graceful
For all will be revealed
When ghosts become set free
A soul in pain Has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
A soul in pain Has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
Build bridges and not roads
Make love, make hate, make war
A soul in pain Has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
A soul in pain Has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
08 Glasnost (03:14)
When did life get so, get so complicated
When did time start, start accelerating
Make life slower
Stop life growing
If we can still fall in love
If we can still fall in love
Embrace with us - make your own Glasnost
And in defeat cling to these words so clear
Humiliations not easily understood
Onto the future
Such messages are burned
If we can still fall in love
If we can still fall in love
Embrace with us - make your own Glasnost
If we can still fall in love
If we can still fall in love
Embrace with us - make your own Glasnost
If we can still fall in love
If we can still fall in love
Embrace with us - make your own Glasnost
09 Always/Never (03:42)
Always, never on my mind
Always, always out of time
Always, always letting someone down
Always, always wanting more
Always, always stand-alone
Always, always getting something wrong
Longing for, it's been a long time longing for
To carry the sky away
Always, never said I've done
Always, always change my mind
Always, always trying to succeed
Always, never facing you
Always, never being true
Always, always gonna be this way
Longing for, it's been a long time longing for
To carry the sky away
Always, never
Always, never
Always, never
Always, never
Always
12 Cardiff Afterlife (03:27)
If the love between us
Has faded away
Left in the rain
Scratching at the stains
The paralysed future
The past sideways crawl
I must give up on this
It makes no sense at all
Makes no sense at all
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff afterlife
We sense the breaking of our lives
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff afterlife
And yet I kept my silence
Your memory is still mine
No I will not share them
Acquaintance through denial
For I witnessed splendour
And evil that no-one saw
And I felt kindness
And vanity for sure
And vanity for sure
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff afterlife
We sensed the breaking of our lives
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff afterlife
We sensed the breaking of our lives
In the Cardiff afterlife
In the Cardiff
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By francis
Lifeblood is without doubt the most accessible album of their entire career.
It is a pop sometimes a bit mild, this must be said, but it is refined and captivating like few others proposed in the music business.
