Manic Street Preachers
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

THE REVIEW

A fundamental band of the 90s British rock, the definitive breakthrough of the Manic Street Preachers happens with an album like "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours," which leaves aside the previous "heavy" sounds of the Welsh combo to delve into a pop rock accentuated by the voice of the frontman-leader J.D. Bradfield.

The beginning of the work is goosebump-inducing; "The Everlasting" is among the best pieces written in those years, a splendid ballad with strings and the wonderful voice of Bradfield dominating a beautifully effective melodic rise and fall. It continues with "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next," the smash hit of the album, which unfolds on a driving rhythm and a text at times even ironic (memorable, regardless of one's political beliefs, the line "If I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists") culminating in a superb finale dominated by strings and choirs. "You Stole The Sun From My Heart," another big single, hints at a more rock pace, but it is always Bradfield who is the added value that makes the difference. "Ready For Drowning," introduced by a few organ notes, turns out to be a rock ballad of great lyrical and sonic impact, in which the great skills of guitarist Nicky Wire, indeed more prominent in previous works, are glimpsed. "Tsunami," another extract, boasts an almost oriental melody on the usual very melodic sound structure; notably beautiful is also the refrain, enriched by a splendid string arrangement.

"My Little Empire," introduced by a nice guitar arpeggio, creates a dreamy atmosphere on a basic and simple melody, occasionally interrupted by small solos from Wire. The next "I'm Not Working" brings a darker and more ethereal atmosphere, painted with a heavy and redundant drum sound and an effect-laden guitar, framing Bradfield's vocal parables, remarkable even in the falsetto parts. "You're Tender And You're Tired" is instead a purely pop piece (to be appreciated are the piano inserts and a very nice "whistled" solo), while "Born A Girl" manages to move even with the frontman accompanied only by acoustic guitar. "Be Natural" is fundamentally very close to "I'm Not Working," while "Black Dog On My Shoulder" is, on the contrary, a simple and rhythmic guitar-pop number (the finale with Wire's beautiful solo highlighted by the strings is a standout). The aggressively returning guitars of "Nobody Loved You" prelude the closing entrusted to the suspended atmospheres of "S.Y.M.M.".

A great album, this "This Is My Truth...," rightfully hailed by enormous success and a manifesto of a band sometimes ignored and/or underestimated in a more than unjust way.

I'm holding them close, I don't know about you...