The year was 1995 and during this year a still unsolved mystery involving former Manic Street Preachers former guitarist, Richie Edwards occurred. His car was found a the top of a cliff on the river Severn, however no body was ever found and his apparent fate remained a mystery. During 1996 the Manic’s came back with possibly their finest album to-date and proceeded to become one of Britain’s finest bands.

At 13 this was my first taste of the Manic’s and I loved it, a band coming out of Wales who had three previous albums, had now released an album, which contained some of the best songs of the year. In fact thinking back this was probably one of the first CD albums I had ever bought, after only hearing about 3 of the songs on it. The band now a three piece comprising of lead singer and Guitarist James Dean Bradfield, Drummer Sean Moore and the mad rather eccentric Nicky Wire.

The album opens with the superb “Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier” a superb track that sums up the feel of the album right from the start. Opening with the waves as the tide comes in and a guitar coming through in the back ground, before a short harmony and then the proper start of the song with a simple guitar intro and the vocals following in quite shortly afterwards. The song carries on like this until the chorus before it really lifts off with the introduction of the drums to speed the song up.

The vocals sound superb and the voice of James really carries the song along nicely while the drumming of Sean and the bass of Nicky and a superb beat and sound to the opening track. The lyrics on the whole are written by Nicky and you have to say from this album he is a good song writer. It fades out quietly with the sea again and the vocals descending into a fair ground style. Then almost straight away one of the most instantly recognizable Manics tracks and probably one of my favourites, “A Design For Life” kicks off. It opens with a drum in the background with a simple guitar intro before the vocals come in quite quickly.

“We don’t talk about love we only want to get drunk,
We are not allowed to spend,
And we are told that this is the end”

The tune stays the same for a large part of the song with a clam soothing guitar and drum combination before again the chorus gets a little bit heavier than the verse of the track. The guitars sound great throughout and the drums play a big part in the song even though they are not predominant throughout the track. Again the vocals sound superb and James’s voice really does justice to Nicky’s lyrics. All round a good track that I’m sure almost every one will know.

Then comes another of my favourite all time Manic’s tracks, “Kevin Carter”. Opening with a guitar and short bursts of the drums before again the vocals come in reasonably quickly to get the song really going. A classic Manic’s track with heavy guitars in just the right places and a mellow vibe keeping the song plodding along. The vocals again make the song and along with the guitars and solid beat this is a song the Manic’s will find tough to better. A great track life as well as on the album, it just seems to be attached to a lot of memories from my time at senior school.

Another superb track but not a single has to be “Enola/Alone”. It’s probably the most upbeat song so far and opens with the drums and guitars together for the longest musical introduction of the album before the vocals come in to liven the track up. The guitars again sound superb with a superb backing beat from Sean. It’s songs like this that show the Manic’s are a truly great band as this really doesn’t come across as an album filler but a superb song in it’s own right.

“I’ll take a picture of you,
To remember how good you looked”

The song drifts into the end with the guitars really shinning through to steel the show. The vocals again sound excellent, with James’s voice really changing to suit the style of the song. The song ends on a slower note before the start of probably the joint most recognizable song by the Manic’s, “Everything Must Go”. A song that takes only seconds before you realise what your about to hear it opens with the drums playing a short intro before being quickly joined by the guitars for a short intro before the vocals join in.

“Freed from the century,
With nothing but memory, Memory”

The sound of the song always takes you back to the year of release. The vocals again sound superb with Nicky’s lyrics again superb and the arrangement by Sean and James really making the song come to life. The guitars play the main role in the track keeping it at a fast pace and really making it enjoyable to listen to.

We then move onto track number 6 and “Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky”. A very mellow start with a harmonic introduction on the guitar before the soothing, calm vocals come in to get the song underway. The harmony carries on until a second guitar comes in and changes it just slightly. The vocals really change well from the last track and it shows an amazing range in James’s vocal talents. It starts to pick up a little with the guitar taking a bigger part nearer the end of the song.

The next track is a shorter one vocally, and “The Girl That Wanted To Be God” is another decent album track that really does make this into their best all round album in my opinion. It opens up with a drumbeat gradually getting louder before the guitars join in soon after and then the vocals a short time after that. The vocals have again changed in style and the guitars really carry the song along beautifully. The arrangement again is just right and this really makes it a more enjoyable song and album on the whole.

Then we come to another superb Manic’s track with “Removables”. This opens a little more upbeat than the others with the drums opening up alongside the guitars before the vocals come in a little slower than on others but with more aggression and feeling. The drums really hold the song together carrying it along while the lyrics really get inside your head and stay there. The song in places has a dark edge to it but this sort of adds to the effect and desire I think they had from the song. Another cracking track.

But no where near as good as the next track, “Australia”, which is another of my favourite tracks and in fact is one of the best Manic’s songs again, however maybe not quite as good as Everything Must Go and A design For Life. It starts with the drums and guitars joining to form the introduction and bring the song in on a high note before the vocals come in after about half a minute. The guitars really make this track as well and you can’t help thinking if this had been a different band would this have been anywhere near as good.

“I Want to fly home until it hurts,
Sleep for a while and speak no words in Australia”

The vocals again stand out and I have to say by this stage you really should have noticed just quite how good James’s vocals actually are. The song is a good one for singing along to as it’s a good easy going track that really flows along nicely with the aid of the drums. From there we move on to “Interiors (Song for Willem De Koonig)”, which is another decent track and quite easy going but upbeat all at the same time. It opens straight away with the vocals being joined quickly by the guitars for a run into the song before the drums come in for the chorus.

“Are we too tired to try and understand,
That nothing is nothing on that we depend”

The vocals really stand out on this song with the guitars and drums playing very much a backup role to the strong purposeful vocals of James. Although the beat does bring the song along in places it is very faint, which adds a bit to the mood. The guitars also follow a similar pattern with quiet sections before they lift off a little for the chorus and of course the solo sections. All in all another quality track, which goes towards making this one of my favourite albums.

So with only 2 tracks to go already this album had made a name for the band but they weren’t going to let it stop there and “Further Away” really emphasises that point. A mellow track that uses James’s vocals again in a different style but yet he pulls it off once again. It opens with an upbeat drum intro joined quickly by the guitars and the by the vocals. The song carries on at much the same pace as the opening with the drums really standing out on this track but the guitars are playing a huge part themselves. The lyrics again are good and the vocals solid adding to an already impressive batch of songs.

The album is rounded of by a very mellow but almost perfect track, “No Surface All Feeling”. This is one of those you can listen to and makes you think about all sorts of things but also leaves you almost completely relaxed at the same time, if that makes sense. It opens with the guitar on it’s own before the drum comes in to form the intro and then the vocals coming in again just after the half minute stage. The quieter vocals for the verse add a lot of feeling to the track, whilst the faster sections for the chorus have a little something extra that similar songs are lacking, which make this so good.

“Maybe richer maybe wiser,
Seems so easy to not go too far”

The song strikes me as maybe a tribute to Richie and a fitting tribute at that. The drums and guitars keep the pace well for the quieter sections and also the louder chorus and carry the song off well. This is a prime example of the talent Nicky Wire has when it comes to writing songs and also how good Sean and James are at putting them together musically.

So there we have it the 1996 effort from the Manic’s following the mystery disappearance of Richie, which looked like it may have been solved this weekend after a skeleton was found two miles down stream from his car but alas it has turned out that it wasn’t him. This album proves to be a glowing tribute to Richie and really shows a good sense of determination and grit from the band, in how they managed to carry on and make an album this good.

So final words on the album, personally I feel this is an album everyone should own whether it’s your type of music or not it is a quality album that anyone can enjoy and relax to. If you don’t already own it then you can get it from CD-wow.com for £6.99. Also they have a new Secret History called Lipstick Traces out on Monday 14th July, which includes a CD of brilliant covers by the band.

Cheers
Andy