Know Your Enemy [ECD] - Manic Street Preachers

Advantages: some excellent songs there
Disadvantages: As with generation terrorists-a few too many fillers perhaps?

...opinion so far is that Know Your Enemy is no immediate classic, but give it a chance, and you might be pleasantly surprised. This is the 6th studio album released by the Welsh band, now a trio, after the departure of Richey Edwards in 1995. This is the 2nd album without his imput, and it definitely surpasses the effort that was This Is My Truth.... Although at times my review my seem harsh, i am a great manics fan, and have high expectations of them. ...
...direction. They seem to be getting back on track, and experimenting more, which ultimately is what making music is about, so who am I to judge-decide for your self and let me know what you think. (also, don’t miss that bonus track….a cover, but still worth a listen) ... Read review

Advantages: Still better than the Vengaboys
Disadvantages: Can't top 'The Holy Bible'.

...in the chorus... I don't know about you but I remember when the MSP's were argumentative, beligerent young tykes. I know everone gets old, but surely rock stars can make it last longer than most. I want James Dean Bradfield to swear at me and insult my mother! It's just not happening. 7) Whatsville Blues - Starts a little differently; bit of a voice effect going on there... sounds slightly like 'Blur'. Oh but woe, another mediocre chorus! Maybe ...
...This one doesn't seem to know where it's going. Chord changes all over the place; just doesn't seem to hang right. 13) Royal Correspondent - These titles are getting ridiculous. What'll be next: 'Jaffa Cakes.' 'Size 10 Shoe.' I'm just not grabbed! The song? Moody and slow, like a dimwitted five year old. No, not for me. 14) Epicentre - Plucked guitar... drums in... keyboard... vocals. I think the Manics' fence has been built in the middle of the ... Read review

Advantages: Half of it is quite good
Disadvantages: The rest is far from good and the production is awful

...bands’ will be happy to know that this is probably my final Manic Street Preachers review ever, as it is probably their last album ever. This album has met fierce criticism from just about every magazine that has reviewed it, but I have tried to view this album from my own isolated perspective. This is the perspective of a someone who has been a fan since 1996 and loves the music of the band from 1993-1996. The title of this review isn’t ...
...at all. You may know this song by now as it was a single. It has grown on me but despite its lively sound it fails to emulate the bands earlier sound. Ocean Spray, the first song fully written by singer James Dean Bradfield shows promise. It is a slow and tender song dedicated to his dying mother. The guitar work emphasises the beauty in this song and it may well be the finest track on the album. Intravenous Agnostic is another rockier track but ... Read review

Advantages: Its the Manics
Disadvantages: some poor songs

This is the sixth and most recent release from the manic street preachers. It is quite a long album with 16 tracks plus a bonus track tacked onto the end. The track listing is as follows: - 1 Found that Soul 2 Ocean Spray 3 Intravenous Agnostic 4 So Why So Sad 5 Let Robeson Sing 6 The Year Of Purification 7 Wattsvilles Blues 8 Miss Europa Disco Dancer 9 Dead Martyrs 10 His Last Painting 11 My Guernica 12 The Convalescent 13 Royal Correspondent ...
...of Speech Wont Feed My Children 17 (Bonus Track) We Are All Bourgeois Now This album was meant to be the effort of a band trying to get away from the more “clinical stance” when producing an album such as the last album “This Is My Truth…” They were saying that they were basically trying to get back to the early days and showed signs of doing this last year with the no 1 hit the masses against the classes. The lyrical ... Read review

Advantages: Honest songwriting, some outstanding tracks
Disadvantages: Too long, a few "filler" tracks

MANIC STREET PREACHERS – KNOW YOUR ENEMY ~~ A BIT OF HISTORY ~~ The Manic Street Preachers are a band that have fascinated me since their formation in 1989. They were explosive, androgynous, disgusted, full of bile and raw talent. Inspired by The Clash and the Sex Pistols and driven by the boredom of life in Blackwood, Gwent they vowed they would make one multi-million selling album and then split up (fortunately they didn’t, although ...
...youthful ways, the launch of Know Your Enemy was fittingly unconventional: two singles ("Found That Soul" and "So Why So Sad") released on the same day, a launch gig at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana, Cuba and a meeting with Fidel Castro! It is difficult to express how important the Manics are to their fans - they are about more than just music, they symbolise a voice against the mediocre, tabloid culture, never subject to the marketing bullshit ... Read review