Richey James Edwards disappeared in February 1995, just months after the release of the Manic Street Preachers' lacerating third album, The Holy Bible. He was officially presumed dead in November 2008 and just months later the Manics released Journal for Plague Lovers, an album that's an explicit sequel to The Holy Bible right down to its Jenny Saville cover art. The Manics pay tribute to their lost comrade by setting his last writings to music, getting Steve Albini -- beloved by Richey for his production on Nirvana's In Utero, a clear antecedent and close relation to The Holy Bible -- to produce a record unlike any they've made since his vanishing. Tripping on barbed-wire guitars and twitchy as a raw nerve even when it's draped in strings, Journal for Plague Lovers consciously harks back to the emotional bloodletting of Bible, only this manages to skirt the darkest corners of the soul, never quite feeling as desperately hopeless or unsettling as that bleakest of albums. Curiously, there's a feeling of comfort, even relief, to Journal for Plague Lovers, a palpable sense that the bandmembers are grateful to be confronting Richey's ghost head-on. Of course, the Manics never ignored Edwards, but he was notable as an absence -- not presence -- in their music: when he left, they chose to leave behind their arty punk for dignified arena rock. Here, they ditch that inflated sound -- although, truth be told, they were making inroads in this direction on 2007's Send Away the Tigers -- for tight, clanking, cantankerous guitars, so they're not only singing Edwards' words but playing his music, bringing him back into the band in a way that makes them full. Now that they've completed the songs he left behind, it's not that the Manics can finally put Richey to rest now, but rather that they've found peace, that they're finally ready to acknowledge and embrace the blackest portion of their past, and that the grieving has finally stopped and they're moving forward. Indeed, Journal for Plague Lovers winds up being The Holy Bible in reverse: every moment of despair is a reason to keep on living instead of an excuse to pack it all in.
Some bands may be permenant, yet non-essential, fixtures in my music collection; others may come and go with the winds of change. However, a handful manage to make it into what is tentatively known as RobinPlaysChords' Hall of Fame - a place for the bands that I would take to a desert island. From this, I normally champion two bands in particular; Placebo, who are officially the band to help an...
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Album number nine for the boys from Blackwood, and their regeneration continues apace with a little help from Richey and Albini.
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The Welsh three-piece go back to their former band-mate’s lyric book and set it to music –- and reinvigorate themselves in the process.
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ALBUM REVIEW: Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers Words: Gareth O'Malley To get this out of the way first, this is not The Holy Bible Pt. 2. Yes, I know, that's a comparison that's been around for months now, but, let's face it, it was never going to happen. The Manics' new-found pop sensibilities are [...]
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New release from the Manic Street Preachers with an interesting twist. Seems most of the lyrics were written by a band member who mysteriously vanished back in 1995...From Wiki:'Manic Street Preachers' are an alternative rock band from Blackwood, Wales, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitars), Nicky Wire (bass, occasional vocals) and Sean Moore (drums, backing vocals, oc...
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ALBUM REVIEW: Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers Words: Gareth O'Malley To get this out of the way first, this is not The Holy Bible Pt. 2. Yes, I know, that's a comparison that's been around for months now, but, let's face it, it was never going to happen. The Manics' new-found pop sensibilities are [...]
More >
Some bands may be permenant, yet non-essential, fixtures in my music collection; others may come and go with the winds of change. However, a handful manage to make it into what is tentatively known as RobinPlaysChords' Hall of Fame - a place for the bands that I would take to a desert island. From this, I normally champion two bands in particular; Placebo, who are officially the band to help an...
More >
Album number nine for the boys from Blackwood, and their regeneration continues apace with a little help from Richey and Albini.
More >
‘Journal for Plague Lovers’ will be released in the US 15th September 2009 but you can pre-order your copy now and get an added bonus.PRE-ORDER INFO:By pre-ordering now, you will receive a digital copy of the album immediately as well as a download code for 10 bonus remixes, to be delivered on September 15th. [...]
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The Welsh three-piece go back to their former band-mate’s lyric book and set it to music –- and reinvigorate themselves in the process.
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The Manic Street Preachers have announced that each track on their new album, “Journal For Plague Lovers”, is to be remixed for future release.DetailsAndrew Weatherall ‘Peeled Apples’Saint Etienne ‘Jackie Collins Existential Question Time’British Sea Power ‘Me And Stephen Hawking’Patrick Wolf ‘This Joke Sport Severed’Optimo (Espacio) ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’The Pariahs
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Manic Street Preachers newest LP Journal For Plague Lovers has only been on shop shelves for forty-eight hours and already the band have announced a completely remixed version of the record, featuring ton's of respectable artists. The remixed Plague Lovers came about after the Preachers themselves hand picked a bunch of talented bands and designated them each a song.
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Next Monday (which is May 18th) Manic Street Preachers will release their newest album Journal For Plague Lovers to the world. Just two days before that on May 16th (this coming Saturday) the band will feature in a one off documentary all about the new Journal For Plague Lovers by the name of Manic Street Preachers: Shadows & Words.
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Manic Street Preachers newest and ninth album 'Journal For Plague Lovers' will have its art-work censored by a total of four UK music outlets upon its release next Monday (May 18th). The cover is a painting by Jenny Saville (check it at the bottom of the page) and features a females face with a darker area on one side, and so of course that means its MUST be blood (at least that's what four UK ...
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 "Journal for Plague Lovers")
