Manic Street Preachers: Send Away the Tigers
Have the Manics returned to the heights of Holy Bible?
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Friday, 11, May 2007 05:46
Sony, out May 7th.
In a nutshell.
Definitely a return to form.
What's it all about?
There is a sense of the Manic Street Preachers going back to the future on this record. Echoing earlier works Generation Terrorist and Everything Must Go, it presents a cocktail of thumping guitar riffs and lighter, more reflective songs.
The title track is a great starting point and lays down the gauntlet in terms of what the rest of the album will dwell on. Chiefly, there are clever political lyrics meshed with powerchords and hooks to die for.
Next up, Underdogs is a sentimental and emphatic thank you to the legion of fans who have remained with the band through the good times and the not so good. To surmise, "this one's for the freaks" in the words of James Dean Bradfield.
From the bubblegum pop of Your Love Alone is Not Enough, a duet with the Cardigans' Nina Persson, to the rousing Rendition which is without doubt the best song on the album, the highpoints come thick and fast. The ironic line "oh good God I feel like a liberal" repeats the subtle political undertones of the album and self-awareness peppers the album's ten tracks ending with the whimsical Winterlovers.
Who's it by?
The Manics are a Welsh rock band which hit the big time in the late 90s thanks to their seminal album Everything Must Go. However, before then they had gained plaudits a plenty with their debut Generation Terrorist and its follow up, Gold Against the Soul.
Continuing to be inventive and intelligent with their lyrics, they released the bleak and haunting The Holy Bible in 1995. This album is held up by many as being the band's magnum opus.
Everything Must Go was next up and was a huge hit, as was This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. Since then, the Manics have struggled to hit these heights but Send Away the Tigers debuted at number two on its release and has been well received.
As an example.
"Rendition - Rendition, never knew the sky was a prison. It's a long hard revolution, Oh good God I feel like a liberal." - Rendition
"Zoos been overrun in Baghdad, Tiger's claws still in my back." - Send away the tigers
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
The critics will see this for what it is - a maturing, honed kind of sound from a great band. There is something for everyone and although a hit single is unlikely to emerge from the album, it nevertheless will hold its own against any rock records to come out any time soon.
What the others say
"Send Away the Tigers is the best Manic Street Preachers album since 1996" - BBC
"Garish guitar solos and embarrassing song titles aside - I'm Just A Patsy being another 24-carat clunker - the winces subside with each listen" - the Guardian
So is it any good?
There are touches of brilliance and there are over-indulgences too. All-in-all though, Send Away the Tigers is enjoyable and Nicky Wire's wordplay is as sharp ever. Rendition is the finest track on the album, all swagger and pomp and of the ten tracks on offer, half should become staples on your iPod.
Referencing the botched bid to liberate the animals of Baghdad zoo, the Manics set their stall out early. A political undercurrent pervades and Imperial Body Bags embodies the sense of fury at UK and US foreign policy that lies just beneath the surface - with a neat riff and sing-a-long chorus accompanying.
Autumnsong is a highlight with its sweeping, hand-clappiness and Underdogs is also memorable for its sassy, punk attitude.
Not-so-good is I'm Just A Patsy. There appears not to be a lack of intent and a sense of going through the motions. Likewise, Indian Summer is a little pedestrian and the secret track, a cover of John Lennon's Working Class Hero, is mediocre at best.
At the end of the day, the Manic Street Preachers have provided some wonderful musical moments over the years and there is enough here to suggest they still have much to offer.
7/10
Adam Bushby