I’ve always been a bit ambivalent about the Manic Street Preachers – I loved seeing them way back when Richey was among us, but much as I felt Everything Must Go was a triumph for natural justice, their music has sounded stodgy ever since.
This is different though. The 13 tracks have been created using only words their (presumably) late guitarist left behind in a clutch of notebooks. The grungy-post-punk-pop music has been created by the three people that felt as close to Richey as anyone, the same three people who still keep his royalties for him. It’s a genuine labour of love.
And it’s far more successful than not, particularly poignant album closer William’s Last Words in which Nicky Wire intones what could well be his friend’s final farewell.
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