Manic Street Preachers
Journal for Plague Lovers - Columbia
FILTER Grade: 84%

Back before he took off to parts unknown, there was no bigger attention grabber than Manic Street Preacher’s razor blade wielding anorexic lyricist Richey Edwards. Thus, when left as a trio with only sublime musical chops and great songs at their disposal, the other Manics had a tough job of maintaining their place in the spotlight. In what might be the perfect band line-up, the remaining members are now joined by Edwards in the form of his left-behind lyrics, and the spotlight has deservedly returned.

The collaboration is magical. One only needs to listen to the most random of sections to know that James Dean Bradfield and Company made the right decision in giving life to Edwards’ scrolls. Like the best of the Manics’ work, Plague Lovers is unabashedly rock; the band does tone it down on a couple of tracks but for the most part, Bradfield sings and plays like his life depends on it. To date, this is as close to their masterpiece, The Holy Bible, as they’ve ever come.