|
|
It goes without saying, of course, that it shouldn't have come to this. It seems like a lifetime ago now that the Manics genuinely seemed like a dangerous band, the days when they'd crank out some of the most ferocious sounding music of the mid-'90s from the desolate likes of "Motorcycle Emptiness" and "Life Becoming A Landslide" to the ferocious "Faster" and "Revol".
It's wrong, of course, to speak ill of the dead but you get the feeling that had the Manics called it a day after guitarist and chief songwriter Richey James' disappearance nine years ago then they'd have left a watertight legacy. As it is, their output has gradually been diminishing quality-wise ever since. While their last album, 2001's "Know Your Enemy" was at least a brave attempt to recapture some of the anger of yore, "Lifeblood" is just dull. Like most of the group's post-Richey output, it's solid MOR drivetime rock and, while there's no doubting the hard graft put into it, the harsh truth is that the Manics just don't engage the ears the way they used to. Ten years ago, songs with titles like "Empty Souls" and "The Love Of Richard Nixon" would be terrifying glances into the abyss and white hot political tirades respectively. In 2004, they just sound like the Stereophonics with a political conscience.
Sad but true - it seems we've lost this lot to the MOR mob. Time to look for some new spokespeople for the generation methinks.
Rating: 4/10
Reviewed by Andy James
