Rocktrospectiva: The Varied And Pleasant "Lifeblood" Turns 20

 

Released on 1 November 2004, "Lifeblood" was the seventh studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, the album spawned two singles "The Love Of Richard Nixon" and "Empty Souls", peaking at No. 13 in the UK album chart, and received positive reviews from critics. 

The original title was Litany, due to the song "Litany" who was recorded during the sessions, but at the end the track ultimately only appeared as a B-side on the "Empty Souls" CD single, so the title then turns into "Lifeblood". This time, the band replaced its political lyrics for personal reflection despite the tracks "The Love Of Richard Nixon" was about the United States disgraced president Richard Nixon and "Emily" was about the suffragette leade Emmeline Pankhurst, the band reflects about their past in "1985", the missing of Richey Edwards in "Cardiff Afterlife", also Nicky Wire reflects on the ghost that haunted this record turning into a retrospective, because the main themes were about death, solitude and ghosts, being haunted by history and by your own past.

 

Under the production of legendary Tony Visconti, the recordings began in New York but unfortunately Visconti only finished three tracks "Solitude Sometimes Is", "Emily", and "Cardiff Afterlife", then, the band move with Gred Haver and finished the record in Ireland and Wales, the album is fantastic from the point of view that is a depart from their sound replacing the band's traditional guitar walls of sound with more subtle and melodic playing, putting some emphasis being given to keyboards and synthesizers, the result was a blend on pop rock, synthpop and synthrock. 

 

The album received positive reviews from critics, something which had not happened with their previous effort "Know Your Enemy", a pleasant album full of several interesting things like the keyboards, strummedguitars and tasteful harmonies, oriented to elegiac pop, due in part the work of Tony Visconti, who helped to deliver a fairly best album since their "Everything Must Go". 

 

Lifeblood Track List:

 

1. 1985

2. The Love Of Richard Nixon

3. Empty Souls

4. A Song For Departure

5. I Live To Fall Asleep

6. To Repel Ghosts

7. Emily

8. Glasnost

9. Always/Never

10. Solitude Sometimes Is

11. Fragments

12. Cardiff Solitude