Come their eleventh album, most bands would have already started to fade
away, went through countless line-up changes or dissoluted altogether. When a band has been together for this long, it usually struggles to come up with something fresh, game-changing, or otherwise significant. More often than not, it sticks to repeating the same old formulas that paid off in the past. Not the Manics, though. Having been together since 1986, they've become quite good at reinventing their sound, and it doesn't seem they're gonna stop anytime soon.
To anyone, who followed this Welsh trio at least vaguely in the last few years, it may come as a surprise that Rewind the Film consists mostly of slower, mellow ballads, and that it even features very little of Nicky Wire's typical electric guitar. Send Away the Tigers and Postcards From a Young Man were both big, stadium rock records, while Journal for Plague Lovers, which was composed entirely of lyrics left behind by the presumably deceased guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards, saw the band return to its raw, punk rock roots. On the contrary, Rewind the Film reminds mostly of This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours, an 1998 album which included their most popular single to date If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next. It's an acoustic based and melancholic album, full of gentle melodies and featuring some powerful guest vocals. But don't let this fool you, the Manics are as angry and biting as they've ever been.
This is the sound of a band clearly in its prime. The fact is all the more fascinating considering they've released an album like this almost thirty years into their career. Manic Street Preachers are an interesting phenomenon indeed and still a force to be reckoned with.
Rewind the Film's follow up, Futurology, is due out early next year. And it's gonna be a lot more spiky, heavy and guitar driven. Both albums were recorded simultaneously.
Best tracks: This Sullen Welsh Heart, Show Me the Wonder, Rewind the Film
