24th August, 1998
It was worth waiting for...
|
"If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" by Manic Street PreachersAnd within seconds of the opening bars chiming out, they are vindicated. "If You Tolerate This..." is a masterpiece, single of 98 so far without a doubt. An emotional and heartfelt rock ballad dealing with the Spanish Civil War, it is successful in sweeping you along in grand passionate style, depositing you at the other end moved and elated, and with remnants of the song's majestic tune still glittering on your face like something angelic just passed your way. Mr Wire copes admirably with lyricist duties, including such emotive and accomplished couplets as "and on the street tonight an old man plays, with newspaper cuttings of glory days", whilst musically, velvet-draped chords float effortlessly past the warm and seductive landscape of some kind of bliss. Criticise them for being passionate, articulate, talented and one of the best bands we have right now, but never call them dull. B-sides delight almost equally. "Prologue To History" is a fast-paced and deceptively upbeat self-effacing attack on Nicky's own lifestyle ("a brand new Dyson, that is decadent") and his despair at its complacency. If the Manics' new direction was meant to be softer and more stadium-friendly, then this at least is not representative of that, being spikier than a porcupine on a stick. Massive. "Montana/Autumn/78" is the third extra track, sonically very similar to "Generation"-era Manics, with its punk/metal bluster and mile-high chorus. Both tracks bode well indeed for the forthcoming LP. The second CD contains 2 remixes, the first the well-publicised collaboration between the band and Massive Attack. Here the trip-hop masters of dark minimalism corrupt the song into an altogether more sinister affair, discordant and unsettling - and just managing not to work. Sad, but true - full points for effort, but the mix is almost unlistenable. The David Holmes instrumental version fares better, taking the already blissful tune and lounging it out on fluffy pillows in a gold-plated elevator travelling non-stop to heaven. This is the mix that will send you off to sleep dreaming you are indestructible. The fact that the Manics are now mainstream is irrelevant. With "If You Tolerate This..." they have produced the most moving 4 minutes of music I have heard in a long long time, and have managed to do so without compromise. Toleration be damned - adore and cherish them, for they have no peers. Rating: 10/10 and then some
The Rest"Drowned World (Substitute For Love)" by MadonnaBeginning with the sound of a cold north wind blowing through your soul, the song blossoms in the arctic climate into a mesmeric creation of beauty, all the while Madonna singing how she "suffered fools so gladly" and how her subject is her "substitute for love", like some ice goddess of seduction. Hypnotic. Shades of Eastern rhythm trip past synth moods and whispers so effectively that - for five minutes at least - you are in another world. First b-side is "BT and Sasha's Bucklodge Ashram Remix", in which the Ghost of Disco Past takes Madonna by the hand and leads her gently through territories she has since left behind. Then comes the Sasha remix of "Sky Meets Heaven", a pulsing slab of trance house that sees a cyber-Madonna bladerun through another mature and affecting track, pausing for breath only so that she can remind herself how far she's come since "Holiday". I hope I'm as cool as this when I'm 40. Rating: 9/10
"Being A Girl" by MansunThere is nothing to forgive about "Being A Girl", a short sharp new wave shock to the system with ricoheting guitars colliding with each other whilst Draper laments the stereotypes of his gender ("being a boy's like sucking a lemon"). Sounding like Duran Duran after they've swallowed some Big Hard pills, "Being A Girl" is almost over before it's begun, leaving you gasping for breath and a all the better for the experience. "Hideout" is the first b-side, a huge glam sexbeast of a song, cutting down all around it with one glance from its mascara'd snake-eyes. Guitar that Richard Oakes would pay good money for surround you and envelop you, diverting attention from the fact the tune is a bit weak. "Railings" is next, and is the collaboration between Mansun and a certain Mr De Voto, the punk/new wave maestro sharing the vocals with Draper over a lustrous mellow Bowie-ish number swelling with blistering and swollen colours, filtered piano notes tugging at all the right strings. Not exactly a "Shot By Both Sides", but a damned fine way for Howard to piggyback his way back into the charts. "I Care" is the first b-side of CD2, a roomier and spacey track, almost progressive in tone and the sound of a band entirely at ease with their muse. Chords shimmer in and out of existence before a chorus ups the tempo and takes over, creating a song that works better than "Hideout" in terms of tunefulness. Tunefulness is grasped by both hands by the band for "Been Here Before" however, a psychedelic romp which would sound like Kula Shaker if Kula Shaker were any good. Bring on the new LP, guys... Rating: 8/10
|
