Disco de Manic Street Preachers: “This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours”

Although this is not your usual Manic Street Preachers album, it is still as honest and thought-provocking as any of their others, apart from maybe The Holy Bible. On this album the Manics are on top anthemic form with songs like 'The Everlasting', 'Ready For Drowning' and 'Nobody Loved You'. The only low point of this album that I can think of is the controvercial 'South Yorkshire Mass Murder' which is maybe a slight let-down musically, but not lyrically. This is an album that you really should own, and is also an album that puts all the Amercan acts such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and Blink 182 into shameful perspective.

The single "If You Tolerate This" was my introduction to this amazing band, and it floored me the second it entered my speakers. Really, it's impossible not to like. It soars. Bradfield's voice is spectacular. The "and on the streets tonight an old man plays with newspaper cuttings of his glory days" line is just genius, and the outro is pretty groovy too. It's great. So I bought the album. And after a listen, I was unimpressed with the majority of it. Had I not also purchased Everything Must Go and The Holy Bible (yes, I bought three albums on the strength of one song, it's that good) at the time, I would have dismissed the Manics as one-hit wonders that couldn't make an album with more than one good song on it. And that would have been unforgivably stupid of me, as repeated listens showed me that this is certainly at least tied for first for best Manics album, and indisputably the album of the year.

We start with "The Everlasting." This is impossible not to like - Bradfield's voice has a beautiful melancholy quality to it, the strings are great, and the lyrics are pure genius. Some may say Nicky Wire's lyrics don't match those of Richey James - I'd say otherwise, even if the Wire does write utterly daft things once in a while. But here there's nothing to criticize - "The world is full of refugees" is a great line that for some reason reminds me of Hemingway. Okay. After that gorgeous song, we hit "If You Tolerate," a song about the Spanish civil war (thus also reminding me of Hemingway), which I already mentioned rules. From here we go through 11 more tracks. Some of these are great, some merely good, and a couple not too impressive, but almost all of them are bursting with emotion and sheer musicality. Bradfield and Moore show immense musical inventiveness here - witness the smashing organ line in "Ready for Drowning," the predatory drums of "SYMM," the lovely violins of "Black Dog" or the piano work in "You're Tender And You're Tired." Bradfield shows himself to be one of rock's best singers, and Wire's lyrics range from asinine ("Delirium on helium") to breathtakingly great ("No vendettas, just a cherry blossom tree"). The thing is, these songs take time to grow on you. Give it a chance. With repeated listens, the sonic details come out, the lyrics catch hold, and we see that every song leads perfectly into the next. The only song on the album that really doesn't work is the overly long, aptly named "I'm Not Working," but all the others have at least something going for them.

Another reason why this album takes time to appreciate fully is that its emotional territory isn't as immediate as on other Manics albums. The Holy Bible gripped you by the throat; This Is My Truth does not. But over repeated listens, you see that there is just as much emotion here as before; it's just subtle, and expressed differently. Wire deals with personal, down-to-earth issues - "Black Dog" is, in his own words, an attempt to write about depression in an unglamorous light. This at first makes the song seem irrelevant, but eventually it comes to be extremely resonant because Wire succeeds in making it realistic - most people aren't theatrical and rock-star-like about their depression. The same feeling of dreary melancholy permeates "My Little Empire," and also works very well. Many other emotions, however, are evoked by other songs, such as the exultant "Tsunami," the eerie, ominous "SYMM," or the uplifting "You're Tender." But "Ready for Drowning" and "If You Tolerate" show that the Manics haven't abandoned their social commentary - it's just that they no longer feel it necessary to scream it in our ears, and that in this album it's secondary to more personal issues. Illustrating this, "You Stole the Sun" masks very naked loneliness beneath very sunny hooks (so sunny that the lyrics hit even harder when you do realize what they mean), and "Born A Girl" is a painful, aching gem of a song with a beautifully understated vocal from Bradfield. And _then_ there's "Nobody Loved You," Wire's best lyric to date. It's a song about the missing Richey James but it will resonate with anyone who has ever lost someone. Great music, great performance, great lyrics with absolutely unforgettable imagery. Utterly beautiful.

After the all-out rawk of Everything Must Go, it took guts to make this album. But they did it, and it worked. They slagged it off now in interviews for some reason. That's too bad because it's great. The Holy Bible and Everything Must Go are indispensable, don't get me wrong - in fact, almost all Manics records are - but this is a very, very good album indeed, and does not deserve the flak it has received. Thumbs up.

Well considering most of the old faithful have slagged this off something rotten, i might be a bit unfashionable to the hardcore when i say that i genuinally love this album. It has helped me through many happy/sad times and continues to fill me with joy/melancholy depending on which track you listen to. The thing that separates this from the other albums (it is by no means the best mind you) is the way that it deals with ordinary people working through ordinary lives not the rock star depression highlighted in the brilliant but harrowing "Die In The Summertime", but with everyday people and it is completely stripped of all bluster (bar Be Natural) and is just pure and sonically beautiful. Indeed, Black Dog On My Shoulder is the antithesis of DITS in that it doesn't make you feel worse but BETTER whereas DITS makes you feel lower than a snake's belly. The Everlasting, Ready For Drowning and Nobody Loved You are some of the most moving songs i've ever heard. If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next is NOT pretentious but a subtle rallying cry for a few morals, principles and dignity in modern life. You Stole The Sun From My Heart is a great way to exorsise your demons by jumping around your room and singing at the top of your voice. Tsunami is delicate but strong at the same time and My Little Empire is genuinally disturbing but not in a "Holy Bible" way, just very personal and honest. Ditto I'm Not Working. You're Tender And You're Tired never really appealed to me but on closer inspection the lyrics are very good. Born A Girl was inquisitive, thoughful and probing, sort of a little afterthought from Nicky, which was in the middle of the album (a little disconcerting to say the least!). Contrary to popular belief it wasn't a grass is greener assumption but an exploration of an idea that had intrigued Sir Wire for ages. The less said about Be Natural the better in my opinion, it was a nothing song without an emotion. Finally S.Y.M.M, a terrible lyric that Nicky really didn't do enough justice and a forgettable piece of music to go with it. An unfitting end to an album brimming with life and personality but one that shouldn't discredit one's opinion of it. Don't listen to the arguments that the Manics have turned into middle-aged bores. They are still raging only in a more mature and personal manner. Buy this.

Three boys from the valley's are in a band. This band is the best act to ever come out of Wales ever.

They consististantly produce some of the best brit music, and there is no song to which you can fault on this CD.

Tune wise, from the wistful emotion of "The Everlasting" to the moshing qualities of "Nobody loves you".

Just purchase this album for "Be Natural"

It not only is one of the most beautiful ballads, ever, but it's also a brilliant piece of music.

this was my first experience with the manic street preachers' music, and i am pleased. this band is unfortunately hard to find in bloomington, and i had to go to an indie record store to find it. but i am lucky that i did get it. "if you tolerate this..."is probably my favorite song of all time. the social conscience message hidden in the song can make any one care. "the everlasting" is a wonderful ballad and the strings in the song are beautiful. the main critera for a good album in my opinion is a good balance of instruments, lyrics, and melody. this album has it all. since this cd has a social message that can be interpreted in different ways, it can be enjoyed by many different types of people. i hope everyone likes this cd as much as i do, if not more. i believe it is an instant classic. this may have been my first manic street preachers album but it won't be my last!!