NOT EVEN A BAD PUN ABOUT GOLD FROM ME (Gold Against The Soul - Manic Street Preachers)

Member Name: C_Padd

Product:	Gold Against The Soul - Manic Street Preachers
Date:	04/07/02 (126 review reads)
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This was the latest album I brought from the Manic Street Preachers, having been a fan of both their most up to date stuff and older albums. This is a relatively unknown work from them, though is really an excellent album and deserves more than the shunning that some people do to it.

This is the second album made by the Welsh band, The Manic Street Preachers, following from ‘Generation Terrorists’. It was released in 1993 under the Sony label. This is perhaps one of their lesser-known albums after their start it was followed by the Holy Bible which was Richey James at his tortured best and really forgotten with the new stuff without James. This album does not have the same darkness or edgy current affairs and political ideals to it as the other early Manics stuff, but still remains a top album full of quality tracks.

It is clearly easier to get into Gold Against the Soul than the others, just as above it does not have the complicated lyrics and depressant feel. It could be criticised as too commercial and against what they as a band are singing out about. This has a much more mainstream rock sound to it, although still has some top quality lyrics and lovely moments. The guitars are excellent, especially on some tracks and they can actually sing a bit. There are only 10 tracks on this album, a change from their debuts massive 18, but more than make up in quality than quantity.

1. Sleepflower - An excellent way to open the album with high energy and full of guitar riffs. It was written by Richey James through his suffering insomnia, and the lyrics have some great touches about this. The chorus sticks in your head and there is a long instrumental in the middle. Not the happy pop song that some like, but excellent music.
‘ Blown away the safety only a sleeping pill knows’

2. From Despair to Where – Fabulous lyrics again, as the title may have given you a clue what this is also about the sor
ts of depression. It starts off with no musical accompaniment and is well sung on the vocals side. Another great guitar song
‘There’s nothing nice in my head, the adult world took it all away’

3. La Tristesse Durere – Basically translated as the sadness goes on, this is an angry and bitter song about war veterans who are basically forgotten when the war is over. Clever lyrics in this reflect the tone and builds up in volume and emotion to the end of the song. More bass in this song and keyboards add to it, though the vocals are a little high pitched.
‘Wheeled out once a year, a cenotaph souvenir’

4. Yourself – One of the rockier songs on the album with a powerful and loud chorus and in general loud. A good change for the album with some real power behind this. Maybe not the best song on the album, but has its moments.
‘But no smell can really cover sin’

5. Life Becoming a Landside – Changing right down from the rock grunge of ‘yourself’ to a very emotional and mellow song. A quiet build up to begin and is never as loud as some other tracks. Better vocals on this track and more from the strings section. Some good lyrics as well
‘Though there is no true love, just a finely tuned jealousy’

6. Drug Drug Druggy – I like this song, it is more upbeat and easy to get up to. Not exactly a masterpiece, but a good song to just listen to. Does get a bit tiresome and there is no depth or bit to it. Speaking out about drugs is the basic message and not the best song here.
‘So much fun to be had in my head’

7. Roses in the Hospital – Easy to get into this song. It has some good guitar moments, decent lyrics and nice vocals. One of if not the longest songs on the album and it carries though well. The clash between roses and a hospital is supposed to be the meaning, ie something nice in a bad place. The lyric
s are a bit disturbing with more of Richey’s troubles, but is not as dark as the Holy Bible goes
‘Progressing like a constant war’

8. Nostalgia Pushead – Interesting title, this really is a pretty good song. The song is quick and very catchy. Nice to listen to and gets on the brain. The lyrics are great, all about icons of generations, the shallowness of some people and so on. The chorus is very catchy, with an interesting rap almost for the lyrics. The vocals are impressive changing from the chorus to verses, great song
‘Rebellion, it always, sells at a profit’

9. Symphony of Torette - Strange song really about the condition tourette where a person has vocal tics, repeats words by mistake and keeps swearing involuntary. They give the definition in the inlay, so sort of missing the point where they have to explain the song. I am not a big fan of this song, heavy and guitars but noting really of interest.
‘Stutter, stutter nothing else but me’

10 Gold Against the Soul – The albums title track is the last to come up on the album, and like the one before this does very little to me. A bit of a disappointing end to the album, as well as only having ten tracks. More politics creep into this song speaking out against the conservative party and trying to speak for the working classes. A good strong guitar riff does not pick the song up and drowns the vocals too much.
‘Everybody feels sick by the courtesy of dismay’

So, a better quality album track-to-track than ‘Generation Terrorists’ and more accessible than ‘The Holy Bible’ makes this a good introduction to some of the early works from the Manics. It is worth a listen, I like it and has some excellent tracks though does fall back and has some missing links. It is available on Amazon cheaply, not sure if I would pay full price though. Worth looking into if you are a borderline f
an, as one of the more accessible pieces from them.

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