1) Peeled Apples; 2) Jackie Collins Existential Question Time; 3) Me and Stephen Hawking; 4) This Joke Sport Severed; 5) Journal for Plague Lovers; 6) She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach; 7) Facing Page: Top Left; 8) Marlon J.D.; 9) Doors Closing Slowly; 10) All Is Vanity; 11) Pretension/Repulsion; 12) Virginia State Epileptic Colony; 13) William's Last Words; 14) Bag Lady [hidden track]
The Manics dig open a part of their past they hadn't dare to touch in years, and unearth their sense of impish glee.
Key tracks: "Peeled Apples", "Virginia State Epileptic Colony", "Bag Lady"
Desperately trying to claw back into the spotlight, succeeding and then throwing it all away right afterwards is an utterly nonsensical way of going about things, and therefore perfectly in line with Manic Street Preachers. Journal for Plague Lovers followed the commercial comeback of Send Away the Tigers and proudly did the complete opposite: minimal promotional appearances, no singles (beyond a brief radio premiere of one song and a quickly recorded straight-to-Youtube video for another), and a small tour centered around playing the entire new album in full with a small portion of time devoted to the hits. But amidst the Manics' desire to get back into public consciousness, and after the successful but questionable Send Away the Tigers, Journal for Plague Lovers was an olive branch aimed at the fans and the critics; just as much of a plead for recognition as the previous album, just from a different angle this time. Everyone loves 1994's The Holy Bible and while the band had openly denied they'd ever tread that territory again due to Richey Edwards not being around anymore, Journal for Plague Lovers is the direct sequel that was widely considered to never happen. Another thirteen songs (plus one hidden track this time), another Jenny Saville painting as a cover and most importantly, another set of lyrics by Richey: chosen samples of the stack he left behind for his friends to use, finally utilised after years of saying they'd remain private.
The Manics would have been utterly stupid to try and replicate The Holy Bible because only the particular circumstances around that album could ever have created something like it, and the band were nowhere near that same frame of mind in 2009. Good job that didn't happen, as Journal for Plague Lovers is very much its own beast. It shares some basic concepts, primarily a focus on the core band without too many embellishments and a slightly rawer production (courtesy of a paycheck-mode Steve Albini), but the band had gone through a lot of changes after the original 1994 album and that's affected the sequel - and that includes Richey, as well. During The Holy Bible Richey's lowest of lows had decided the tone of the material, but his lyrical voice had started to shift after the album's creation and had started to be more... fun? Already clear from some of the more outrageous and absurd song titles present here, Richey's later set of lyrics feature a curious sense of wit and black humour. The lyrics are still primarily full of serious and occasionally gruesome imagery (and so many obscure literary references), frequently hinting at their writer's dark mental state, but Richey frequently cuts the tension with a quirky kind of levity, sometimes even indulging in absurdities ("Jackie Collins Existential Question Time", "Me and Stephen Hawking", "Virginia State Epileptic Colony"...). I was never a huge fan of Richey's lyrical style but the direction indicated by what was selected for Journal for Plague Lovers leaves me intrigued, and quite wanting me to see where he would have gone next.
The band clicked on the askew playfulness of the lyrics and musically Journal for Plague Lovers is the most irreverent and, at times, simply the most fun the Manics have been since Know Your Enemy. The rugged and grungy guitars are full of adrenaline, but there's a bounce behind them. The songs are quickfire three-minute bursts but pack a whole lot of heart and wild abandon within the short run lengths, and the band sound free from any second guessing or rigid formulas that had started to plague them on the stoic boredom of Send Away the Tigers. The stodgy attempts at stadium singalongs and lazy guitar solos are completely absent, replaced by punked up choruses and headbanger riffs. It literally puts a smile on one's face to hear the giddy riff fills of "Me and Stephen Hawking", the cheeky jangle and sneerily super-cheery chorus of "Virginia State Epileptic Colony", the thudding synth post-punk beat of "Marlon J.D." or the quick burst of fury that concludes "Jackie Collins Existential Question Time" - all four particularly brilliant tracks that glow with the mad creative instinct of a band stripping away their self-engrained limitations and learning how to enjoy playing together again. The trio sound rejuvenated and while the production is relatively sparse compared to the previous albums, the instrumental performances themselves are full of detail and energy, and for the first time ever, even Wire's - his bass parts are one of the best areas of the album, with the runs and fills of the title track and the crunchy lead rhythm of the mission statement of an opener "Peeled Apples" standing out, in particular.
Journal for Plague Lovers is at the end of the day a bit of a tribute act to an old friend, and so it's not all too surprising that parts of it are spent in a more contemplative mood. "Facing Page: Top Left" is simply a tender solo piece from James, "This Joke Sport Severed" is one of the more indulgent parts of the album thanks to its breathtaking string-laden second half, and "Doors Closing Slowly" lurches in a lamentful march that comes closest to describing the sorrow quietly hanging in the background of the whole album. Journal for Plague Lovers is an album with two very distinct sides to it, one loud and rash and another retreated into a private corner, and the two strike an important balance that ultimately works in the favour of both. While James takes the natural lead elsewhere, it's Wire who gets the last word, which is only appropriate given the closeness between him and Richey. The lyrics of "William's Last Words" have been edited rather questionably to act like a suicide note (the full lyrics could be seen with the deluxe edition and it's clear only some sections made it to the album) but it's honestly forgivable simply because Wire sounds like he's fighting back tears as he leads the vocals on the closing track. It's a touching, beautiful and surprisingly vulnerable closer for an album that's otherwise so bold and aggressive; if you still felt cynical about the band resurfacing this part of their legacy, "William's Last Words" is the reminder of the very real emotions and still very open wounds the band have around the subject of their lost friend, and Wire's rough voice over James' more trained set of pipes have a fragility that pins down that point.
I readily admit I was one of the cynical ones about the band's intentions behind the album's release - how could you not be after Send Away the Tigers - and even now I think the fact that it's sandwiched between two albums that very openly try to rub against particular audiences does it no favours, making it guilty by implication. But Journal for Plague Lovers is a real joy: the raw power of the early Manics brought back fresh from the time machine, while taking elements from the more refined latter-day Manics where it pleases and bringing out little surprises throughout its length. Even the hidden track is great. "Bag Lady" is a Manics original rather than a cover like the past hidden Manics tracks, and it's actually one of the album's best songs, a ridiculously catchy pop sensibility married to neurotic, drilling guitars - and it even works as the real closer after the tearjerking credits roll of "William's Last Words", cheekily appearing to close the record with a final bang in a manner that so befits the album's twisted wit. Not everything is a complete bullseye but the flaws are minor and due to the brevity of the songs they don't overstay their welcome, and you can still hear the inspiration and intent behind them even if the melodies aren't as sharp as elsewhere. Far from being just a retread of the past, Journal for Plague Lovers is more than its concept gives the impression for: rather, its wicked muscle is somewhat unique among the band's catalogue and it has its own identity despite the intentional ties to the past. Somewhat ironically - and maybe a bit cruelly - despite the billing as an album for Richey, he ends up being a little overshadowed by his friends, who have rediscovered the creative lightheartedness that they had started to bury. Journal for Plague Lovers leans against the heaviest part of the band's weighty legacy, but brightly wanders its own trails rather than trying to imitate the old ones.
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