On the Record: Manic Street Preacher

Artist: Manic Street Preachers
Album: Lifeblood (Sony Music)

Formed in the late 1980s, Manics vowed that the group would be disbanded after one album. But a decade on, and with the death of their founding guitarist, the Welsh trio still stand tall with six studio albums and a greatest-hits package to their credit. If anything, they have grown old gracefully.

Once dubbed the new Clash for their buzzing guitars and politically-charged lyrics, the Welsh trio now resembles latter- day U2. And their latest album Lifeblood is U2's Achtung Baby, complete with its chiming guitars and spiritual musings.

"So god is dead like Nietzche said, superstition is now all we have left" guitar-playing vocalist James Dean Bradfield sings in the opener 1985.

The album reaches its peak during the outro of Emily, when Bradfield's interlocking three-track guitar works sound almost ethereal.

It also sums up the whole album, a lavish studio work combined with persistent bravado. -- M. Taufiqurrahman