albums and tracks

Editor's rating

The first single to be taken from new album Journal For Plague Lovers, 'Jackie Collins Existential Question Time' sees the Welsh trio return to the kind of form they last showed on 'A Design For Life' 13 years ago.

It's the band's first collection to feature lyrics from the (presumed) late Richey Edwards since 1994's The Holy Bible, and a return to their earlier post-punk influences.

"Oh mummy, what's a Sex Pistol?" - James Dean Bradfield's nasal tones ring out over a classic rock riff, before complex musings on religion, infidelity and life are set to thrashing drums, driving guitars and shouty vocals. But, somehow, the cerebral lyrics don't quite mesh with the thrusting noises they're set to. The result is an oddly disjointed, but nonetheless enjoyable, return to the rollicking Manics of the old days - albeit with Richey's absence more keenly felt than ever.