Lifeblood (album)

''Lifeblood'' is the seventh studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Recorded in 2003, it was released on 1 November 2004 by record label Sony Music UK.

The album was met with generally positive reviews from critics, yielding two singles, "The Love of Richard Nixon" and " Empty Souls". The album peaked at number 13 in the UK Album Chart.

Writing and recording

The working title of ''Lifeblood'' was ''Litany'', hinting that the song "Litany" recorded during the ''Lifeblood'' sessions was originally intended for inclusion. The track, however, only featured as a B-side to the " Empty Souls" CD single. The album includes a song about Emily Pankhurst ("Emily"), a leader in the British woman's suffrage movement, but, otherwise, the band's earlier political lyrics have been replaced by personal reflection, such as on the band's past ("1985") and former member Richey Edwards ("Cardiff Afterlife").

''Lifeblood'' was recorded at studios in New York, Wales and Ireland by frequent collaborator Greg Haver, with additional contributions from Tony Visconti and Tom Elmhirst. Two tracks recorded – "Antarctic" and "The Soulmates" – remain only on the Japanese version of the album.

The album is a departure musically, replacing the band's traditional guitar walls with more subtle and melodic playing, emphasis instead being given to keyboards and synthesizers. This results in the album being described as pop rock, synthpop, and synthrock sound, something Nicky Wire described the album as "elegiac pop" throughout the recording process.

Wire talked about the ghosts that haunted this record and stated that the record was a retrospective: "The main themes are death and solitude and ghosts. Being haunted by history and being haunted by your own past. Sleep is beautiful for me. I hate dreaming because it ruins ten hours of bliss. I had a lot of bad dreams when Richey dwardsfirst disappeared. Not ugly dreams, but nagging things. Until we wrote ' Design for Life', it was six months of misery. ''Lifeblood'' doesn't seek to exorcise Edwards' ghost, though, just admits that there are no answers".

Nicky Wire reflected on the album in 2021: "''Lifeblood'' is very much a withdrawal album. I was digging deeper holes, to just piss people off - without even trying. There's certain bits of it we do love. But as a man who grew up with the Guinness Book of Hit Records, the fact that album went in at Number 13 just crushed me: 'Not even in the Top 10?! How has this happened?'"

Release

''Lifeblood'' was preceded by the single "The Love of Richard Nixon", released on 18 October 2004. During the mid-week chart the single was at the No. 1 position, but dropped and ended up peaking at No. 2 on the UK singles chart.

''Lifeblood'' was released on 1 November 2004. It entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 13, selling 23,990 in the first week and spending only 3 weeks in the Top 75. The album has gone Silver, but it is the least commercially successful album by the band. It has currently sold around 90,000 copies in the UK.

" Empty Souls", the second and final single from the album, was released on 10 January 2005. Like the previous single, it debuted and peaked at No. 2.

Reception

''Lifeblood'' received generally positive reviews from critics, which had not happened for the band's previous effort '' Know Your Enemy''. The album has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

AllMusic awarded the album three stars out of five and stated: "''Lifeblood'' is a pleasant listen, but once you peel away the keyboards, sensitively strummed guitars and tasteful harmonies and concentrate on Bradfield's nakedly open voice and Wire's terminally collegiate lyrics, it's hard to escape the unintentional pathos that winds up defining the album and, conceivably, the band's latter-day career."

Barry Nicolson of ''NME'' wrote: "Where ''Know Your Enemy'' strived vainly for relevance, ''Lifeblood'' is seemingly content to exist as a highbrow rock record. Out go song titles that were half-baked political manifestos in themselves ('Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children' anyone?), in come elegiac pop anthems ('1985') and the welcome presence of Bowie producer Tony Visconti to add a glacial sheen to the whole affair. Indeed, this is arguably the best Manics album since '' Everything Must Go''."

Colin Weston of Drowned in Sound praised the album, writing: "This is not rock, it is arguably not indie and would fit very comfortably next to the soft nu-wave eighties pop albums that your auntie has on the shelf... and it is quite simply brilliant! ..'''Generation Terrorists''' may well live forever in the hearts of their fans but '''Lifeblood''' may well live forever as one of the best commercial albums of the bands career." John Garrett from PopMatters wrote "Richey may be long dead, but there's still warm blood coursing through the Manics' veins. They are for real—although maybe not in the way history had intended."

A negative review came from '' Q'', calling the album "miserable and insipid".

Track listing

Personnel

; Manic Street Preachers

* James Dean Bradfield – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar
* Sean Moore – drums, drum programming
* Nicky Wire – bass guitar

; Additional personnel

* Nick Nasmyth – keyboards
* Jeremy Shaw – additional keyboards
* Greg Haver – percussion

; Technical personnel

* Greg Haver – production on tracks 1–9 and 11
* Tony Visconti – production on tracks 7, 10 and 12
* Tom Elmhirst – additional production on tracks 1, 2, 7, 10 and 12, mixing on tracks 1, 2 and 4–12
* Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing of "Empty Souls"
* Mario J. McNulty – engineering assistance
* Stefano Sofia – engineering assistance
* Steve Davis – engineering assistance
* Loz Williams – engineering assistance on "Empty Souls"
* Farrow Design – sleeve artwork design and art direction
* John Ross – sleeve photography

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Lifeblood''
at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
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Manic Street Preachers albums
Pop rock albums by Welsh artists
2004 albums
Epic Records albums
Albums produced by Tony Visconti
Albums produced by Greg Haver