| It's been a long, hard career for the Manic Street Preachers, from busking in Cardiff to losing a guitarist (Richey Edwards) and winning awards; but somehow the band survived. Forever Delayed is the long-overdue collection of their best songs, spanning the course of their turbulent career. This was always going to be a weak collection--not because of any shortcomings in their singles material, but because they've always been about something bigger than mere singles. They produced not so much concept albums, but albums of concept, presented as completed works of art. As such, removing any songs from their original context is to immediately weaken them. It shows their career progression clearly--from the dark places of avant-garde The Holy Bible (the Richey album) to the critical and commercial high point of the era-defining Everything Must Go (the without Richey album) and the ensuing struggle with how to proceed musically. The loss of Edwards had an obvious effect, but wasn't immediately indicative of an artistic decline. Only when they tried to revert to their roots did they come unstuck without him (2001's Know Your Enemy). Their commercial and artistic high points rarely combined, but to produce a collection from this period is to do the Manics a great injustice--even if it does have "Motown Junk" on it. --Ben Johncock |
