[Librarian On Fire]

It’s been a while. It’ll all change again next week but number one and two always remain.

This Is My Truth. It’s an album of three thirds. Anthemic opening tracks. The introspective middle. The power pop to end out the album. The track listing is perfect. Nicky’s writing is at its peak. I can see why “Nobody Loved” you was removed off the re-issue which is a pity as I feel it is Nicky’s best song to his departed friend. A deep thoughtful album.

Know Your Enemy. KYE has become the forgotten album. The Cuban album. A sprawling raw energetic album that to me sums up best the rock sound that the band wanted. I always like to think that this would have been the album that Richey would have felt most proud of.

Rewind The Film. You have to spend more time in the shadows than the sun to appreciate the pure melancholy of the album.

Postcards From A Young Man. When an effort is made to really listen to the album you realise how damn good it is. From choirs and some wonderful mixing and production. It is a good album. Part of the problem that many might find with the album is that James’ singing can be quiet, quiet, loud, quiet, quiet, loud. You probably need to be or have been at the stage of life that Nicky was writing about to fully appreciate it. Knowing you’ve done more living on one side and that there is less on the other.

Resistance Is Futile. A good solid album. The indie power pop influence from the 80’s is all through this album. That’s is fine by me.

The Holy Bible. Their best album doesn’t necessarily have to be everyone’s favourite.

Journal For Plague Lovers. They say the band owed it to Richey. Richey owed it to the band. Either way the band did it justice. The album is always going to be overshadowed by its older, bigger and more popular brother The Holy Bible. It’s a hard album to place in ranks. I probably do rate it higher at times.

Gold Against The Soul. Image wise the band never looked cooler or sexier than they did during this period. The album is not perfect but the wabi sabi is there. Best period single wise.

Everything Must Go. It feels quite sparse in its production now. Would it have made it if “A Design For Life” wasn’t on it?

Lifeblood. Lifeblood crept up on me. It was that time when the music press was just hanging on by a thread. The internet was just about becoming ubiquitous and ta-da, a new Manics album. “Empty Souls” is MOR perfection.

Futurology. It’s too short and needed a few more extra tracks to make the album complete. I don’t like the way the songs blend into each other without a respectable gap between.

Send Away The Tigers. Really, really good B-side period.

Generation Terrorists. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it does sound not dated but aged