Lifeblood #10

[scott_laconia]

I've been hammering this album over the weekend, still as beautiful as I remember. Love love love it. Always thought the album would have been a huge success had it been released after TIMTTMY

It could easily be Johnny Marr playing guitar on Cardiff Afterlife.

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

I still consider Cardiff Afterlife to be my favourite Manics song and Lifeblood is right up there as one of my favourite Manics albums as well.

It's such a shame that they keep on ignoring it in live sets, even if they included a couple of songs for old times sake, it would be appreciated by a lot of people. I recall even as far back as 2007 on the first SATT tour, they (probably James actually) were slating it although I think Sean still liked it.

There's a slim chance that we could hear Empty Souls and 1985 again but apart from that I can't see them playing any of the others but I'm more than happy for them to prove me wrong. It was a real treat hearing Solitude Sometimes Is in 2011 - one of the absolute highlights for me of the Wolves Civic gig I attended.

[nimrod]

Saw them for the first time on the Lifeblood tour - at Wembley supported by Razorlight who were shockingly bad considering the hype that surrounded them at the time. I remember feeling a bit deflated as Nicky seemed a bit surly I thought, the arena was by no means full and I felt cheated at paying a lot of money for a programme which I discovered had nothing in it at all except the album artwork!!

That said, the set that night was pretty good and I'm glad I got to see them play the majority of the album as I doubt they ever will again. There were a few Holy Bible tracks thrown in as well I recall which was great. Inspired me to get a ticket for the PPAF tour (Leeds) which truly was my best Manics gig

[Automatik]

Originally Posted by nimrod

Saw them for the first time on the Lifeblood tour - at Wembley supported by Razorlight who were shockingly bad considering the hype that surrounded them at the time.

I remember how odd it was at the time - and still is - seeing Razorlight getting higher billing than the Manics at several festivals that really should have known better.

And I agree that Razorlight were shockingly bad at said events (not that I cared at all for them at the time - not helped by the hype, as you say).

[slop101]

Even after their last two albums, which were certainly albums by adults, I still think Lifeblood is their most mature work. In a good sense! Both the music and the lyrics are from a band that's been through it all and still pushing themselves to new ground. It's like a good album U2 never put out.

[tomd2103]

Originally Posted by slop101

Yeah, Truth had the benefit of a great lead-single in Tolerate. For whatever reason, they picked the worst song from Lifeblood (Nixon) as it's lead single. I'm willing to bet that's what wrecked the album's performance. Empty Souls or 1985, or pretty much any other song should've been the initial single instead, and not only should Nixon not have been a single at all, it should've been a B-side and not even on an album. I don't know what they were thinking with that song.

Speaking of 1985 - does that song remind anyone else of a standard New Order, non-single album-track from around 1985?

I know it doesn't really work this way, but had Forever Delayed and There by the Grace of God been held back for Lifeblood, the singles might have been a bit stronger.

Saying that, I still like Lifeblood and go back to it regularly. I think the first six tracks, Solitude Sometimes is and Cardiff Afterlife are strong and some of the B-sides are also good.

[taxexile]

I never got To Repel Ghosts until now
HOLY MOLY

[mrdavidj]

There's something great about returning to an album you'd previously dismissed and hearing it in a whole different light and having it click isn't there.

It happened to me with this album (and The Holy Bible and Dexy's Don't Stand Me Down)

It won't be long before we're talking about the 20th anniversary of this album. Hopefully the band are aware that there are a bunch of us who would jump on a good anniversary release with all the b-sides.

[taxexile]

I never knew what the refrain was. OMFG. That man is a genius. "A soul in pain has no image to reclaim". I don't think there has been a more succinct line about someone without an identity. Blimey!

[everlasting]

I played Lifeblood all the way through last week on CD. Twice. Love it when I revisit it.

[IntlDebris]

Originally Posted by mrdavidj

Hopefully the band are aware that there are a bunch of us who would jump on a good anniversary release with all the b-sides.

If it doesn't happen, there's still the Japanese 2CD version if you can track it down. An absolutely amazing set of tracks in one package.

[UEF]

Maybe we’ll get LYE and LB fairly close together or as one thing. The Beach Boys just put out a boxset based around two consecutive albums and that’s been well received so far.

[Europa Gluten Free]

Still one of my fav Manics eras. Such a reminder of Winter 2004. Great times.