The Ultra Vivid Lament by Manic Street Preachers

The Manics are back with their 14th studio release entitled The Ultra Vivid Lament. Turns out it’s absolutely one of their very best and we were blown away.

We started our relationship with this band with their awesome debut Generation Terrorists which went on to sell far less than the 16 million copies they claimed it would.

That means they’ve always had a lot to live up to and while they’ve had to deal with the tragic loss of Richey among other things, by and large they’ve delivered.

This time we find ourselves confronted with the harsh lyrical reality of “We live in Orwellian times” which can apply to plenty of situations from the last 2 years for anyone. 

Then on “The Secret We Had Missed” we find ourselves nearly overwhelmed by “Walls defeated by the sea. Still resonate an imperfect dream. The whispering waves still cleanse and clean. They can’t wipe away what you’ve seen”.

The Ultra Vivid Lament is an unashamedly poppy album which takes it in turns to woo us and then to unleash the inner punk lions that are always there with the Manics. We loved it.

For more of our timely, insightful album reviews check out our full collection here.

Nicholas Barang

The first time Nicholas went to a live gig, 31 years ago, it turned out to be an Iron Maiden secret gig and he became hooked on the music scene. He was one of the founding writers for Astro Zombie a heavy metal and new world techno-inspired zine and his interview with Rob Caggiano of Anthrax brought in over 300,000 readers. He’s based out of Southeast Asia now, but his love of music is as strong and diverse as ever.