Record Collector: Manic Street Preachers new album "Critical Thinking" review/Nicky Wire Q&A - song re: Morrissey "Dear Stephen" (December 30, 2024)

Record Collector - #566, January 2025.

Web version of the above:

Critical Thinking - Record Collector Magazine

Over 30 years and 15 albums in and, thankfully, Manic Street Preachers have yet to call a truce with their furies. Critical Thinking lashes out against

recordcollectormag.com

Something previously missed in MOJO asserts the same re: Dear Stephen:

"A tender exploration of teenage fandom and adult disappointment, Dear Stephen is inspired by the time in 1984 when The Smiths played Cardiff University. Wire’s mum wrote to the group explaining that her teenage son was desperate to see the band but was too ill to attend. The Smiths wrote back, with Morrissey scribbling “get well soon Nick” on a postcard. "An almost spiritual antique" is how Wire describes the note, which he recently rediscovered."

Regards,
FWD.

 

[gashonthenail]

I remember the interview referred to. It was in Select magazine in 94 when he was promoting Vauxhall. Morrissey said something along the lines that the BNP only resorted to violence because they were being gagged and that they should be given a television platform. I can't find a link to it anywhere, but the musician Momus refers to it here:

https://imomus.com/index60.html

A good example of Moz saying something totally reasonable - in fact just being an old fashioned liberal on the topic of censorship - and then the NME twisting what he said to be 'far right'. 30 years ago. And what has changed?

 

[marred]

I've been a fan of the Manics for years but their last album was just awful and the new single Decline and Fall sounds like more of the same soft pap. I'm not sure why they've gone in this direction because Resistance Is Futile from 2018 was a great album. Journal For Plague Lovers from 2009 was probably their last really great album. They've pretty much gone soft since then.

 

[gashonthenail]

I've been a fan of the Manics for years but their last album was just awful and the new single Decline and Fall sounds like more of the same soft pap. I'm not sure why they've gone in this direction because Resistance Is Futile from 2018 was a great album. Journal For Plague Lovers from 2009 was probably their last really great album. They've pretty much gone soft since then.

Their upcoming album is on NME's list of most anticipated albums for 2025. What, no Bonfire of Teenagers?

NME’s most anticipated album releases of 2025

2025 brings new album releases from FKA Twigs, The Weeknd, Sam Fender, Lana Del Rey, Japanese Breakfast and more – read on for the full list

www.nme.com