40 Nicky Wire: Intimism

Life has been unfaithful
And it all promised so so much
I am a relic
I am just a petrified cry…

I see liberals
I am just a fashion accessory
People send postcards
And they all hope I’m feeling well
I retreat into self-pity, it’s so easy
Where they patronise my misery

La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)

You all know the song. The third track on the Manics’ criminally underrated second album in 1993. I named it the second best Manics song ever in a 2021 post that’s the most read thing I’ve ever done (and will be the most read post of 2023). Which proves it’s correct. Because I’m a genius. I also named ‘Gold Against the Soul’ as the best album of 1992. Which is dumb. Because I’m a fucking idiot.

ALL OF MY DIAMONDS ARE DRIPPIN’ ON HIM

Cheap Tarnished Glitter: Manic Street Preachers’ Gold Against the Soul 27th Anniversary (??) Deluxe Reissue, Inspection and Reevaluation

“I like bands with a lot of fuck-ups, who flirt with disaster, it just shows that they’re fallible. All humans are fallible, after all. And we’re just a reflection Of that.”

Nicky Wire, The List, 1993

Firstly, let’s just fuck the room’s elephant in the ass and admit that there is really no deep logical point in this reissue. ‘Gold Against the Soul’ may have been released on June 21st, but that release came in 1993, and I don’t think there is a wider habit among the music industry for rereleasing albums on their 27th anniversary. This is a legitimate and gorgeously packaged celebration, yes, but the intentions of its release are simply financial- the band knows that they still have a pathetic, rabid and obsessive fanbase, who will jump at the chance to buy a lavishly packaged and expanded edition of one of the band’s less well regarded albums. Yes, including me. But let’s just stop and look at the optics here- here are the most viewed pages on the Necessary Evil blog this year:

(*fuck, I am so old. Like, properly, well-adjusted and responsible adults were born after this album was released. Your boss at work was born after ‘Gold Against the Soul’ was released! Your weird uncle Freddy’s girlfriend was born after this album was released, and she’s the oldest girlfriend he’s has since his 1998 divorce!)

This can mean only one thing: time to pander to all those pathetic Manics fans again!

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