This is the first of many. When I was 15 I bought a copy of Motorcycle Emptiness on 7" at a record fair and discovered how awesome vinyl was. I'm sure I will rant about this at length when I come to write about that record. The Manics were my favourite band at the time. I owned the five albums they had at the time on cd and wanted to hear absolutely everything they'd written. (They were a great band to obsess over - an image, a vast back catalogue to discover, books written on them, but also the fact that their punk roots were hidden slightly in their new mainstream appeal - you could feel cool in knowing they once were too.) Over the years I blew most of my cash on Manics records trying (in vain) to have everything they'd ever released (a task I now know to be too vast for a teenager). Eventually, I started spending my money on other bands I was getting into and my Manics collection stopped far short of complete. However, I do keep up and buy the new albums when they come out. When I read about this one my teenage-self knew I had to buy it, so I did.
(Side note: I very much admire this guy's blog for his dedication to seeking out every record his favourite bands have released. Somehow the record collector in me has faded over the years. There are bands I love, but I just don't have the cash to spend on rare 7"s anymore. Maybe I'll get back into it once I get a proper job again.)
So this is a fairly lovely package. I've never read Q magazine in my life (my younger days were spent with Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Rock Sound) and, despite now owning a copy, I still haven't. This was marketed as a free record with the magazine, but really it's a free magazine with the record (especially at £15). Q magazine's birthday really means nothing to me, but this record is a nice, albeit brief, summary of the Manics work. The new song (a John Cale cover) adds to the appeal.
I was surprised to see that they were putting out another MSP best of, given that Forever Delayed hadn't come out that long before. But then it is nice to hear just 45 minutes worth, rather than a full history. Maybe these aren't the 14 songs I'd have chosen, but they're all classics nonetheless. With the exception of the last two, I have all these songs on vinyl elsewhere, so I'm sure I'll rant at length at a later date about their individual merits.
I will say this however, I saw the Manics show at the o2 arena in December where they played all the singles over a couple of hours. I had forgotten quite how much I adored this band and why, but hearing these songs again brought it all back. They had so many incredible songs. My love for them came back that night. Generation Terrorists was the fourth album I ever owned and the other four albums up to This is My Truth... were all in the first 10 albums, so I pretty much never listen to them. I know them backwards. But the show reminded me that I'd neglected these classics. So whilst this record may seem like a redundant bit of record collecting, it really is a great reminder of a fantastic band. This can probably be seen as an introduction to my Manics records, as they'll be many more posts on this band to come.
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, copy of Q magazine
Tracks: 14
Cost: £15 new
Bought: website
When: 05/11/11
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
