In the Lego community there is a large group of people who consider themselves "AFOLs" - Adult Fans Of Lego. Within that community there is the concept of "the dark ages" - the years in a person's life when they stopped playing with Lego before ultimately coming back to it as an adult; often they talk about a set that brought them back. Before Rewind the Film came out, I was going through something of a "dark age" with the Manics - it'd been a while since they'd released an album I really loved and I'd all but stopped buying the singles. Journal for Plague Lovers had raised my hopes only for them to be dashed again. Then I heard the song Rewind the Film and everything kicked right back in. That song brought me back from my dark ages.
I remember it vividly. I was working in a shitty temp job between my PhD and getting a permanent role somewhere (which ended up being in the building next door). I was sat at my desk and saw an email from the Manics about their new album featuring a link to a new song, the title-track. I clicked on it not expecting to get much from it. I knew the name of the guest vocalist, Richard Hawley, because my friend Rich had mentioned him, but that was the extent of my knowledge of him. I didn't expect the lead single of the new album to have such prominent guest vocals – after he started singing the second verse too I wondered if James was ever going to sing. Then it hit - "Let me hide un-der the sheets" - James' voice never sounded so clear, so loud and so Welsh. It was perfect. There's a picture of James singing in the booklet that came with Gold Against the Soul and he's really screaming into the microphone - it was always one of my favourite images of the band - this felt as close to that as they had been for many, many years. I think it was partly how great James' vocals sounded in general, but also the contrast between his voice and Richard's gravely singing that made it so amazing. I was hooked again.
(As a side note, I don't consider myself an AFOL, but I certainly am an adult that buys Lego for himself. I'd had a few sets bought for me as an adult, but I guess the set that brought me out of my "dark age" was a Millennium Falcon, alongside a Christmas bonus from work in the form of an Amazon giftcard that I wasn't sure how to spend otherwise. My formative years can be pretty much entirely broken down into two distinct eras - the Lego era, and the music era; the latter started when I heard Bittersweet Symphony on Top of the Pops, and the Manics swiftly followed, so it seems fitting that the parallel can be seen between the band and the toy.)
I listened to the song a couple more times and eagerly awaited the new album. For reasons I don't really remember, I didn't buy the vinyl when it came out - I ordered the double cd instead - perhaps I was still a bit apprehensive. Possibly more strangely, given the praise I've just heaped on the title-track, I also turned up the chance to buy this album on vinyl in 2017. That's a long-ish story that I'm going to tell even though this is already shaping up to be a long post. Skip the next paragraph if you're not interested in this particular anecdote.
In October 2017, just before my first daughter was born, I found out that the company I worked for was closing the Oxford office and we had a choice between continuing our jobs in the London office or being made redundant. I was extremely lucky in that I got a job offer within a week of this being announced (in an office across the road from old one - I'm clearly making a habit of local jobs moves) but I wasn't sure whether to take the new job or not, particularly with a new baby on the way - my old job had three months paid paternity leave which I'd lose if I left. On October 18th I was in London to see the Manics play a great, short set in the Roundhouse and had been in the London office that day (that way I could expense my train travel). I had a meeting with my manager about the redundancies and the more he tried to convince me to stay, the more I realised I should leave. I had time to kill before the gig, so went to Rough Trade to browse records, but my mind was elsewhere with all the big changes coming up. The only record I found that I was tempted to buy was this one. But I just really wasn't in the mood for record shopping (an alarming state indeed, and not one I was familiar with!) and I didn't want to drag an LP round the gig with me (there's safety in numbers when it comes to taking LPs to gigs - the more there are, the less likely they are to get damaged). So I left for the Roundhouse and phoned my wife on the way. Whilst on the phone to her, and talking about the conversation I'd had with my boss that I'd spent the last while thinking about, I came to the realisation that I should take the redundancy and the new job; it turned out to be the best thing I could have done and my life is definitely much better for having made that decision. I went into the gig with a weight lifted off my shoulders and had a brilliant time. It was one of my favourite Manics shows for how good I felt alone; there's nothing like singing along to the Manics in a room full of strangers to make you feel good.
After that, I didn't see a copy of Rewind the Film again until I found this one. I sometimes lamented not buying it that day in Rough Trade. As it happens, I found it after another fruitless trip into Rough Trade (I've now come out of that shop empty-handed more times than I've come out with records, which isn't something I can say about many record shops). I was in London for a conference and not far from Brick Lane, so headed over at lunchtime to see what I could find. On the way out of Rough Trade I noticed the large indoor flea-market and found a record stall in there. They had a strange mix of things, although mostly over-priced records from the 70's. But in one box I found two Manics records - an old copy of This is My Truth and this album. I excitedly bought it and headed back to the conference.
Rewind the Film was exactly the album I needed it to be. After being wowed by the title-track, I got caught up in the hope and light of Show Me the Wonder; it's an unusual thing to say, but the song is both very upbeat and very Manics. It would have worked quite well on Know Your Enemy, which isn't something I say very often. But the other real gem is the opener, This Sullen Welsh Heart, which works so perfectly to start the album. The demo on the second cd is particularly fascinating as it reveals the line "It's a mocking disease" was originally "It's a fucking disease", which makes for an even bolder opening. I can see why they changed it, but I kinda wish they hadn't. Although I like how hearing the demo makes you feel like you're in on a secret, that it should have been "fucking". 30-Year War is another highlight.
I read an article a while back where James ranked the Manics' album and this didn't do too well, which is a shame. Maybe I've always been a fan of the wrong albums - without a doubt the two I listen to most these days (and has been the case for a good number of years) are this one and Gold Against the Soul. Perhaps that says more about me as a Manics fan than any of the last seven paragraphs do.
Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 12
Cost: £17 second-hand
Bought: Antiques Market, Brick Lane, London
When: 21/01/20
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: none
