Product Description

The highly anticipated debut solo album from the Manic Street Preachers star neatly combines the best aspects of the Welsh rockers' past efforts into a single recording. Produced in Wales, Berlin and London, 'The Great Western' draws inspiration from artists such as John Cale and Todd Rundgren whilst retaining the unique sound that has served the Manics so well. Includes the single 'That's No Way To Tell A Lie'.

Track Listing

1. That's No Way To Tell A Lie
2. English Gentleman
3. Bad Boys And Painkillers
4. On Saturday Morning We Will Rule The World
5. Run Romeo Run
6. Still A Long Way To Go
7. Emigre
8. To See A Friend In Tears
9. Say Hello To The Pope
10. Wrong Beginning
11. Which Way To Kyffin

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16525 in Music
• Released on: 2006-07-24
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Consistently Impressive throughout
Of course, it was always well known just what an impressive musician and vocalist James Dean Bradfield was, but on this album, he also turns his hand to lyrics, and the results are very admirable indeed.

Laments to friendships past (An English Gentleman) and truly great pop moments (That's no way to tell a lie) are evident, but there are also some very thoughtful, sensitive lyrics here to enjoy, such as 'Which Way To Kyffin' or 'Emigre'. All the way throughout, a very high standard is maintained, and there aren't any really weak moments. This man must surely be one of Wales' greatest treasures.

No Safety Net.
This is a wonderful CD. The baggage from the Manics is becoming more and more evident with each release but this solo effort is a genuine talent breaking free and having fun. The opener is wonderful - it doesn't rhyme, or even pretend to. But it is one of the best songs the MSP never wrote. It sets the tone of the CD brilliantly. Melodic, impassioned and fun. I can't really remember the last time the Manics were ..fun.

This CD could have been self indulgent twaddle. James is one of the better British guitarists from recent years and could have been excused for releasing a horrid guitar based set of tunes but instead he focused on song writing and melody. And as a result - each song is joyful and satisfying. The lyrics suffer in places but never to the overall detriment of the overall package.

If this was a Manics release, it would be their best work because it shows genuine evolution and spirit. As a solo release it merely shows just what a serious talent James is and how redundant the Manics are after the disappointing Send Away The Tigers. James does not need his lyrics ghost written. That's not to denigrate the Manics achievements but to highlight just how much JDB is being held back by the confines of a musical unit that are merely restricting his musical growth.

And it is growth - his reworking of To See A Friend In Tears is wonderful. His vocals just seem to get better with age - the guy is a really fantastic singer. And he is a guitar player that knows when not to play.

Everything he does here on The Great Western is focused and disciplined. The CD had a few weak points but overall it is the most satisfying release I have ever heard from the Manics stable. Here is to more JDB solo efforts.

Emotional - not Emo
Solo albums - especially whilst the original band are still a going concern - are almost always rubbish. Well, not so much that, as defiantly overlooked, and sounding often very much akin to a band shorn into quarters, a castrated animal trying to walk on one leg.

Stepping into the solo arena first, James Dean Bradfield, Manic Street Preacher's songsmith, virtuoso guitarist and vocalist (in many ways, the David Gilmour to Nicky Wire's misanthropic Roger Waters), manages to stamp a distinct, separate but clearly related personality onto the face of `The Great Western'.

Gone are the furiously articulate lyrics of his bandmates, the wall of inarticulate guitars, the abstract concepts and imagery. In short - all the things that made the Manics intellectually exceptional and interesting - are missing. Instead of lyrics that arrest the brain and force it to think, the music feels its way through to the listener.

Emotions are the currency here - and no, not Emo. But "The Great Western" fails to compel. It fails to pin the listener against the wall the way that truly great Manics songs do : It's impossible to just hear a song like "Faster", for example. A song like "Faster" compels you to listen. Much like an exorcism. But here, it's all too easy for the songs to just drift over the listener, lacking the essential X-Factor that made the Manics so essential to modern living.

On occasions the album breaks free. "That's No Way To Tell A Lie" is as good as any Manics song of recent years. Meanwhile, the Beach Boys-styled rock overload of "Émigré", excels - a tense coiled snake of a song that strikes with the same kind of truth as someone who didn't see a UFO, but BELIEVES he saw a UFO, an emotional truth if not an intellectual one.

Aside from occasional high water marks such as the epic "Still A Long Way To Go", "The Great Western" overall lacks the compulsive, essential lifeblood that underpins the Manics work as a band : the feeling that the music has been made because it is something that had to exist, that needed to be born. "The Great Western" is the first step in setting oneself free from the gang, creating himself as an individual and not as a member of an Army. Whilst every journey starts with a step, is unclear exactly where this is going to go. A promising beginning.