Often, further down the treacherous path of an artists career he will cast off his more recent works and declare that he is going back to his roots. This is a sort of artistic midlife crisis, in that by getting back to your roots you show everyone how young and cool you are.
Now, at some point i’m going to get onto reviewing the album pictured on the left, but firstly, I must clarify. Young people are idiots. Not all of them, but as a general rule they are idiots. I was an idiot, probably still am, but as I get older I get a little less idiotic by the day. So, fuck your roots, and just make great art.
Or, if you’re the Manic Street Preachers, fuck the faux punk, in all honesty the punk stuff you did wasn’t that great, the goth stuff was awesome, the working class stadium rock genius, but fuck the punk, just be what you are, a fantastic rock band. Oh, you’ve followed my belated advise 2 years previous in releasing what was surely the best album of 2007?
Now, as is often with me, all of this reeks of overstatement, but for once, its not. Send Away The Tigers is a glorious rock album, solid song writing, communism free lyrics and some fantasic pop songs, pop songs Girls Aloud would be jealous of (but that might be overstatement as girls aloud are clearly the pinnacle of pop entertainment - sarcasm is the lowest form of wit apparently, (its not), so believe when I say, that is not sarcasm).
Songs then, Send Away The Tigers, great opening to the track, great opener to the album. Works on a level with Elvis Impersonator from Everything Must Go, sets the scene while being great in its own rights. Underdogs took a bit longer to catch on, yeah its rocking, but its not what this album is about. Its good, but the following gets ridiculous.
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough is pop genius, Nicky Wire must’ve been punching the air in his little welsh cottage when he heard what JDB had done with his lyrics. Duetastic (inventing words is cool, cool is youth, alex is a hypocrite). So here it got good, next.
Well, next it gets serious, Indian Summer is the one track I read everywhere that everyone was loving but I just wasn’t getting, now I do. It is genius. But, you guessed it, it gets better. I once read in an Oasis forum someone saying that ‘You’re not alone’ by Embrace is the best chorus ever, and that Noel Gallagher would never write a chorus that good. That person was an idiot (they were probably 12). So, I won’t make the same mistake, The Second Great Depression isn’t the greatest chorus ever, but this is the chorus that raises the bar on 2007, and raises the bar on this album. Fantastic.
Rendition is also great, but I will move on. Autumn Song is what the person who recommended the album to me would call ‘a little treat’, and by that he would mean it is the greatest thing on the album, an absolute joy with the most uplifting chorus since Acquiesce, i’ll say it again, joy(ous).
I’m Just A Patsy is poptastic, yet again kicking the actual pop artists into touch. Probably the third best track on the album, works perfectly in its place. Imperial Bodybags is like Underdogs pt2, its rocking, it goes places, but its not Autumn Song.
Winterlovers, is ok, but come on, what can follow Autumn and Patsy? 
So, all in all, a great album, its not all highs, theres some that would only class as great and not genius, but for fucks sake, its got Autumn Song on it!
4.4 out of 5
March 3rd, 2009 by Alex | No Comments »
was a discussion I recently had with various people, now, lets get this straight, she is marvellous the winner, but she has sort won by default due to a real lack of competition. Round of applause please for the mighty 
Running Up That Hill is one of the greatest opening tracks in existence
