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8.0
140072
8.0 |
The Guardian
The Welsh rockers’ 15th album finds them in thought-provoking mood
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8.0
140073
8.0 |
Record Collector
Critical Thinking lashes out against the ills of the modern world and asks vital questions about the purpose of art and their own relevance. If that sounds heavy, it’s mostly set to some of the most uplifting music of their career, all shimmering, arpeggiated 80s indie, exultant choruses, and their take on the Big Music (Bunnymen, early Simple Minds, Waterboys) that set the teenage Manics’ hearts racing
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8.0
140074
8.0 |
Mojo
Rarely has ruminations on decline, in fact, sounded so vigorous. Print edition only
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8.0
140076
8.0 |
Under The Radar
It couldn’t be anyone else making this record in 2025
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8.0
140129
8.0 |
The Observer
The Welsh rockers’ 15th album finds them in thought-provoking mood
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8.0
140154
8.0 |
The Quietus
It’s an album of clearly defined verses and middle eights, of song title hooks, and singalong guitar melodies following singalong vocal melodies. The way these songs orbit then arrive at choruses have a kind of gravitational inevitability to them
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8.0
140172
8.0 |
Clash
There seems to be some tension at the heart of the band’s dynamic right now, but it has inspired a meticulous, strident and euphoric sounding record
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8.0
140195
8.0 |
Dork
Finds them scratching their heads at the cultural landscape they find themselves in
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8.0
140202
8.0 |
The Irish Times
The former angry young men satisfyingly take flight as grumpy older gentlemen aghast at the world
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8.0
140204
8.0 |
Far Out
As we all grapple for connection in a world destined to rip apart the fragments of artistic intent, Critical Thinking bites back with vehemence, hinging on the familiar sounds of old with a new reverie that arrives with urgency and reflection
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8.0
140209
8.0 |
NME
With warm but spiky '80s art-indie, the Welsh rock veterans' 15th album finds no absolute design for life – but still plenty of fight
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8.0
140213
8.0 |
musicOMH
They may no longer be generation terrorists, but on this evidence they can still deliver a witheringly bracing state of the nation address
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8.0
140236
8.0 |
God Is In The TV
Their political sharpness is as sharp as ever, and their infectious energy permeates the entire album. All in all, Critical Thinking is potentially their freshest release since Futurology in 2014
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7.9
140434
7.9 |
Spectrum Culture
As with so much of the Manics’ best work, it’s an album that’s easy to listen to, but that lingers uneasily in the mind; as it should
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7.0
140208
7.0 |
XS Noize
An album that reflects the later stages of the Manic Street Preachers catalogue; pertinent questions are set out, and answers are demanded over an intricately detailed soundscape
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7.0
140075
7.0 |
Uncut
It's four-square Manics Big Music, with James Dean Bradfield's guitar especially eloquent, echoing Keith Levene's sour whine on the title track and beautifully relaxed on "Being Baptised"'s Smith-like elegy. Print edition only
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7.0
140194
7.0 |
DIY
When introduced with the kind of fanfare it is, it feels safe
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4.0
140190
4.0 |
The Arts Desk
Once the gigantic production is stripped away these 12 numbers veer between the passable and the also-ran
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