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10.0
2325
10.0 |
Independent on Sunday
The album of 2009 – hands down, no contest – contains words by a man nobody's seen since he disappeared 14 years ago, set to music by three men who've been playing together for more than 20 years.
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9.0
2331
9.0 |
Drowned In Sound
That the origin of its lyrics circumvents arguably their two finest bodies of work is of no surprise either, and as with their previous reincarnation against all the odds (Everything Must Go), it's a worthy two fingered salute to those who thought their time was up many moons ago.
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8.0
2332
8.0 |
The Quietus
For the majority of admirers who have been consistently disappointed by what followed Everything Must Go, this latest outing will be a cause for celebration: not only is Edwards providing his idiosyncratic words once again, but his bandmates have risen with grace to meet those lofty standards.
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8.0
2333
8.0 |
Evening Standard
From the opening Peeled Apples to the closing William's Last Words, this is an unalloyed joy. Just don't bother with the lyrics.
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8.0
2335
8.0 |
No Ripcord
With Journal for Plague Lovers, it feels like Manic Street Preachers have finally closed the door on a painful chapter in their career and, rather fittingly, they’ve done it with some aplomb
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8.0
16540
8.0 |
BBC
For those Manics fans whose bearing on the band is centred by a Britpop firmament, rather than The Holy Bible, this record will prove a joy
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8.0
16700
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
For 20 years, Manic Street Preachers have been making life better. They shouldn't worry. But if they didn't worry, what else would they do?
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8.0
2328
8.0 |
PopMatters
While Journal for Plague Lovers doesn’t quite match up to The Holy Bible, essentially it doesn’t need to
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8.0
2329
8.0 |
Scotland on Sunday
This is a return to the bleak and obliqu
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8.0
2330
8.0 |
Clash
The spirits have lifted, the future is clear. Welcome back, Manic Street Preachers.
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8.0
2319
8.0 |
The Scotsman
Can now hold their heads high as custodians of Richey Edwards' memory. Journal For Plague Lovers is a noble, sympathetic and celebratory reminder of how much they really lost the day he vanished.
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8.0
2320
8.0 |
The Sunday Times
It rocks. Great riff follows great riff as we remember how much fun it is listening to James Dean Bradfield trying to fit Edwards’s complex lyrics into hummable tunes
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8.0
2321
8.0 |
Uncut
A brave, compelling record that stands shoulder to shoulder with the Manics’ best. Even if they may struggle to make another album as good as this without Richey’s lyrics, Journal… provides a satisfying sense of closure.
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8.0
2322
8.0 |
Evening Standard
A thoroughly fine, old-fashioned rock album.
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8.0
2323
8.0 |
Observer Music Monthly
A cracking album in its own right.
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8.0
2324
8.0 |
The Guardian
They've made a complex but very listenable record.
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7.8
2334
7.8 |
Pitchfork
The charge that it sounds like The Holy Bible's little brother is accurate, but I'd argue that this isn't a bad thing at all, and I hope they find a way to build on the momentum they've created here. The little brother of Everything Must Go would be welcome, too
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6.0
2326
6.0 |
The List
The emotion is obvious in every track... but unfortunately it could never live up to the power of The Holy Bible or the myth of Richey Edwards.
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6.0
2327
6.0 |
musicOMH
This is not so much the finishing off of an unfinished symphony as a sense of closure, a last chapter in the life of Richey Edwards. Disjointed, imperfect, tender and raw, at the final reckoning it sits as a fitting epitaph
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4.0
17126
4.0 |
State
Manics fans (this one at least) can take comfort in the fact the band have been this bland before and come back
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