Manic Street Preachers
Forever Delayed -- Greatest Hits
Sony
With the annual "Best Of" season well underway and acts such as Elton John, the Rolling Stones and Pulp being re-packaged, re-plugged and re-released -- lest the music-listening public forget who they are, were and possibly will be -- the recently released Manic Street Preachers "Best Of" takes quite the opposite approach. Instead of reminding the world of former band member, Richey James, the remaining Manics appear intent on erasing all memory of the band's memorable founding member.
James disappearing in 1995 following reports of numerous suicide attempts and was officially classified as dead by the British government a year and half ago, though conclusive proof of the guitarist's demise remains non-existent.
As a post-James "Best Of," the Manic's, Forever Delayed -- Greatest Hits is as complete as it could be. As a tribute to one of Wales's classiest musical assets, however, it falls abysmally flat.
There's no denying that the 18 numbers chosen by Sony are all melodious and not typical examples of Manic's sound, but the exclusion of early material is rather disappointing. And though there's nothing wrong with classic Manic's tunes such as A Design For Life, You Love Us and Suicide is Painless, they are all rather predictable.
Even with the inclusion of the two unreleased numbers -- or fillers as cynical fans might like to referrer to them -- There By the Grace of God and Door to the River, any opportunity to lay bare the band's turbulent history in music is sadly lost. Worse still, is the fact that the album takes its cue from UK chart positions rather than song quality.
Foo Fighters
One By One
RCA
It's a December double header for ex-Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters guitarist, Dave Grohl, with the long awaited euphonious Nirvana "Best Of" and the Fighter's latest studio album, One By One, hitting record stores at roughly the same time.
Unlike the other album, One By One does not in anyway attempt to rekindle the memory of a much-troubled manic-depressive who opted to eat a shotgun. Instead the album, on which the band, and especially Grohl are in thumping form throughout, is a railing call: railing against the mediocrity so apparent in post-Cobain rebel-rock.
From the opener, All My Life, the Foo Fighters assail listeners with a series of original, albeit at times Husker Du-styled agitated bass riffs and machine gun-loaded buzzsaw guitar. Packed with both attitude and heaps of hard rock, One By One is the most accomplished Foo Fighters release to date, surpassing the band's much lauded 1999 There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
In addition to Grohl's songwriting, a lot of what makes the album such a corking listen can be put down to the simple fact that the band is once again a four piece. With two guitars to play with the Fighters kick up one hell of a racket, and Grohl and Shiflett's clashing guitars are most prominent on the album's ferocious yet melodious highlights, Times like These and Overdrive.
Unfinished
Heaven Like Water
Having built up a sizable following in Tainan as part of the city's Historical Sites Evening Music Salon, the folk/jazz ensemble Unfinished is presently enjoying a modicum of success nationwide with the release of its debut album, Heaven Like Water.
Although the band is now comprised of four Tainan-based foreign nationals -- Peter Smith (vocals, guitar and flute), John Duxbury (percussion), Johnathon Courtenay (double bass) and Yuri Opalav (tenor sax) -- it is the voice of singer Janine Guinn, who has since left the band, that provides one of the album's main attractions. At times comparable to that of Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn, Guinn's vocals are mesmerizing and solid throughout. Whether it's a scat/jazz based tune such as One Quarter, or more world music-styled tunes such as the album's opener, Calling All The World, Guinn's vocals never miss a beat.
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