Lifeblood

Infobox Album |
Name = Lifeblood
Type = Studio album
Artist = Manic Street Preachers


Released = November, 2004
Recorded = 2003, New York & Wales
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 45:26
Label = Epic Records
Producer = Greg Haver, Tony Visconti, Tom Elmhirst
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:h9fqxq8sldhe link]
*Drowned In Sound rating|9|10 [http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/3805 link]
*The Guardian rating|3|5 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1343168,00.html link]
*NME rating|6|10 [http://www.nme.com/reviews/manic-street-preachers/7575 link]
*Q rating|2|5|
Last album = "Lipstick Traces"
(2003)
This album = "Lifeblood"
(2004)
Next album = "Send Away the Tigers"
(2007)

"Lifeblood" is the seventh studio album by Manic Street Preachers. It was recorded in New York and Wales by Tony Visconti, Tom Elmhirst and frequent collaborator Greg Haver.

Released on November 1, 2004 and preceded by the number two single "The Love of Richard Nixon", the album entered the UK Albums Chart at #13 and only spent two weeks in the top 75.

The album includes a song about Emily Pankhurst a leader in the British woman's suffrage movement ("Emily") but otherwise the band's earlier political lyrics have been replaced by personal reflection such as on the band's past ("1985") and former member Richey Edwards ("Cardiff Afterlife"). The album was also a departure musically, replacing the band's traditional guitar walls with more subtle and melodic playing, emphasis instead being given to keyboards and synthesizers. This results in a softer sound, something Nicky Wire described as "elegiac pop" throughout the recording process.

"Empty Souls" was the second single released and like the previous single, it debuted and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart. No further singles were released. Two tracks recorded during the Lifeblood recording sessions ("Antarctic" and "The Soulmates") remain only on the Japanese version of the album.

A Song For Departure was thought to be the third and last single from the album, as they performed the song on Later with Jools and was more Rock-like, but they wanted to have a break and were disappointed with the album.

The working title of this album was Litany, hinting that the song 'Litany' recorded during the Lifeblood sessions was originally intended for inclusion. The track however only featured as a b-side to the Empty Souls CD-Single. The title LifeBlood is a reference to the lyric "My life-blood spills over" from the Rush song 2112.

Track listing

#"1985" – 4:08
#"The Love of Richard Nixon" – 3:38
#"Empty Souls" – 4:05
#"A Song for Departure" – 4:20
#"I Live to Fall Asleep" – 3:57
#"To Repel Ghosts" – 3:58
#"Emily" – 3:34
#"Glasnost" – 3:14
#"Always/Never" – 3:42
#"Solitude Sometimes Is" – 3:21
#"Fragments" – 4:02
#"Cardiff Afterlife" – 3:27

Credits

*All songs written by: Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore.
*Additional lyrics on "Fragments" by: Patrick Jones.
*Keyboards: Nick Nasmyth, Jeremy Shaw.
*Percussion: Greg Haver.
*All tracks produced by Greg Haver, except "Solitude Sometimes Is", "Cardiff Afterlife" and "Emily" produced by Tony Visconti.
*Additional production on "1985", "The Love of Richard Nixon", "Solitude Sometimes Is", "Cardiff Afterlife" and "Emily" by Tom Elmhirst.