The Love of Richard Nixon

Wow

This is like the Manics have re-invented themsel...  Read full review »

Great melodic pop, immensely likeable.

Hardcore Manic Street Preacher fans probably won't like this release. It's too effective by half - even more so than 'If You Tolerate...'. It's undeniably a slice of fantastic, if slightly offbeat pop. The chorus floats by beautifully and is sung particula...  Read full review »

A great return...

The Manics casn justifiably be called pompous know-it-alls. Nicky Wire has a breathtaking ability to antagonise the music press and anyone else who comes into his presence. That said, I never consider transferring those criticisms into reviews of their music as justified.

Sometimes they get accused of being MOR compared to their earlier records, sometimes they get accused of double standards. Basically though, this record is about double standards. It is not about Nixon actually being a good guy or Clinton being a bad one - it's about the inherent contradictions that history forces...  Read full review »

It's obvious when you think about it

So the Manic Street Preachers have finally become the new Pet Shop Boys that they so obviously always wanted to be. It was bound to happen, wasn't it?
Their families must be so proud.
Musically it's the worst kind of elevator music pop,...  Read full review »

Greatest comeback single since 'Tolerate'!

The Manics have been everywhere since they began. From young punk rebellion to almighty welsh heroes. The new single taken from their 7th album is another step forward from the band who once claimed they'd only record one album and split up, this being at least their 30th single to be released. The song itself is not recognisable as the Manics at all, it is more homage to early 80's pop music such as 'Human League' or 'Visage'. It is a brave thing to do to releas...  Read full review »

A Cursory Review of History

I like the song and think the offbeat subject matter is interesting. The previous reviewer's comments regarding Nixon and Clinton are the reader's digest versions, with no context whatsoever to the events described. They, of course, fall in line EXACTLY with what so many others-those who haven't ever read any in-depth books about the subjects alluded to-have to say. It's frustrating to read such facile interpretations of what were extremely complex issues, the kind that can't be explained away in a sentence or two. Of course, the review is supposed to be of a song and not the subject matter, but the reviewer couldn't refrain from sharing his half-baked opinions. Few things are more unenlightening than oversimplified conventional thinking. So you think Clinton should have waited for the U.N.'s approval before taking action in Kosovo? He should have let the slaughter continue merely because the U.N., as usual, d...  Read full review »

Good video, and a grower of a song

The Love of Richard Nixon has a good video, and the song has grown on me after hearing it in its proper context on the excellent Lifeblood album.

The video is cinematic, beautifully shot, and it fits the feel of the song perfectly. Musically, the song is subtle, slow and strange. James Dean Bradfield's voice is low and subdued, if that can be believed, and his guitar solo towards the end of the song is excellent. However, musically I think the song doesn't really work as a single and it only really comes into its own in the context of the album. Regarding the concept, I could write a wordy thesis looking at the geopolitical implications of the song, but the I would be taking my pop music *way* too seriously. Instead, I could choose to enjoy the sentiment behind this song, enjoy its defiant message, and feel thankful that this band ha...  Read full review »

Nice video, shame about the rest....

There's no doubt the promo to this song is excellent- the record sounds so flat without it- almost as dull as the live-version they performed on telly recently! The Holy Bible apart, it's hard to not find fault with this band- the tedious sloganeering, the MOR-metal, the boring nationalism, the interest in sports, shaking hands with human rights abusers etc. It's like shooting Fish from Marillion in a barrel.

But the confusing things about 'The Love of Richard Nixon' are two-fold: (i) the music, & (ii) the lyrics. The first is odd as on their last album the Manic-ones were still moaning about idiotic dance-music (yes really moved on from the same gripe circa Gold Against the Soul!). Strangely they've now adopted a dance-sound, though come off sounding like The Farm trying to be U2 circa-Pop. It's inoffensive, but musically it's nowhere near as adventerous as bands like Radiohead and U2 the Manics like to slate.

Worse are the lyrics- Nicky Wire attempts to fashion some notion that Richard Nixon is unfairly treated by history, while Bill Clinton is revered. Except this notion is flawed and probably just emanates from a cursory viewing of Oliver Stone's biopic Nixon (1995) which dares to humanise Nixon. Then again, Neil Young wrote Campaigner in 1975 which stated, "Even Richard Nixon has got...  Read full review »