Manic Street Preachers

As retrospective collections go this is a pretty fine package. The limited edition double-disc version includes a load of rare remixes by people like David Holmes, Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers, Avalanches, Cornelius, Mogwai and even Ian Brown. As for the MSP originals, the disc predictably pulls most of the material from their last three post-Richey James albums - this is a "greatest hits" package after all. Fortunately, the singles from the Generation Terrorists and Gold Against The Soul albums are present, although only "Faster" made the cut from The Holy Bible. The one-time single "Masses Against The Classes" is included, as well as the obligatory new tracks "There By The Grace of God" and "Door To The River." The new songs are quite good, even if they are an unfortunate trend (and obvious marketing ploy) in greatest hits CDs. Although the packaging for Forever Delayed is pretty, there isn't any history of the band, nor is there a chronological list of the albums and singles that are represented. Throughout the disc, the songs bounce around time, and even the track details don't indicate which album they are pulled from. On top of this the release dates on some of the older singles are misleadingly listed as "2002." Liner note frustrations aside, this is a fantastic collection of music from one of the UK's greatest acts - a band that knows how to mix rock and politics like no other. This is music with passion and conviction, and is highly recommended.