Gold Against The Soul

Product Information

Vocals and cymbals sound great, so there's that to enjoy, and unlike Hagstrom, I didn't notice any unwanted distortion anywhere. The remastered vinyl is the original album but comes with a download code to the extra tracks on CD 1 (ie the B-sides) but not, it seems, the music on CD 2. At five and a half minutes it is the longest song on the album, but pans out impressively, with spiky guitars, prominent drums, and the lyric "Rock and Roll has a conscience", presumably as a reference to their own body of work.

The reissue ends with more remixes of ‘Roses in the Hospital’ then anyone really needs but omits the seven-inch version of that same single. The album is the ex-girlfriend they want to forget, while fans keep saying what a ‘nice girl’ she was. Yes, it is a hardcover book, but it’s A4-sized and can’t sit properly alongside the 12-inch boxes (they’re too big) or the smaller deluxe sets (they’re too small).

As well as gearing up for a summer of stadium shows supporting The Killers and Green Day throughout the UK and Europe, the Manics are currently at work on the follow-up to 2018’s acclaimed ‘Resistance Is Futile‘. The quiet bits sound loud and the loud bits also sound loud, leading to what audiophiles refer to as ‘brickwalling’. Nostalgic Pushead' is yet more evidence of high budget, yet for all that, it seems to lack soul, and much of this album does not replicate the same Joie De Vivre as GT, but this zeal would soon be found again on their next album.

James’ room was haunted in the manor and thought that there was something coming in and turning his lights and TV on every night. For the deluxe reissue coming in June, Wire promised that fans would enjoy a deep-dive into the treasure trove of B-sides and never-heard-before demos.In March 2020, following several anniversary re-releases of old albums in previous years, the Manics announced a deluxe reissue of Gold Against the Soul for release on 12 June 2020. The latter publication, in a retrospective review of The Holy Bible, looked back on Gold Against the Soul as "an underrated pop-metal effort that's armed with a handful of bona-fide big tunes", and cited " La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)" as its highlight. There’s an amazing batch of demos that are quite revealing – some of them are really confused versions of what ended up on the album.

Nostalgic Pushead' interestingly also contains the sound of Sean Moore dropping a snooker ball into a frying pan, such was the freedom to explore whatever musical indulgence they desired. Yourself' and 'Symphony Of Tourette' have the same grungey feel as 'Sleepflower', the first being a self-loathing diatribe and the latter being a foul-mouthed, violent outburst surrounded by heavy, disjointed guitars and frenetic drums. This was one of the most obvious hints at what would be Richey Edward's lasting legacy: a sadness and loneliness which was to cripple him to the point of despair.

I remember our manager at the time Philip Hall saying that he could imagine Freddie Mercury singing ‘La Tristesse Durera’. Manic Street Preachers have revealed details of the reissue of their 1993 album ‘Gold Against The Soul’. In his review for Vox, Keith Cameron remarked that the album showed Manic Street Preachers "skating gingerly over that treacherous Difficult Second Album ice". Yes, it’s interesting looking at the young band during this era, but that’s all the tome consists of – great photos (and some lyrics).