Postcards from a Young Man is the tenth studio album by Welshalternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released on 20 September 2010. The Manics began recording the album (provisionally titled It's Not War – Just the End of Love) in October 2009 at their Faster Studio in Cardiff and finished in June 2010. The album was intended by the band as "one last shot at mass communication".[1]
The album reached the number 3 spot on the UK charts and was supported by the Manics' most extensive tour of the UK to date.[2]
Background
In an interview for NME, Bradfield said "We're going for big radio hits on this one [...] It isn't a follow-up to Journal for Plague Lovers."[3] Nicky Wire has said "We've always been about infiltrating the mainstream. It was a conscious decision this time to want to hear ourselves on the radio. Our mantra at the start was 'If you've got something to say, say it to as many people as possible'."[4] In pre-release interviews Wire also compared the album to the Aerosmith album Pump, saying that "it's going to be an amazing album... Send Away the Tigers was Permanent Vacation; this next one is our Pump."[5]
In July 2009 Wire said that the band's forthcoming album would "be heavy metalTamla Motown. Van Halen playing The Supremes! I know there's a lot of creativity in us and obviously because I didn't write lyrics on the last record I've got tons of words done."[6] Manics biographer Simon Price reacted to Nicky's announcement with amusement: 'Heavy metal Motown? I’ll believe it when I hear it. That Nicky Wire certainly can talk a good game. The thing is with those three lads is they'll sit around before writing any songs and come up with all these wildly juxtaposing ideas and styles, all of which sound great in theory, but when they actually start working towards them it always comes across sounding very much like a Manics record [...] I remember just before the Lifeblood album came out in 2004 Nicky had been telling me it was going to sound like Goldfrapp-meets-late '70s era David Bowie. And I could see what he meant, but when I actually heard it just reminded me of a more subdued version of their other stuff. In a good way though. A lot of the time Nicky goes public with these bold statements and then it comes down to it, it's up to James to try and back them up. That's a lot of pressure to put one person under and sometimes I’m positive James is at home half the time going "Oh no, what have you said this time?". '[7]
Ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan guests on one of the album's songs, "A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun", and four other tracks on the album feature a gospel choir.[4] On their website on 24 June 2010 the Manics posted the message "Magical day in Cardiff: Ian McCulloch singing duet & John Cale playing on a new Manics track in LA."[8] Of the album's lead single, "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love", Nicky Wire claimed "I believe in the tactile nature of rock 'n' roll. There's a generation missing out on what music meant to us... You can only elaborate on the stuff that compels you to. But 'It's Not War' is kind of saying 'Alright, we're not 18, but even at 40 the rage is still there'."[4]
Postcards from a Young Man was recorded with producer and longtime Manics collaborator Dave Eringa and was mixed in America by Chris Lord-Alge.[9] The album cover art uses a black and white photograph of British actor Tim Roth.[10]
Stylistically, the album is regarded as a foray into Seventies-style AOR and power-pop,[11] as well as a pop sound.[12]
Release
The album was released on 20 September 2010, going straight into the UK Album Charts at number 3. It was released in a standard version, two-disc deluxe version and limited edition box set.[13] In January 2011 the album achieved Gold status (100,000 copies) in the UK. The album reached an astonishing chart position in Greece, entering at number 8, and it also charted within the Top 20 in Czech Republic, Ireland and in Finland.
The album was met with positive reviews from critics, holding a score of 76/100 on review aggregator website Metacritic based on sixteen mainstream critics reviews.
AllMusic made a very positive review of the album with a rating of 4.5/5, saying that "everything is bigger than usual", finishing with "All this bustle winds up being the rarest of things for the Manics: it is fun. Granted, it is serious-minded fun with ambition, but with Manic Street Preachers you take fun whenever you can get it, and they've never sounded as ebullient as they do here."[15]
The Guardian rated the album with a 4 out of 5 stating: "This is what the Manic Street Preachers do. As it plays, you're struck by the fact that no one else does anything like it: reason enough for the Manic Street Preachers' continued existence."
NME gave a positive review to the album saying: "Among Postcards from a Young Man's several achievements is that it makes the '90s sound like they weren't an appalling place to be. It was never likely to best Everything Must Go's bravura passion play, but then again, the Manics' 10th offensive is a more playful beast than that - poignant, joyful and above all really, really loud."
Drowned in Sound gave an average score of 6/10 to the album: "It's an album which is self-aware enough to include, late on, a song called "All We Make Is Entertainment", and to end with another called "Don't Be Evil", an acknowledgement, perhaps, that that's all you can ask of a rock'n'roll band: refrain from actively making life worse. For 20 years, Manic Street Preachers have been making life better. They shouldn't worry. But if they didn't worry, what else would they do?"
Pitchfork rated the album with a 7.5/10 and Joe Tangari gave his opinion about the album, saying that: "While I wouldn't say that Postcards from a Young Man is quite the late-career masterstroke Journal for Plague Lovers was, it is still a product of a re-energized band. Whether or not it actually garners them the hits and mass audience they're aiming for (and at least in Britain, it seems inconceivable that it won't), they've managed to make an inviting, populist album that deserves the attention. It's maybe not quite heavy metal Tamla Motown, but it is Manic Street Preachers, and here, that's enough."
