delayed discussion of a delivered day of release

howdy pop pickers

well, yes, this is a trifle "late", look you see. i did indeed (quite happily) take ownership of my copies of the new album under discussion here on the day of release (August 14 2020), but now is the only time i have found a gap to write of it. to this, for those who were looking for cutting edge or instant reviews, i would quote the words of a dear friend. when speaking about movies, he said that a film was "new" no matter how old it was, up until the point you saw it. 

so, then, the album. it's Even In Exile, the second (that i am aware of) solo album by perpetual Manic Street Preacher vocalist and guitarist James Dean Bradfield. as has been widely reported (if you happen to have an awareness of such reports), it's a concept album concerning Victor Jara. based on (and quasi featuring, kind of) Jara's music, life and death, it draws on the poetry of and was co-written by Patrick Jones, brother of formal Manic Nicky Wire, with Patrick being an ipso facto "fifth Manic", if you will. this was something of an unexpected album, and also it is (for those looking for a quick review, if you are in a rush) one of the most extraordinary, beautiful and perfect records i have ever heard. 

no, i would not have said that i had all that much of an awareness of Victor Jara prior to the album being announced and subsequently released (albeit in a posted to me way). this confession of a lack of knowledge baffled one or two (very) good friends of mine, for they pointed out that many of the artists i have admired over the years (indeed decades) have referenced him. like, for instance, One Tree Hill by U2, which i would hold up as one of the greatest songs of all time. but, as i have stressed over the years, if you have to bring a level of knowledge to a song (or any work of art) then that work has failed, but it has succeeded if you experience it and learn something then. which is how i approached a listen to this record. should you not wish to take that approach (and i do encourage you to get this album as soon as possible), then here you go, a link to Jara's page on that Wikipedia thing. 

indeed i did buy two copies of the album, one on cd and one on tape. why? because they were available for sale, and the tape was at a reasonably, agreeable price (if we assume that the CD was a straightforward given). whereas i don't have much in the way of a direct, person to person social circle no more (and who does in this era of the invisible war on the plague, except "illegal" rave arrangers, apparently), fortune smiles on me enough to have a wide range of people that i correspond with. to this, one (exceptionally) dear friend expressed disbelief (and she used a quite rude swear word of a sexual inclination in her expression) that tapes were being made and i was buying them. others, however, pointed out that i once again was not a "proper" fan, since i purchased "only" two copies of it, as they mentioned the various different coloured vinyl variations they had purchased. so far as i am aware, for some it may seem extravagant buying two versions of the record; for others they note that i have bought a number of copies south of 50% of the versions available. you cannot, i am aware, thank you, please everyone. 

any chance of me discussing (or mentioning) the music here? yes, of course, eventually. but, other things also, and really it is so that the music itself is better heard, rather than reading what someone has to say of it. and, once again, it's an astonishing record, so go listen to it as soon as possible, should you have not done so already. 

for us Manic fans there was some cause for concern at the announcement of a new James Dean Bradfield solo album. the first, it turned out, was a "bit of an experiment" to see how a solo career would go, with the band doing the unthinkable and considering splitting up after one album, Lifeblood, did not do as well as hoped. it was so that they blamed "internet downloads" for its failure, rather than any silly decisions they made. like, for instance, ignoring 1985, one of the best songs they have ever done, as a possible single, and instead releasing The Love Of Richard Nixon, one of the most average things they have ever done, as a record. 

yes, the compact disc variation of Even In Exile, ordered from the Manics, did indeed come with a special signed insert off of James. i, and no doubt all my fellow fans who have ordered stuff off of them, have lost track as to how many things i have now got what have been signed by James, Nicky and Sean. all lovely, of course. 

this solo album, happily, does not seem to stem from any possible parting of the ways of the Manics at all. instead, opportunity and necessity. such a specific themed "concept" album wouldn't really work as a Manics record, with the nearest closest to such (a concept album) released in their name being The Holy Bible, or perhaps Journal For Plague Lovers. with all this "lockdown" business, an important part of the invisible war on the new plague, meaning musicians were inside at home with studios, well, why would you not record an album? 

every dream has a price, of course, so yes, Nicky Wire is also planning (i didn't say threatening) to release a second solo album. absolutely nothing about his first said that the world needed more of it, but, well, it might be ok. 

what makes Even In Exile most likely to be (depending on the suspected expected release of a Duran Duran album late in the year) the best album of the year, and to have a claim at being one of the finest of the century so far? in this day and age it feels like you can just say something on the internet and expect everyone to take it as the truth, so i am not sure that i need to qualify the statement all that much more. 

but, to try and do better than that (as far as i can), the compelling music draws you into the record, whilst the lyrics, and the voice (that voice) insist that you remain. the passion with which imagery is audibly generated and a story narrated is just plain remarkable. blessed be this new plague we live with if it was caused chance to create this album, a record the world so sorely needed. even if it was not aware of it. 

certainly, the album has inspired me (after several listens) to read up on Victor Jara. his life was beautiful, his end barbaric, needless and tragic. as in, upsets you to learn of the circumstances and, for really the want of a more appropriate word, "reason". whilst in no way, shape or form being critical (far from it), i am now, knowing what i now know, wondering why images of Jara have not become as commonplace or as use as those of, say, Che Guevara. 

for all the credit given to the "lockdown" creating circumstances which (presumably) allowed, or at least assisted, this record being made, a downside of it is, i assume, we won't see James Dean Bradfield take to the stage to perform it live any time soon. last i heard the Manics had planned a massive thank you concert for NHS workers in December. we still have to see if that goes ahead before giving hope to thoughts of Even In Exile getting a live performance. 

anyway, time i spend writing this, time you spend reading this is all (more or less) time not listening to this magnificent album. so, let me let you go and enjoy it again, or just head off and discover it for the first time. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!