Resistance Is Futile

Resistance Is Futile. That’s a proper Manic’s album title that, isn’t it? So, it should surprise no one that the band are following up 2014’s frankly outstanding Futurology with a record which sees the band taking inspiration from what some fans would consider (okay, this writer sides with The Holy Bible, but that’s beside the point) to be their finest work: Generation Terrorists and Everything Must Go.

The band have described this work as “obsessively melodic” and the result of “old school hard work”. When they’re in this kind of form, they really are a formidable force of nature. James Dean Bradfield’s guitars trill and drive the songs along, reminiscent of their early to mid-90’s stadium filling best, and the production really showcases what a talent he still is. That youthful energy of Terrorists is all there, remarkable for a band headed into its decade of recording albums. Yet the maturity of ETMG shines through in lush, sweeping string arrangements.

When you listen to the brilliance of these songs, you realise that they are masters at the very top of their game. It’s really hard to imagine where that early noughties blip or that wretched football song ever came from.

Released: April 2018
Cat: 19075809891
Label: Columbia

Listen

Tracklist

1. People Give In
2. International Blue
3. Distant Colours
4. Vivian
5. Dylan & Caitlin
6. Liverpool Revisited
7. Sequels Of Forgotten Wars
8. Hold Me Like A Heaven
9. In Eternity
10. Broken Algorithms
11. A Song for The Sadness
12. The Left Behind