Gold Against The Soul

Product Information

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. Like “Nostalgic Pushead”, the rhythm section is mainly built on a percussion loop programmed by Sean Moore. In his review for Vox, Keith Cameron remarked that the album showed Manic Street Preachers "skating gingerly over that treacherous Difficult Second Album ice". The band have finally got around to reissuing Gold Against The Soul, almost grudgingly it seems, with Nicky Wire all but acknowledging it’s the black sheep in the family of their early albums: “We haven’t always been the most complementary about this album in the past, but with hindsight it was a strange and curious record. 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.

The process of remastering that involves overly compressing music and just cranking everything up to the max. Gold Against the Soul takes to an extreme the hard rock sound of its predecessor and saw the band experiment with styles including funk and the then-contemporary grunge. However, it's only a minor complaint, and if you turn your volume up loud enough, you won't really notice it anyway. Can't relate to the earlier reviews at all, this remaster sounds great on my system, low end is lovely, I can feel the bass, just how I like it.This has really brought back a lot of memories of the four of us being in the studio and playing snooker endlessly. The 2011 compilation National Treasures – The Complete Singles includes a remastered version of the Gold Against The Soul singles and I had a listen to ‘From Despair To Where’ and it’s far less harsh than on this new album reissue. We haven’t always been the most complementary about this album in the past, but with hindsight it was a strange and curious record with many fan’s favourites on it. The album has often divided opinion among fans and critics due to its decadent glam-rock sound and approach.

I’ve been tidying my house, going through our archives and moving studios and found a load of stuff that I thought was lost forever,” bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire told NME. 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. 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. Have to (partially) disagree with hagrstom's review about the remastering: it is indeed a tad hot, but what we should expect from an alternative rock record? Against that, the remaster is less congested (for example, it's easier to hear the separation of the guitar tracks) and has a better foundation in the low frequencies.The band's vocalist and guitarist James Dean Bradfield has said "All we wanted to do was go under the corporate wing. I was therefore keenly anticipating the follow-up and didn’t have to wait very long as the Dave Eringa-produced Gold Against The Soul arrived about 18 months after the first album and delivered three great singles in ‘From Despair To Where’, ‘La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)’ and ‘Roses in the Hospital’ (as well as the ‘Life Becoming A Landslide’ EP). The album presents a different sound from their debut album, not only in terms of lyrics but in sound.