Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers)

Manics' Jumble Sale

     

A grab bag of rare gems, covers, and live tracks pre-Lifeblood. There are some genuinely life-changing moments here that cover all the Manics' career phases from the early New Art Riot days all the way up to Know Your Enemy. It's hard to find fault with almost any of the songs on Disc One here, though no question the sequencing is terrible (not that that matters on iTunes) and many of their best B-sides (like "Never Want Again" or "Too Cold Here") didn't make the cut in favor of a more comprehensive overview. (For what it's worth, the Manics' B-sides are as quality as those of The Smiths and worthy of a far more comprehensive collection...) And aside from the McCarthy, Clash, Paul Robeson, and Guns n Roses covers (all excellent), the covers on Part Two are decidedly not worthy of an entire disc. Last note: "Dead Trees And Traffic Islands" was the first song that really got me hooked me on the Manics back in '96, and I highly recommend that along with "Mr. Carbohydrate" as a starting point to getting to know this great band.