Search This Site
| |
JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD The Great Western (2006)  Rating (Out of 10): 8.5 That's No Way To Tell A Lie/An English Gentleman/Bad Boys & Painkillers/On Saturday Morning We Will Rule The World/Run Romeo Run/Still A Long Way To Go/Émigré/To See A Friend In Tears/Say Hello To The Pope/Wrong Beginning/Which Way To Kyffin James Dean Bradfield has always said that he would never record a solo album, but this is the same man who said that the Manic Street Preachers would record one album, sell a million copies and split up. 7 albums later they’re still going strong and guess what? Front man James Dean Bradfield has just released a solo album! Well, he’s nothing if not consistent I guess! It makes a lot of sense for JDB to take some time out to pursue a solo project. He pretty much single handedly wrote the music for most Manics tracks, and has proved himself as one of the industries leading guitarists but with Nicky and Ritchie writing the lyrics it always seemed only a matter of time before he would want to voice his own thoughts. Having written the lyrics from ‘Ocean Spray’ a track from ‘Know Your Enemy’, Bradfield proved himself to be a competent lyricist, so it is natural for him to want to do more, and ‘The Great Western’ sees James prove himself to be a very competent lyricist indeed. His best pal Nicky Wire hasn’t completely deserted him though having written the lyrics for ‘Bad Boys And Painkillers’ which is very much a typical Nicky Wire lyric but Bradfield makes the song his own with beautiful harmonies and a jaunty melody. Prior to the Release of ‘The Great Western’, there was a lot of speculation about what sort of sound James would go for. Would it be the raw punk sound of early years Manic Street Preachers, or would it be the softer string accompanied sound of the ‘Everything Must Go’ era or would it be something totally different and not sound like the Manics at all? In reality it is closest to the latter. ‘The Great Western’ sees Bradfield depart very much from anything the Manics has done before. The opening track and lead single ‘That’s No Way To Tell A Lie’ with it’s string accompaniment has vague similarities to the type of track on ‘Everything Must Go’, but that’s where the similarities to Manics material start and end. Instead of copying what has gone before or drawing influences from the past, JDB has put a lot of effort into creating a whole new sound and creating an identity for himself that is very much separate to the Manic Street Preachers. The striking thing about ‘The Great Western’ it is that it is a surprisingly quiet affair. It would be easy to assume that a James Dean Bradfield solo album would be all guitars and shouting, but I think he has proven what a multi faceted musician he really is. He shows his softer, mellower side with an album which is on the whole mellow and poetic. One of the highlights of ‘The Great Western’ is a cover of the Jacques Brel track ‘To See A Friend In Tears’. Throughout the track he gives an utterly beautiful vocal performance and creates a very serene, very emotionally laden atmosphere, and manages to make the song seem relevant to today’s society. One of the strongest songs on the album is ‘Émigré’ which is a fantastic pop song with great lyrics and a strong chorus. You’ll find it impossible not to sing along to ‘And when it rains it feels like a holiday sha la la’! A lot of soul searching has gone on with this album. A lot of exploration and experimentation. It would have been easy for someone like JDB to just have thrown together a few songs for an album, but that it exactly what he hasn’t done. It makes you wonder what the future holds for the Manics. I have no doubt that we haven’t heard the last of them. But when they do return, maybe the dynamics will have changed. Maybe James will be writing more lyrics. But I also hope we haven’t heard the last of JDB’s solo material. Send A Comment |
