Rewind the Film

The biting nostalgia of middle age runs throughout the lyrics and the band’s desire to produce something akin to ‘Automatic For The People’ is largely fulfilled.

A refreshingly enjoyable album.

There's an often harrowing conviction to Rewind The Film's primarily acoustic arrangements and elegant melodies, heralding a new level of artistry for this unique band. [Oct 2013, p.87]

30 Years Of War aside, this is an album that finds the Manics in fine form.

The Manics’ 11th album is a subtle, satisfying record that showcases their continuing ability to soar, albeit without digging anywhere near as deep as their politico-punk-pop totems, 1992’s ‘Generation Terrorists’ and 1996’s ‘Everything Must Go’.

The hallmarks of the Manic Street Preachers’s sound haven’t gone missing, they’ve just morphed into different forms. James Dead Bradfield still sings with conviction, but this time he’s not shouting at the machine. Instead his forceful vocals are a personal peek into the tribulations faced by him, Wire and drummer Sean Moore over the years.

It's this ease of expression, both lyrically and musically, that makes Rewind The Film such a captivating listen. [Oct 2013, p.101]

Sometimes the marriage of sentiment and sound is more obvious but it doesn't undermine the thoughtfulness of their restraint.

It reveals a broader musical and emotional palette than they've exposed before.

Ageing is a war they can’t win, but by facing it head-on, the Manics have found the spur to move forwards.

Rewind the Film seems immediately poised for lost-classic status-- for all its clumsiness and flaws, it’s the kind of album that wants you to let it sink in, or even gather dust, until you remember it’s there.

The result, improbably, is their best set in years.

Regardless of whether you share the Manic's collective outlook on life, and if you're not forty plus you might not, you can only take Rewind The Film for exactly what it is: a band who know where they want to be and are comfortable with that. And, interestingly enough, this is maybe the closest we'll ever get to really knowing them.