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Postcards From a Young Man
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Postcards From a Young Man Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

  • Summary: The Welsh rock band goes with a poppier sound on its Dave Eringa-produced 10th studio album.
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Top Track

It's Not War Just The End Of Love
To feel forgiveness, you gotta forgive Do you see the stars or the darkness begin? You fight your war, I fight for my life You pay your dues, and... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. AllMusic
    90
    Granted, it is serious-minded fun with ambition, but with Manic Street Preachers you take fun whenever you can get it, and they've never sounded as ebullient as they do here.
  2. Q Magazine
    80
    Still raging, not drowning, their flame burns unfashionably on. [Oct 2010, p.110]
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  3. Clash Music
    80
    There will be plenty of people who opt to be snobby about the fact that this record is so commercial, so polished and so brazen, but those people are all, to a man, idiots. If you can't love these songs, you are incapable of experiencing joy itself.
  4. Pitchfork
    75
    While I wouldn't say that Postcards From a Young Man is quite the late-career masterstroke Journal For Plague Lovers was, it is still a product of a re-energized band. Whether or not it actually garners them the hits and mass audience they're aiming for (and at least in Britain, it seems inconceivable that it won't), they've managed to make an inviting, populist album that deserves the attention.
  5. cokemachineglow
    Oct 22, 2010
    67
    It sounds like a Manic Street Preachers album, which alone renders it still better than all of the similar arena rock you can name.
  6. PopMatters
    60
    This lack of organic feeling, when paired with the continuous mention of "commercial" aims, becomes troubling.
  7. Slant Magazine
    60
    For all the furious posturing, the message is veneered too neatly with streamlined riffs and swamped too deep in nice-as-pie orchestral melodies. Seething rants seem to pack more of a punch when the product is less polished, and tend to get lost when bookended with excessively opulent trappings. This is rock music, after all.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. candyflip
    Apr 19, 2011
    9
    This album grew on me a lot, and quickly. Wasn't impressed at all initially. Still not convinced about Hazelton Avenue.. Highlights imoThis album grew on me a lot, and quickly. Wasn't impressed at all initially. Still not convinced about Hazelton Avenue.. Highlights imo however include the title track (great outro), Auto-Intoxication (interesting chord progressions with an excellent and typically Manics chorus), All We Make Is Entertainment (similar drumming to that on THB in places) and The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever (that awesome trumpet, great lyrics delivered really well by Nicky). In places on this record the Manics are on fire. Always creative and full of ideas, great songs, and James' voice still as towering and breathtaking as ever.… Expand
  2. Melendreras
    Oct 25, 2010
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Realmente es como si estas canciones fuesen los descartes de JFPL. No obstante, ojala hubiera mas discos de descartes como este. Y es cierto qeu suena a Manics, pero afortunadamente, eso es una gran noticia. Disfruten de la buena música, sin mas pretensiones.… Expand
  4. Frasoric
    Mar 8, 2023
    8
    Postcards From A Young Man is a album filled with lighter acoustic rock songs that could be heard on the radio(which isn't a bad thing). ThePostcards From A Young Man is a album filled with lighter acoustic rock songs that could be heard on the radio(which isn't a bad thing). The album provides instrumental work from Duff McKagan(Guns'n Roses), John Cale(Velvet Underground) and also vocals from Ian McCulloch(Echo and the Bunnymen). In saying that there are some sections of the record that fall short being the lyrics. Referencing the Godfather films and songs about making music doesn't seem that inspired compared to the bands track history. In summary, it's a good listen for a band that has been releasing music for two decades.… Expand

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