Following up a greatest hits album with a collection of B-Sides, rarities and cover versions may smack to some of a cynical commercial cash-in. Coming from a band of '4 real' punk socialists however, 'Lipstick Traces' could positively reek of betrayal, if it hadn't been compiled with the help of an online fan poll. The public wants what the public gets...
However, when viewed less as a barrel scraping exercise and more as a clearing of the decks before the Manics' new studio album - the phrases 'doing a Radiohead' and 'elegiac pop' have been muttered about their seventh opus - 'Lipstick Traces' does yield its fair share of positive moments.
Disc One, the B-Sides and rarities compilation is the more cohesive and consistent of the two. It features two previously unreleased tracks: the great lost single '4 Ever Delayed' - a huge-sounding anthem - and more poignantly 'Judge Yr'self' - a brash, low-slung slice of punk energy and the last thing the band recorded as a four-piece before Richey's disappearance in 1995.
'Prologue To History' is thrilling, passionate rock; 'Comfort Comes' is a quirky, sinister bass-heavy chug; the flute and crisp strumming of 'Dead Trees And Traffic Islands' is strangely reminiscent of The Style Council; 'Horses Under Starlight' is a Bacharach & David style instrumental and the live version of 'Strip It Down' is joyously urgent angry punk.
Often on Disc One, it's the passion in James Dean Bradfield's fine vocals that carries potentially lacklustre, melody-free cuts. Strength becomes weakness on the covers disc however, with the frontman's delivery faltering and uneasy as he attempts to interpret the lyrics and phrasings of others.
Some of these covers may have sounded like a good idea down the pub - Art Garfunkel's 'Bright Eyes', Wham's 'Last Christmas' - recorded at TFI Friday. Others were undoubtedly noble, heartfelt tributes to great talent - Bacharach's 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' and Paul Robeson's 'Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel'.
Ultimately though it's the band's punkier side which fits them tighter than an especially tight pair of bondage trousers. Versions of The Clash's 'Train In Vain' and 'What's My Name', the Happy Mondays' 'Wrote For Luck' and a raunchy live rendition of Guns N' Roses 'It's So Easy' rock like the proverbial muthas!
However, this is far from an essential or compelling collection and 'Lipstick Traces' will interest only devotees and completists. Meanwhile the rest of us can only hope that the Manics have finished clearing out their attic and are now getting down to penning an album as life affirming as 'The Holy Bible' or 'Everything Must Go'.
It's been a while.
