The Welsh guitar quartet Manic Street Preachers have never kept their socialist ideals to themselves during their ten years of existence. The long-awaited sixth studio album of the Manics contains a number of songs-with-a-message, with beautiful titles such as Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children and Baby Elian. Special in this respect is the unique concert that the band recently gave in communist
… Cuba, as the first Western pop group in twenty years. However, the album is more than a political statement. Know Your Enemy is primarily a collection of strong songs with multiple highlights: the Intravenous Agnostic with a lot of leather, the funny Beach Boys pastiche and also single So Why So Sad and the funky Miss Europa Disco Dancer with a prominent role for bassist Nicky Wire . Recognizable by the Manics is the passionate vocals of frontman James Dean Bradfield. Know Your Enemy is therefore a varied album that nevertheless sounds very coherent. (BP)more
