Like countless British bands, Manic Street Preachers are prophets in their homeland but can't get arrested on the other side of the Atlantic.

It would be nice to think Lifeblood, their seventh studio set (and fourth release since the still-unsolved 1995 disappearance of troubled guitarist Richey James) would be the one to turn the tide. Well, maybe it will and maybe it won't. But there's no maybe about the fact that Lifeblood is a magnificent minor masterpiece that stands as the Manics' most consistently strong disc in years.

In a passionate and 45 minutes, the trio deliver a dozen lush, darkly shimmering epics of artful arena-pop that recall a blend of The Cure and early U2. And just for icing on the cake, they namedrop Morrissey and Marr, and sample Richard Nixon.

Arresting isn't the half of it.

Track Listing
1. 1985
2. Love Of Richard Nixon
3. Empty Souls
4. Song For Departure
5. I Live To Fall Asleep
6. To Repel Ghosts
7. Emily
8. Glasnost
9. Always/Never
10. Solitude Sometimes Is
11. Fragments
12. Cardiff Afterlife