McFilter

Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness

The Manic Street Preachers are a band who have always surfed the periphery of my musical tastes. I quite like a lot of their work, generally finding them more accessible post-Richey, but not being enamoured enough to buy any of their albums. Until their greatest hits album, Forever Delayed, was released last year, I'd accumulated the odd track here and there on indie compilations, and the CD single of If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next was my only direct contribution to the Manic's pension fund.

The one track of theirs that I always felt my collection was lacking is Motorcycle Emptiness. I'm not sure whether that would've been enough to warrant me buying Forever Delayed, but I managed to acquire a free copy via a competition at BBC 6 Music.

Sometimes when you hear a song that you've not heard for ages, it is welcomed back with an enthusiasm that bears more relation to the nostalgia and freshness borne of its exile than the merits of the song as a piece of music. The appeal of such songs soon wanes, and it is best to discard them; ready for a future rediscovery to begin the process again. I am happy to say that this is not the case with Motorcycle Emptiness, it remains the soaring, best-played-loud tune that I remember.