Manic Street Preachers

Generation Terrorists 20th Anniversary EditionSony ****

Arriving slap-bang in our faces more than 20 years ago, Manic Street Preachers had a true ideological manifesto: record a double debut album, watch it sell 16 million copies, then split up. Life has a funny way of turning out wrong, and so, two decades after its release – with the Preachers still performing and making records – comes an expanded version with all the legacy/heritage gubbins intact.

On its release, Generation Terrorists was viewed as a grand folly, and so it remains: amid some superlative tracks (Slash 'N'Burn, Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds, Motorcycle Emptiness, Little Baby Nothing, You Love Us) lie detritus . As a cohesive album, then, it lacks; as a perfectly realised musical alchemy, it's almost impossible to beat. manicstreetpreachers.com

Download:You Love Us, Motorcycle Emptiness