Manic Street Preachers: 'Autumnsong'

After the knowingly mature Lifeblood and overtly political Know You Enemy, it was a rare delight to have The Manics return to their traditional bone crunching, heart swelling anthems on their latest LP Send Away The Tigers. 'Autumnsong' is the second release from the album, and it signals a return to the grandiose, swirling, mega-hits that saw the band charge out of the indie wilderness into the mainstream ten years ago.

'Autumnsong' is the sound of some middle-aged men strapping on their favourite jeans, whipping out their leather jackets and rocking out like rowdy teenagers - which is nowhere near as horrendous as it sounds. The track opens with what sounds like the guitar solo from Gun N' Roses 'Sweet Child O'Mine', before soaring into a brash, euphoric, call-to-arms chorus. James Dean Bradfield's vocals are as impressively powerful and pure as ever in his career, blasting away the cobwebs that had started to gather after the band's creaky, last couple of albums.

Nicky Wire appears to have lost his regular lyric book, exchanging Orwell and Kafka sympathies for something more along the lines of Aerosmith. The tune's unforgettably daft lyric: "Now baby, what've you done to your hair? / Is it just the same time of year", wouldn't even go amiss on something by forgotten, pomp-rockers The Darkness. A bombastic return to form, which should rightfully be heard across the nation's arenas for many years yet.