Forever Delayed

Forever Delayed
Greatest hits album by Manic Street Preachers
Released	28 October 2002
Recorded	1991-2002
Genre	Alternative rock, post-punk, hard rock, glam punk
Length	78:45 77:11 (bonus disc)
Label	Sony
Producer	Various (see track listing)
Manic Street Preachers chronology
Know Your Enemy (2001) Forever Delayed (2002) Lipstick Traces (2003)
Singles from Forever Delayed
"There by the Grace of God" Released: 14 October 2002

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
BBC Music	(unfavourable) [2]
Blender	[3]
Entertainment.ie	[4]
NME	(unfavourable) [5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Sputnikmusic	(3.5/5)[7]
Stylus Magazine	B− (Lindsay)[8] C− (Monks)[9]
Uncut	[10]
Yahoo! Music UK	[11]

Forever Delayed is a greatest hits album by the Manic Street Preachers, released in October 2002. The album included three singles which had never appeared on earlier albums ("Motown Junk," "Suicide Is Painless," and "The Masses Against the Classes"), the latter being one of the band's two UK #1 hits, along with "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next." Several songs were edited for length ("Motorcycle Emptiness," "You Love Us", "Australia," "Everything Must Go," "Little Baby Nothing," and "The Everlasting") so that more tracks could fit onto the CD (though not listed as edits in the liner notes). The album entered the UK Album Chart at #4.^[12]

Background

The album featured two new songs: the single "There by the Grace of God" and "Door to the River." "Door to the River" was originally recorded in the sessions for the Know Your Enemy album, but the band deemed the song too unfitting to the album's general style. "There By the Grace of God" could be seen as a foreshadowing of what followed the hits compilation, as it features a more electronic/keyboard-heavy style that would eventually be the main style of the band's next studio album, Lifeblood.

The title of Forever Delayed is lifted from the lyrics of their song "Roses in the Hospital" (which does not feature on the CD album). A song called "4 Ever Delayed" was recorded for inclusion but ended up not being included. Plans of releasing it as part of a new 2 Disc edition of the compilation and as CD single were then toyed with but never surfaced. It eventually wound up on the band's following B-sides and rarities compilation Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers) in 2003. The title of the greatest hits package had also been planned for several years previous, Nicky Wire first mentioned it in Everything - A Book About Manic Street Preachers, published in 1998.

Track listing

The Remixes

1. "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)" (The Chemical Brothers Remix) – 6:32
2. "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (David Holmes Remix) – 9:59
3. "Tsunami" (Cornelius Remix) – 4:07
4. "So Why So Sad" (The Avalanches Remix) – 4:59
5. "Faster" (The Chemical Brothers Remix) – 5:46
6. "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (Massive Attack Remix) – 4:55
7. "Kevin Carter" (Jon Carter Remix) – 7:43
8. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (David Holmes Remix) – 5:11
9. "Tsunami" (Stereolab Remix) – 6:45
10. "Let Robeson Sing" (Ian Brown Remix) – 5:01
11. "The Everlasting" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Vocal Remix) – 5:14
12. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (Mogwai Remix) – 6:14
13. "A Design for Life" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix) – 4:50

Credits

• Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, and 19:
  • Lyrics by Nicky Wire
  • Music by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore
• Tracks 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, 16, and 20:
  • Lyrics by Nicky Wire and Richey James Edwards
  • Music by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore
• Track 9:
  • Lyrics by Richey James Edwards
  • Music by James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore
• Track 17:
  • Written by Mike Altman and Johnny Mandel

References