Forever Delayed: Greatest Hits/Limited Edition

It shows their career progression clearly--from the dark places of avant-garde The Holy Bible (the Richey album) to the critical and commercial high point of the era-defining Everything Must Go (the without Richey album) and the ensuing struggle with how to proceed musically. The loss of Edwards had an obvious effect, but wasn't immediately indicative of an artistic decline. Only when they tried to revert to their roots did they come unstuck without him (2001's Know Your Enemy). Their commercial and artistic high points rarely combined, but to produce a collection from this period is to do the Manics a great injustice--even if it does have "Motown Junk" on it. --Ben Johncock