My iPod #265: Manic Street Preachers - A Design for Life

Noted for being the first track the band worked on after guitarist Richey Edwards' unexpected disappearance, "A Design for Life" was the first single released from Manic Street Preachers' fourth album "Everything Must Go".

I watched its video a long time ago having no idea who the band was and still left in wonder of the thing. That James Dean Bradfield is an astonishing singer. The vocals on this track are delivered with pure passion and power, and both the pre-chorus and chorus themselves are nothing short of shiver-inducing with those dramatic string arrangements. I will go on to say that it's not my favourite MSP song. But my god you can't say that it isn't epic. Finding out that it was the first song the band released after a time when the band members weren't sure if they were even going to continue makes it that bit more special too.