Manic Street Preachers about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" has gained them a loyal following and cult status. With their debut album, "Generation Terrorists", the Manic Street Preachers proclaimed it would be the "greatest rock album ever", as well as hoping to sell "sixteen million copies" around the world, after which they would split up. Despite the album's failure to meet this level of success, the band carried on with their career. The group became a trio after Richey Edwards disappeared in February 1995. The band went on to gain critical and commercial success in spite of his absence. Edwards was legally "presumed
Lifeblood (album) forever as one of the best commercial albums of the bands career." John Garrett from PopMatters wrote "Richey may be long dead, but there's still warm blood coursing through the Manics' veins. They are for real—although maybe not in the way history had intended." A negative review came from "Q", calling the album "miserable and insipid". Lifeblood (album) Lifeblood is the seventh studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Recorded in 2003, it was released on 1 November 2004 by record label Sony Music UK. The album was met with generally positive reviews from critics, yielding two