Journal for Plague Lovers Journal for Plague Lovers Journal for Plague Lovers is the ninth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released in May 2009 by record label Columbia. Recorded between October 2008 and February 2009 and produced by Steve Albini and Dave Eringa, it features exclusively posthumous-published lyrics by Richey Edwards, who disappeared on 1 February 1995 and was presumed deceased in 2008. It is the only Manic Street Preachers album in which the lyrics for every song were written solely by Edwards. The album received a very positive critical reception and debuted at number 3 in the UK
Manic Street Preachers the Manic Street Preachers are apparent in many of the album's songs, such as "Baby Elián" as they comment on the strained relations between the United States and Cuba as seen in the Elián González affair, a hot topic around the album's release. The band also pays tribute to singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson in the song "Let Robeson Sing", but the song "Ocean Spray", which was a single, was written entirely by James about his mother's battle with cancer. The first singles from the album, "So Why So Sad" and "Found That Soul", were both released on