Manic Street Preachers "you can draw some pretty obvious conclusions from the lyrics." Wire, who admitted finding the task of editing this song "pretty choking", eventually composed the music and sang lead vocals after Bradfield found himself unsuited to the task. Bradfield commented that "Journal for Plague Lovers" was an attempt to finally secure the legacy of their former member Richey Edwards and the result was that, during the recording process, it was as close to feeling his presence since his disappearance: "There was a sense of responsibility to do his words justice. That was part of the whole thing of letting enough
Manic Street Preachers features a quotation from Wyndham Lewis: "When a man is young, he is usually a revolutionary of some kind. So here I am, speaking of my revolution". The band ended up promoting the album with appearances in the summer festivals like Reading and Leeds Festivals and Glastonbury Festival. The band released a Christmas single, "The Ghosts of Christmas", in December. The track was available as a free download on their official website throughout December 2007 and January 2008. In February 2008, the band were presented with the God-Like Geniuses Award at the NME Awards ceremony. The ninth Manics album, "Journal