Love's Sweet Exile Explained

Love's Sweet Exile
Cover:	Loves_Sweet_Exile.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Manic Street Preachers
Album:	Generation Terrorists
B-Side:	"Repeat (UK)" "Democracy Coma" "Stay Beautiful" (live)
Genre:	Glam metal^[1] heavy metal progressive metal^[2]
Label:	Columbia
Producer:	Steve Brown
Prev Title:	Stay Beautiful
Prev Year:	1991
Next Title:	You Love Us
Next Year:	1992

"Love's Sweet Exile" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 28 October 1991 by record label Columbia as the second single from their debut album, Generation Terrorists (1992). The B-side, "Repeat (UK)", appears on the same album.

Content

The track "Love's Sweet Exile" was originally called "Faceless Sense of Void". The principal difference between the two is that the original version does not have the chorus of the recorded version. The melody for the chorus was taken from another unreleased Manic Street Preachers song, "Just Can't Be Happy Without You". The band – James Dean Bradfield in particular – have said that they dislike the version recorded for Generation Terrorists.^[3]

Marc Burrows of Drowned in Sound proclaimed the song "easily the most metal Generation Terrorists gets",^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Manic Street Preachers – National Treasures . . 29 October 2011 . 13 March 2016 . Shepard, Sam.
2. Book: Power . Martin . Nailed to History: The Story of Manic Street Preachers . 2018 . Omnibus Press . 9780857127761 . 19 July 2019.
3. Book: Power, Martin . Manic Street Preachers . 17 October 2010 . Omnibus Press.
4. New Releases: Singles . . 25 . 26 October 1991.
5. Web site: Manic Street Preachers . . 18 February 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928212406/http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/manic%20street%20preachers . 28 September 2013 .
6. https://www.manicstreetpreachers.com/cat-news/free-download-love-sweet-exile-acoustic-blue-version/
7. Web site: Manics Monday: Rain Down Alienation – Generation Terrorists Key Tracks. / In Depth // Drowned in Sound |last=Burrows |first=Marc |date=5 November 2012 |website=Drowned in Sound] |accessdate=30 December 2014 |archive-date=6 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106122603/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145695-manics-monday--rain-down-alienation-generation-terrorists%E2%80%99-key-tracks |url-status=dead }} illustrating it to be a "trad-metal monster" embellished by "Bradfield's most over-the-top solo". Sam Shepard of MusicOHM alluded to the track's "glam metal stylings", while Martin Power drew comparisons to "the work of a prog metal band".

   Release

   "Love's Sweet Exile" was released on 28 October 1991 by record label Columbia.^[4] The single reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart on 9 November 1991,^[5] making it the band's highest charting single at that point.

   The CD and standard 12-inch included "Democracy Coma" (which was an album track on the U.S. version of the debut album). There was also a limited gatefold 12-inch with a bonus live version of "Stay Beautiful".

   Re-release

   The track was re-worked and re-released as "Love's Sweet Exile (Acoustic Blue Version)" on 10 October 2011 as announced via the band's website.^[6] The song is available as a digital download from Amazon.

   Music video

   The video for the song directed by W.I.Z. is notable for its homoerotic imagery. Nicky Wire and Richey James Edwards are apparently naked while in close contact with each other, while Bradfield is also apparently naked, with an archery target drawn on his chest. The clip was also the first of many by the band to feature a favoured literary quote on screen. In this case, a piece of text credited to Albert Camus heralds the song; "And then came human beings. They wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to".

   Track listings

   7-inch

   CD and 12-inch

   Limited edition gatefold 12-inch

   References

   Sources

   • Book: Price, Simon . Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers) . Virgin Books . London . 0-7535-0139-2 . 1999.

   External links

   .