Framed as the album is through the unavoidable lens of the mysterious unsolved disappearance of its main lyricist Richey Edwards some months after release, there’s always been a constant danger of reading the Manic Street Preachers‘ third album as a cautionary note or code to crack. Better simply to acknowledge its truly gripping intensity, not only lyrically but in how the band absolutely cranked up some fierce slashing performances on songs like “Faster” and “Die in the Summertime.”