Forever Delayed

For the DVD of the same name that was released around the same time as this album, see Forever Delayed (DVD).

Forever Delayed
Greatest hits album by Manic Street Preachers
Released	28 October 2002
Recorded	1991-2002
Genre	Alternative rock, post-punk, hard rock, glam punk
Length	78:45 77:11 (bonus disc)
Label	Sony
Producer	Various (see track listing)
Manic Street Preachers chronology
Know Your Enemy (2001) Forever Delayed (2002) Lipstick Traces (2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
NME	(unfavourable) 2002
BBC	(unfavourable) 2002
Rolling Stone	2002
Yahoo! Music	(8/10) 2002
entertainment.ie	2002
Blender	2002

Forever Delayed is a greatest hits album by the Manic Street Preachers, released in October 2002. The album included three singles which had never appeared on earlier albums ("Motown Junk," "Suicide Is Painless," and "The Masses Against the Classes"), the latter being one of the band's two UK #1 hits, along with "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next." Several songs were edited for length ("Motorcycle Emptiness," "You Love Us", "Australia," "Everything Must Go," "Little Baby Nothing," and "The Everlasting") so that more tracks could fit onto the CD (though not listed as edits in the liner notes). The album entered the UK Album Chart at #4.

Background

The album featured two new songs: the single "There by the Grace of God" and "Door to the River." "Door to the River" was originally recorded in the sessions for the Know Your Enemy album, but the band deemed the song too unfitting to the album's general style. "There By the Grace of God" could be seen as a foreshadowing of what followed the hits compilation, as it features a more electronic/keyboard-heavy style that would eventually be the main style of the band's next studio album, Lifeblood.

The title of Forever Delayed is lifted from the lyrics of their song "Roses in the Hospital" (which does not feature on the CD album). A song called "4 Ever Delayed" was recorded for inclusion but ended up not being included. Plans of releasing it as part of a new 2 Disc edition of the compilation and as CD single were then toyed with but never surfaced. It eventually wound up on the band's following B-sides and rarities compilation Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers) in 2003. The title of the greatest hits package had also been planned for several years previous, Nicky Wire first mentioned it in Everything - A Book About Manic Street Preachers, published in 1998.

Track listing

#	Song Title	Length	From	Originally Released	Producer
01	A Design for Life	4:20	Everything Must Go	15 April 1996 (No. 2)	Mike Hedges
02	Motorcycle Emptiness (Edit)	5:06	Generation Terrorists	1 June 1992 (No. 17)	Steve Brown
03	If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next	4:51	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	24 August 1998 (No. 1)	Dave Eringa
04	La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)	4:06	Gold Against the Soul	26 July 1993 (No. 22)	Dave Eringa
05	There by the Grace of God	3:47	Previously unreleased	14 October 2002 (No. 6)	Mike Hedges
06	You Love Us (Edit)	3:14	Generation Terrorists	16 January 1992 (No. 16)	Steve Brown
07	Australia (Edit)	3:42	Everything Must Go	2 December 1996 (No. 7)	Mike Hedges
08	You Stole the Sun from My Heart	4:21	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	8 March 1999 (No. 5)	Mike Hedges
09	Kevin Carter	3:24	Everything Must Go	30 September 1996 (No. 9)	Mike Hedges
10	Tsunami	3:49	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	5 July 1999 (No. 11)	Mike Hedges
11	The Masses Against the Classes	3:23	Non-album track	10 January 2000 (No. 1)	Dave Eringa
12	From Despair to Where	3:21	Gold Against the Soul	7 June 1993 (No. 25)	Dave Eringa
13	Door to the River	4:41	Previously unreleased	Not Charted	Mike Hedges
14	Everything Must Go	3:07	Everything Must Go	22 July 1996 (No. 5)	Mike Hedges
15	Faster	3:53	The Holy Bible	6 June 1994 (No. 16)	Manic Street Preachers and Steve Brown
16	Little Baby Nothing (featuring Traci Lords) (Edit)	4:12	Generation Terrorists	16 November 1992 (No. 29)	Steve Brown
17	Suicide Is Painless (Theme from M*A*S*H) (Edit)	3:28	Non-album track	7 September 1992 (No. 7)	Manic Street Preachers and Steve Brown
18	So Why So Sad	3:45	Know Your Enemy	26 February 2001 (No. 8)	Dave Eringa
19	The Everlasting (Edit)	4:07	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	30 November 1998 (No. 11)	Mike Hedges
20	Motown Junk	3:59	Non-album track	21 January 1991 (No. 94)	Robin Wynn Evans

The Remixes

1. "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)" (The Chemical Brothers Remix) – 6:32
2. "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (David Holmes Remix) – 9:59
3. "Tsunami" (Cornelius Remix) – 4:07
4. "So Why So Sad" (The Avalanches Remix) – 4:59
5. "Faster" (The Chemical Brothers Remix) – 5:46
6. "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (Massive Attack Remix) – 4:55
7. "Kevin Carter" (Jon Carter Remix) – 7:43
8. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (David Holmes Remix) – 5:11
9. "Tsunami" (Stereolab Remix) – 6:45
10. "Let Robeson Sing" (Ian Brown Remix) – 5:01
11. "The Everlasting" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Vocal Remix) – 5:14
12. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (Mogwai Remix) – 6:14
13. "A Design for Life" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix) – 4:50

Credits

• Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, and 19:
  • Lyrics by Nicky Wire
  • Music by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore
• Tracks 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, 16, and 20:
  • Lyrics by Nicky Wire and Richey James Edwards
  • Music by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore
• Track 9:
  • Lyrics by Richey James Edwards
  • Music by James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore
• Track 17:
  • Written by Mike Altman and Johnny Mandel