The Manic Street Preachers may now look like three middle-aged men with a nice line in three chord choruses and harmonies, but for many they are still fondly remembered as the band who revitalised the 1990s with their unique brand of glamour-laden punk rock. No-one who has ever seen them live can fail to be impressed by frontman James Dean Bradfield's trademark spinning guitar solos, and impressive array of facial expressions.

Now he has produced his first solo album, entitled The Great Western. Having touched the lyric sheet once before as a Manic with Ocean Spray, a deeply personal meditation on his mother's death, he comments on his decision to go it alone for the first time: "I missed writing songs and I missed performing music and it's as simple as that. So I thought; perhaps I've just got to garner some self-confidence to write some stuff of my own." If any further proof were needed of Bradfield's relevance to these times, then Manics devotees old and new and the few music fans left untouched by their rich catalogue over the years will be unsurprised by the depth and quality of That's No Way to Tell a Lie and the songs on The Great Western. It is an album that seems to capture the breath of life so readily attached to the Manic's finest moments. James Dean Bradfield plays Manchester Academy 2 on Tuesday October 10. Tickets £12.50, ring 0871 2200 260 or buy online at www.gigsandtours.com