preach out and touch somebody; They transformed themselves from

Sunday Herald, The, Sep 22, 2002 by rock

whatever you do, don't miss this Manic Street Preachers Greatest Hits Tour

SECC, Glasgow, December 4 These days the Manic Street Preachers don't have fans so much as defenders. They may never have actually outsold Guns 'N' Roses - a key aim in their punk-primitive manifesto set out by lead singer James Dean Bradfield at the very outset of their twisting career - but they've given Axl Rose's mob a hell of a run for their money. After five years as sneering, difficult-child outsiders, they finally cracked the big time in 1996 with the release of Everything Must Go, becoming one of Britain's biggest-selling rock bands.

But this success also made them easy targets, and while you get the feeling that the combative Welsh rock trio enjoy being in the crosshairs, their blimp-like profile - and their increasingly blimp- like appearance - meant that soon after their crossover older fans scented sell-out, while newer fans baulked at their increasingly pretentious song titles, culminating in the ludicrous This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours album of 1998.

Now, 12 years since they first started annoying people, they're pulling in at what is traditionally the last-but-one stop before rock oblivion: the greatests hits. But examining the track listing of their forthcoming Forever Delayed collection, it makes you glad they didn't split up immediately after the release of their first album, Generation Terrorists, like they promised. As well as the non-LP hits Suicide Is Painless and Masses Against The Classes, it includes all their best work, from the keening guitar lines of From Despair To Where to the string-soaked melancholia of If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (which, surely, is the only number-one hit single ever to be written about the Spanish Civil War).

A recent headline slot at V2002, filling in for injury-prone Travis, demonstrated that the Manics don't have a problem revisiting the highlights of their past, and they're even attempting to make their Greatest Hits tour a democratic affair; fans can request their favourite tracks on the official website, and the results of the poll will dictate what Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore actually belt out on the night. But - as the band themselves might have block- stencilled on to a T-shirt back in the day ago - democracy is a sham; surely for every fanboy who demands Motown Junk and Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart, there'll be a dozen requests for A Design For Life. But them's the breaks.

www.manics.co.uk who to watch tippi The Loft, Forres, September 29, Raigmore, Inverness, September 30; 204, Greenock, October 4; Lava, Aberdeen, October 7; Bongo Club, Edinburgh, October 8; Fat Sams, Dundee, October 9; Twa Tams, Perth, October 10; Barfly, Glasgow, October 12 In ouR depressing modern culture - where people seem determined to win a music career they don't deserve on television - it's refreshing to see a local girl like Tippi doing things the old-fashioned way. This Strathclyde University graduate started her music career strumming at open-mic spots at Nice 'n' Sleazy in Glasgow, but in just the past year has opened for an impressive list of names including The Proclaimers, Bryan Adams, Lionel Richie, Tom Jones, Warren Zevon and even her musical idol Paul Weller.

So far the only product she's put out is her sensitive cover of the classic Blue Nile song Tinseltown In The Rain, which endeared her to Scottish commercial radio but hardly set the world alight (except, oddly enough, in Greece, where it went to number one for a fortnight). But all that looks set to change with the release of her first self-penned single, It's A Phase, out at the start of October on her own Tip Top label, which should demonstrate her talent to the wider world.

It also augurs well for her debut album, Remember My Face, which is tentatively scheduled for release later this year. But before that, she's heading out on an extensive tour of these isles to knock her backing band into shape. This is your chance to catch her before she becomes as big as Texas.

www.tippionline.com for the record September 30 Elvis Presley: Elvis Number Ones (RCA) Supergrass: Life On Other Planets (Parlophone) Suede: A New Morning (Sony) October 7 Will Young: From Now On (RCA) The Rolling Stones: Forty Licks - The Best Of (Virgin)

JJ72: I To Sky (Columbia) Sinead O'Connor: Sean-Ns Nua (Hummingbird)October 14 Foo Fighters: One By One (RCA) Feeder: Comfort In Sound (Echo) The Datsuns: The Datsuns (V2) October 21 Richard Ashcroft: Human Conditions (Hut) David Gray: A New Day At Midnight (EastWest) October 28 Gareth Gates: Gareth Gates (RCA) Manic Street Preachers: Forever Delayed (Sony) Blue: One Love (Innocent/ Virgin)