Manic Street Preachers' Nicky Wire has told NME that their last album, Postcards From A Young Man, was a "wave goodbye".
"It's genuinely, for the three of us, one of our favourite records. There's just something... there's a sense of us giving it all we've got, and I think we've got to wave our goodbye a bit.
"I think this greatest hits [National Treasures] is completing the end of the second great cycle of Manic Street Preachers. Hopefully there'll be a third, but we've got a big job to take on to do that."
"[Their O2 singles concert] is going to be an immense project, production-wise: screens, videos, you name it, you know, it'll be a completely unique thing. And we'll never do it again... it's really, kind of, finishing up."
Jarrad Owens of AmpedWales is a long-time Manics fan. He said:
"I don't think many people realise that they're the last band of their generation who haven't split up. The only bands who I can think of that come close are Oasis and Blur, both of which have split.
"In the last four years the band have have a second wind of commercial success, riding on three consistently successful albums, an abundance of sell-out gigs and huge media interest. It seems an odd time to decide on a split, particularly with such a loyal and dedicated fan base.
"I knew that their record contract was coming to an end, but I thought with the ownership of their very own studio they might start to go down the DIY route.
"I had a horrible gut feeling that this could be the end of the Manics when Nicky described Postcards From A Young Man as "our last shot at mass communication". However, maybe we can take some comfort in the band's track record of statements, notably promising to sell 16 million copies of Generation Terrorists before splitting up back in 1992."
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