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Manic Street Preachers: The Complete Guide

Ahead of Futurology, get to know the catalogue...
ClashMusic / Features / 18 06 2014

Twenty-six years on from their debut single, 19 since the disappearance of Richey Edwards, 12
years on from their first retrospective and only 10 months on from their more acoustic,
introverted 11th album, Wales finest, Manic Street Preachers, are set to return with one of the
best records of their career.
Ahead of the bands Futurology and its triumphant riffery, Clash thought it would be a good
time to take a tour through the Manics past. From the pomp and arrogance of their early years,
through the mid-1990s success during difficult times, up to their latest incarnation, theres plenty
to get to know.
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Generation Terrorists (1992)

Declaring they would deliver a double album, sell millions and then split up, the bands debut
was a victim of both variable material and early-1990s production. Thats not to say that key
singles You Love Us, Little Baby Nothing and Stay Beautiful dont still sound glorious, but
there is plenty of lovably dated material here which will baffle those not indulging in a nostalgia
trip. The sizeable discrepancy in quality between some of these songs is never more evident than
when confronted with the near-perfect Motorcycle Emptiness. Despite there being much, much
better to come, Generation Terrorists remains a remarkable document of ambition, arrogance,
bombast and sheer bloody-mindedness.
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Gold Against The Soul (1993)

Big, bold and bedecked in leather, the precision rock of the bands second outing delivered
several wonderful singles and some unapologetically simplistic cock-rock. The shimmering
melancholy of La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) and From Despair To Where contrast
curiously with the execrably titled Drug Drug Druggy and the rather too polished Nostalgic
Pushead. Its hard to imagine it ever being anyones favourite record, but Gold Against The
Soul neatly highlights the bands capacity for glorious melody amongst some endearingly
shameless rock clichs.
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The Holy Bible (1994)

Emerging into the warm glow of nascent Britpop and accompanied by a memorable Top Of The
Pops performance featuring fire and a balaclava, the Manics could not have been more out of
step with the times if theyd tried. And you suspect they had. A quite remarkable record, The
Holy Bible is lyrically and musically dense, forever associated with the subsequent
disappearance of the man responsible for 70% of its lyrics. Anorexia, suicide and the Holocaust
are amongst the subject matter covered, coupled with the ferocious delivery by lead guitarist and
vocalist James Dean Bradfield. The songs were difficult to craft, to perform and, in some cases,
to hear, but any uncertainty about how to evolve the sound was put into brutal perspective by
what happened next.
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Everything Must Go (1996)

Amidst the grief for a missing friend, co-lyricist and occasional guitarist Richey Edwards having
disappeared in February 1995, the band found themselves unsure of the future. The catalyst for
their second phase was A Design For Life, the demo prompting the trio to persevere and
leading to the most beautifully crafted album of their career. Sympathetically guided by Mike
Hedges and with an empathetic but not overbearing application of strings, Everything Must Go
managed to combine the more accessible sound of their early years with the vivid imagery of
their previous album. Somehow lumped into the latter stages of Britpop at the time, this record
remains one of the decades finest releases and is an essential listen.
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This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998)

Preceded by a chart-topping single about the Spanish Civil War, If You Tolerate This Your
Children Will Be Next, the bands fifth album was a glacial distillation of the anthemic rock that
had served them so well two years previous. Misfiring album closer and Hillsborough
referencing S.Y.M.M. was a rare error, brushing up against eternal favourites You Stole The
Sun From My Heart and Tsunami and the delicate shimmer of Black Dog On My Shoulder,
which more than make up for it. Although a little close to AOR with the preference for midpaced melancholia, the Manics were now making grown up, actually rather beautiful music.
Which, of course, couldnt last.
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Know Your Enemy (2001)

As something of a reaction to the success and celebrity they had achieved in the latter part of the
1990s, the band opted for a slightly shapeless, enjoyably eccentric collage of styles. Early
R.E.M. rubbed up against shimmering Beach Boys, The Jesus And Mary Chain nestled next to
a little Joy Division. It shouldnt really work and, ultimately, it doesnt. However, it is a
fascinating failure and the fact that it doesnt quite hang together doesnt mean that it doesnt
possess a number of notable tunes. The Year Of Purification and His Last Painting are lost
gems.
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Lifeblood (2004)
Renounced by the band shortly after theyd finished promoting it, but far better than they seem to
realise, Lifeblood was the true marker of a commercial decline started by those baffled by its
schizophrenic predecessor. This is a record with an electronic core, very smooth edges and a
heavy debt to the wonders of New Order. I Live To Fall Asleep, Glasnost and Cardiff
Afterlife are all gorgeous, stately pop songs, with Bradfield in particularly fine voice.
Unfortunately, the production didnt quite translate to the stage, sales werent forthcoming and
their seventh was quickly and quietly consigned to history.
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Send Away The Tigers (2007)

While stowing away their previous release, the band dug out an old logo and decided to return to
what they knew best. Despite possessing a truly great single in Your Love Alone Is Not
Enough, the album as a whole feels like a curiously flimsy imitation of themselves, mostly
indebted to a sound pitched somewhere between Gold Against The Soul and Everything Must
Go. It got plenty of tired return to form plaudits upon release, largely because the huge riffs
had returned, but its staying power is minimal and, if you are going to skip anything from their
catalogue, make it this one.
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Journal For Plague Lovers (2009)

Conceived as a substantial musical tribute to Edwards, using lyrics he had left behind, a return to
the more angular, ferocious sound of The Holy Bible seemed only fitting. Jackie Collins
Existential Question Time with its chorus of Oh mummy, whats a Sex Pistol? was an obvious
highlight, but the closing melancholy of Williams Last Words is imbued with a subtext that
makes it quite shattering. The bands best record in over a decade, and one of the finest of their
career, it is a complex, challenging and even unsettling listen, partly emphasised by the stark
artwork by Jenny Saville.
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Postcards From A Young Man (2010)

Talked up as one last shot at mass communication, this is an unashamedly pop record and its
chutzpah is staggering. Gospel choirs, soaring strings and choruses you could use as landmarks
in a blizzard make for a joyous listen. Wilfully commercial, it was the band having a final crack
at the sound with which they had become eternally, inextricably linked. As a victory lap, its a
fine achievement and while its initial lustre has faded a little, the majesty of the title track and the
Ian McCulloch-featuring single Some Kind Of Nothingness remain obvious. With the statement
made, the line was drawn and a new direction was sought.
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Rewind The Film (2013)

The subsequent incarnation found the band in far more introspective mode. The electric guitar
was banished, with any such material put to one side for use on their next outing, while Cate Le
Bon and Richard Hawley leant their stirring vocals to 4 Lonely Roads and the albums title
track respectively. These two significant departures for the band suited them rather well and it
seemed that any raging against the dying of the light would be done with a wistful grace. (I Miss
The) Tokyo Skyline is a particularly curious beast, sparse and subtle, showing their grasp of
atmospherics is an equal to their mastery of big riffs, while As Holy As The Soil focuses on
treasured memories of a lost friend over a piano driven backdrop and with vocals by bassist and
lyricist Nicky Wire. As endearingly graceful as this 11th outing was, the talk of a mysterious
Krautrock-inspired sibling kept everybody on their toes.

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Futurology (2014)
Recorded alongside Rewind The Film, but scythed off to form another record owing to such a
vastly different feel, these 13 songs are full of emotion, energy and, most importantly, new ideas.
Electronic influences seem to fit naturally, nothing seems contrived and even a less than subtle
nod to the balls-out rock bluster of Generation Terrorists on Sex, Power, Love And Money is
rendered meticulously. Europa Geht Durch Mich is a tremendous stomp, with guest vocals from
German actor Nina Hoss and more than a little cowbell, while Between The Clock And The
Bed is as slinky as an 80s pop classic, bedecked with vocals by Green Gartside. For all the talk
of having one last stab at the big time four years previous, with Futurology the Manics have
proved once again that their music really can be as good as their bluster.

--Words: Gareth James