Latest Release
- AUG 29, 2024
- 1 Song
- Forever Delayed - Manic Street Preachers Greatest Hits · 1996
- This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours · 1988
- Forever Delayed - Manic Street Preachers Greatest Hits · 1992
- Decline & Fall - Single · 2024
- Everything Must Go · 1996
- The Holy Bible 20 (Remastered) · 1994
- Send Away the Tigers - 10 Year Collectors' Edition · 2017
- The Holy Bible 20 (Remastered) · 1994
- This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours · 1998
- The Holy Bible 20 (Remastered) · 1994
Essential Albums
- The sadness that permeates these songs (even the anthems) makes the death of band guitarist and co-songwriter Richey James all the more profound. This is the band's fourth album and the first since James vanished without a trace; some of his left-behind lyrics are featured in a number of songs here. As on previous MSP albums, there’s lots of topical commentary on subjects involving class, mortality, and isolation. The ascending and weirdly hypnotic “Design for Life” tells of cynicism born of class conflicts, and the beautiful and acoustic “Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky” draws attention to poorly treated creatures, both big and small. “Australia” is the poppiest moment among many poppy moments, and the galactic “Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning)” rocks as hard as early MSP, but with more intent and soul. The Wire-like “Kevin Carter” is a trumpet-and-guitar hook-fest about the Pulitzer-winning photojournalist.
- In 1994, as Britpop’s bunting began to go up in London and Manchester, Manic Street Preachers relocated to Cardiff to make one of the decade’s most remarkable and outlying rock records. Released in the UK on the same day as Oasis’ Definitely Maybe, The Holy Bible is a harrowing expression of anguish, unshrinking and unromantic in its abyss-edge study of death, fascism, self-harm, and man’s capacity for atrocity. Its barbed, rigorous post-punk sound is given extra muscle by the superior US Mix on this deluxe edition, which also includes highlights of the band’s 1994 gig at London’s Astoria—lyricist and guitarist Richey Edwards’ final show before disappearing in February 1995.
Artist Playlists
- UK superstars who continue to rage and mystify.
- Loud and imaginative guitar pop with poetic intelligence.
- Buried gems taken from the band's vast discography.
- Indie firebrands playing punk with the spirit of classic rock.
About Manic Street Preachers
Although Manic Street Preachers have spent their career maintaining a decidedly left-leaning political stance, the Welsh rock band’s musical approach has been far more malleable. Early-’90s work such as “Motorcycle Emptiness” hewed toward metallic punk, while later albums encompassed sinewy disco, jangly rock, and anthemic glam. Manic Street Preachers formed in 1986 around a core of vocalist/guitarist James Dean Bradfield and his drummer cousin Sean Moore, plus Nicky Wire, who assumed bass duties. Guitarist Richey Edwards joined after the band’s punkish 1988 debut single, “Suicide Alley.” Sadly, Edwards’ 1995 disappearance cast a pall over the band, but the Manics regrouped and emerged a year later with the introspective, Britpop-adjacent Everything Must Go, followed by the majestic, psychedelic pop of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, kicking off a run of UK hit singles. In the new millennium, the band remained relevant by doubling down on their defiant politics and crafting focused albums such as 2021’s The Ultra Vivid Lament.
- ORIGIN
- Blackwood, Caerphilly, Wales
- FORMED
- 1986
- GENRE
- Alternative