Manic Street Preachers
are an alternative rock band from Blackwood, Wales, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitars), Nicky Wire (bass, occasional vocals) and Sean Moore (drums, backing vocals, occasional trumpet). The band were originally a quartet: lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards mysteriously vanished on 1 February 1995. [1] He was declared presumed deceased in November 2008. [2]
The Manics released their debut album Generation Terrorists
in 1992. [3] Their combination of androgynous glam punk imagery, outspoken
invective and songs about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" soon gained them a loyal following and cult status. [4] [5] [6] The band's later albums retained a politicized and intellectual lyrical style, while adopting a broader alternative rock sound. [7] Enigmatic lyricist Richey Edwards gained early notoriety by carving the words "4 REAL" into his arm with a razor blade (narrowly missing an artery and requiring seventeen stitches) in response to the suggestion that the band were less than authentic. [8] The dark nature of 1994's The Holy Bible
reflected the culmination of Edwards' instability. [9]
Following Edwards' disappearance, Bradfield, Moore, and Wire persisted with the Manic Street Preachers and went on to gain critical and commercial success, becoming one of Britain's premier rock bands. [10] They have had eight top ten albums and fifteen top ten singles. They have reached number one three times, with their 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
[11] and the singles "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998) [12] and "The Masses Against The Classes" (2000). [13] They have also won the Best British Album and Best British Group accolades at the BRIT Awards in 1997 and 1999, and were lauded by the NME for their lifetime achievements in 2008. [14] Their ninth studio album, Journal For Plague Lovers
, was released on 18th May 2009 and features lyrics Edwards had left behind to the band weeks before his disappearance. [15]
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MANIC STREET PREACHERS TICKETS
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History
Formation and early years (1986–1991)
The band - originally named
Betty Blue
(after
Jean-Jacques Beineix's film
Betty Blue
) - was formed in 1986 in
Oakdale Comprehensive School, by school friends
James Dean Bradfield (lead guitarist),
Sean Anthony Moore (drummer and James' cousin),
Nicky Wire (real name Nicholas Allen Jones, rhythm guitarist and brother of poet and playwright
Patrick Jones), and Flicker (real name Miles Woodward, bass guitarist). During this time Bradfield had tried writing lyrics (among them the unrecorded 'Jackboot Johnny') but this later changed and Wire wrote all their earliest lyrics. Flicker left the band in early 1988, claiming that the band were moving away from their punk roots.
The band continued as a three-piece, with Nicky switching from rhythm to bass guitar, and in 1989 they recorded their first single, "
Suicide Alley". The cover was reminiscent of
The Clash's
eponymously titled debut album
) and was photographed and designed by school friend
Richey James Edwards. Edwards' contribution to the band was co-writing the lyrics with Wire, designing record sleeves and other artwork, miming guitar on stage, or playing at a relatively low volume and driving the band to and from gigs.
At early gigs they were bottled and heckled from beginning to end. Bradfield and Wire hurled abuse at their audiences and tore through short sets similar to those of
The Ramones famous "Twenty minutes of energy" gigs, a display of an odd
punk rock style band/audience interaction.
In 1990, they signed a deal with punk label
Damaged Goods Records for one
EP. The four track EP
New Art Riot
attracted as much media interest for its attacks on fellow musicians as for the actual music. With the help of Hall Or Nothing management, the Manics signed to
indie label
Heavenly Records. Their first single for the label -
Motown Junk
(released on 21 January 1991) - showcased their
iconoclastic ("I laughed when
Lennon got shot") punk/metal influenced
rock n' roll. The song also displayed their huge cultural scope with a
Public Enemy-sampling intro and an outro sample of
The Skids.
Over the next year, the Manics earned a wild reputation - much like that of
Guns N' Roses or
The Sex Pistols - as well as a loyal fan base. In music press interviews they attacked bands like
Slowdive,
Ride, and
My Bloody Valentine, the
crusty pop rockers (
Carter USM,
Senseless Things,
Ned's Atomic Dustbin) as well as the dying Madchester movement (
The Happy Mondays,
The Farm,
Stone Roses). The Manics'
manifesto went as follows: release one album that would outsell
Appetite for Destruction
, tour the world, headline
Wembley for three nights and then burn out. The band also planned to release their first LP in a sandpaper covered sleeve, as
The Durutti Column had already done, so that their music would burn (or scratch) out with them. It was also designed to erode other records it was placed next to, a technique first used by
Guy Debord with early editions of his book
Memories
.
Their love/hate relationship with the press, and their use of
Sex Pistols style media manipulation tactics, was documented on their next Heavenly single,
You Love Us
. They again displayed their huge cultural scope; the single sampled
Penderecki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
as well as
Iggy Pop. The video featured Nicky in
drag as Marilyn Monroe and contained visual references to
Betty Blue
and
Aleister Crowley. In a now legendary interview with then New Musical Express journalist
Steve Lamacq Richey carved the words "4 Real" into his arm with a razor blade to prove their sincerity. He was taken to hospital and received seventeen stitches. Shortly afterwards the band signed to
Sony Records and began work on their debut album.
Generation Terrorists
to The Holy Bible
(1992–1995)
Their debut album,
Generation Terrorists
(
sample (help·info)) (originally titled "Culture, Alienation, Boredom And Despair"), was released on the
Columbia Records imprint. The band toured the world and achieved success in most countries, including a particularly fanatical following in Japan, but failed to make any headway in the United States. The liner notes contained a literary quote for each of the album's eighteen songs (
Albert Camus,
Sylvia Plath,
George Orwell among others) and the album lasted just over seventy minutes. The record contained six singles and sold 250,000 copies but, sales not meeting their expectations, the band felt that they had failed.
The second album,
Gold Against the Soul
, was released to mixed reviews but still performed well, reaching number eight in the UK album chart and displayed a more grungy sound. The nature of the lyrics also changed, with Richey and Nicky eschewing their political fire for introspective
melancholy. One track — "
La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)" references a remark made by
Theo van Gogh after the suicide of his brother
Vincent van Gogh - 'The sadness will last forever' (The song itself however is largely concerned with empty platitudes offered to war veterans every
Remembrance Sunday). The band also disposed of their glam punk image, adopting instead a more mainstream hard rock look.
Following what the band themselves described as "the most unfocused part of our career," Edwards's personal problems of
self-mutilation,
anorexia nervosa and
alcoholism became worse and began to affect the other band members as well as himself. He was admitted into
The Priory in 1994 to overcome his problems and the band played a few festivals as a three piece to pay for his treatment.
The group's next album,
The Holy Bible
, released in August, regained their critical acclaim but sold poorly; it sold fewer copies than the previous albums and was not released at all in America, though an American mix of the album was later released in Canada - it would later resurface as part of a 10th anniversary edition of the record. The album displayed yet another musical and aesthetic change for the band, largely featuring
army/
navy uniforms. Musically, the band were veering into a
gothic take on traditional metal forms, with highly irregular
melodies and guitar riffs taking centre stage. The sound was heavily influenced by
post punk acts such as
Public Image Limited, and was a reflection on the band's own musical taste at the time. In support of the album, the band appeared on
Top of the Pops, performing first single "
Faster", which reached No.16. The performance was extremely controversial at the time, as the band were all dressed in army regalia. Bradfield wore a 'terrorist style' balaclava(although this was tempered by the fact the word 'JAMES' was emblazoned on the front). Some people mistook the band's intentions, and thought they were supporting
Irish paramilitary groups. At the time, the band was told by the
BBC that they had received the most complaints ever.
[16]
Months later, on 1 February 1995,
Richey James Edwards disappeared from the Embassy Hotel at
Bayswater Road in London after checking out at 7:00am. His car was found abandoned February 14, 1995 at the
Severn View service station near the
Severn Bridge, which has since its construction acquired notoriety for being a
suicide spot. He was never seen again, although unsubstantiated sightings have been common, so much so that the band have even kept a percentage of the royalties aside should Edwards ever return. Richey Edwards was declared presumed dead on 28 of November 2008 by his family. The band comment that they respect their decision. Nonetheless, Edwards retains a special place in many fans' hearts. The band was put on hold for six months and finishing the band was seriously considered, but with the blessing of Edwards' family the other members continued.
Everything Must Go
to Know Your Enemy
(1996–2003)
The first album without Edwards,
Everything Must Go
, contained five songs either written or co-written by Edwards, was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews. The bulk of the lyrics were written solely by Wire including number two hit single "
A Design for Life". The album was shortlisted for the 1996
Mercury Prize award for best album, and yielded the hit singles "
Australia", "
Everything Must Go" and "
Kevin Carter".
1998's
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
was just as successful across most of the world, and gave the band their first number one single in "
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next". (
sample (help·info)) It was written about the
Spanish Civil War and was inspired in equal parts by
George Orwell's
Homage to Catalonia
and The Clash's "
Spanish Bombs". The album also included the hit singles "
You Stole the Sun from My Heart", "
Tsunami" and "
The Everlasting".
In 2000 they released the limited edition single "
The Masses Against The Classes", which takes its name from a quotation of 19th century
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone ("All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes"). Despite receiving little to no promotion, the record hit the number one position on the UK Singles chart. The record was a return to their more rock based roots and was well accepted by their old fans.
In 2001 they became the first popular western rock band to play in
Cuba, (at the
Karl Marx Theater) and met with president
Fidel Castro. Their concert and trip to Cuba was documented and then released as a DVD entitled
Louder than War
.
In this concert they revealed many tracks from their sixth album
Know Your Enemy
, a much more eclectic album in the vein of
London Calling
or
Sandinista!
era Clash. The song "
Ocean Spray" was written by James about his mother's battle with cancer (she died in 1999). The first singles from the album, "
So Why So Sad" and "
Found That Soul", were both released on the same day (at the time, many critics wrongly heralded this as a first, although it was soon discovered that, in fact,
Lush were the first band to release two singles on the same day, a feat they had achieved seven years earlier in 1994). Other singles included "
Let Robeson Sing". The latter song addressed an eight-year period beginning in 1950, when the
U.S. State Department confiscated the passport of international concert singer
Paul Robeson and, with it, his freedom to travel outside the U.S. (The clapping at the end of the song is taken from a recording of a concert he performed over the telephone to a gathering of Welsh miners in the Grand Pavilion in Porthcawl, Wales.)
The greatest hits (plus remixes) album
Forever Delayed
was released in 2002. It was controversial with fans who claimed that it did not reflect the band's greatest songs but instead only featured the songs that charted well (although a look at the chart entries for singles included and excluded reveals that this is not completely true either). The album included two brand new songs, "Door To The River" and "
There By The Grace Of God" (which was released as a single).
An album of B-sides, rarities, and cover versions album was released in 2003 -
Lipstick Traces
- after a fan petition upon rumours of a greatest hits release began circulating. The album included the last song that was ever recorded when Edwards was still in the band, the previously unreleased "Judge Yr'self" that was intended to feature on the
Judge Dredd
movie soundtrack, as well as "Forever Delayed", a song the band had been playing at gigs throughout the year but had not been released.
Lifeblood
to Journal for Plague Lovers
(2004–2009)
The band's seventh studio album,
Lifeblood
, was released on November 1 2004 and stalled at only #13 and was on the UK album chart for a mere 2 weeks. Critical opinions of the album were mixed. Musically, it was a great departure from the Manics' previous albums, though foreshadowed by "There By The Grace Of God". The band played two new songs from the album, "
Empty Souls" and "Solitude Sometimes Is", during their appearance at the
Isle of Wight Festival 2004. "Everything Will Be", which the band previewed at the
Glastonbury Festival 2003, appeared as a B-side to the single "
The Love of Richard Nixon". (
sample (help·info))
Tony Visconti helped the band produce three songs on the album. The album was followed by a UK Arena tour in December 2004, which featured a second guitarist (sound engineer Guy Massey) backing up the band for the first time since Richey's disappearance. The decision, although controversial, was generally welcomed by the fans and it has since become standard at shows for the band to have a second guitarist (currently Wayne Murray) onstage: although always stood at the back, next to the drum riser, to leave an empty space where Edwards once stood.
A tenth anniversary edition of
The Holy Bible
was released on 6 December 2004 which included a digitally remastered version of the original album, a rare U.S. mix and a DVD of live performances and extras including a band interview.
In April 2005, the band played a number of shows as the 'Past-Present-Future tour' - announced as their last for at least two years. To thank the fans for their continued support, the band released an EP entitled
God Save the Manics
with only around 300 copies available and given out to fans as they arrived at the venue. After all the copies were gone, the band made the EP available as a free download on their website. The track "Firefight" was debuted at gigs on the Past-Present-Future tour. The three tracks were later released on the Japanese release of
Lipstick Traces
. In September, the band contributed the new track "
Leviathan" to the
War Child charity album
Help-a Day in the Life
.
The band's eighth studio album,
Send Away The Tigers
was released on 7 May 2007 on
Columbia Records. It entered the official UK album charts at #2. Fans and critics alike hailed the album as the bands best for a decade. The following tour was to confirm the band's renewed energy and sense of excitement and purpose. When promoting the album, the band reported that they had thought seriously about "what we do best, what creative peaks we've had, what it was we did to produce our moments of greatness". James added that fans "expect politics and they want amazing rock anthems". A free download of a song entitled "
Underdogs" from the new album was made available through the newly-improved and expanded on 19 March 2007. The first official single released from
Send Away the Tigers
was "
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" which features
The Cardigans vocalist
Nina Persson. The single charted in its debut week at #26 based on downloads alone before rising steeply to #2 - missing the top spot by only a "couple of thousand" sales . The second single, "Autumn Song", reached #10. A third single, "
Indian Summer", was released from the gold-selling "Send Away The Tigers" on 1 October. It entered the UK charts at #22. The band played a highly successful twenty-seven date UK tour, rejecting arenas in favour of medium-sized venues in order to reconnect with the fans.
The band released a nostalgic glam-rock Christmas single on 1 December. "
Ghost Of Christmas" was available as a free download on the official Manics website throughout December 2007 and January 2008.
In February 2008, the band was presented with the
God Like Geniuses Award
award at the
NME Awards ceremony at the IndigO2 arena in London. Previous winners include
The Clash,
New Order and
Primal Scream.
The ninth Manics album,
Journal for Plague Lovers
, was released on 18 May 2009
[15] and features lyrics left behind by Edwards. Wire commented in interview that "there was a sense of responsibility to do his words justice."
[18] It was recorded live to analogue tape, October 2008 to February 2009 at
Rockfield Studios, and produced by
Steve Albini.
[19] [20]
Solo work
In late 2005, both
Bradfield and
Wire announced that they intended to release solo material prior to a new album by the band. A free download of Nicky Wire's debut solo offering
I Killed The Zeitgeist
was posted on the bands website for just one day - Christmas Day 2005. The album of the same name was released in September 2006. It charted at #130 in the UK. The sound of the album, which Nicky referred to as his "nihilistic anti-everything album", was inspired by, among others,
Neu!,
The Plastic Ono Band,
Einstürzende Neubauten,
The Modern Lovers,
Richard Thompson and
Lou Reed.
[21] Only one official single was released:
Break My Heart Slowly
charted at #74. Nicky toured small intimate venues across the UK with his band
The Secret Society
, affording fans the opportunity of seeing their hero at close quarters.
James' solo album,
The Great Western
was released in July 2006. It reached #22 in the UK. The sound of the album was inspired by, among others,
Jeff Beck,
Badfinger,
Simple Minds and
McCarthy. Two singles were released:
That's No Way To Tell A Lie
(#18) in July and then
An English Gentleman
(#31) in September. The latter is in remembrance of the first Manics manager Philip Hall, to whom
The Holy Bible
had been dedicated. James toured the album with a band that included Wayne Murray, who would subsequently play second guitar for Manics live performances. James' solo gigs featured covers of
The Clash songs
Clampdown
and
The Card Cheat
, both from the album ''
London Calling.
In a later interview, when the band were collectively asked what they had learnt from making a solo album, Sean Moore dryly quipped, "Not to do one".
Collaborations and covers
The band have released in 1992 a split single with
Fatima Mansions (a rock cover of "
Suicide Is Painless") which became their first UK Top 10 hit.
The band's first musical appearance since Edwards' departure was recording a cover of "
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" for
The Help Album
, a charity effort in 1995 in support of aid efforts in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Lightning Seed's song
Waiting For Today To Happen
, from their fifth album
Dizzy Heights (1996), was written by
Nicky Wire and
Ian Broudie. That same year,
James Dean Bradfield and
Dave Eringa produced
Northern Uproar's first single
Rollercoaster/Rough Boys
. The
808 State song
Lopez
(1997) features lyrics by Nicky and vocals by James. It is featured on their greatest hits album
808:88:98
.
Kylie Minogue's sixth album
Impossible Princess
(1997) features two songs co-written and produced by the Manics.
Some Kind Of Bliss
(Bradfield/Minogue/
Moore) and
I Don't Need Anyone
(Bradfield/Jones/Minogue) were produced by James and Dave Eringa. James provided backing vocals, bass and production for the
Massive Attack song
Inertia Creeps
(1998), which features on their chart-topping third album
Mezzanine
.
Patrick Jones' album of poetry set to music,
Commemoration And Amnesia
(1999), features two songs with music written by James: the title track and
The Guerilla Tapestry
. James plays guitar on both songs. Further, the track
Hireath
features a section called
Spoken Word
where Nicky talks about Welsh identity.
In February 2006, the band contributed a cover version of "The Instrumental" to the album
Still Unravished: A Tribute to the June Brides
.
In February 2008 the Manics covered
Rihanna's hit song "
Umbrella". Their version appeared on a CD titled
NME Awards 2008
given away free with a special souvenir box set issue of the
NME magazine, which went on sale 27 February. Additionally, the Manics' version of the song has been available on
iTunes since 5 March . Despite being chart eligible (it reached number 47 in the UK ), the release was not intended as an official single . Two further versions (Acoustic and Grand Slam Mix) were later made available on iTunes and now comprise a three-track
Umbrella EP
.
Discography
- Generation Terrorists
(1992)
- Gold Against the Soul
(1993)
- The Holy Bible
(1994)
- Everything Must Go
(1996)
- This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
(1998)
- Know Your Enemy
(2001)
- Lifeblood
(2004)
- Send Away the Tigers
(2007)
- Journal for Plague Lovers
(2009)
Awards
- One of The Writers' Best Albums (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - The Daily Telegraph
- Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go) of 1996 - Melody Maker
- Reader's Band of 1996 (Runner Up) & "Writers' Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996" - NME
- Writers' Best Live Band of 1996 - NME Brat Award
- "Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Vox
- Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - The Sunday Times
- "Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Sky
- Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 & Readers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Select
- Readers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Q Awards
- Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Music Week
- One of Writers' Top Ten Albums (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Metal Hammer
- Writers' Album (Everything Must Go) of 1996 (Runner Up) - Kerrang!
- One of Writers' Top Five Albums (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Independent On Sunday
- Readers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - Hot Press
- Writers' Best Album (Everything Must Go
) of 1996 - The Guardian
- Best Album & "Best Group" - BRIT Awards, 1997
- Best Band In The World Today - Q Awards, 1998
- Best Album & "Best Group" - BRIT Awards, 1999
- Best Live Act - Q Awards, 2001 [22]
- Q Merit Award - Q Awards, 2006
- Best Track (Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
) - Q Awards, 2007
- 'God Like Geniuses' - Shockwaves NME Awards, 2008
- The MOJO Maverick Award 2009 [23]
References
- BBC Wales, "Manic Street Preachers - Richey Edwards",''BBC Wales''
- Evans, "Missing Manic Street Preacher",''Western Mail''
- Manics NL, "Generation Terrorists"
- Owen, Paul, "The Manics' Lyrics Were Something Special",''The Guardian'', 27 Nov 2008
- Clash Music, "Manics Member Officially Dead", ''Clash Music''
- BBC Wales Music, "Manic Street Preachers", ''BBC Wales''
- Independent, "Final Farewell For A Cult Hero"
- BBC Wales Music, "Manic Street Preachers - Richey Edwards", ''BBC Wales''
- On Second Thought: Manic Street Preachers - "The Holy Bible"
- BBC News, "From Despair to Success", ''BBC News''
- EveryHit, "Number One Albums - 1990s"
- EveryHit, "Number One Singles - 1990s"
- EveryHit, "Number One Singles - 2000s"
- BBC News, "Manics named 'godlike geniuses' ", ''BBC News''
- New Manics album - The Fly.co.uk, "[1]"
- www.guardian.com
- New Manics album - The Fly.co.uk, "[1]"
- Manics Talk New Album
- We Have Been Making Music, "[1]"
- Journal for Plague Lovers, "[1]"
- Nicky Wire- Official Site
- http://www.everyhit.com/awardq.html
- http://www.mojo4music.com/honours2009/2009/06/mojo_honours_list_09_the_winners.shtml