Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I'm still a relative noob with these guys. I have Generation Terrorists, Gold Against The Soul, Send Away The Tigers, and Journal For Plague Lovers.

Any ideas as to where I should go next?

From what I've heard of most of the post-Richey stuff, it's not really my thing. Too Euro-Pop and mellow for my tastes. Although, it seems that Send Away The Tigers gets compared to Everything Must Go a lot, so maybe I'll grab that. I'd rather get the 10th anniversary expanded version of it, so if anyone knows where I can find it for cheap here in the US, it would be much appreciated!

id say get the first 3 albums and leave it there...after that it goes way too weak.

THE HOLY BIBLE!!!!!!!

One of my favourite albums ever. The lyrics are just absurd in an incredible way. Such a dark album.

Everything Must Go is also recommended highly. Send Away The Tigers has decent pop songs but little depth but I understand where the comparison comes from. EMG was the album they released after Richey disappeared (THB being his last album) and as such it has a few songs with his lyrics on which are superb, and also hints at the broader sound they later relied upon a bit too heavily with anthems like A Design For Life etc.

If you have the bonus track, Bag Lady, from Journal For Plague Lovers, that gives you an idea of the general sound of The Holy Bible. To me that is their peak, one of the greatest albums ever recorded. However, Everything Must Go is alot more easily accessible, and frankly trounces Send Away The Tigers musically, lyrically, in every sense.

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours has some good songs (Tolerate etc) but is overall a little blander than EMG, and Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood divide the fanbase, some adore them, but the general public was turned off by them and that is very understandable, to me little standout material there.

Indeed the holy bible. After that maybe you can give this is my truth tell me yours a shot but I'm not sure if you'll like it (as you said you're not that much into post-rick stuff).

@mrlee: did you listen to 'send away the tigers' and 'journal for plague lovers'? I wouldn't say they're hardcore rock but there are definitely not weak albums! Give it a try!

Also I would advise the B-side album Lipstick Traces if you can find it there is a 2 disc with cover versions on as well. Some of Manics b-sides were criminally left off albums. Songs such as Comfort Comes, Prologue To History and Donkeys show how good some of the b-sides were but didnt fit the album style. The cover versions are fun as well look out for the It's So Easy cover and also Rock n Roll music are particularily fun.

If you like James's voice and enjoy his guitar playing he has a solo album out called The Great Western that has some great little songs on. Nicky also has a solo album out called I Killed The Zeitgeist but I have not ventured into that one yet ha ha.

If your looking for full Manics albums you may like then I would advise the 10th year edition of Holy bible which has the American release of the Holy Bible which was due to be promoted around Richey's departure. Also a nice little dvd with live tracks and videos and a 45min interview with the manics regarding recording the album.

I own all their studio albums but haven't heard anything from lipstick traces. I'll give that a listen too! Thanks for the tip.

I'm a little pissed that Send Away The Tigers is barely 40 minutes long, yet there's literally another entire album of b-sides that were never released in America, and for the most part, can't even be legally downloaded. The singles all seem to be out of print as well, and insanely expensive - ridiculous!

If someone could point me in the general direction as to where I can obtain these songs for a fair price, please let me know!

"Send Away The Tigers" (Acoustic Version) - Japanese bonus track
"You Know It's Going to Hurt"  (instrumental)
"Indian Summer" (Demo Version)
"Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (James Solo)"
"Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (Nina Solo)"

Still looking for these. I was going to buy the demo of Indian Summer and You Know Its Going To Hurt from amazon.co.uk, but it wouldn't let me buy them since I'm in the US.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I did a quick search for you but couldn't fine anything. Did you ask the same question on the a msp fan forum?
I guess they can help you a lot better than we can..

http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/forum/

For whatever reason, they never approved my account over there.

Send Away The Tigers was a fantastic album. Almost no fillers.

Sadly, Journal For Plague Lovers didn't quite do it for me.

I think MSP are an interesting band in that from what I hear in interviews (as much as I can keep up with it) and from the actual sound of each album, they seem to have a specific vision in mind for each album and want to do something different (whether it be a new sound or trying to recreate an older sound, ie: Journal For Plague Lovers).

Send Away The Tigers seems like a natural, non-forced album for me. Which is why I think it's so fantastic. I really feel that attempting to recreate a sound on Journal For Plague Lovers wasn't the best way to go. In saying that, I haven't read one press or listener review. I'm not sure what general opinion has been on that album.

What are they doing at the moment? Will they do another album?

Yes, they're working on a new album. Working title is "It's not war - just the end of love"

Bag Lady and She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach are great, newer songs that could've been outtakes from The Holy Bible. Manics may not be very consistent, but I check out every album for there are always a couple of tunes that are worth it.

Duff McKagan is featured on 'A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun' (which is on their new album, 'postcards from a young man' - sep 2010).

Ok so it's out now. I fuckin' love the record.
Did anyone else listen to it yet?

I'm selling a bunch of old Manics stuff on ebay as a job lot if anyone's interested, 7" singles and cd singles from their early years, here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Manic-Street-Preachers-early-7-and-cd-singles-job-lot-/300485070485?pt=UK_Music_Other_Music_Formats_ET&hash=item45f64e4e95

If it doesnt sell as a batch, I'll consider splitting up the items if anyone is interested. Thanks  :peace: