Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Brilliant band...well up until their last two albums anyway.

One of the best debut albums in the history of Rock and Roll with Generation Terrorists, they spoke about things people were shying away from.
Influenced by Public Enemy, The Clash and Guns N Roses, they shocked people with their smutty leopard skin, makeup ways.
They pissed in the face of Acid House, on bands like The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses et al.

13 years on they are still going strong, their latest album isnt up to much but to be honest, ever since the dissapearance of Richard James Edwards, they havent ever been the same.

Favourite songs :-

Another Invented Disease
You Love Us
Condemned to Rock and Roll
The Everlasting
Motown Junk

Although i seem to have a new favourite Manics track on a daily basis.

Discuss The Manics, how they broke out of small coal mining towns in Wales and made shit hot music, discuss the dissapearance of Richey, conspiracy theories and the brilliant brilliant lyrics he contributed to a band that means so much to so many people.

Nicky Wire -Bassist - "Richey was seen by many as the greatest poet of the 90's"

I have to agree.

All hail The Manics.

I got into them thanks to "A Design For Life" and I think "Everything Must Go" is still my favorite MSP album....

But I do remember seeing "Suicide Is Painless" and "Motorcycle Emptiness" on MTV and liking those back in the day. But it wasn't until later that I bought a MSP album and that was "Everything Must Go".



/jarmo

Get yourself a copy of Generation Terrorists and Gold Against The Soul Jarmo, im telling you, you will love them both!

First three albums are more than amazing. All the rest are for NME readers.

Awesome band though.

...You got the Manic Street Preachers, with nothing to say....

Pity.

I have always fucking loved Nostalgia Pushead...

...As well as Everything Must Go, in more recent times.

My brother used to be a fucking huge fan, but I could never really get into them that much...Although they made some fantastic stuff.

And Generation Terroists is an amazing album.

I didn't say "Everything Must Go" is the only one I have.

I own: Everything Must Go
Forever Delayed (Limited Edition)
Generation Terrorists
Know Your Enemy
Lipstick Traces
The Holy Bible
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours



/jarmo

Ach...your missing Gold Against the Soul....

Buy, Buy, Buy!

I seem to remember the NME ripping into the Manics' more recent stuff when they reviewed their 'greatest hits'.   :yes:

Generation Terrorists is one of the best British Rock albums I think.  It's easy to see the GN'R influence.  Motorcycle Emptiness is my favourite track, it's got such an anthemic feel to it but keeps a good rock n' roll vibe.

Generation terrorists and Gold against the soul have their moments - but their an average band at best and everything after the aformentioned albums is worse than awful, shockingly bad indie-pop made for NME.

I like a couple of songs. " Life becoming a landslide" , " Tristeza Durera" and a few others from that album ( I can't remember the title of it...) a '95 release? I lost track of those songs and can't find them anymore. I don't want to buy the album, but I wouldn't mind downloading a couple of songs. I search in WinMx and all I found was the most recent songs.

I saw them at Benicassim - Alternative Music Festival Spain summer of 2001 - They covered Sweet Child o' Mine. I thought that was pretty cool? : ok:

Whatever happened to that guitar player? I heard many theories about it. Ain't that strange? how can someone dissapear like that?

IG, i cant be arsed to spell the name so u have been christened IG.

The album u speak of so greatly is "Gold Against The Soul"

Use Soulseek...its on there...by the tenfold!

www.slsknet.org (http://www.slsknet.org)

Easy to use and everything u ever wanted!

Richie James Edwards disapeared in 1994-95...cant remember the exact year and im not researching.
He has never been seen since...some people claim self imposed exile, others claim suicide by jumping off a bridge, near to where he was last seen...anyhow...no body was found....so he is still alive somewhere i think.

I think he's hiding in Ballymona.

Hiya,

Im new to this board. I used to be a HUGE gnr fan back in about 1995-2001. Im 21 now so when I got into them it was kinda a little too late for me to ever see them live.... sniff... although they did announce a tour of the UK (Including a date at my home town manchester!!) in 2001 but cancelled it twice and then never rescheduled it because Axl new nothing about it...

That really killed my interest off in Guns but I just felt like joining this message board to, well, voice my views really.
I went to see the Manic Street Preachers @ the M.E.N in december and it was a really good concert. Although now they have turned into the thing they initially set out to be the antithesis of (bloated rock stars squeezing every penny out of whatever they can) they played a lot of material of their "Holy Bible " album. I dont know why Im mentioning this but hey, Im bored and Im in a computer room in a place of manchester called Salford, I can see man utds ground and its making me sick as im a big man city fan..

Ahh well I feel ive chatted enough shit to bore you all into submission but it was just a means of introducing myself...

Gotta go now

PS EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH "THE PUNISHER" WITH TOM JANE AND JOHN TRAVOLTA IN, IT ROCKS!!

Laterz....

Interesting that you mention that - AFD is often cited by the Manics to be one of the albums that had a big influence on them as they were starting out.

Their older stuff rocks... you can sorta hear a bit of GNR influence in songs like Motorcycle Emptiness, with the melodic guitar leads threaded right throughout the song.

What was the point of this thread?

And it doesn't hurt that they did a live cover of It's So Easy  : ok:

I've got it on mp3 somewhere...

The Manics are excellent, my third favourite band. The Holy Bible has been in my CD player more than any other CD for the last month or so  : ok:

Early Manic's is certainly intresting - i own Generation terrorists and Gold against the soul - some fine riffs, and very rock n' roll - but they went downhill fater than an avalanche at a ski resort, the guitarist died and so did the band's ability - 'Design for life' is one of the most awful songs i have ever heard, from then on i have done my absolute best to avoid hearing their stuff......

All their songs sound the same. The only one I like is If you Tolerate this.

Got any proof of that?

Yes there material has deteriorated since Richie's disapearence...but they can still cut it live!

Check out there Millenium Eve gig at The Millenium Stadium in Cardiff...fantastic performance.
Although i havent heard them live recently!

First 3 albums ruled...
The latter albums have some nice little titbits, but the rest is boring.

holy bible      : ok:

Here's the mp3: Manic Street Preachers - It's So Easy (live in Belfort '92) (http://www.jaknudsen.com/diverse/msp-ise.mp3)

 Long time, die-hard manics fan... they did introduce me to GnR! I agree that you can hear a lot of Gunners influence in the early albums- particularly Generation Terrorists. Izzy, if you liked the first two albums, then you want to give Holy Bible a listen, it's without a doubt the climax of the bands work ... before it admittedly started to go downhill.  :-\ And a friendly tip:- saying that Richie's dead when there's no evidence to show is only going to get you into trouble  :P Just missing.

And Tj, Holy Bible is constantly in my stereo! It's depressing, but it's genius!  ;D

Em Xx

I thought he was dead? So where is he then?

He's missing.

Now i remember the story - his car was found next to the Severn bridge a place notorious for suicides. I'm sure he's alive and doing well somewhere. :P

The point still stands, up to that point they were a good band - after, they became rubbish, just in my humble opinion though.

Richey has been missing long enough to be declared dead, but his parents didn't want to do it, so...yeah. Sure, he may still be alive somewhere, but he wasn't exactly a very happy bunny...

Anyway, here's some stuff I found on the BBC website:


"1 February 1995: Edwards walks out of the Embassy Hotel in London in the early morning, ahead of the band's US tour to promote The Holy Bible.

In the following days, police issue a missing person alert and his parents, Graham and Sherry, plead for their son to let them know he is safe and well.

15 February 1995: Police discover Edwards' car in a car park near the Severn Bridge near Bristol - a notorious suicide spot. The discovery leads many to believe he has killed himself. The rest of the band stop touring and recording.

December 1995: The band play their first concerts since Edwards' disappearance as a trio, performing support slots for The Stone Roses on their UK stadium tour.

May 1996: The Manic Street Preachers release their first music since Edwards' disappearance. A Design For Life reaches number two in the UK singles chart. The album Everything Must Go follows.

February 1997: The Manics win best band and best album for Everything Must Go at the Brit Awards.

March 1997: A fan says she saw Edwards in the hippy resort of Goa, India. Interpol are alerted but do not track him down.

December 1998: Graham and Sherry Edwards fly to the Spanish island of Fuerteventura six weeks after reports a man fitting their son's description has been seen in a bar called Underground. The report comes to nothing.

February 2000: Edwards' sister Rachel makes an emotional TV appeal five years after the disappearance. "I'd just like to say to him if he is able to listen that we do love him very much and we'd like him to come back - me, mum and dad," she said.

February 2001: The band play a concert in the Cuban capital, Havana - the first contemporary western rock band to play there.

February 2002: On the seventh anniversary of his disappearance, police offer Edwards' parents the opportunity to sign a death certificate. They refuse.

The Big Issue magazine, which supports homelessness charities, prints the last known picture of Edwards in a fresh plea for information.

March 2002: A pair of trainers containing human bones washed up on the banks of the River Severn have no link to Edwards, police say.

June 2003: The last song written by Edwards - a song called Judge Y'Self, which was to have been used for the Judge Dredd film soundtrack - is released on the B-side compilation Lipstick Traces.

A skeleton found by the River Severn is not Edwards, tests reveal.

August 2004: The Manics' seventh studio album, Lifeblood, features a song dedicated to Edwards called Cardiff Afterlife.

February 2005: The remaining Manic Street Preachers members continue to pay a quarter of the band's royalties into an account held in his name."


I imagine at many moments since his disappearance it's been a living hell for most of his family  :-\  :'(

Yeah, that anxiety must be awful. It's inconcievable he's still alive - without money or a passport he couldn't have escaped our wonderful homeland....and there is no possibility he could have hidden for 10 years without being recognised.

It's also remarkable the body was never found in the river.

I had a funny feeling I had read in the past that his passport was nowhere to be found, indicating he took it with him...but nope, you're right, I just googled it and found out his passport was found back at his cardiff flat. Sucks, eh. There have been supposed sightings, but I guess that doesn't really prove anything.

I don't know, a lot of people have successfully managed to be 'missing' for a long time, and then found their way back.

Yeah but few have been famous celebrities and even fewer have had no car, no money and no passport. U throw in a history of mental illness and it just doesn't look good....

I hope he's alive, he was the talented part of the band, if he was to re-emerge maybe the band would become good again :peace:

I don't know if there are any other Manics fans around here, but I need a little help replacing some of their b-sides. I have tried iTunes and every other credible music store on the net, but they are nowhere to be found. I used to have quite a few of them (their singles, that is), but I am fearing they got lost in a move cuz I haven't been able to find them since. Any help or info on where to find them would be much appreciated!? :)

I used to be a huge manics fan up till everything must go era.  The b-sides I have are all from singles (From Despair to where,  Roses in the hospital, life becoming a landslide, slash n' burn etc ) - these are regularly on ebay fairly cheaply (from 99p to a few quid) - so shouldnt be too hard to find.
www.eil.com is also worth a look, although i find some of their stuff to be pretty overpriced.  Maybe there's also a decent Manics forum out there that could help also??
Good luck!!!!!   : ok:

Thanks for your response/advice. I appreciate it!  :beer:

Nice to see some other fans on here. I am mainly a fan of post Everything Must Go.

Lipstick traces has all the ones worth a damn....

Well, it's got a lot of great ones, for sure, but it lacks "Black Holes For The Young" and "No One Knows (What it's like to be me)" - two of my favorite B-Sides. I just found out about Lipstick Traces and I am definitely getting it! Now I just gotta find those other two songs.

Thank to everyone who replied. And yeah, it's cool to see fellow Manics fans here!

What did you think of Lifeblood? How did it do in the UK and how was it received by fans?

i used to love MSP - i remember travelling down to from scotland in 94 to see them at the astoria 3 nights in a row! ended up being Richey's last gigs and the best stage trashing I've ever seen. They just arent the same without him - I loved Holy Bible the most (the lyrics and the rough, sound PLAY IT LOUD!), but I remember when Generation Terr. came out as they did keep going on about GnR.  They had a great image, and live, were incredible (esp for the HBible tours).  I for one do not think Richey is dead and that its perfectly possible that he is still alive.  For all we know he has contacted family/friends in the time that has passed and is happy to remain completely anonymous.  i think he was too intelligent to top himself (then again, i would have said the same about Kurt   :'(  )  Last time i saw them was at Glastonbury 99 and although I wasnt into them as much, it was still great to hear them again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZDZZ6eek3A&search=manic%20street%20preachers

It's So Easy - 2003 @ HMV in London - Lipstick Traces promo gig

Both the Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses are FAR superior bands to the Manic Street Preechers.

"Generation Terrorist" doesn't even come close in quality to "Pils N' Thrills N Bellyaches" or "The Stone Roses".

Of course, New Order/Joy Division pisses on everyone.  : ok:

Anyone in the US heard of them and any UK fans on here, realy loved up to Everything Must Go, Lifeblood is a cracking Eleagic Pop album very shiny.

By far the most horrific album from 94/95 was The Holy Bible, and as a fan I do believe Richey is still alive but dont think he will ever come back.

New album according to James Dean Bradfield is due out in May / June. Also anyone a fan of Manics should check out JDB's solo album cracking little number full of heartfelt songs and great tunes.

The guys dead - u dont leave ur passport and credit cards in ur hotel - drive to a notorious spot for suicides and live happily ever after....

First 2 albums are great - but terribly produced, need a remastering, and soon!

Holy Bible is just a bit to depressed to listen to, its a bit too angst ridden to apreciate musically though artisitically its a triumph

Everything must go was fine but after that - no thanks

So was is it? Brit pop, pop rock, hard rock?

 :o I love that album.

I think the poster means horrific in  its tone not in its musical quality - it is a horrifying listen - but that was their intention

Yep thats what I ment I love the feel of the album when listening to it, also when you next get a decent storm put the "The Intense Humming Of Evil" on this adds a whole new effect to the song.

For the poster who was asking what style Manics are well here goes:

Generation Terrorists - Rock / Punk
Gold Against The Soul - Rock with a grunge feel
The Holy Bible - Rock with gothic lyrics
Everything Must Go - Brit Pop / Indie
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours - Indie
Know Your Enemy - Pop Rock (trying to regain the rock album)
Lifeblood - Elegaic Pop (good album needs a few listens)

The Holy bible is one of my favourite albums ever written its so disturbing and lyrically hits you and sucks you into the mind of someone who is not right with himself or the world. As the lyrics in Faster go "Maybe ive been too truthful with myself, I should have lied like everyone else"

I've always loved the 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours' reccord :yes: and especially the song 'Everlasting'.

I'm not familiar with the 'Holy Bible' one, but after what you've all wrotte, I'm gonna check it out ! :yes:

I would absolute class album, I was surprised to see some American responses seeing as the band actually cant be bothered with America, plus the controversy they gained with songs such as Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart, Baby Elian and the first western band to play Cuba. Also during the recording of the solo of You love Us Richey was apparantly egging James on to play it faster than Slash.

Was thinking its a shame that Manics dont join GnR on the Chinese Democracy tour in Europe next year as both bands will have albums to produce, Lifeblood tour was hardly a sell out around Arenas, but the Past Present Future tour was a success in smaller clubs.

Like with guns, the Manics shoudl try to get back some lost fans as they have been quoted that the next album will be 3 minute punk pop blasts and by linking with GnR they could potentially gain new fans if they are playing anywhere near the qulity of the Past Present Future I think the GnR fans would "tolerate" this.  :hihi: :peace: 

'A Design For Life' still gives me goosebumps the way it did back in '96. That song sounds utterly HUGE.

You what? Err... Do you vote conservative?

Holy Bible was far and away the Manics defining moment.

Drunk again?

Artistically its a triumph but i cant say its much fun to listen  to

lol, no, actually. Well, not when I posted that. But I am a bit now.

While it may not be fun, or an easy listen, there is still a ton of enjoyment to be had from it. Naturally, the term 'enjoyment' has a sick spin to it......

I think that now is as good a time as any for me to say that, in my opinion, while there was correlation between Richey's dissapearance and the Manics fall, there isn't all as much relation between the two. I think that latter manics albums have just been more 'mature,' at least in approach, and that would have come anyway. Hearing a 40 year old James belt out Bible wanabee songs, clearly written in youth, would just be even more embarrasing.

I also think that James Dean Bradfield is as important, if not more so, than Richey was to the first three albums. Sure, Richey did most (all? I'm not a manics expert) of the lyrics, but without James' vocals they would have less than half the impact; if you read them without the song they take a completely different form. It is James' voice that adds that venom and disillusion that makes the first three albums work.

Example? 'Cool - groovey - morning - fine / Tipper Gore was a friend of mine / I love a free country / the stars and stripes and an apple for mommy.' Lyrically it's good, but with James Dean Bradfield behind it it's enough to give you chills.

Lyrics were roughly 50/50 split between Richey and Nicky up to the Holy Bible when it was 70/30 to Richey, although Ifwhiteamerica quoted above was written by Nicky.

You can tell the differencing between lrics on Holy Bible between Nicky and Richey as the lyrical content is far more supressed from Nicky as he had just gotten married. I think it was This Is Yesterday and Ifwhiteamerica were purely Nicky.

The whole album was recorded in a small studio inside Cardiffs redlight district on ageing equipment they didnt even have a tv in the studio as they did not want to be distraccted.

During the build up to the recording they visited Hiroshima, Dachau and Auschwitz.

They also used the wording on the door to a German concentration camp within the lyrics to Intense Humming of Evil "Arbecht Meicht Frei, A transport of invalids" roughly translates as "Work for Freedom".

Regarding the poster who mentioned James importance to the first 3 albums I would have to agree with this, one the best British guitarists/Lead vocalists of my generation.

To be fair it wasnt just Richey who had problems, James was a well known Alcoholic, Nicky had his gambling problems and Sean is a shopaholic.

As you could tell along with GnR, Manics are one of my more favoured bands of recent times.

I didn't know that one of my fave bands are back with a new album! Just last year I read somewhere that when James Dean Bradfield was doing his solo stuff, that he said he is giving ppl a rest from the Manics for a while. Anyway I'm glad they are back. This is their new single:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJjMcKDDCeY

It's really catchy.

I'm actually not a big fan of pre Everything Must Go Manics. A few songs yes. I think Izzy made a point earlier about the production too.

Everything Must Go was brilliant, I enjoyed This Is My Truth too.. occasionally Know Your Enemy comes out for a play (ordinary album) and their most recent, Lifeblood was an enjoyable listen. IMO, Lifeblood is really the sound of a band at peace with the world, relaxed and just enjoying the music. I think with the previous few albums they were really wrestling with what they were about and how they felt. Certainly the impression I got.

Anyway, this new single is a really good listen.. looking fwd to this album.

This was an interesting read from their myspace..

The Manic Street Preachers have been through a process of destroying what we are.

All great bands do that, but ever since Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth we've been trying to reduce ourselves to a pile of rubble. So, for Send Away The Tigers, we've been listening back to Everything Must Go and even the youthful idealism of Generation Terrorists, placing ourselves back at being 18 or 21 again, and reconnecting with all the things that made us so excited back then. Cynicism is brilliant. But it gets to a point where it's not helpful when you're in a band.

Send Away The Tigers isn't a high concept album, but the theory behind it is important. We've written about 30 songs for this album, and we've been fiercely editing this time because in the past we'd perhaps put too much on some of our albums. These are the best ten songs. It's short ? 38 minutes. When we started this album it was the three of us, in a rehearsal room, making a right old racket. Sometimes you have to learn from your own past. James playing huge guitar solos without me and Sean going, "Stop wanking!" We just felt liberated.

We began writing for the album in late 2005, and began recording in earnest in March 2006 with Dave Eringa. The album was recorded at Stir Studios in Cardiff and Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath in Ireland, finished in November 2006, and then mixed in California by Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, My Chemical Romance).

This album was billed by the band as being a 'natural successor to Appetite For Destruction' when they were working on it. That hasn't turned out to be the case, it's more of a natural successor to the Manics' own Everything Must Go, but the riff to Autumnsong is undoubtedly a natural successor to Sweet Child O' Mine's  : ok:

off to see them later this month, havent picked up the new album cos...well.....they've been crap for about a decade, yeah i'll stick with that reason.

I Love The Manics,

Bought "Send Away The Tigers" Saturday and its been on repeat. I think sometimes people dont get the Manics. Lifeblood is a very underrated album had it been recorded by anyone else it wuld have beeen deamed a brilliant record. With the Manics history they do struggle to live up to the previous works and with all the history behind the band its sometimes hard to think that the band themselves new which direction musically to go.

Also with regards to Richey he did have cash was withdrawing ?250 a day for 2 weeks or so up untill his dissapearence (sp) in 1995. Anyone with an interest in the band should check out www.foreverdelayed.org and also the book Everything by Simon Price, an interesting read but sometimes a little bit to self viewed.

Anyone im purchasing tickets for The Foum gig in kentish town May 29th. I also mentioned taht I hoped that the Manics and GnR toured Europe / UK together this year but looks unlikely.

Alex

When a band talks about going back to their old school roots or that this is their best album for years etc etc.. I rarely believe it and usually the lack of belief is justified.

I just got the album today and upon my first listen, I am very impressed! Kinda a fusion between their pre Everything Must Go work and post Everything Must Go work from what I've heard so far. Indian Summer could easily fit on Everything Must Go.

Ah I can't stop listening!

The Second Great Depression could easily sit next to Design For Life on Everything Must Go!

Best album I have purchased for some time.

I like the old school Manics font on the album cover too. Only like 10 songs too.. it's short and sweet.

It is a very strong album - different for sure, but their best in years