In my opinion, Manic Street Preachers is one of the most interesting bands of the last 20 years.

Their career is simply fascinating. These crazy punk rockers experienced tragedy with Richey Edwards' dissapearance in 1995 and then recorded some awesome records with a more polished sound in the second half of the 90's. Actually, this is my favourite phase in their career. They made the right decission contacting productor Mike Hedges, who contributed with the spectoresque, magnificent orchestal sound of (specially) Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. This sound has become a trademark for the 90's, with many other British bands sounding akin.

I'm not a fan of the first records with the exception of The Holy Bible, which is awesome. And what came in the 00's seems quite forgetable to me, at least until the last album, Postcards From A Young Man, which is a true return to form and an updated version of their sound from the second half of the 90's.

I also think Richey Edwards and Nicky Wire are excellent lyricists. I've frequently connected with their politics too. Maybe not as much now as before, but I still found Wire's discourse quite interesting.

Any orgers also fans of the band? I haven't seen a thread about them before...

[Edited 9/16/11 13:20pm]

[Edited 9/17/11 4:36am]

Javi said:

I own this album, and I like it a lot, especially the first 3 songs. But that's really all I can say. I don't know much else about them..

I just got into them. I'm definitely gonna investigate their ENTIRE catalog in the near future, I'm still digesting from their debut - which is great. RIP Richey.

Timmy84 said:

I just got into them. I'm definitely gonna investigate their ENTIRE catalog in the near future, I'm still digesting from their debut - which is great. RIP Richey.

I hope you'll like them. I like the first two records, but they're not my cup of tea. Their third album, The Holy Bible, is awesome. It's a difficult and even uncomfortable album, but it's amazing. However, as I said in the first post, their more polished sound of Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth is what has had a greater impact on me.

The1592 said:

Javi said:

I own this album, and I like it a lot, especially the first 3 songs. But that's really all I can say. I don't know much else about them..

If you like this, you're sure to enjoy Everything Must Go too.

I first noticed them on MTV back in 1992-3 when Motorcycle Emptiness was their latest single, but I only really got into them with the Everything Must Go album. I'm not too thrilled about all of their albums (even though I do own all of them), but they make up for it with the wealth of b-side songs.

I'm also happy to have seen them live at a small theatre on their previous Greatest Hits tour (back in 2002), and would be more than happy to see them again.

And just in case anyone still doesn't know, there's a new 2-disc compilation with all 38 of their singles (and the videos on a bonus dvd) coming out at the end of next month.

Javi said:

Timmy84 said:

I just got into them. I'm definitely gonna investigate their ENTIRE catalog in the near future, I'm still digesting from their debut - which is great. RIP Richey.

I hope you'll like them. I like the first two records, but they're not my cup of tea. Their third album, The Holy Bible, is awesome. It's a difficult and even uncomfortable album, but it's amazing. However, as I said in the first post, their more polished sound of Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth is what has had a greater impact on me.

I see. And I will thanks.

One of the best songs of the '90s

I dig 'em but they kind of lost me a bit after This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours. Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood were a bit patchy. I liked Send Away the Tigers and Journal for Plague Lovers much more. Still have not heard the last album.

It would be great if they did deluxe versions of Generation Terrorists and Gold Against the Soul. There's quite a few tracks from those eras that I've never heard.

I liked them a lot in the late 90's, I vividly remember "Everything Must Go" and "This is my truth..." being released and the singles being all over the radio. I've been meaning to check out "The Holy Bible" for a long time and I'm gonna have a listen over the weekend.... I've always found the circumstances of Richey's disappearance to be really weird and intriguing. Even though he's been declared legally dead at this point, I'm not so sure.

Militant said:

I liked them a lot in the late 90's, I vividly remember "Everything Must Go" and "This is my truth..." being released and the singles being all over the radio. I've been meaning to check out "The Holy Bible" for a long time and I'm gonna have a listen over the weekend.... I've always found the circumstances of Richey's disappearance to be really weird and intriguing. Even though he's been declared legally dead at this point, I'm not so sure.

I read up on the story. I really don't know what to believe honestly... but 18 years it's hard to think he may still be alive and if he is, he surely put off a great disappearing act.

My thing is, OK, he was spotted in the passport office AND he drew out almost £3000 immediately prior to his disappearance. That to me sounds like someone trying to disappear, not someone about to kill themselves. And on top of that, no body has ever been found, which is actually incredibly rare in these kind of scenarios. Especially here in the UK since we're not a massive country land wise.

Militant said:

My thing is, OK, he was spotted in the passport office AND he drew out almost £3000 immediately prior to his disappearance. That to me sounds like someone trying to disappear, not someone about to kill themselves. And on top of that, no body has ever been found, which is actually incredibly rare in these kind of scenarios. Especially here in the UK since we're not a massive country land wise.

I see... that's a way to get away from the spotlight!

mynameisnotsusan said:

One of the best songs of the '90s

If not the best...

rialb said:

I dig 'em but they kind of lost me a bit after This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours. Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood were a bit patchy. I liked Send Away the Tigers and Journal for Plague Lovers much more. Still have not heard the last album.

It would be great if they did deluxe versions of Generation Terrorists and Gold Against the Soul. There's quite a few tracks from those eras that I've never heard.

I lost them at the same time as you did. Actually, I lost them so much that I never listened to Send Away The Tigers; I'll probably do it in the near future, as I think I'm losing something.

The last record isn't far away from Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours. Similar sound and the songs are almost as brilliant.

Rewi said:

I first noticed them on MTV back in 1992-3 when Motorcycle Emptiness was their latest single, but I only really got into them with the Everything Must Go album. I'm not too thrilled about all of their albums (even though I do own all of them), but they make up for it with the wealth of b-side songs.

I'm also happy to have seen them live at a small theatre on their previous Greatest Hits tour (back in 2002), and would be more than happy to see them again.

And just in case anyone still doesn't know, there's a new 2-disc compilation with all 38 of their singles (and the videos on a bonus dvd) coming out at the end of next month.

I didn't know, thanks a lot.

Timmy84 said:

Militant said:

My thing is, OK, he was spotted in the passport office AND he drew out almost £3000 immediately prior to his disappearance. That to me sounds like someone trying to disappear, not someone about to kill themselves. And on top of that, no body has ever been found, which is actually incredibly rare in these kind of scenarios. Especially here in the UK since we're not a massive country land wise.

I see... that's a way to get away from the spotlight!

In case you don't know it, Ben Myers has published a book about Richey and his disappearance that has received good critics. I haven't read it yet. It's called "Richard".

[Edited 9/17/11 4:35am]

Excellent album!

Also, in November a book of Nicky Wire's photographs, with comments by the man himself, will be published.

I think they're ridiculous. Some cool tunes though. Had a brief obcession with Holy Bible long ago and saw them on the Everything Must Go tour.

"I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing."

It seems more plausible to me the River Severn never having yielded Richie's remains than him having been able to pull off a disappearing act.

Their bsides and rarities collection Lipstick Traces is definitely worth checking out.

This is great:

Javi said:

Gonna check them out...

PapaSmurf said:

Javi said:

Also, in November a book of Nicky Wire's photographs, with comments by the man himself, will be published.

Yeah, for £300 it's bargain :eyeroll: Not to speak of the National Treasures boxset, which is £180 and it doesn't even include all b-sides.

Javi said:

PapaSmurf said:

Javi said:

I've seen the book (Death Of A Polaroid) in Amazon for 19 pounds. Yeah, shame that all B-Sides aren't included in the box set.

Oh, my mistake - I meant the special edition of his book. I'd buy the boxset if these were ALL b-sides. It's stupid to include just CD1's b-sides when the most of the singles released after A Design For Life had 2 discs and some even a dvd with another songs. [Edited 9/20/11 8:53am]

I also find it frustrating that all B-Sides aren't included. Also, I'm not a lover of their entire career, although they have allways been interesting and pertinent. These two facts prevent me from buying the box set.

But when I think that this truly is the first vinyl pressing of many of these singles, I seriously doubt. Hell, I may finally buy it!

Javi said: