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Manic Street Preachers

Welsh rock band from Blackwood who went from a politicised debut to The Holy Bible and then to the anthems of Everything Must Go.

Origin
Blackwood, Caerphilly, Wales
Years active
1986-present
Genres
alternative rock, hard rock, post-punk, glam rock
Labels
Damaged Goods, Heavenly, Columbia, Epic
Also known as
The Manics

Blackwood

Manic Street Preachers formed in 1986 at Oakdale Comprehensive School in Blackwood, South Wales. The first line-up was James Dean Bradfield on vocals and guitar, Nicky Wire on rhythm guitar, Miles "Flicker" Woodward on bass and Sean Moore on drums. Bradfield and Moore are cousins. Bradfield and the classically trained Moore wrote most of the music, while Wire concentrated on lyrics. Bradfield took the name from his busking in Cardiff, where a man he had befriended greeted him as the manic street preacher.

Woodward left in early 1988, Wire moved to bass, and the first single, "Suicide Alley", appeared that year. In 1989 Richey Edwards, who drove the band to gigs, joined as rhythm guitarist and co-lyricist. He also designed the sleeves and artwork. After one EP for Damaged Goods, "Motown Junk" came out on Heavenly in January 1991 and reached number 94 in the UK. The band signed to Columbia later that year.

Generation Terrorists to The Holy Bible

Generation Terrorists was released on 10 February 1992. The band had announced it would be the greatest rock album ever. It was recorded with producer Steve Brown at Blackbarn Studios near Guildford, reached number 13 in the UK, and its fifth single was Motorcycle Emptiness. A cover of "Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)" made number 7 in September 1992, their first top 10 hit. Gold Against the Soul, produced by Dave Eringa, followed in 1993 and reached number 8. The band have since named it their least favourite album.

For The Holy Bible, released by Epic on 29 August 1994, they went back to the post-punk records that had first inspired them. Recording took four weeks at the small Sound Space Studios in Cardiff with engineer Alex Silva, and it reached number 6. The first single, Faster, drew over 25,000 complaints after Bradfield wore a balaclava on Top of the Pops. Edwards disappeared on 1 February 1995, and the album remained their last as a four-piece.

Everything Must Go

After a six-month break the remaining three continued. They recorded a cover of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the War Child album Help, released in September 1995, the morning after arriving in France to start work with producer Mike Hedges. Their next single, A Design for Life, came out on 15 April 1996 and reached number 2.

Everything Must Go followed on 20 May 1996 and also debuted at number 2. It embraced synthesizers and strings in an anthemic rock style, and Wire's historical and political lyrics sat beside five songs with words by Edwards. The title track, "Kevin Carter" and Australia all reached the UK top 10 as well. The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, won two awards at the 1997 Brit Awards including Best British Album, and has sold over two million copies. In 1997 the band played the Manchester Arena to more than 20,000 people.

The long second act

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, released on 14 September 1998, was their first number one album and their first with lyrics solely by Wire. Its lead single, If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, gave them their first number one single. On 31 December 1999 they played the first concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of 57,000 people.

In 2001 they became the first popular Western rock band to play in Cuba. Journal for Plague Lovers (2009) used lyrics Edwards had left behind. In December 2014 they played The Holy Bible in full for the first time, and in May 2016 they performed Everything Must Go in full at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. The Ultra Vivid Lament reached number 1 in 2021, and Critical Thinking, their fifteenth studio album, reached number 2 in February 2025.

Members

Records

Songs

The Clash, Suede, Joy Division, Magazine

Where to go next

Official

Reference

Writing and criticism

Interviews

Sources

  1. Manic Street Preachers, Wikipedia
  2. Manic Street Preachers biography, BBC Wales
  3. Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible (Tenth Anniversary Edition), NME (2005-09-12)
  4. Manic Street Preachers, Everything Must Go (10th Anniversary Edition), The Guardian (2006-11-03)
  5. And If You Need An Explanation: Manic Street Preachers interviewed, The Quietus (2016-06-02)
  6. 'If you tolerate this ...': Nicky Wire on library closures, The Guardian (2011-02-07)