Top Ten – Manic Street Preachers

Post-Richey moments...

Farewell, Richey Edwards.

After nearly 14 years of searching, of rumour, half-truths and sick lies it seems that the much-missed Manic is ready to disappear into the background of rock ‘n’ roll.

….one of the greatest British singles of the decade

Richey Edwards’ family have had him officially declared dead, and with his band mates now set to use the last of his remaining lyrics perhaps the image of this tortured young man can disappear from the popular consciousness. Forming one half of the ideological centre of the group, it is astonishing that Manic Street Preachers have survived, let alone keep things together, for over a decade.

With their friend missing, the band decided to kick back against the black, and knuckle down to doing what they loved – creating art. Here are ClashMusic.com’s ten highs and lows of the Manic Street Preachers, without the sadly officially departed Richey Edwards.

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10. ‘A Design For Life’

Written as a poem in the aftermath of Edwards’ disappearance, childhood friend Nicky Wire channelled his thoughts into a stunning validation of working class improvement. Containing some stunning lyrics right from the opening line (“Libraries gave us power”), the song was given life by the melodic power and vocal gusto of James Dean Bradfield. Cruelly kept from number one, this 1996 track was one of the greatest British singles of its decade.

9. ‘Australia’

In the midst of one of the greatest British pop upheavals of the previous 30 years, Manic Street Preachers added the weight of intelligence to their newly found commercial touch. Scoring four top ten singles in 1996 – the only act of the year to do so – the band hit pay dirt. ‘Australia’ was the stunning vision of Welsh emigration reborn as life affirming pop.

8. ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’

The energy of their ‘Everything Must Go’ period now ebbing, the Manics slipped quietly into middle age. This was their first number one single, and featured a soaring vocal performance from Bradfield as well as elegiac lyrics from Wire concerning the men who travelled to Spain to fight against Fascism in the ‘30s. But elsewhere on parent album ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’ were signs that the band had become bored of their own success.

7. ‘The Masses Against The Classes’

Guitars that bite like great white sharks. Searing polemic. A sample from Noam Chomsky. Surely this is what the Manics are all about? The Welshmen return to their roots for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it number one.

Containing precisely zero decent tracks it earned the wrath of both fans and critics

6. ‘Louder Than War’

Long in love with radical chic, the band took events to the extreme by becoming the first Western group to play Cuba – meeting Fidel Castro in the process. The resultant document was a stunning live document, but there was something sadly appropriate about the sight of Manic Street Preachers meeting a fading revolutionary, fast becoming an anachronism even in his own country.

5. ‘Ocean Spray’

Entirely written by James Dean Bradfield, this was the first sign that the group were moving away from their previously established roles. An affecting lament for his mother, who had recently died of cancer, it was one of the bright spots on the album ‘Know Your Enemy’. Dogged by a split personality, the record saw the band running on the spot, unsure of where to go next.

4. ‘Forever Delayed’

And so, after a decade in the business, a ‘Greatest Hits’ arrives. But then, what use is that to a Manics fan? Accused by their faithful hardcore of having sold out their past for record company luvvin’, the group quickly released the rarities album ‘Lipstick Traces’ to placate fans. Sadly for everyone with a stake in the band, worse was to come.

3. ‘Lifeblood’

The absolute nadir of Manic Street Preachers’ career, ‘Lifeblood’ was so absolutely awful it couldn’t even manage a top ten placing, shuffling out of the hit parade after a pitiful two weeks. This being when selling a dozen records would bag you a number one smash hit, mind. Containing precisely zero decent tracks it earned the wrath of both fans and critics, forcing the group into a long gestation period for the follow-up.

2. ‘Send Away The Tigers’

A full four years after the ‘Lifeblood’ debacle, Manic Street Preachers returned with this revitalised epic. Containing the stone cold pop genius of ‘Your Love Alone’, the album seethed and writhed with a renewed sense of purpose. For the first time in years, the band seemed cocksure, Nicky Wire’s razor-like tongue cutting much younger groups to pieces in interviews.

1. ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’

The cheerily worded ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ is the rumoured title of the new album the group are recording with Steve Albini in his renowned Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. Astonishingly, the Manics have decided to use Richey Edwards’ remaining notebooks, said to be even more intense than ‘The Holy Bible’. Let the fan hysteria commence…

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