Manic Street Preachers: The Story of THE HOLY BIBLE | New British Canon
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2024
- For those that adored the Manic Street Preachers in the early 90s, no other band will ever compare. At first mixing political rhetoric and literary wit with populist glam punk, they kicked back against the impartial shoegaze, baggy and acid House scenes, and, for the first time since the Smiths, they felt like a British band that actually had something to say.
Their masterwork 1994’s The Holy Bible, formed of dark metallic post-punk, tangled head on with the worst impulses of human-kind, masterminded by their driving force “guitarist,” Richey Edwards. But if one gazes too deeply into the abyss, there is a chance that person might get lost. This is New British Canon and this is the story of The Holy Bible. “4 stone 7 pounds”
#ManicStreetPreachers #TheHolyBible #MusicDocumentary
Fact-checking by Serenity Autumn.
Soundtrack
Luar - Clouds ( / luarbeats )
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
00:00 Prologue
01:11 Manic Street Preachers: An Introduction
08:42 "I Want Everyone Corrupt": Faster
13:29 "The Sky is Swollen Black": Creating The Holy Bible
17:35 "Such Beautiful Dignity in Self Abuse": 4st 7lb
24:58 The Aftermath of The Holy Bible
27:27 "Libraries Gave Us Power": A Design For Life
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So what did you think? What's your favourite song from The Holy Bible? Or do you prefer another Manics era? Comment down below!
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Either yes or faster. I love the playing and intent on this album. As much as Richie drove the band i think JDB was what made this album so great with his playing and vocals. The next album just seemed so insipid after this.
Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart without a doubt. 4st7lb is a very close second, bleak though it undoubtedly is
Archives of Pain. Bass. Riff.
I saw them live back in the early '90s, and they were, I'm afraid, absolutely crap. One of the worst gigs I've ever been to.
To be fair to them, they knew they'd done a crap gig, and they even wrote a letter to the local paper to apologise to the audience!
My favourite song in this album is 4st 7lbs or YES ❤️❤️❤️
The part about Peter Hook telling them "at least we had a body" broke my heart. All these guys were so young, it must have been really hard for all of them, Curtis, Edwards and the bands.
It's a good point though! Dealing with grief is a million times harder when you don't know for certain they've gone. No answers, no resolution, wondering how long you wait before you finally accept they're gone. And a little part of you will always wonder if they'll walk through the door and say 'I'm back, did you miss me..!'
Having a body really does make it easier. It was good of him to acknowledge that, most people probably didn't want to mention it in case it upset them. It's better to acknowledge it. Horrible thing to go through, for all of them.
it really does seem like history repeating itself, doesn't it?
richey is so fucking underrated, he truly meant it. wherever you are, we miss you
Beautifully said. Love you Richey ❤
i still think of him often
His car was found on the severn bridge. He’s probably at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by now
Why would he take money out of his account if he was going to jump? I reckon he got him smuggled somewhere, living the quiet life. I hope he’s happy!
My only fond memories of being 14 were listening to this album over and over again, drumming "Faster" with my fingers on the school desk, researching all the serial killers named in "Archives of Pain"... every single song has it's own little memory attached. So many amazing & insane lyrics, beautiful riffs & hooks and a consistent haunting atmosphere to soundtrack a miserable teenager's life. Now a happier person and at the same age Richey was when he disappeared, the album hasn't aged a day. Thank you for the music, I hope you're at peace wherever you are.
Playing along to 'Faster' is very much an endurance test. I sometimes like to play along on bass and will often have to sit down afterwards, cracking my knuckles to get some feeling back into them.
Not on The Holy Bible, but Motorcycle Emptiness is such an incredible track from the Edwards era of the Manics that it is worth a mention. It is my favourite song of theirs, and I think the lyrics are as relevant today as they were when it was released 30 years ago.
"I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing". That is such a good line
I’m so happy you did this. The Manics are so amazing and tragically underrated in the U.S. where I live. Thank you for focusing on Richies song writing and his struggles rather than the mystery surrounding his disappearance. Their music and his words will change your life. If you haven’t really figured out your own truth you might find solace in their sound.
Brilliant vid. I was lucky enough to see the Manics at a fairly small venue in my hometown, Cork Ireland for the Holy Bible Tour. Come to think of it , it might have been one the last shows Richey played with them. No joke - they absolutely tore the place apart. For the whole show I could not take my eyes off James Dean Bradfield - he absolutely carried the whole thing. What a frontman, guitarist and singer. When they did From Despair to Where the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. That was nearly 30yrs ago and I can remember it clear as day. There was war after the show because the venue was a brand new refurb and Nicky WIre kept slamming his bass into the ceiling bringing plasterboard down all over the stage. Pure Rock N Roll. As for fave track . From Despair to Where.
I met James...Friends of mine supported the Manics in London. I can sat he was one of the most genuine people. Ive met a few guys around the indie scene that have been tossers. But he was a lovely bloke
The fastest 30 minutes I've spent in weeks. You have a talent for keeping the narrative moving along. Most content creators become boring after 6 minutes of a 10 minute video (I will rarely even click on a 15 min video, assuming I'll just end it from boredom). Thank you for the work you do.
great narration/presentation and music history- match made in heaven
Oooohhhhh.... msp was such a soundtrack to such a dark time in my life. I've tried to relisten to them a few times and it makes me tend towards relapse too much. That said, they will always have such a special place in my heart. I don't think I would have survived my teenage years without them.
I feel the same, can't listen to thb too much
me too
One of the greatest albums ever recorded. It’s just that good.
Fact
ABSOLUTELY.
...and it's younger brother, Journal For Plague Lovers.........
As a teenager first hearing this album, going through bulimia at the same time and coming to terms with the reality and the horrors of humanity, needless to say was a very intense period in my life. I related a lot to Richey's lyrics and to be honest it is one of my favourite albums of all time but still to this day I get anxiety thinking about it or listen to it. A true work of art.
whoa weirdest coincidence ever, I just got super into The Holy Bible earlier this week (the album, not King James's lol) and was hooked. One of the most harrowing, disturbing albums that you could reasonably call a "pop album"
I remember the first time I listened to The Holy Bible, about 25 years ago. It disturbed me and amazed me and completely blew my mind. It's themes challenged me in a way I'd never been challenged before. It's still one of my favourite albums of all time. I'd love to hear it for the first time again.
Welcome aboard. You've just discovered one of the greatest albums of the last century
It's not a pop album.
Same, though I first heard Yes 8 years ago but never got around to listen to the full album.
@@polyestermammoth740 MAYBE Morbid Pop Alternative Rock???
Two of those sales of Generation Terrorists were to a 14 year old me, who wore her first tape out listening to it dozens of times each day. I was the only girl openly into Indie in the school (though by 6th form everyone would miraculously be into Britpop), and the Manics were too heavy for the floppy haired pretty Indie boys, but not heavy enough for the lads into metal, so I had literally no-one to share my love of the album with. In one of my first forays into the rudimentary internet, I swapped my personal info on a message board and spent the next couple of years exchanging letters with another lonely Manics girl in Aberystwyth.
U still in touch with the welsh lass from aberystwyth?
@@pleidiolwyfimwlad2104 We lost touch when we both went off to university, sadly.
@@SachikaRomanova is there not a uni in aberystwyth?
You got unlucky, Generation Terrorists was actually fairly popular among the metal community where I lived, mainly among those with a liking for New Model Army etc, but it wasn't until The Holy bible that they became fashionable among the Indie set
I am so glad you shared this... I was too, the only person in the whole class (and possibly in the whole school, since I was in Thailand) listening to the Manics without anyone to share my deep personal connection with their music, together with all the nostalgic experiences associated with it. Boy did it feel lonely...and it still is till today. At that time I felt they were the most profound group out of all the bands I was listening too, lyrically, philosophically, etc. And that was probably why most ppl didn't get them. Besides, who wants to spend all the time reflecting on issues while listening to music.. But I did. Anyway, my life was so shaped by all three of their major albums : The Holy Bible, Everything Must Go, and If You Tolerate this.... They all fit into my critical teen years of 14-18.. Can't think of any other bands that had shaped my thoughts as much as they did.
I was at what they told us at the pre-show meet and greet their debut US show(I don’t think it was)at the Whiskey. They were totally friendly and you could tell that despite being surrounded by record industry blowhards, they were excited about being in Hollywood. They had absolutely no attitude. Edwards still had the 4 Real bandage on and it seemed to be the only thing the suits at Sony seemed to know about the band. The record execs for Sony/CBS couldn’t have been more bored and jaded. They had no idea what to do with them. They kept trying to wedge them into some UK version of LA hair metal and talking about how much Kerrang loved the band. Los Angeles crowd has always had a healthy Anglophile contingent so the crowd already knew the songs and were singing along. The band came out, played a blistering 35-40 minute set. And instead of an encore, they ripped open a pillow and dumped the feathers into the giant fans pointing into the crowd. In seconds the crowd was variously choking, sneezing, retching and pouring out the exits. It was a wake up call that there were some interesting band’s coming out of the UK and especially Wales that had zero to do with shoegazing, baggy or any of that other shite. The kids in the UK were writing songs again and it was the last “movement” or “scene” that I gave a shite about. The reverberations of that time can still be heard.
It took me a long while to reach into the band's earlier work as it was so mind blowingly different, but I'm glad I did. It's also nice that the guys managed to make use of Edwards' writing in the years since, not doing it to make money, but as a way of paying homage to their friend.
Such a weird band for me to love but they grew into one of my favourites. The holy bible should be more recognized as one of the best albums of the 90's
Archives of Pain has to be my favourite, even though I'm very unsettled by it, has one of the most malevolent basslines I've ever heard and has James's greatest guitar solo.
4st 7lb is just a masterpiece and im happy that one of the most under appreciated bands of the 90s got a trash theory video
My favorite album of all time! As someone who lives in the States, it's nice to get this sorta insight on the band since they were never really big here
She is Suffering will always be my favourite Holy Bible track, there’s something about how it caresses you and beats you over the head in stages that I’ll never get over. I idolised Richie in my high school days, I’m glad people are now talking about him more.
I'm a 58 year old punk rocker,when manics stated I loved their music and attitude, everyone I knew took the piss and hated them,most changed their minds by the holy bible,it was a true work of art from the cover onwards.So sad about Richey,but the band shocked everyone with the single design for life,since then they have not made a single bad 45,although some of the albums are not up to their best.saw them again live in November 2021 and still fantastic live band.thanks for this brilliant and insightful review of a masterpiece.
I really hope Richey found happiness if he’s alive. And if not. I hope he found his peace and is in a better place❤️
You've finally done it! MSP are one of my favourite bands of all time. THB is one of my favourite albums too. To be honest when I first heard the record it terrified and beguiled me in equal measure. It was a profound experience. They were the first band I ever went to see live when I was 14.
My favourite song from THB is Archives of Pain. (Although I'm actually firmly anti death penalty myself!)
Yeah my favorite track too. I think it is just a meditation on anger at murderers and psychopaths rather than pro death penalty really.
Great that you use MSP instead of Manics ....
That last quote from Bradfield was especially heartrending; which is bizarre to me given the context of the album and group altogether. Great video, truly one of my favorite albums that I can't listen to too often.
I was actually reluctant to listen to this one. The band meant so much to me as a kid. I knew what I'd hear would upset me all over again. Glad I did though, the insight is amazing and put together so well. Thanks for a job very well done.
Such a great album that so directly spoke to 23 year old version of myself a long time ago that often went through stages of darkness... and it still does. I could never single out a favourite. The world "favourite" seems wrong when thinking of this album. Thanks for a great video!
Man, Edward's story is freaking tragic and eerie. The Holy Bible is my favourite MSP album, containing my favourite song of theirs and the best on the album: Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitswholeworldwouldfallapart.
It's bloody amazing.
From Motor cycle emptiness through to that epic millennium eve gig the Manics were the 1990s for me. Ive been to see them so many times and bought every abum, but The Holy Bible stands out as the best. I still listen to it so often and brings me back to when a bunch of guys from Wales made me feel alive. Journal for Plague lovers is a companion piece to this album and worth a listen if you get the chance
Thanks for that, very nice video with some nice detail I didn't know. I actually saw the Manics' last show with Richey at the London Astoria 21 Dec. Decent gig, with Bradford driving things along, but Richey was very clearly NOT happy throughout. As I remember it, he started trashing the stage at the end, and at first we were like "Ha ha, rocknroll, eh?", but he was definitely not just throwing shapes for the sake of being a Rock Star. The rest of the band caught his anger and joined in, out of solidarity I think. But I remember thinking "Ooh, what just happened there?" And then a month later, he was gone.
Iirc the whole band hated those shows due to some technical sound issue that left them with headaches etc. So they really did just want to destroy everything on stage after the last show
The Holy Bible is probably the best album I've ever listened to in my life. I remember discovering it as a teen in Canada. Blew my mind. Never found anything more profound.
Edit: Don't know how old you are, but you really hit some of the bigger points on Richey. God bless ya.
As a huge rock fan, I'm still very, very surprised I never heard of them up until a few months ago.
Thank you so much. I bought the Holy Bible when it came out - never heard of the band, was disturbed, intrigued. One thing: the lyrics weren't 'neat', no rythm or rhyme - someone was actually telling me something straight out. No compromises. I didn't get all of it (being Dutch) but there was no denying these guys meant it. A punch in the face. Truly unique album, stiil revisit it from time to time.
It was hard even for native English speakers to understand. That lyric sheet was very long (making it hard for JDB to fit them to a melody) and the words used were nothing like what normally appears in pop songs. Thank god there WAS a lyric sheet. Without it, I would have dismissed the album as a bit too noisy.
This is absolutely brilliant. Encapsulated in 31 minutes EVERYTHING I love about this band and brought me to tears. Wherever you are Richey, Stay Beautiful ❤ xx
One of my favourite albums of all time, I'm glad it's being spoken about more now days
It really honestly was in the shadows in the US until the internet. Im so glad its being understood and recognized now.
@@basedsouljah Even here in the UK this album was never really spoken about much, the Manics changed so much on Everything Must Go and all their albums since then, for a while it felt like only the really dedicated fans ever paid attention to the Richey Edwards era
You missed the Journal For Plague Lovers as the closing on the Richey Edwards chapter, but other then that - this video deserves a strong 10
I encountered THB completely randomly at a record shoppe. This also happened to be the time when Journal for Plague Lovers came out, which used unused material found in one of Richey’s found journals.
Admittedly, it’s been a while since I listened to either in full. I remember greatly respecting the boldness of it all. And as you pointed out, the unintended similarity to Nirvana’s In Utero, Nick Drake’s Pink Moon and, of course, Joy Division’s Closer, is undeniable. (And yes, that’s a *very* Hooky thing to say =] )
Brilliant video. The Holy Bible was the soundtrack to my late teens; anorexic, self-harming, highly political and philosophical, only interested in "the big questions" and the 'great' writers of the past.
The album felt somehow like the friends I didn't have, the songs touched on the topics that were most interesting to me. It was a dark time of course, but music always seemed to help.
The greatest album ever written. No comaprison
What about Spiders by Space?
This video is so well-made. I enjoyed it very much
Thanks so much for covering this album. It's one of my favourite lps of all time (alongside Future Sound Of London's Dead Cities). I love your channel and I'm so happy you've covered this LP in depth, I'm eternally grateful. Its impossible for me to choose a fav song from the Holy Bible, its one of those rare 'start to finish' records. Thanks again
An episode on Billy Bragg would be class
I don't really know the Manics well but boy this was a tough one to watch. may he rest in peace if he's really dead, and if not? may he stay hidden, away from the people he doesn't want to find him.
Thank you so much for this documentary, found your channel through the echo and the bunnymen video then as I kept digging found you’d covered literally all of my favourite bands growing up. Was absolutely stunned and delighted to find you’d covered my favourite album of all time and the way you’ve found musical influences that were completely new to me (an absolutely obsessive fan of this album and the band) was amazing. Incredible research!
First listened to them just before Richey disappeared but what I heard left very little impression on me. It wasn’t until Design For Life, that I realised how brilliant they are. Soon after, I learned about what happened to Richey as there wasn’t much news about it were I was living at the time. A year later, I passed over Severn Bridge and thought of Richey. They are now one of my all time favourite bands even though I rarely listen to their earlier albums.
The Manics were one of my favourite bands as a teenager. They were one of the few bands my friends and I didn’t argue about. We were all agreed they were good. The fact that both happy hardcore fans and drop tuned metal fans generally hated them gave them extra appeal for me. Not the most mature reason for liking something, but I was an angry teen.
My favourite track off ‘The Holy Bible’ would be ‘Die In The Summertime’. While I’m glad they never tried to recreate that album (‘Everything Must Go’ was different but still good) they definitely did go a bit lacklustre by the time of ‘This Is My Truth…’ My friends and I went to see them in Manchester on the ‘Know Your Enemy’ tour and that was the last time for a long time I gave a fuck about them.
I do occasionally still listen to the first five albums, but I’ve largely moved on from those days. The bands they used to slag off such as the Levellers have endured more for me, but they’ll always be an important chapter in my history as a music fan.
cant tell you how much i loved this album
This is incredible. I wish it would never end.
"Pantera meets Nine Inch Nails meets Screamadelica" was what Richey suggested the next album after The Holy Bible should sound like, not The Holy Bible itself
LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO man you have no idea I’ve been waiting for this one since your totp introduced me to the manics and especially the holy bible which is one of my fave albums now
Honestly love this album so much, and have since a teenager. I'd say I'm a lot more of a Holy Bible fan than a Manics fan.
This is exactly how I feel.
I still listen to it regularly, I'd never put on anything else by them.
True I don’t like any of there other work
You're missing out, on a lot.
@@kingnotail3838 I'm not sure if you're responding to me. I quite like their other stuff, and would see them live, but this album stands out
I've been waiting for this video my entire life
Thank you so much for SUCH a detailed and well done video that was fully accessible to those of us in the US! So much of the information about the Manics, their videos, etc. is blocked due to copyright/licensing. The Manics are my absolute favorite band and the Holy Bible is my second favorite album of all time. I even learned a few new things from your video! They are entirely too underrated and an unknown force in the US. I'm not old enough to have seen Richey play live, but I did get to see the band perform The Holy Bible on their THB 20 Tour in DC. During Ifwhiteamerica, James waited to see if we were going to say "Fuck the Brady Bill" before he proceeded to sing it. I know he didn't agree with the sentiment. That show was the best performance I could ever have asked for. I am always trying to get people to listen to them. I DJ a punk/post-punk night and often slip "Comfort Comes" or "Motown Junk" in my setlist. The kids go along with it, but I don't think they have any idea who they are. It's hard to pick a favorite from the album, but "Archives of Pain" has always stood out to me especially. I vote democrat in every election, but I have always very strongly supported capital punishment. I can't articulate how much this band and this album mean to me. Thank you again for the wonderful video!
Favourite track? Hell, Yes, or Ifwhiteamerica or This Is Yesterday or 4st7lb or Archives of Pain or even Revol (they loathe it but I love it to bits!) would all be contenders on any given day but it has to be Faster for me. It was my 'come to Jesus' moment, just unlike anything I had seen or heard before, the urgency, the conviction...it's just magnificent. I rushed out and bought the single the very next day, and so began a frenzied obsession.
My musical tastes changed over the years and I'd turn to other bands, other genres but I'd still check in to see what they were up to from time to time (and honestly, I think Futurology might low key be their second best album if I could just get past my love and nostalgia for their first 3). There really isn't another band like them.
This is great, thank you!!! The Manics are so underrated here in the States, what a fantastic band (with and without Richey)...
From Despair to Where remains my favourite guitar lick ever. From a South Wales lad, thanks for covering The Manics, local heroes.
This is one of my all time favourite albums and I was talking with a friend in the pub about it, and the Manics in general last weekend. The timing of this video is uncanny. Thanks again for the brilliant content.
Yes, finally, thank you so much! I've been coming back to this album repeatedly in the last couple of months. Hard to say which songs I like best, they're all amazing.
Can you do The Jesus and Mary Chain? They are definitely missing from this channel still! I'd also like to see videos on: Billy MacKenzie/The Associates, Orange Juice, FSOL, Nick Drake, David Sylvian
Thank you so much. I loved this so much❤️❤️❤️ I cried, sang and smiled.
omg thank you for this. i will forever be thankfull for my sister introducing me to them when i was a teenager. motorcycle emptiness was probably one of my favorite songs back then.
One of my favorite albums. First heard it in 1996 and it was everything. Still is.
Hey. I want you to know this is one of my most watched vids on yt and I've shared it with countless friends. As a manic fan this was insightful and sensitive. Thanks for this
"Richey would have liked that moment tonight" brb crying
The fabled Manic Street Preachers video at long last
Absolutely brilliant. Glad to see one of the best content creators on the web has covered my favorite band.
It's really sad that he took his own life. However, he was clearly in a world of hurt. So much so that nobody could help him.
When people get to that point, it's bizarrely ok if they take their own life. At least we know they're finally at peace.
That's an odd thing to say, I know.
I've gone through some dark times and know a couple of guys that took their own life. Sometimes our mind is too poisoned for outside influences to help.
RIP
I wish that more people were as open minded as you. I feel like too often, everyone -your family, your friends, your doctors, the world - wants you to keep going when you're just too tired to keep on fighting. There's a line that the narrator says in Sharp Objects says that rings true: "She [narrator's sister] seemed too have been brought into this life not quite fit for it's harshness" or something like that that I always think about it when I'm at my lowest. That the world is too harsh for some souls and they just can't cope with it.
I feel lucky to have seen them in 1992.
Absolutely incredible.
Another thing I wish you had covered about Generation Terrorists: I have two version that sound very different from each other from the early days (one had an off-putting & weak drum machine).
This album hit me hard in the mid 90s when I was a kid, and had remained my most important record ever since.
Finally I've been waiting for this video for so long!
My favorite band and my favorite album. Excellent job as always!
Lovely! I knew many songs of the band and some if their history. But maaan is there more to the story than I thought. This made me cry a little bit at the end
One of my favourite albums of the 90s.
a bit reluctant to throw this out into the ether, but i have over half a lifetime with this band and i would like to say it.
maybe they informed my take on nihilism. that complete rejection need not be a REJECTION of everything we know and everything "normal", but a fertile bed to grow oneself into a unique being of one's own invention. i had to (for whatever reason) throw away and reform my whole moral/ethical structure as an adult. i was not focused on any particular influence because i was trying to rebuild ALONE, but looking back i see how i internalized the best parts of this band's message.
nihilism as freedom rather than a prison of futility and resentment. nihilism is not a dark hole, it's a tabula rasa and each individual is able to take it in any direction, retool it as one sees fit as time passes. it's an incredible freedom and responsibility that i have not known in any other part of my life. it is an ongoing challenge, but it's fulfilling and i will seek this slow process of perfection until i die.
returning, this band was what set my mind in this direction and i'm so grateful. i still listen to their albums even though it's like taking a shower or cooking eggs. they've become part of my little life and they can always eat eggs with me. its a routine that reminds me of who i am and how i came to be this person, and it makes me curious about the person i have yet to grow into being.
This was absolutely fascinating, so thank you so much for putting it together.
Stay beautiful x
This was so well-timed. I've been listening to early Manics a lot recently. The Holy Bible was the first album I bought by them, just after it was released, and within days of really getting into them Richey had gone. My grandfather was a poetry-writing builder from a Blackwood mining family, so I always felt their working class intellectualism. To be honest, as much as I enjoyed Everything Must Go (and even went to the '96 concert in Cardiff, having travelled all the way from New Zealand) I don't think they ever recovered artistically from losing Richey. I'd go as far as to say they might have turned into a band Richey would hate.
I'd very much agree, they still have their moments of poigniantly reflective and prescient lyrics (if you tolerate this is a stand out) and great big music, but anything after the holy bible was holistically weak.
YES! One of my all-time favourites, an album that really takes me back to my teenage years.
Beautifully done, thank you.
Simply one of the best bands to ever walk the Earth!
I’m soooooo happy you did a video on Manic Street Preachers and especially on their amazing, indescribable The Holy Bible album. I have such a soft spot for MSP - found them accidentally when I was in high school and I was so obsessed. They are a special band, not super well known in the US, but they are so special, honest, and their THB album taught me so much about politics and culture, and we’re there for me during my brooding years
adding on, this album, with other MSP’s work, introduced me to so many literary works, political events/figures/ideas, and even artworks. This is an album that I come back to once a year now. I can’t listen to it any more than that because it is quite dark and I’m no longer in that period of my life (and the album reminds me of so). All in all, this is a masterpiece
This album is so special to me. It's my favourite ever and nothing is comparable lyrically. I heard it for the first time in 2004 aged 17 but it opened me to so many ideas, authors and concepts whilst being an outlet for those teenage feelings of inadequacy and anger. The Manics are my favourite band ever but this is all due to this album despite liking or loving everything they released before or after. I love all songs of the album (maybe apart from She Is Suffering) but top three are Yes, Archives of Pain, and Faster.
YES! I've been waiting for this vid! Thanks so much!
Archives of Pain is my favourite. Great look into the Manic's masterpiece and my hero Mr Edwards, fantastic video!
"The Holy Bible" is so much heavier than Nirvana had ever released to this day...so much pain, suffering and telling the truth about human nature and the changing of body during the mental ill. Still hard to listen to, but how great the record is! One of the most significant records of the 90's.
Everytime you make a video it's almost always better than the last. Your amazing
Can’t be mad about Return of the Mack keeping you outta number 1, that song rules.
God I love this record. Took me years to get in to it though, I was born in the late 80s so my introduction to the Manics was in 96/97, when a lot of the singles were a bit safer (although I've come to appreciate these as well). A lad I was in a band with loved them and we talked about politics a lot, so when he started talking about the Manics and the far-left politics I was really skeptical. I picked Ifwhiteamerica... at random and was just blown away.
1994 was an incredible year for 'alternative' music, with various bands like Blur, Pulp and Portishead releasing all-time classics, but the Manics had the misfortune of releasing their best work on the same day as 'Definitely Maybe'. They were never gonna sell as many copies as Oasis.
I was a bit slow to get into the album as I was spending all my money on standard Britpop, Trip Hop and dance music, but the lyrics ended up haunting me for years when I had my own mental health problems. I can quote most of the album still, but I had little knowledge of the musical influences that JDB had, so thanks for including those clips of similar sounding songs.
Didn't know Richey disappeared a day prior to the Manics departing for the US. Can't help but think about Curtis' suicide happening a day prior to Joy Division leaving for America. Grim coincidence.
I think I permanently injured myself from banging my head along with the band in that massive concert in Bangkok. Richey was cute but my eyes have always been on Nicky.
It's a real hard day to hear "If You Tolerate This", but I guess it was catharsis that I needed. I realize that it isn't the topic of the video, but still, thanks, I think.
Beautiful video, might have dropped a single manly tear at that last quote 💧
Amazing thank you so much, for an old fan this is just what i needed.
I have watched ever episode on this channel. I've watched episodes about music that I HATE. And yet, this video never come up for me, until I searched for the band on my own. I missed all of this in those years. The first time I heard the band was "If you tolerate this then your children will be next." But honestly, I loved that song. It wasn't like the narcism of everything else that exists in America. American music is so boring. I only really started with MSP's recently because "Generation Terrorists" came up in the anniversary album releases on iTunes. It was brilliant, but not what I was expecting. That's why they are great: none of their music is what I am expecting. Every time.
Thank you for this. It's exactly what I needed.
Excellent video. You took a band I never heard of but still made it really interesting.
I feel like I should like this music more than I actually do. But you know, I would love to see a video about Killing Joke or Godflesh, two extremely important but underrated British bands.
A video about killing joke would be SO good…
This is the video I’ve waited for since the second I subscribed to your channel
I was at The Millennium Stadium in 99 and I doubt there was a single person there who didn't know who Richey Edwards was!
If you were at all into The Manics in the late 90s even if you came to them from Everything Must Go onwards you knew Richey's story!
You couldn't escape it - It's all Manics fans would talk about!
You couldn't call yourself a Manics fan if you didn't own Generation Terrorists, Gold Against the Soul and The Holy Bible!
PLEASE do a New British Canon on Cornershop and if and ONLY IF you ever have the available time, maybe one on Huggy Bear? THE most important punk band of the early 90s. Came out of cutie/twee of the Pastels, Talulah Gosh & Marine Girls and then injected with inspiration from Nation of Ulysses and Bikini Kill along with their love of US indie and noise rock (they drastically morphed their sound from their twee 1st demo into their WeBitched cassette because NY scumrock luminaries Action Swinger’s featuring Julie Cafritz from Pussy Galore who they adored were going to play a show in London and they just HAD to be the openers) became a (PLANNED) short lived force to be reckoned with in the U.K.
They only stayed together for 3 years. Did everything they set out to do and combusted when the time was right. And left a stream of insanely lovey and fun 7” singles Eps and an awesome LP in their wake.
If you take Nation of Ulysses, Bikini Kill, The Pop Group, The Slits, Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Talulah Gosh, The Pastels, Lydia Lunch, Crass, Gang of Four, Fugazi, Marine Girls, the gothy childlike innocent creepiness of Cranes & in a foreshadowing, the FUTURE maximalist anarchic, clangy, radical chaos of Atari Teenage Riot, and if you put all of that in a pot along with 2 cups of sugar, piss and vinegar- you’d get Huggy Bear🙌🏾 Cooked to perfection at 350 degrees.
In Huggy Bear’s wake came up Cornershop, Skinned Teen, Linus, Voodoo Queens, Pussycat Trash, COMET GAIN, Blood Sausage and having inspired Amelia Fletcher, a more radically infused & inclined Heavenly.
Touchstones- British Twee, NATION of ULYSSES, and then K Records, Beat Happening Olympia and Bikini Kill/Bratmobile. Pussy Galore/Sonic Youth/Pavement. AND Huggy Bear is totally the band that put Wiiija records on the map! More so than Therapy? Or Silverfish. Karen Ablaze and her Ablaze! Fanzine, their “Girls Only” shows, their wild fun and cacophonous tour of the U.K. with Bikini Kill. Etc etc etc.
Huggy Bear came out, shouted riot grrrl and radical coolness to the the world, rejected Suede’s record label. Rejected the media. Made a huge splash with their appearance on the Word. And after their final tour and album was like “alright… that’s our 3 year stint. It’s finished” and left us all wanting more but atleast they left us with all their incredible music.
There’s not tons of video archives on them- but if you’re a fan enough or interested enough, I’m sure you could make it work with what’s available somehow. BUT whether that’s impossible or not. CORNERSHOP would definitely make for another awesome entry into New British Canon regardless.
I got sidetracked with Huggy Bear- but YES Cornershop for days as well 🙌🏾
Thanks so much for your awesome and AMAZINGLY well put together vids. They’re all always a treat and I can’t go a week without coming back to a video or 2 to hear your lovely smooth as caramel macchiato voice and revisit your incredibly researched and put together vids. Thanks for all you do!! 😘😘
One of my all time favourite records. A masterpiece.