Welsh rock band
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes). They form a key part of the 1990s Welsh Cool Cymru cultural movement.
Following the release of their debut single "Suicide Alley" in 1988, Manic Street Preachers became a quartet with the addition of Richey Edwards as co-lyricist and rhythm guitarist. The band's early releases were in a punk vein, eventually broadening to a wider alternative rock sound. Their early combination of androgynous glam imagery and lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" gained them a loyal following.
Manic Street Preachers' first charting single was "Motown Junk" in 1991, followed by their debut album, "Generation Terrorists", in February 1992. The band's next two albums were "Gold Against the Soul" in 1993 and "The Holy Bible" in 1994, the latter being the last album with Edwards, who disappeared in February 1995 and was legally presumed dead in 2008. The band continued as a trio with Wire as primary lyricist, and achieved commercial success with the albums "Everything Must Go" (1996) and "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours" (1998).
The Manics have headlined festivals including Glastonbury, T in the Park, V Festival and Reading, winning eleven NME Awards, eight Q Awards and four BRIT Awards. They were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1996 and 1999, and have had one nomination for the MTV Europe Music Awards. The band has sold more than ten million albums worldwide. The Manics have had two number one singles in the UK charts: "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998) and "The Masses Against the Classes" (2000), as well as two number one albums: "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours" and "The Ultra Vivid Lament" (2021). From 1991 to 2010, they had 33 consecutive top 40 singles in the UK.
History.
Formation and early years (1986–1991).
Manic Street Preachers formed in 1986 at Oakdale Comprehensive School, Blackwood, South Wales, which all the band members attended. Bradfield and the slightly older Moore are cousins and shared bunk beds in the Bradfield family home after Moore's parents divorced.
During the band's early years, Bradfield, alongside the classically trained Moore, primarily wrote the music while Wire focused on the lyrics. Some of their earliest performances were held at the Blackwood Miners Welfare Institute in the town. The origin of the band's name remains unclear, but the most often-told story relates that Bradfield while busking one day in Cardiff, got into an altercation with someone (sometimes said to be a homeless man) who asked him "What are you, boyo, some kind of manic street preacher?"
Original bassist Flicker (Miles Woodward) left the band in early 1988, reportedly because he believed that the band were moving away from their punk roots. The band continued as a three-piece, with Wire switching from guitar to bass, and in 1988 they released their first single, "Suicide Alley". Despite its recording quality, this single provides an early insight into both Bradfield's guitar work and Moore's live drumming. The Manics intended to restore revolution to rock and roll at a time when Britain was dominated by shoegaze and acid house. The "NME" gave "Suicide Alley" an enthusiastic review, citing a press release by Richey Edwards: "We are as far away from anything in the '80s as possible."
After the release of "Suicide Alley," Edwards joined the band on rhythm guitar and contributed to lyrics alongside Wire. Edwards also designed record sleeves and artwork and drove the band to and from gigs.
In 1990 the Manic Street Preachers signed a deal with label Damaged Goods Records for one EP. The four-track "New Art Riot E.P." attracted as much media interest for its attacks on fellow musicians as for the actual music. With the help of Hall or Nothing management, the Manics signed to indie label Heavenly Records. The band recorded their first single for the label, entitled "Motown Junk". Their next single, "You Love Us", sampled Krzysztof Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" as well as Iggy Pop. The video featured Nicky Wire in drag as Marilyn Monroe and contained visual references to the film "Betty Blue" and to Aleister Crowley.
On 15 May 1991, during an interview with then-"NME" journalist Steve Lamacq following a gig at Norwich Arts Centre, Edwards carved the phrase "4REAL" into his arm with a razor blade in a bid to prove the sincerity of the band. He was taken to hospital and received seventeen stitches. "NME" subsequently ran a full-page story on the incident, including a phone interview with Richey on his motivations for doing it. A recording of the editorial meeting discussing whether or not they could publish the image was included as a b-side on the band's 1992 charity single Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless), featuring Lamacq, the then-editor of "NME" Danny Kelly and James Brown (who went on to edit Loaded and the British version of GQ).
As a result of their controversial behaviour, the Manics quickly became favourites of the British music press, which helped them build a dedicated following.
Columbia Records of Sony Music UK signed the band shortly afterwards and they began work on their debut album.
Richey Edwards era: "Generation Terrorists" to "The Holy Bible" (1992–1995).
The band's debut album, "Generation Terrorists", was released in 1992 on the Columbia Records imprint. The record contained six singles and sold 250,000 copies. The liner notes contained a literary quote for each of the album's eighteen songs and the album lasted just over seventy minutes. The album's lyrics are politicised like those of the Clash and Public Enemy, with the album's songs regularly switching from a critical focus on global capitalism to more personal tales of despair and the struggles of youth. Other tracks combine personal and political themes; "Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds" was written as a critique of overseas banking credit policies, but also concerned Richey Edwards' issues involving overdrafts and refused loans. The single "Motorcycle Emptiness", meanwhile, criticises consumerism as a "shallow dream" that makes human life overtly commercialised. "Little Baby Nothing", a duet between Traci Lords and Bradfield, was described by Priya Elan of the "NME" as a "perfect snapshot of [female] innocence bodysnatched and twisted".
The band also made a cover version of the song "Suicide Is Painless" which peaked at number 7 in the UK charts, spending 3 weeks in the Top 10, and giving the band their first ever Top 10 hit single.
The group's second album, "Gold Against the Soul", had a more commercial, grungy sound. It was released to mixed reviews but performed well, reaching number eight in the UK album chart. 
The band stated that the choice to work with Dave Eringa again was important for this album. The band have described "Gold Against the Soul" as their least favourite album and the period surrounding the album as being the most unfocused of their career. The band's vocalist and guitarist James Dean Bradfield has said "All we wanted to do was go under the corporate wing. We thought we could ignore it but you do get affected."
By early 1994, Edwards' difficulties became worse and began to affect the other band members as well as himself. He was admitted into The Priory in 1994 to overcome his problems and the band played a few festivals as a three-piece to pay for his treatment. During one such three-piece performance at Reading '94, James played Richey's black Gibson as a mark of respect (although James later commented that he regretted playing Richey's guitar).
The group's next album, "The Holy Bible", was released in August to critical acclaim, but sold poorly. The album displayed yet another musical and aesthetic change for the band, largely featuring army/navy uniforms. Musically, "The Holy Bible" marks a shift from the modern rock sound of their first two albums, "Generation Terrorists" and "Gold Against the Soul". In addition to the album's alternative rock sound the album incorporates various elements from other musical genres, such as hard rock, British punk, post-punk, new wave, industrial, art rock and gothic rock.
Lyrically the album deals with subjects including prostitution, American consumerism, British imperialism, freedom of speech, the Holocaust, serial killers, the death penalty, political revolution, childhood, fascism and suicide. According to "Q": "the tone of the album is by turns bleak, angry and resigned". There was also an element of autobiographic subjects, like in the song "4st 7lb" where the lyrics clearly tackle Richey's own experience with anorexia. The song was named after 4 stones 7 pounds, or , because it is the weight below which death is said to be medically unavoidable for an anorexic sufferer.
The title "The Holy Bible" was chosen by Edwards to reflect an idea, according to Bradfield, that "everything on there has to be perfection". Interviewed at the end of 1994, Edwards said: "The way religions choose to speak their truth to the public has always been to beat them down [...] I think that if a Holy Bible is true, it should be about the way the world is and that's what I think my lyrics are about. [The album] doesn't pretend things don't exist".
In support of the album the band appeared on "Top of the Pops", performing its first single, "Faster", which reached No. 16. The performance was extremely controversial at the time, as the band were all dressed in army regalia. Bradfield wore a "terrorist-style" balaclava. At the time, the band was told by the BBC that they had received the most complaints ever. The album eventually has sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.
In April and May 1994 the band first performed songs from "The Holy Bible" at concerts in Thailand and Portugal and at a benefit concert for the Anti-Nazi League at Brockwell Park, London. In June, they played the Glastonbury Festival. In July and August, without Richey Edwards, they played T in the Park in Scotland, the Alte Wartesaal in Cologne, the Parkpop Festival in The Hague and the Reading Festival. During September, October and December there was a headline tour of the UK and Ireland and two tours in mainland Europe with Suede and Therapy?. In December, three nights at the London Astoria ended with the band smashing up their equipment and the venue's lighting rig, causing £26,000 worth of damage.
The disappearance of Richey Edwards.
Edwards disappeared on 1 February 1995, on the day when he and James Dean Bradfield were due to fly to the US on a promotional tour. In the two weeks before his disappearance, Edwards withdrew £200 a day from his bank account, which totalled £2,800 by the day of the scheduled flight. He checked out of the Embassy Hotel in Bayswater Road, London, at seven in the morning, and then drove to his apartment in Cardiff, Wales. In the two weeks that followed he was apparently spotted in the Newport passport office, and the Newport bus station. On 7 February, a taxi driver from Newport supposedly picked up Edwards from the King's Hotel in Newport, and drove him around the valleys, including Blackwood (Edwards' home as a child). The passenger got off at the Severn View service station near Aust and paid the £68 fare in cash.
On 14 February, Edwards' Vauxhall Cavalier received a parking ticket at the Severn View service station and on 17 February, the vehicle was reported as abandoned. Police discovered the battery to be flat, with evidence that the car had been lived in. Due to the service station's proximity to the Severn Bridge (which has been a renowned suicide location in the past) it was widely believed that he took his own life by jumping from the bridge.
Manic Street Preachers was put on hold for six months and disbanding the group was seriously considered, but with the blessing of Edwards' family, the other members continued. Edwards was legally "presumed dead" in 2008, to enable his parents to administer his estate. The band continue to set up a microphone for Edwards at every live performance.
"Everything Must Go" to "Lifeblood" (1996–2006).
The first album without Edwards, "Everything Must Go", was released on 20 May 1996. The band had chosen to work with new producer Mike Hedges, mainly for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees' single "Swimming Horses" that Bradfield