Review Summary: Not the classic it is often made out to be, but still a good album that's worth your time.
Manic Street Preachers are a band I have rather strange feelings about; I like them, enough so to call them one of my favourites, but it is my belief that while they have a collection of truly astonishing songs, they have never made a classic album. Their 1992 debut,
Generation Terrorists, 1995’s commercial breakthrough
Everything Must Go and even 1996’s chart busting
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours have been called masterpieces, but truthfully all were patchy affairs, albeit with brilliant highlights. However, of all the Manics albums, the one that undoubtedly gets the most acclaim from both critics and fans is their third,
The Holy Bible. This also happens to be the album that confuses me the most.
Released in 1994,
The Holy Bible was the Manics last album before troubled guitarist Richey Edwards’ disappearance the same year. As of 2009, he still hasn’t been found, and is now officially presumed dead. Suicide has been one of the explanations for this, and the music on show here doesn’t do anything to dampen that theory. Almost every lyric here was written by Edwards, and most are so dark that it really wouldn’t come as a surprise if he had killed himself. The album contributed to the bands growing reputation in the UK, receiving great acclaim upon its release, and this acclaim only increased as the band continued to grow in popularity.
Of all the areas of
The Holy Bible, the one that probably gets the most praise is the lyrics. At this stage, the Manics largely stuck to a writing process that involved Edwards writing the lyrics and singer/lead guitarist James Dean Bradfield and drummer Sean Moore composing the music. Both are certainly strong here, with the words reaching a dark, twisted peak, and with plenty of catchy, memorable tunes, the problem is that they just don’t go well together. This is displayed best by the way Bradfield can often be found trying to cram too many words into his lines, the lyrics just don’t fit. This means that the effect of the lyrics is diluted simply because you can’t hear them. A perfect example is the cry of “
who’s responsible – you ***ing are!” on
Of Walking Abortion. Instead of having the desired impact, these meaningful words are drowned out by the way they are sung – you just cannot hear them.
One song where the lyrics are reasonably easy to make out is album opener
Yes. This is one of the songs where the lyrics and music gels best, and as a result is an early highlight. It is a strong statement, and although not best suited to opening an album, lyrics such as “
he’s a boy, you wanted a girl so tear off his cock, tie his hair in bunches, *** him, call him Rita if you want” instantly give an idea of the bleakness to come. Somewhat surprisingly, this bleakness isn’t always represented in the music, with songs like
Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldf allapart,
Revol and
PCP initially coming across as relatively upbeat. However, others such as
4st 7lb,
The Intense Humming Of Evil and
Die In The Summertime have a far darker feel to them, ensuring the listener is never misled from the albums sinister heart.
The tunes on the album are generally strong, with a number of memorable and hard hitting choruses that display the Bradfield and Moore’s already well proven songwriting abilities. The musicianship of the band is also impressive, with Nicky Wire contributing very audible basslines, which are always solid and occasionally spectacular, and Bradfield only backing up many peoples opinions that he is one of the most underrated guitarists around. One song where these two areas come together wonderfully is
Archives Of Pain, which manages to combine pretty much all of the albums strong factors. Wire delivers a fantastic creepy bassline that drives the verses, until Bradfield’s guitar comes tearing into action on the excellent chorus, all while maintaining predictably excellent lyrics. Amid the genius around him, Moore is often overlooked, but he certainly makes a positive contribution, with solid drumming from the first note to the last.
Another true standout is the albums most accessible song,
Faster, which features a brilliant vocal performance, and arguably the best tune on show. It is an outstanding anthem, and is up there with
Motorcycle Emptiness and
A Design For Life as one of the greatest songs the band has ever written. Unfortunately, despite the brilliant melodies of these songs there are moments where they just fall flat, seemingly relying solely on Edwards’ lyrics to carry the songs. A prime example of this is
4st 7lb, a song detailing Edwards struggle with anorexia. Despite being strong lyrically, possibly the strongest on the entire album, the lack of a decent, memorable tune drags it down. Instead of being the masterpiece it has the potential to be, it’s just an average album track that doesn’t stand out at all.
Overall despite its flaws, The Holy Bible is a good album, though not the classic it is often made out to be. So why, with these problems has it gained this status? One reason that immediately comes to mind is the disappearance of Edwards shortly after the albums release. It is often the case that with the death (or in this case likely death) of a member, a bands work receives more praise than previously. There are many reasons why this happens, and the effect has been proved numerous times in the past. Would Joy Division receive as much acclaim had their singer not died? Probably not, despite the fact they were a great band that pioneered a genre, the truth is that most of us would never have heard of them had Curtis not committed suicide. The same could be said about Manic Street Preachers, though to a lesser degree. They had already had a number of charting singles, but their real break came after Edwards disappearance, and the publicity that brought. Their first album without him,
Everything Must Go was the one that made them massive.
The nature of Edwards lyrics is also a major attraction of the album, as they are capable of connecting with emotionally, whatever age they are. Despite these appeals however, the albums weaknesses drag it down, though it is still a strong set. There are some true classics on show here, that can be enjoyed by fans of rock, metal and indie alike, so a fan of these genres could do much worse than give this a listen. You might just be one of those that falls in love with it.
Recommended Tracks
Faster
Archieves Of Pain
Yes
Of Walking Abortion
Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldf allapart
