Review Summary: …of everything not nice.
Old Times Series: (Part 4)
(Note: This review only study the original UK mix version of the album, instead of the US mix that came with the 20th anniversary box set of the record)
When I was writing my debut review in this site about Slowdive’s
Souvlaki, I (sort of) wrote off
Manic Street Preachers for failing to achieve the same degree of American success as the one of the shoegazing big three nowadays, especially when guitarist/lyricist Richey Edwards made a despising comment about them (try typing “I hate Slowdive more than Hitler” on any social media without provoking anyone nowadays) and later disappeared, not to mention Slowdive earned a Top 50 album in the Billboard 200, where the Manics had none on the chart at all. At the time I first made such comment, I felt sense of joyful relief, as I thought I should mention how Slowdive finally triumph over the notorious rockers who was then best-known for their public antics and political lyrics back in 1993, as I thought the reason why Preachers were able to maintain a vast longevity was simply because of what I thought was their brainless fans in the UK. However, when I plugged my earphone to listen to the Preachers’ 1994 album
The Holy Bible, it finally clarified many things about the troubled Richards, as it sounds he was struggling from his personal demons and the band’s distaste for the then-current politics at the time, which affect the band in some degree, not unlike Brit-pop’s godfather
Suede did in
Dog Man Star. Unlike the grandiose darkness of
Dog Man Star,
The Holy Bible is a bleak, isolated portrait that some might not understand fully, but would feel a profound sense of catharsis and triumph for those who are able to, and an breathtaking astonishment for their stunning musical prowess that solidifies them as British rock legends.
The opening tracks “Yes” and “Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwou ldfallapart” alone made a remarkable opening for the journey towards the dark side of human’s psyche: the hard-edged former is an anguished diary of a prostitute, as singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield sang the emptiness the sex worker experienced(“
And I don't know what I'm scared of or what I even enjoy/Dulling, get money, but nothing turns out like you want it to”), while acknowledging that the dangerous job is not the solution to resolve poverty(“
Just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff”), and lamenting that he/she is no longer clean as it used to be(“
The only certain thing that is left about me/There is no part of my body that has not been used”), and ultimately scorning the depravity of the modern society in the chorus(“
He's a boy, you want a girl so tear off his c**k”), with the band performed a post-punk-driven music section, a sound that would not only set the icy yet rocking tone for the rest of the album, but would be one that would lay the groundwork for the acts of the 2000s post-punk revival such as
Interpol; Began with a GOP TV show’s sample, the punky, bassist Nicky Wire-penned latter is a funnily lacerating satire against the growing americanism and conservative politics in Britain at the time, whether Wire is jokingly claimed explicit label advocate Tipper Gore is a friend of his in the chorus, while ranting against the surging racism in America(“
Vital stats - how white was their skin/Unimportant - just another inner-city drive-by thing”) and the hypocrisy within them(“
Your idols speak so much of the abyss/Yet your morals only run as deep as the surface”), constructing a tune that is heartbreaking and evermore relatable in this tumultuous era. They would not be the only songs in this album that captures the more sociopolitical sides of the Manics themselves, as they would tackle various corner of the abyss itself, such as the repression of freedom of speech as a result of overt political correctness (The Clash-recalled caricature “P.C.P.”), the rise of fascism and totalitarianism (the twisted “Of Walking Abortion”), media’s glorification of serial killers and capital punishments (the heavy metal-infused “Archives of Pain”), the emptiness caused by overt amount of desires (the brooding highlight “She Is Suffering”), the anger towards the judgemental society (the adrenaline-driving “Faster”) and the horrors of the holocaust (the groove-laden “Mausoleum” and the industrial rock-infused “The Intense Humming of Evil”), which perfectly mirrored the darker post-punk sound that the band never experimented prior or ever since. With
The Holy Bible, the Manics proved they could make a great leap forward musically instead of repeating the same pattern of American rock like
Gold Against the Soul, and the fact that the lyrics team of Wire and Edwards finally penned something political without disposing the depth and expansiveness of the theme itself.
Even there are numerous political-oriented songs within this record, it doesn’t mean the band would shy away from more personal songs as well: “4st 7lb” is a harrowing, semi-autobiographical portrait of Edwards’ own struggle with anorexia, where the title refers to the weight (about 29kg) where death is medically unavoidable for anorexics, as Edwards penned as a girl who is obsessed with “perfect body” model being fascinated at her increasingly slim body while risking her own health(“
Stretch taut, cling-film on bone/I’m getting better”), yet she is not satisfied with her already low weight(“
Problem is diet's not a big enough word/I wanna be so skinny that I rot from view”), and ultimately, when the song enters the arpeggio-driven minimalist sonics, she finally succumbed to her obsession(“
Self-worth scatters, self-esteem's a bore/I long since moved to a higher plateau”); ”This Is Yesterday” and “Die in the Summertime” are melancholic, suicidal tunes where the band lamented about aging and dying in an early age, with the New Wave-infused former finds Bradfield’s gently distorted vocals and flanged guitars flourishing the lyrics regarding to humans being increasingly frail due to aging and remembering the glorious past, and the
Pornography-like latter finds the quartet embrace death at a young age. Even the designated single “Revol” also captures the dreary mood of Richards in this record, as the guitar-fuelled pseudo-anthem utilised the chock full of political references and created a dark lament about the rise and fall of a romantic relationship, as Bradfield bitterly compares various political figures with stages of a love life, from the comparison of Soviet Union founder Lenin’s rise and his own sexual awakening, Trotsky’s political exile as his own romantic one and Louis Farrakhan’s support for the reparation of various oppressions in the US as the couple’s divorce (“Farrakhan - alimony alimony”), among many imageries and comparisons. With these poignant moments, it is clear that Edwards’ mental health was extremely frail, and thus affecting both his physical health and the band’s longevity, yet it also clarifies him and Wire as a stunning songwriter and the band as an astounding musicians to begin with, as they no longer the primitive punk-rockers who proclaimed to be the so-called
Generation Terrorist.
With
The Holy Bible, the Welsh rockers leaned towards the darker, heavier post-punk/goth rock instead pf their previous American-sounding, punk-rock-oriented efforts, or even all their future albums, and created a singular masterpiece that they would never surpass ever since. Heavy, morbidly bleak, blood-chilling, yet ultimately captivating, it is the British equivalent to
Nirvana’s
In Utero. Even though it became their highest-charting album in the UK upon its release (peaking at number six), and all the three singles of this record reached the Top 30, it nonetheless became a commercial disappointment, which is not too surprising given to the record’s overtly difficult nature, and the fact that it was released on the very same day when Oasis’
Definitely Maybe was released. If
Souvlaki is a melancholic catharsis as a result of heartbreak, and
Dog Man Star is a ragged portrait that paints the disillusionment of social contacts, then
The Holy Bible is an underground archive that documents every human atrocities and sufferings, as the Manics sculpture their journey to the bottomless abyss of human psyche and Edwards’ epic personal struggles that very few would dare to replicate with their own pens and ink. This album might not convince the naysayers that the Preachers is a legitimate rock act, even after 25 years since its initial release, since it’s rather inaccessible and remained heavily on political themes and references, but for some, it clarifies how mentally tortured Edwards was before his disappearance that led to his troublesome behavior, and for me, perhaps that Slowdive insulting comment is more than just his personal disgust on the now shoegazing legends, and more importantly, it captures Manic Street Preachers’ lightning in a bottle like no other Manics albums and very few other acts did, while making their infamous career upstart virtually non-existent.
Personal Rating:
4.9/5
Personal Favourite:
Yes
Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldf allapart
She Is Suffering
Archives of Pain
Revol
