Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers

The year was 1995 and during this year a still unsolved mystery involving former Manic Street Preachers former guitarist, Richie Edwards occurred. His car was found a the top of a cliff on the river Severn, however no body was ever found and his apparent fate remained a mystery. During 1996 the Manic?s came back with possibly their finest album to-date and proceeded to become one of Britain?s finest bands. At 13 this was my first taste of the Manic?s and I loved it, a band coming out of Wales who had three previous albums, had now released an album, which contained some of the best songs of the year. In fact thinking back this was probably one of the first CD ...  Read the complete review

'Everything Must Go' is marked in music history as one of the stand out album of the 90s. It was the Manic Street Preachers fourth album, but their first without writer, guitarist and image Richey Edwards. Aside from the mystery surrounding his disappearance what you must not forget that this album is a spectacularly good rock record in its own right. The title really says it all 'Everything Must Go' shows a big movement away from older ground of the Manic Street Preachers. Some people, me included feel the Manic peaked with their first album, but this remain a stunning album. The loss of Richey made a huge difference to the Manics. Although he ...  Read the complete review

Now that the Manics are "bored and old" as Kurt Copbain might say, I thought it would be nice to look back in time and remember when the Manics were a band that actually had something worthwhile to say and some great songs to sing. Everything Must Go is actually the root of their new-found blandness, coming as a watershed after the disappearance of main lyricist Richey Edwards, but it is almost as good as their finest work and in my view the finest album of all time, The Holy Bible. 1996 was the year, the Tories were into their final year in government (ha ha ha) and girl power was about to explode with the Spice girls. Oasis were at their commercial ...  Read the complete review

I thought I would try my reviewing hand at one of my favourite albums of all time.... No not the Jive Bunny Megamix.... That's next weeks review......... Let me take you back to May 1996.... Britain was under a Conservative government, with the country was gearing up for Euro 96....when football was apparently 'coming home'. War was breaking out in Chechnya, Aussie Gina G was representing the UK in the Eurovision song contest and Mark Morrison was topping the charts with his song about the safe return of a beloved coat he presumably mislaid. May 1996 also heralded the release of one of the seminal albums of the 1996 - The Manic Street Preachers - ...  Read the complete review

Richey Edwards - a refugee from his own tortured soul, hiding somewhere in the Canary Islands? Or a slowly-fading ripple on the waters of the Bristol Channel? Either way, I don't think for a minute that we'll ever see him again. Even if he's not dead (and I really hope he isn't), people don't fake their own deaths on a whim. 'Everything Must Go' was the first Manic Street Preachers album of the post-Richey world. The terrifying darkness of 'The Holy Bible' has given way to a gentler feel, although still backed by some serious guitar noise. Nicky Wire exhibits his taste for bold socialist statements in his lyrics ('Libraries gave us power, then work came and ...  Read the complete review