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Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go


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Manic Street Preachers

Everything Must Go

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May 1996

James Dean Bradfield: Guitar and vocals

Sean Moore: Drums

Nicky Wire: Bass and lyrics

Note: the writing credits for the songs were shared by all the band members, with the exception of “Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier.†Also, Richey James helped write “Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier,†“Kevin Carter,†“Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky,†and “Removables†before his disappearance.

1. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

2. A Design for Life 3. Kevin Carter 4. Enola/Alone 5. Everything Must Go 6. Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky 7. The Girl Who Wanted to Be God 8. Removables 9. Australia 10. Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) 11. Further Away 12. No Surface All Feeling

To start off this review, I should probably provide a brief history lesson, to all those who aren’t fans of the Manics. The Manic Street Preachers started off as a punky British hair metal band, modeling themselves after the Clash, glam rock, and Guns N’ Roses. This was the sound found on their debut album “Generation Terrorists,†which featured the lineup of James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore, Nicky Wire, and Richey James Edwards. James Dean and Sean Moore were terrific musicians, and Nicky Wire was only an average bassist, and guitarist Richey James...didn’t know how to play the guitar. During live shows, he would jam away on an unplugged guitar. He was in the band because he was Nicky Wire’s best friend, and he had a car, so he could drive the Manics around to their concerts. After “Generation Terrorists,†the Manics lost a little bit of their hair metal sound, and focused more on a grungey punk rock, in their album “Gold Against the Soul.†Pretty soon, Richey’s problems with alcohol, self-mutilation, anorexia, and depression started to define the Manics sound. Between the albums “Gold Against the Soul†and their masterpiece “The Holy Bible,†Richey’s problems were a huge influence on the band’s sound, especially when Richey learned how to play the guitar. Richey wrote most of the lyrics for “The Holy Bible,†which became one of the most depressing albums of the 90’s. Shortly after the release of “The Holy Bible,†Richey disappeared, and has not been seen since.

In “Everything Must Go,†Richey’s disappearance has a huge effect on the Manics’ music. The album is full of fun and cheerful songs, such as “Further Away,†and “Australia.†It also had a lot of bittersweet songs, such as “All Surface No Feeling,†and “Enola/Alone.†By listening to these bittersweet songs, you can tell that the Manics were very sad about Richey’s disappearance, but instead of writing a bunch of really depressing songs about it, they were trying to overcome the sadness that came from the disappearance.

As I was saying earlier, this album is not at all like the early Manics albums. While the first song on the album, “Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier†is a rather gloomy yet exciting rocker, the next song, “A Design For Life†is an undeniable pop song. The album is full of British sounding pop-rock songs. “Enola/Alone†really shows the difference between Richey and post-Richey MSP. When Richey was around, a song about loneliness would most likely be incredibly depressing. An example of a Richey lyric about loneliness is:

“I have crawled so far sideways

I recognise dim traces of creation

I wanna die, die in the summertime, I wanna dieâ€

An example (from “Enola/Aloneâ€) of a post-Richey lyric about loneliness is:

“I'll take a picture of you

To remember how good you lookedâ€

or an example from “Further Away†:

“The happier I am when I’m with you

the harder it gets when I am aloneâ€

Big change in direction, eh? The pop-rock songs such as the ones I just mentioned are incredibly catchy. When I first found out about this album, I listened to some of the songs multiple times, just because I couldn’t get them out of my head. They are some of the best pop songs I’ve heard, and it’s great how even in their pop direction, they don’t lose their hard rock edge. Also, the pop songs show off another side to James Deans’ singing voice, not often heard in albums such as “The Holy Bible.â€

This album isn’t completely different from the early work of the Manics. “Everything Must Go†still shows a lot of their glam rock influence. In fact, with the bombastic and sweet string arrangements and beat-driven pop make “Everything Must Go†more glam than their earlier albums. Great examples of the glam-ness of the Manics can be found in the anthemic title track, and the danceable, almost disco-ish “The Girl Who Wanted to be God.†This album also shows the Manics returning to their full sounding arena rock, which can also be found in the title track.

The last song, “All Surface No Feeling†is one of my personal favorite songs of the 90’s, and an incredible ending to the album. It almost seems like all the pop before this song was there to build-up to the ultimate bittersweet pop love song. This song’s placement is really a testament to how well thought out the Manics are when it comes to song choice, and where to put songs in an album. They are a band that has hit singles, and still has an album that is improved when played all at once in the correct order. If “All Surface No Feeling†was put at the beginning of the album, the listener might not be ready for it. “Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier†was a perfect transition from “The Holy Bible†to “Everything Must Go,†and the rest of the album focused on the Manics showing their fans their new direction, and in a way, the rest of the album shows the Manics trying to “desensitize†MSP fans to pop. By the end of the album, a fan of “The Holy Bible†can recognize the beauty in the Manics’ pop songs, and appreciate their new style. Partly, due to the album’s buildup to it, “All Surface No Feeling†is able to be a beautiful and bittersweet pop-rock song, without sounding sappy and overly-emotional. Instead of trying to go out with a self-righteous bang, as they did with “PCP†(the last song on “The Holy Bibleâ€), the Manics leave “Everything Must Go†with on a mature note, as if the Manics have given up on punk...or so it may seem. Once “All Surface No Feeling†comes to an end, there is 40 seconds of the chords to the chorus being played like it’s grinding punk rock. It’s all very touching, yet it rocks at the same time.

This album is amazing. If you are a Manic Street Preachers fan, you must get this. If The Holy Bible is a 10/10 album, Everything Must Go is a 9.9/10 album.

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:laughing: yes, daddy!! been there, done that, for five hours at least but i couldn't sleep anymore so i just got up. had a cool dream about being a bauer/dessler type field agent and rescuing chairman mao from kidnapper terrorists. why chairman mao? i don't know. but i digress...

i know all the lyrics of that album and don't have any problem understanding jdb! his accent is a little strange on some words though. i dug this album out last night and listened for the first time in about a year. i love it. it's not my favourite msp album but then it would be very hard for me to choose a favourite.... i love all my children the same.... but i suppose i do love 'the holy bible' a little more just because it's so deep and dark and depressing.

on 'everything must go' i absolutely adore 'removables' - apparently it was recorded in one take although i don't really know what that means because i highly doubt it was recorded live. i love james' voice on this one, it's really dirty and rough and sexy. james get to show off his voice so much on this album. it's sickeningly good. i'm never too happy about men with a wider range than me, but i adore his voice nonetheless. i used to listen to this song over and over lying on the floor in the dark. the lyrics are among the best on the album too. 'no surface all feeling' would probably be my next favourite song. there again, james' voice is edgy and the lyrics are stronger and more meaningful than on other tracks. it's on tracks like those that you really feel the raw pain that the band are going through, although 'this is my truth tell me yours' is the first album on which they really dare to explore those emotions and write about them to any great extent.

i could be wrong but i'm reaching back into the depths of my memory and all the hundreds of facts about msp i used to have stored up in there and i think that richey's contribution to the lyrics was through notebooks that he left behind, rather than him actually being involved in the writing of fully developed songs.

the bravest thing about this album, i think, is that it moves in an entirely different direction to their previous album at a time when all of their fans and critics were watching and almost waiting for them to fail. it was almost a guarantee that people would be disappointed with their more mainstream, verging on pop, sound but they did it and pulled it off impressively. 'a design for life' became something of an anthem for the working class for a while there. since it came out about a year before i got into the manics my brother loves to remind me that i apparently hated the song when i first heard it!

i'm listening to the album again now and every track that comes on i'm like 'yes!' it's such a great album. ooh and i love that sean (the drummer) plays the trumpet on 'kevin carter'. and i was also very excited to see nicky's nipple on the inlet card, god i fancied him soooo much a few years ago!

i once had a guy challenge me on my knowledge of the manics by asking me a few "hard" questions that he thought i wouldn't be able to answer. i responded in kind with a 200-question-strong questionnaire about the band and members which i compiled from memory. nobody challenges baby on her manics knowledge!

some facts about the manics:

nicky is married to a librarian, his childhood sweetheart rachel.

nicky's favourite thing to do when not touring is the vacuuming with his dyson.

nicky doesn't drink alcohol and his favourite drink is ribena.

nicky is a bit ocd. he became addicted to slot machines when in university and squandered his grant money on one armed bandits.

nicky was nicknamed wire when growing up because of his tall wiry build and shirley because of his penchant for wearing dresses and eyeliner.

okay so maybe alot of the stuff i remember is fairly nicky related.... i think my old crush may have been rekindled!

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  • 3 weeks later...

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