Manic Street Preachers
The Holy Bible
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NATN Recommended
Manic Street Preachers
The Holy Bible
Epic, 1994
RiYL: The Clash, Nirvana, Fugazi |
So it is with special ardor that I approach The Holy Bible, more than a decade after its release, with eager and welcoming ears. I could kick myself for not discovering it years earlier, but instead I’ll just honor it and say with conviction that this 13-song treatise of political, grungy Britpop, this London Calling for the Blur generation, has a distinctly timeless apeal, and an undiminished impact -- even to the uninitiated -- years down the road.
The Holy Bible is probably best known as Richey James’ last album with the Manics. The songwriter/guitarist/self-abusing sex symbol disappeared and/or committed suicide about four months after the album’s release, only to have the other three members recoup and go on to much greater commercial success with the likes of Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.
Certainly, James’ mark is all over this album – from his artistic sensibilities (assembling the striking booklet imagery) to his caustic guitar riffery, which led many to draw comparisons to Nirvana’s In Utero; to lyrical inspiration (his anorexia is the focus of the haunting “4st7lb”). But it’s also clear this is a band reaching for heights of a collaborative nature.
Singer James Dean Bradfield’s anthemic, defiant vocal performances galvanize the album, anchoring arena rockers like closer “P.C.P.” and fueling the fury of “Archives Of Pain,” whose chorus is an inspired litany of serial killers’ names, down to the bleak holocaust portraiture of “Mausoleum” and “The Intense Humming Of Evil.” And the rhythm section of bassist/songwriter Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore shows marked improvement over previous efforts, grounding the songs in either pulsating grooves, speedy punkish missives, or desolate, expansive soundscapes.
Lyrically, the record has to be one of the darkest albums ever put to tape. Many of its songs are pessimistic shout-downs decrying the conservative oppression of Reagan/Bush America. “IFWHITEAMERICATOLDTHETRUTHFORONEDAY-ITSWORLDWOULDFALLAPART” is just one obvious example, but we also get an amazingly catchy rumination on prostitution (“Yes”), the aforementioned paean to life-threatening undereating on “4st7lb,” the apparently prophetic “Die In The Summertime,” and a rocker whose chorus exclaims “We are all of walking abortion!” All that without even getting to the evocative “The Intense Humming Of Evil,” whose military beat and menacing shrieks of feedback summon the horror of the third reich.
But despite all this melancholy, The Holy Bible is surprisingly not that depressing a listen, largely due to the group’s way with a rock melody. Nearly every song features a memorable chorus hook and at least one blissful moment of rock-guitar catharsis. The codas of “Of Walking Abortion” and “Archives Of Pain” are worth the price of admission themselves, and the bare-bones rockuledge of “Faster” – “I am an architect / they call me a vulture” -- is unceasingly inspirational.
Timelessness can’t be conferred easily, but there’s no question about it – a hell of an album in any age, The Holy Bible is essential rock and roll.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.