Manic Street Preachers
Everything Must Go
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Manic Street Preachers
Everything Must Go
Epic, 1996
RiYL: Nirvana, Queen, Oasis, Ocean Color Scene |
The Manic Street Preachers found themselves in this boat, having decided to continue on as a three-piece following the bizarre disappearance of lead singer Richey Edwards in early 1995. Edwards walked out of a hotel right before the band was due to embark on a U.S. tour and was never seen again. More than a year later, his band-mates released Everything Must Go, a powerful album that seems highly influenced by this unfortunate turn of events.
Like their Brit-pop brethren (Oasis, Stone Roses), the Manics are great at writing a textbook pop song - verse, chorus, middle-eight, etc. But where the Manics stray from the formula is in the overall feel of their songs.
Everything is dominated by poignant images of an Elvis impersonator parading around a Blackpool pier, a nature photographer being stalked by his animal subjects, and of course, songs clearly written with Edwards in mind. Bassist Nicky Wire, who wrote most of the lyrics on the album, told Addicted To Noise in May 1996 "at the end of the day, you can't feel grief because you don't know if he's dead. You feel anger, sympathy and sadness. The tragedy lies on a personal level. You don't think 'Oh, the band is fucked.' We've known each other too long for that. It's the personal involvement that is the hardest to take.''
Five of the songs feature lyrics written by Edwards before he disappeared, and two of them are excellent. "Kevin Carter" is a marvelous, bouncy guitar-driven rocker, punctuated by a soaring chorus, and "Removables" has a bit of a Blur feel to it, with a simple rhythm line and the use of the dreaded seventh chord that pops in so many Brit-pop tunes.
Not surprisingly, a lot of the songs on Everything are written with an emphasis on minor chords, giving the songs a deeper and darker feel. "Enola/Alone" is another great song that finds guitarist/vocalist James Dean Bradfield's vocals staying close to the guitar melody while adding a few twists.
The title track, with its plentiful vocal hooks and string orchestral accompaniment, is reminiscent of a lot of Beatles songs, but a glance at the lyrics reveals the song is most assuredly about Edwards: "I just hope you can forgive us/if you need an explanation/then everything must go."
Although the Manics never really stood a chance with American audiences, the music found on Everything Must Go is passionate and begs to be listened to over and over.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"