The Holy Bible

I liked this a lot. Sounds a lot like other bands I like but it's own thing at the same time. I'll add this one to the rotation, which is great for an album I was unfamilar with!

HL: "Yes", "Revol", "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart", "This is Yesterday"

Hard to rate; the musicianship + melodies are like a 4-5 but the lyrics are like a 1-2 for me (I listened to much of it with the lyric sheet open after not getting most of what he was saying). I have a surface level understanding of the Manic Street Preachers/Richie Edwards, but it feels like his struggles were trivialized, so long as he was able to stay productive & finish the record.
It's also too easy to hear elements of a breakdown after the fact; perhaps the difference between this &, say, NIN's The Downward Spiral, is that the lyricist survived the press release/tour.

January 11, 2023

Dark, grim, intense, loud, confrontational, lyrically strong, fierce vocals, killer guitar sound.

The Holy Bible is an absolute amazing album and the best the Manic Street Preachers have released.

I think this may be the first album on the list that I genuinely hate. It's such a strange combination of venomous bile and cheesy melodramatic musical techniques - the combination of which just makes me nauseous. The spoken interludes are overused to the point of being eye rolling. I can see what they're trying to do, to reinforce their bleak worldview with the words of others, but maybe just focus on one or two? The whole album is trying to do too much, trying too hard. They also can't seem to make up their mind on what they want to do. They don't even seem to have their own musical identity - they just sound like a loose amalgamation of so many other early 90s guitar based alt rock bands. I thought I actually liked the last song but Spotify had simply gone and auto played a track by The Verve right after the album was over. Not that I'm a huge fan of The Verve or anything, but it was like a breathe of fresh air after being locked in Richey Edwards' dingey apartment for 56 minutes and 25 seconds. Will not be listening again.

It's not my favourite Manics album, but still filled with plenty of hard hitting tracks! 3.5

Lyrics are a little sixth form poetry and the subject matter is all very grim, but musically this is far and away the best Manics album - still stands up well. Like Pearl Jam but with songs about sex tourists and anorexia.

Boring shit that sounds like all other boring shit.

An absolute masterpiece.
One of the most quotable albums ever, with lyrics by two of the very best to ever write.
Songs are lyrically heavy, musically appropriate to the words, with flashes of genius every few seconds.
Almost unfair that one band would have two such poetic lyricists, and two genius all-round musicians, and one of the very best vocalists ever, and a drummer who is such a good all-rounder, and as a band they would even design covers/videos/artwork.
That that they would combine to collaborate with such a clear vision is almost unbelievable.
Favourite tracks are ... All of them!

We miss you Richey

Me gusta Manic Street Preachers pero no soy un súper fan y por lo tanto este disco que había oído de pasada me deja un poco indiferente. Se puede escuchar pero no creo que sea imprescindible. Aunque entiendo que como legado de la desaparición de Richey Edwards forma parte de al historia del rock de los 90 y sobre todo del UK Rock. Hay canciones buenas como Faster, Revol o Archives of pain.