Looking back now, 1994 was a huge year in music. Kurt Cobain died, Britpop took off with the release of both ‘Definitely Maybe’ and ‘Parklife’ and dance music crossed over led by the Prodigys ‘Music for the Jilted Generation’. Suddenly everyone was getting their haircut, smartening up their act, buying Loaded magazine and popping pills as if there were no tomorrow. Grunge effectively died with Kurt and that vacuum was filled with the arrogance and swagger of Oasis and the music hall Britishness of Blur.
So goes the accepted version of music history. But that doesn’t nearly tell the full story. Suede released their masterpiece ‘Dog Man Star’ a grandiose, overblown, piece of beauty before disintegrating before our eyes and the Manic Street Preachers released ‘The Holy Bible’. After the luke warm reaction to their previous album ‘Gold Against the Soul’ (if ever an album needs re-appraisal it’s ‘Gold Against the Soul’ still this writers second favourite Manics album ever) the Manics star was fading. Their overblown American stadium rock was as unfashionable as could be and their empty threat to sell 13 million copies of their first album before splitting up was used time and time again as the stick to beat them. It seemed all they had left was one of the most rabid fan bases in the country (no bad starting point) and a clean slate whenever they wanted it. No-one expected what came next.
By their own admission ‘The Holy Bible’ is when the Manics vision finally came together, the lyrics, the music, the image, the artwork, the manifestos, it all suddenly worked. From the moment ‘Yes’, the opening track hits the chorus; ‘He’s a boy / you want a girl / so tear off his cock / tie his hair in bunches / fuck him / call him Rita if you want’ you understand this is going to be one of the most visceral and brutal albums you’re ever likely to hear. With the subject matter moving between anorexia, the holocaust, prostitution and delving further and further into the mind of Richey Edwards, lyrically it’s very dark. It’s reputation as a hard listen however is unwarranted. The likes of ‘Yes’, ‘Faster’, ‘PCP’ and ‘Revol’ are amongst the best songs the Manics ever wrote and as a whole it is their most consistent statement.
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This beautifully packaged anniversary edition of the album is laden with extra tracks (live, demos and radio sessions), a re-mastered version of the original album and bizarrely an American mix of the album (how ironic and very Manics that at the height of their anti-American feelings they're still willing to remix their album for the American market). This American mix turns up the drums and guitars and covers the album in a stadium sheen and even washes of keyboards on ‘She Is Suffering’. Interesting if inferior to the original. The third disc is a DVD featuring TV performances including the infamous Top of the Pops performance where James Dean Bradfield wears a balaclava (somewhat diluted by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer pogoing in front of them!), live footage from Reading and Glastonbury and a 30 minute interview with the band. Add in rare photos and some hidden videos and you are left with a wonderfully thought out, very powerful document of a band utterly on top of their game.
We all know what happened next and like Kurt Cobain and ‘In Utero’ everything takes on more meaning with the benefit of hindsight. Apparently Richey wanted the next album to sound like a cross between Pantera and Nine Inch Nails, now there’s an album I’d liked to have heard. The Holy Bible never left a lot of us, but to focus heavily upon it once more is to revel in its' beauty. One of the greatest albums ever given a suitably grand makeover and celebration, it makes the Manics slow descent into AOR hell even more painful. Remember them this way.
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