Manic Street Preachers celebrate 30 years since landmark album Everything Must Go
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Manic Street Preachers' BRIT award-winning album Everything Must Go. The album, which includes ‘A Design For Life’, ‘Kevin Carter’ and ‘Australia’ sold more than two million copies worldwide.
Band members Nicky Wire and James Dean Bradfield, who hail from the South Wales Valleys, have shared their memories in a new ITV Cymru Wales programme, Backstage with Manic Street Preachers, presented by Ella Lloyd.
By 1994, Manic Street Preachers had already released three studio albums and gained cult-like status. But when guitar player and lyricist Richey Edwards disappeared a year later, the band’s future was in doubt.
Bass player and lyricist Nicky Wire told Backstage: “We were quite rightly, in a state of uncertainty and panic. And we didn't know whether the band was worth continuing.”
But their hit song ‘A Design For Life’ changed everything.
Nicky Wire told presenter Ella Lloyd: “It was the song that, not to sound melodramatic, made us carry on.
“I wrote two separate lyrics for James [Dean Bradfield] and he famously sang it down the phone to me and said, ‘REM meets Ennio Morricone’.
“And he really edited the lyrics because they were two separate lyrics, which I was more than happy with.
“He picked the best lines out.”
Everything Must Go reached number two in the UK album charts, propelling the band to mainstream stardom.
“When you're that cult band that suddenly tips over into gigantic success it is probably the best feeling that you'll ever have being in a band,” Nicky Wire said.
He continued: “We'd always set ourselves to be big, you know, to make an impact.
“We'd never been one of those shy bands that wanted to stay in a cul de sac. The whole reason for the band was to reach as many people as we could.”
Everything Must Go features songs with lyrics written by both Richey Edwards and Nicky Wire.
Frontman James Dean Bradfield told ITV Cymru Wales: “There was a new ongoing style of Nicky Wire, stuff like ‘No Surface All Feeling’ mixed with ‘Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky’, that was kind of an old school Richey Edwards song.”
The bassist added: “I think it's probably why, in some respects, it is such a perfect album because it still has really important traces of Richey's words on there. As well as my own.
“The way I was writing was kind of simpler stuff like ‘A Design For Life’ and ‘Everything Must Go’.
“I didn't want to mimic what had gone before, but the fact that you still had ‘Kevin Carter’, ‘Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky’, ‘Elvis Impersonator’ and ‘The Girl Who Wanted To Be God’, which I finished... It just had all the elements of what we were as a band.”
Guitarist and lead vocalist James Dean Bradfield reflected back to when the Manics first formed.
“When myself and Nick did our first song together, which I think was 1984, I kind of thought we were onto something straight away.
“I thought we were both quite unreasonable people in terms of our ambitions. We had mad dreams straight away.
“The fact that we were both really ambitious and quite unreasonable about it and quite impatient, immediately I thought that we were a good fit.
“And then when Sean [Moore] joined, I was annoyed because Sean was like my older brother, we were living together. But of course it was amazing that he did.
“He knows more about musical theory than me because he was playing in a colliery band, playing the trumpet and stuff, and he had a couple of sessions with Gwent Jazz Youth Orchestra as well.
“And then when Richey came in... And, of course, they looked amazing together. You know, Nick and Richey on the flying wingers, and you had me, the utilitarian ditch digger in the middle. It just felt complete.
“I never thought we would fail. You know, it's really strange. It wasn't an arrogant thing. I just thought we'd all found each other. The chemistry was perfect.”
The four-piece band went on to record Generation Terrorists, Gold Against The Soul, and The Holy Bible between 1992 and 1994.
On writing songs together, Bradfield said: “We do disagree on stuff, but it is quite rare.
“I’ve just got the philosophy that the best words inspire the best music.
“Sometimes it's like a code - an invisible code. It's like seeing the Matrix in front of your eyes.”
The Holy Bible was the last album that the band released before Richey Edwards disappeared. This year, they put out The Holy Bible Live album, which was recorded at The Roundhouse, London in 2014 for its 20th anniversary.
“In a strange way, it's the closest we can come to feeling as if we are in a band with Richey again,” James Dean Bradfield said.
“Because obviously the album is indelibly connected to Richey in terms of mindset and lots of the lyrics.
“It's a kind of small way of being with him again."
The Holy Bible is known for being very dark in terms of its themes and lyrics but despite this, Nicky Wire said: “In the most perverse way, it does give a sense of comfort to people.
“You can get a real sense of joy from listening to The Holy Bible. It’s undoubtedly really helped lots of people throughout their lives.”
The band is now on tour with English rock group Suede. They first toured together back in 1994 across Europe.
James Dean Bradfield told Backstage: “We like touring with Suede because they're the same kind of live force as us.
“There’s never a cross word between us. I think we may have had one kerfuffle over an ironing board in America or something like that. And that was it.”
Nicky Wire added: “It's amazing because they are one of the quietest bands offstage you'll ever meet… They’re just all sitting there reading.”
Manic Street Preachers are now on their sixteenth album and are currently writing new material.
Stream Backstage with Manic Street Preachers on ITVX.