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CD reviews

The Holy Bible

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible Audio CD

A fair review of the Manic Street Preachers "The Holy Bible" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Manic Street Preachers reviews here, or go back to the Manic Street Preachers tabs.

Band: Manic Street Preachers
Title: The Holy Bible
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-03-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Yes [Digitally Remastered] 2: Ifwhiteamericacouldtellthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart ... 3: Of Walking Abortion [Digitally Remastered] 4: She Is Suffering [Digitally Remastered] 5: Archives of Pain [Digitally Remastered] 6: Revol [Digitally Remastered] 7: 4st 7lb [Digitally Remastered] 8: Mausoleum [Digitally Remastered] 9: Faster [Digitally Remastered] 10: This Is Yesterday [Digitally Remastered] 11: Die in the Summertime [Digitally Remastered] 12: Intense Humming of Evil [Digitally Remastered] 13: P.C.P. [Digitally Remastered] 14: Intense Humming of Evil [Digitally Remastered][Live] 15: 4st 7lb [Digitally Remastered][Live] 16: Yes [Digitally Remastered][Live] 17: Of Walking Abortion [Digitally Remastered][Live] 18: Yes [US Mix] 19: Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart [US Mix] 20: Of Walking Abortion [US Mix] 21: She Is Suffering [US Mix] 22: Archives of Pain [US Mix] 23: Revol [US Mix] 24: 4st 7lb [US Mix] 25: Mausoleum [US Mix] 26: Faster [US Mix] 27: This Is Yesterday [US Mix] 28: Die in the Summertime [US Mix] 29: Intense Humming of Evil [US Mix] 30: P.C.P. [US Mix] 31: Die in the Summertime [Demo][Demo Version] 32: Mausoleum [Demo][Demo Version] 33: Of Walking Abortion [Radio 1 Evening Session][Live] 34: She Is Suffering [Radio 1 Evening Session][Live] 35: Yes [Radio 1 Evening Session][Live] 36: Faster [DVD][Version] 37: Faster [Butt Naked][Multimedia Track] 38: P.C.P. [Butt Naked][Multimedia Track] 39: She Is Suffering [Butt Naked][Multimedia Track] 40: 4st 7lb [DVD] 41: She Is Suffering [DVD] 42: Faster [DVD][Live] 43: P.C.P. [DVD][Live] 44: Yes [DVD][Live] 45: Revol [DVD][Live] 46: Faster [DVD] 47: Judge Yr'self [DVD] 48: Yes [DVD] 49: Band Interview [DVD]

not like the Clash, but somewhat alright
It sounds like typically loud, somewhat obnoxious commercial power pop such as what Green Day delivers, except. First of all, the Holy Bible does NOT sound like the Clash. . . this isn't supposed to be a commercial rock album.

I hear some noticeable influences by 70's rock bands such as Styx. "Of Walking Abortion" has vocals that will probably remind you of the lead singer of Styx and specifically the song "Renegade". The two lead singers resemble each other.

There are some pretty good moments though, such as "She is Suffering". Those vocals are pretty spooky and I love how the singer sings the melody with a raspy voice.

To be fair though, the similarities to Green Day fade a little bit as the album rolls along and the band develops a somewhat distinct sound and style (well, style).

.

Faster Yes

Dumbing down to get success or chart action in the US is an intelligent middle finger to the charts that are loaded with the same band with a different name singing the same song. Given the scope and urgency of the lyrics,
the absolute refusal to compromise a lyric or two for a shot at commercial success is something that should tell any music lover that this band are something special.
Since America will never wake up from their self-bestowed right to somehow be the gold standard that everyone reaches for,thank goodness for a band as tough and uncompromising as the Preachers.
As is rightly stated they truly do make Nirvana seem middle-brow and if you dont believe it listen to this album and read the lyrics.
I am not purposely stepping on the U. S scene,it just amazes me that a band with this much to give and so much intelligence within their music are not given even a chance in a market that in to many instances wants to cultivate their stars through shows such as American Idle.
Good luck with it.
I will keep listening to the Manics and feel that i am not wasting my time.
Ian.

.

Otra maravillosa reedici�n.
Imprescindible!!
Manics, I Love You!!. Adem�s del cd remasterizado y otro de remixes, el dvd contiene impresionantes actuaciones en vivo, v�deos y una entrevista (se echan en falta los subt�tulos).

Uncomfortably Important
But it is far from an easy listen. Like The Clash's London Calling and The Jam's All Mod Cons, The Manics' Holy Bible pulled the band out of their sophomore slump (1993's Gold Against The Soul) and is nothing short of brilliant. Lyrically dense in a claustrophic mix, The Manics address the political, social and personal demons of the world: the underage sex trade ("Yes"), anorexia ("4st 7lb"), the Holocaust ("The Intense Humming Of Evil"), the preposterousness of the American world view ("ifwhiteamericatoldthetruth. . . "). The Holy Bible is the fabled last album to feature guitarist / lyricist Richey James; he disappeared in early '95 and remains missing to this day. The album to follow Bible - 1996's Everything Must Go - is far more musically accessable (which, coupled with the band's very public mystery and tragedy, undoubtedly fueled that album's commercial success), yet it lacks the disturbing anxiousness that is palpable across all of The Holy Bible, which one can only assume is the product of James' input.

This 3-disc expanded edition features the original mix of the album on CD1. CD2 is the abandoned US mix which, though subtly different, one can hear an intensified aggression, which probably would have resonated more with American ears in the mid-'90s. The third disc is a DVD; being in the UK's PAL format (versus the US' NTSC) makes viewing difficult, though some computer-based DVD applications can play it back.

This album stands up against London Calling, What's Going On, Exodus, and any other album of the past forty years that has been christened a Classic. It just takes a certain fortitude to spin it.

Stand-out tracks are "Yes," "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruth. . . ," "Of Walking Abortion," "Faster," "4st 7lb" and "Die In The Summertime. ".

Yes, yes indeed.
Makes Kurt Cobain's shrieks of "a denial, a denial" seem rather middlebrow. One of the great albums of the last two decades. I have played this music to um death over the years so the new package was a nice way to revisit. . . what stuck me most on listening with fresh ears were the dicey politics of some of what Richey is saying. "Archives of Pain" for instance is perhaps the best plea for the death penalty I've ever heard. And his argument is coming from an almost primal place. . . though ultimately he confesses "I preach extinction" so it's hard to go down this road too far. Take also "Walking Abortion" which seems to be a brutal assault on abortion yet Richey also points out that those who do make it onto "life" are little better than maggots. . . so again perhaps a moral dead end but that's not the point anyway, this is poetry, raw visions of the world. . . and who but Richey would dare to put into a song about the holocaust the notion that even if many of those slaughtered by the Nazis had lived their lives might never have amounted to much - and he means this in the sense that most people crawl meekly to humdrum reality. Richey also notes that Churchill wasn't that different than Hitler since both chained the worker to a machine. To say these are provocative points would be the sort of understatement the British might appreciate.

The US mix is well worth hearing. "Yes" with the pumped up guitars may even work better than the original (and the notion talked about on the DVD that this might have been a single is utterly hilarious) and even when it doesn't it's like having another snapshot another way to scale this masterpiece.

You can see a complete list of all Manic Street Preachers discography, or go back to the Manic Street Preachers tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.