Zack: It’s been my impression that musicians
typically write the music before coming up with lyrics. Or, at best, they were
devised in tandem. Apparently, Manic Street Preachers decided to switch up the
formula, because Wikipedia leads me to believe that lyrics were priority No. 1,
with writing suitable music for the subject material but a secondary concern.
The result is frequently very smart, analytical lyrics with music devised to
accentuate. Finding a suitable comparison for Manic Street Preachers is difficult,
but it really reminded me of Pink Floyd. Okay, I’m sure I just lost everyone
who has ever listened to even a single song from each, so let me explain
myself. Everyone knows how Syd Barrett was the leader of Pink Floyd up until
the time that his mental illness became too debilitating and he had to leave.
Well, the lyrics from Holy Bible are clearly the product of a similarly unwell
individual, and the exploration is fascinating. Take, for example, the song 4st
7lb, which is a reference to the minimum weight doctors say an anorexic person
can be before they’re dead (4 stones, 7 pounds). Well, the leader of Manic
Street Preachers suffered from anorexia – along with masochistic tendencies and
alcoholism – and weighed only 6 stones. I don’t have internet right now, so I’m
not sure what that is in human terms, but I’m guessing not good. Holy Bible has
plenty of such dark inversion. But the entire album isn’t internal meditations.
In plenty of places, the band favored highly political content. The most obvious
example of this is probably IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt'sWorldWouldFallApart.
Besides for tricking every reader into thinking that my space bar had broken,
it’s also a strong condemnation of American exceptionalism specifically and
American politics generally. Other targets include British imperialism and the
death penalty. The balance of this intense introversion and extroversion is
really pretty special, and makes this album a very well hidden gem.
Favorite Tracks: IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt'sWorldWouldFallApart;
4st 7lb, Yes
Emily: On the surface, the inclusion of this album seems like just more proof that this list is incredible Brit-centric. I had kind of heard of the Manic Street Preachers before from my Anglophile best friend, but other than that they don't seem to have achieved significant success outside the UK. It's just another random band that no one here cares about, I thought, but maybe it'll be more interesting than some of the others. Well, even though they may not hold as much renown as many of the artists on this list, the Manic Street Preachers certainly deserve to be invited to the party. With a post-punk inspired sound during the era of grunge, The Holy Bible hearkens back to the beginnings of alternative music, while the duality of political and personal lyrics makes it unique. Of course, with such a lyric-driven album and my propensity to not focus on lyrics during an initial listen, I'm sure there is much I missed, especially in Richey Edwards' emotional turmoil of addiction and depression. It's certainly worth multiple listens, which I will hopefully partake in soon enough.
Favorite Tracks: She is Suffering; IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt'sWorldWouldFallApart; Faster
No comments:
Post a Comment