The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist. - Kevin Carter
Richey James Edwards vanished on February 1st, 1995, on the eve of the Manic Street Preachers' US tour. Their third album, The Holy Bible, was a stark warning sign that all was not well, but his disappearing act was for all intents and purposes wholly unexpected. The band had penned a few lyrics for their next album, and spirits seemed high until that fateful day when Richey left his hotel room, never to be heard from again.
The band were caught without their lyricist, guitarist and friend. Could they go on? For several months, the Manics simply ceased to function as a group, the reality of what had happened needing to sink in. At Richey's family's urging, the remaining trio - James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire - returned to the studio to pen the fourth LP. Everything Must Go is the sound of a band thrust into unfamiliar territory, not knowing quite how to go on but carrying on come what may. For the first time, Nicky pens the majority of lyrics (whilst a handful of songs use whatever Richey had left), and the result is a unique sound - not quite the harshness of The Holy Bible, yet not quite radio-friendly rock either.
Track Listing
- Elvis Impersonator:Blackpool Pier - The opening track criticizes the Americanization of traditional British culture, juxtaposing the picture of Elvis against something so essentially English. An angry, yet restrained opener, with James' guitars and lyrics daring the listener to question what's happening. Not released as a single."American trilogy in Lancashire pottery."
- A Design For Life - A song tackling the erosion of traditional, working-class values, written as more and more public services were being privatised. Released as a single on the 15th April, 1996, this very nearly became the group's first number one, but peaked at 2. "Libraries gave us power/Then work came and made us free"
- Kevin Carter - Sean shows off his prowess as a trumpeter in this song, lamenting the famous photographer who took his own life. Released as a single on 30th September, 1996, reaching number seven. "Bang bang club, AK-47 hour"
- Enola/Alone - A song about reflecting back on the past while trying to find a direction for the future. Read bol's excellent writeup here, which explains the song far better than I can. Not released as a single. "But all I want to do is live/No matter how miserable it is."
- Everything Must Go - This is the Manics asking the world, "We're going to keep going. Anybody have a problem with that?" The song is uplifting, an affirmation that no matter what's happened so far, they've got to keep going - but appealing to the fans to stay with them and lend their support. Released as a single on 29th July, 1996, reaching number 5. "And I just hope that you can forgive us/Because everything must go."
- Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky - After the previous song, the album takes on a more meloncholy tone with a song penned by Richey. The song is about zoo animals, inspired by a documentary on the subject. Not released as a single. Once you roared, now you just grunt, lame"
- The Girl Who Wanted To Be God - Another uplifting song, rising again from the fall of Small Black Flowers.... Named after a quotation by Sylvia Plath. Not released as a single."The dawn is still breaking/Its heaven is so high"
- Removables - A song that starts out nice and gentle - before ripping into a strong chorus, building up with more and more intensity as the song continues. This song is about the lack of permanance in modern art - "all removables". Not released as a single. "A bronze moth dies easily/Unknown to others, weak to me"
- Australia - A song about wanting to get away - Nicky wrote this about wanting to escape 1995, and the events that surrounded Richey's disappearance. Released as a single on 2nd December, 1996, reaching number 7."Sleep for a while and speak no words in Australia."
- Interiors (Song for Willam De Kooning - Willam De Kooning was a celebrated artist, before succumbing to alcoholism - his later paintings a shadow of his past glory. This song reflects on the past, asking if we'll be able to remember the past today. Not released as a single"Say you can remember, say 'where is the tomorrow'/Say where you are coming from, say what you have"
- Further Away - A love song from the Manic Street Preachers. Can it be? Certainly seems so, in this relatively gentle song covering both love, and homesickness. Not released as a single. "The further away I get from you/The harder it gets for everyone else"
- No Surface All Feeling - The album's final track, dealing with how the group have moved on from their earlier days - that they're not the same people they were when Generation Terrorists were released. Not released as a single."It was all surface, no feeling/Maybe at the time it felt like dreaming."
Everything Must Go still doesn't completely shake off Richey - although I doubt any subsequent Manics album has, either. There are still lyrics penned by the band's resident poet, and much of the album is focused around coming to terms with the fact that the band simply will never be the same. The sound isn't as refined as on This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, nor as angry and as harsh as The Holy Bible, but is still very much 'their' sound - the lyrics are still solid, with Nicky certainly a talented songwriter in his own right.
It's a fine album, and sold more than any Manics album before it, but doesn't define the band nearly as well as other albums. Generation Terrorists was angry, raw and unpolished, The Holy Bible painful and morose, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours the band coming to terms with being a three-piece. Buy this album if you want to get into the group, without plunging in too much at the deep end - and remember, it has A Design For Life on it. Can't be all bad.
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