Overview

In August 1994, Manic Street Preachers released The Holy Bible, a dark, fiercely intelligent album that explored such themes as mental illness, murder and war. Richey Edwards, the band’s lyricist and motive force, vanished five months later; he was never found. In his absence The Holy Bible entered the rock canon alongside Joy Division’s Closer and Nirvana’s In Utero, the valedictory works of troubled young men. This book tells the dramatic story of Manic Street Preachers' masterpiece. Tracing the album's origins in the Valleys, an industrialised region of South Wales where the band spent their formative years, the author argues that The Holy Bible can be seen as a meditation on the uses and abuses of history.

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9781501331701

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Reviews

Evans approaches the Manics' dark, sinewy third album, The Holy Bible, with the same studious zeal that precipitated its arrival ... An essential companion piece. [Five stars]. * Record Collector * In this book David Evans does a beautiful and passionate job of placing the record in the context of the band’s Welshness … as well as the political and cultural landscape of the UK in 1994 ... If as a Manics fan you ever picked up a specific book because it was referenced in The Holy Bible, it’s essential further reading. * Classic Rock * A careful and thoughtful examination of The Holy Bible that manages to make sense of an album with which ... it’s hard to know where to begin...[Evans] insightfully examines the influence of the Welsh chapel tradition on Richey’s lyrics and outlook. * Review 31 * For the non-academic reader who happens to love the Manics, this book is absorbing and highly readable; for the specialist there are the sprinklings of ivory towerism – like chilli flakes on a fine risotto, just enough. In this wonderful world of purchase power, I hope you will all go and find a copy. You won’t regret it. * Daryl Leeworthy, author of Labour Country: Political Radicalism and Social Democracy in South Wales 1831-1985 * The Holy Bible is an album which has stimulated hundreds and thousands of words ... [and] has intrigued, perplexed, worried and inspired an army of listeners. It is thus a triumph that this small book is able to encapsulate so much of what is vital, special and worth celebrating on the record ... For anyone new to The Holy Bible, this well written, enthusiastic, literate, easy to read and totally 4Real book is a perfect introduction to why it is a unique record. For anyone who's grown up with it, Evans achieves the essential feat of impelling you to listen to it and think about it again. * R*E*P*E*A*T fanzine * [A] well-rounded, comprehensive and smart document of the album, its contexts and legacy...More than anything, Evans’ book is a reminder of the album’s strength as a recurring galvanising force * Concrete Islands * It took me back to when a band meant everything. I loved the Welsh angle, the big nod to the music - often overlooked because of the focus on Richey's lyrics - and the respect it shows to the fans. It's a brilliant book. The album is an alternative bible and here it has the treatment it deserves. * Mariana Enríquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire * What a thing of beauty this book is. I love how as well as describing the song recording process and band chronology it also reads around the album, interrogating literary works thoughtfully and looking for threads to pull. It made me see the music in new ways. * Rodge Glass, author of Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award *

What a thing of beauty this book is. I love how as well as describing the song recording process and band chronology it also reads around the album, interrogating literary works thoughtfully and looking for threads to pull. It made me see the music in new ways. * Rodge Glass, author of Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award *

The Holy Bible is an album which has stimulated hundreds and thousands of words ... [and] has intrigued, perplexed, worried and inspired an army of listeners. It is thus a triumph that this small book is able to encapsulate so much of what is vital, special and worth celebrating on the record ... For anyone new to the Holy Bible, this well written, enthusiastic, literate, easy to read and totally 4Real book is a perfect introduction to why it is a unique record. For anyone who's grown up with it, Evans achieves the essential feat of impelling you to listen to it and think about it again. * R*E*P*E*A*T * It took me back to when a band meant everything. I loved the Welsh angle, the big nod to the music - often overlooked because of the focus on Richey's lyrics - and the respect it shows to the fans. It's a brilliant book. The album is an alternative bible and here it has the treatment it deserves. * Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire * What a thing of beauty this book is. I love how as well as describing the song recording process and band chronology it also reads around the album, interrogating literary works thoughtfully and looking for threads to pull. It made me see the music in new ways. * Rodge Glass, author of Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award *

It took me back to when a band meant everything. I loved the Welsh angle, the big nod to the music - often overlooked because of the focus on Richey's lyrics - and the respect it shows to the fans. It's a brilliant book. The album is an alternative bible and here it has the treatment it deserves. * Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire * What a thing of beauty this book is. I love how as well as describing the song recording process and band chronology it also reads around the album, interrogating literary works thoughtfully and looking for threads to pull. It made me see the music in new ways. * Rodge Glass, author of Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award *

Author Information

David Evans was born in Cardiff and educated at Cardiff University. He holds a DPhil in American Literature from the University of Oxford. His writing has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, the Independent on Sunday, FT Weekend and Sight & Sound. This is his first book.

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