Manic Street Preachers

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About Manic Street Preachers

Although Manic Street Preachers have spent their career maintaining a decidedly left-leaning political stance, the Welsh rock band’s musical approach has been far more malleable. Early-’90s work such as “Motorcycle Emptiness” hewed toward metallic punk, while later albums encompassed sinewy disco, jangly rock, and anthemic glam. Manic Street Preachers formed in 1986 around a core of vocalist/guitarist James Dean Bradfield and his drummer cousin Sean Moore, plus Nicky Wire, who assumed bass duties. Guitarist Richey Edwards joined after the band’s punkish 1988 debut single, “Suicide Alley.” Sadly, Edwards’ 1995 disappearance cast a pall over the band, but the Manics regrouped and emerged a year later with the introspective, Britpop-adjacent Everything Must Go, followed by the majestic, psychedelic pop of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, kicking off a run of UK hit singles. In the new millennium, the band remained relevant by doubling down on their defiant politics and crafting focused albums such as 2021’s The Ultra Vivid Lament.

ORIGIN
Blackwood, Caerphilly, Wales
FORMED
1986
GENRE
Alternative
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