‘A forensic exploration of their compositions and recordings, and everything that has been poured into them . . . completely definitive’ MOJO ★★★★★
The story of Manic Street Preachers is unique in pop. Raging out of the stricken mining communities of south Wales in the late 80s, they were seemingly condemned to mere cult status by a cruel juncture of artistic triumph, commercial failure and personal despair. The story took a further agonising twist when the tragedy of Richey Edwards’ 1995 disappearance was followed by a remarkable rebirth, built upon ‘A Design For Life’ – a hymn to the band’s working-class roots – and then the award-winning, multi-million-selling album Everything Must Go, a majestic soundtrack to history and loss. Within five years, Manic Street Preachers were playing to 60,000 at the national stadium of Wales and had their second UK Number 1 single. Subsequent output has confirmed the band as both a wellspring of restless creativity and a barometer of the cultural conversation.
Because it was music that saved them, it’s through the prism of their music that Keith Cameron tells the definitive history of Manic Street Preachers, drawing on many hours of new interviews to dive deep into 168 songs, from 1988 debut single ‘Suicide Alley’ to the late day peaks of 2025 album Critical Thinking. Writing with the band’s full co-operation, his book charts the dynamic evolution of a universe in which Karl Marx and Kylie Minogue happily co-exist, that accords Rush and The Clash equal favour, and where Morrissey & Marr meet Torvill & Dean via Nietzsche and New Order in a single four-minute pop song – all in the name of what Nicky Wire himself calls ‘the fabulous disaster’ of Manic Street Preachers.
The story of Manic Street Preachers is unique in pop. Raging out of the stricken mining communities of south Wales in the late 80s, they were seemingly condemned to mere cult status by a cruel juncture of artistic triumph, commercial failure and personal despair. The story took a further agonising twist when the tragedy of Richey Edwards’ 1995 disappearance was followed by a remarkable rebirth, built upon ‘A Design For Life’ – a hymn to the band’s working-class roots – and then the award-winning, multi-million-selling album Everything Must Go, a majestic soundtrack to history and loss. Within five years, Manic Street Preachers were playing to 60,000 at the national stadium of Wales and had their second UK Number 1 single. Subsequent output has confirmed the band as both a wellspring of restless creativity and a barometer of the cultural conversation.
Because it was music that saved them, it’s through the prism of their music that Keith Cameron tells the definitive history of Manic Street Preachers, drawing on many hours of new interviews to dive deep into 168 songs, from 1988 debut single ‘Suicide Alley’ to the late day peaks of 2025 album Critical Thinking. Writing with the band’s full co-operation, his book charts the dynamic evolution of a universe in which Karl Marx and Kylie Minogue happily co-exist, that accords Rush and The Clash equal favour, and where Morrissey & Marr meet Torvill & Dean via Nietzsche and New Order in a single four-minute pop song – all in the name of what Nicky Wire himself calls ‘the fabulous disaster’ of Manic Street Preachers.
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Reviews
Does for Manic Street Preachers what Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head did for The Beatles
A forensic exploration of their compositions and recordings, and everything that has been poured into them . . . completely definitive
Cameron expertly tracks [the Manics'] trajectory in all its glory and tragedy, his song-by-song approach allowing for exhilarating close reading . . . The book's carefully curated selection allows for a fascinating analysis of this wildly idiosyncratic band, one that catches as much of their complicated spirit as it does their turbulent history . . . This is heaven for Manics fans, but even those readers without any spray-painted white denim lurking in their wardrobe will find it hard to deny the power of the story that unfolds through Cameron's rich analysis . . . Superb
No one understands the inner workings and shared aesthetics of Manic Street Preachers like Keith Cameron . . . phenomenal