Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers
1996
Album Summary
Everything Must Go is the fourth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 20 May 1996, through Epic Records, and was the first record released by the band following the disappearance of lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards. Released at the height of Britpop in the mid-1990s, the album was a commercial and critical success, it reached its peak in the UK on separate occasions, debuting and peaking at number 2 in the UK Albums Chart and earned the band accolades in the 1997 Brit Awards. It represented a shift in the group's sound due to Edwards' departure. The album charted in mainland Europe, Asia and Australia, eventually selling over two million copies. Everything Must Go is frequently featured and voted highly in lists for one of the best albums of all time by many music publications such as NME and Q.
Wikipediawasnt expecting this to be the first manic street preachers album i listened to but thats just how it is with this bitch of a site . its pretty good. not planning on doing much music writing today so ill keep it short. i cant make out what the fuck theyre saying so maybe the lyrics are exclusively about how much they hate me, personally, but the guitars are pretty warm and enveloping and its a nice time. its catchy. u know how it is 9/10
Anthemic and grand without dropping into being too cheesy. I was worried how this would be after a sound change and the mysterious disappearance of their guitarist after the last album, but man this absolutely delivered.
HOW HAVE I NEVER LISTENED TO THIS BAND?? I loved every minute of this album. Another band I had heard of but hadn't heard. This 1001 albums thing is so great for finding music that I haven't listened to but should have. As I listened to the songs and read the lyrics (including looking into the background of a lot of the lyrics) I kept coming back to the phrase "depressing lyrics/soaring songs." It's an unusual juxtaposition that really works. The album background is difficult - their first album after guitarist and songwriter Richey James disappeared without a trace (he was declared dead many years later but never found). I really liked the songwriting and in particular the guitar sound. I kept wondering if guitarist James Dean Bradfield was influenced by Alex Lifeson because he uses a lot of unusual chord voicings similar to Alex...later found an article where the Manics interviewed Rush. Apparently they're huge fans. Makes sense given the guitar sound (but not their songwriting - that's very different). Looking forward to digging into their catalog - I see The Holy Bible is also in the 1001 album list and I'm sure I'll be listening to that soon.
Feels like a greatest hits album! This is the manics as their absolute best.
Solid production and string writing. Loved this album and will definitely be listening to more by the band. A very cool blend of styles.
a very consistent album, strong guitar songs that are still immediately recognizable: 4.5 again.
I can't believe I have never listened to Manic Street Preachers before!!! The first song had me hooked. The strings throughout are so good
We don’t talk about love We only want to get drunk - A design for life
Good blend of raw and polished with a superb vocal delivery. The thing that elevates this album for me is the sonic diversity though, staying well within the niche while exploring the space fully.
I really thoroughly enjoyed this album. I liked the vocals, I like the instrumentals, it makes me want to check out more from this band. I was sad to read about the disappearance of the main lyricist before this album though. My favorite tracks were A Design for Life, Enola/Alone, Small Black Flowers The Grow In The Sky, The Girl Who Wanted to Be God, Interiors, Further Away, and No Surface All Feeling. I gave it the big like on Spotify. Overall very solid, liked it a lot!
New album to me and truly nothing grabbed me. Bad version of standard 90s pop rock IMO
This album is so caught up in the times. It made sense in the mid-90's, but not so much now. You forget how much of a mainstream breakthrough it was for the Manics. At the time they were the support act for The Stone Roses at Wembley Arena. No one outside of the music inches had really paid much attention to them. Design for Life remains an anthem, although not one that I would want to keep on singing 25 years later. It's such an anti-ladism song, yet at the time it got swallowed up by the Britpop masses with takes of only wanting to get drunk. It's a decent album, but very, very dated.
Jos Oasis oli teinivuosien ykkösbändi, niin tämä oli sitten varmaan kakkonen. Viimeiseen 15 vuoteen tämän kuuntelu sitten onkin jäänyt melkein nollaan. Kenties bändin uudempien levyjen kehnous on karkoittanut minut myös vanhemmasta tuotannosta. Ensimmäinen reaktio nähdessäni levyn listalla oli ehkä jopa negatiivinen - jaa tätä, ei kyllä kiinnosta yhtään enää nykyään. Onneksi ennakkoluuloni osoittautuivat vääräksi, ja tämähän kuulostikin oikein mainiolta ja jopa tuoreelta liian pitkäksi venyneen tauon jälkeen. Varsinkin vähän rokkaavammat biisit (Enola/Alone, Kevin Carter yms) toimivat kuin junan vessa. Vaikkei Everything Must Go ole ollut ihan suosikkilevyni Manicsilta, sai tämä ainakin minut innostumaan taas palaamaan niiden suurimpien helmien (tai ainakin Holy Biblen) pariin. Kovaa painia on nelosen ja vitosen välillä, mutta kun vertaa muihin antamiini nelosiin niin parempihan tämä on.
Major Queen vibes. I’ve never heard of this band. I love the use of strings. Feels like some ELO influence as well
Elvis impersonator: amazing A design for life: amazing Kevin Carter: very good Enola/alone: excellent Everything must go: very good Small black flowers: excellent The girl who wanted to be god: very good Removables: good Australia: excellent Interiors: very good Further away: good No surface all feeling:
Hier ist der Stoff, feinster britischer Pathos, vernäht zu einem wärmenden Umhang gegen den kalten Wind der entfesselten Märkte. Hier warf sie noch nicht hin, die junge rote Socke; auch später gab man sich optimistisch kämpferisch, obschon mir bei der Konsequenz unseres Nicht-Handelns das Blut gefriert, denn wir haben alles toleriert, sodass unsere Kinder als nächste dran sein werden, die Ungleichheit weiter aufrechtzuerhalten. Aber zurück zum vorliegendem „Everything Must Go“. Ab dem ‚Entwurf fürs Leben‘ helfen Streicher entsetzlich schönen, lauten Gitarren und empört rauer Stimme James Dean Bradfields eine schiere Perfektion vom Stapel zu feuern, bei der sich Wucht und Songwriting Hand in Hand auf den walisischen Klippen stehend allem zu trotzen bereit ist. Erstaunlicher als diese geschmiert laufende Hitmaschine war damals für mich nur der Umstand, wie brachial diese Perlen live über die Marshalls in die Crowd geknüppelt werden - ganz zu schweigen von den nicht nur vorderen Reihen härtester Pogo-Kultur unterm Drachen Banner. Seit dem Erlebnis müssen alle Songs der Manics ein, zwei Tacken lauter gespielt werden. Un-Removable 4.9
Leuke Britpop-rock. Lichtjes leunend naar de hardrock toe. Erg genoten van dit album waar ik geen enkele song van kende op voorhand
No me esperaba ver a esta banda aquí. Me gustan mucho, pero siento que es de esas que la gente siempre ha ignorado un poco y a mi me parece que tienen mucho que ofrecer. Me gusta que son rock muy honesto, directo de la época del Brit Pop, pero a la vez tan distinto al mismo Brit Pop que quedan en otra categoría. En una época en la que sonar "rough around the edges" (o incluso peor) y tener actitud de borracho y malhumorado, llega este disco que está muy bien pulido en toda la instrumentación y en el que la voz y la pronunciación sí están cuidadas.
Creo que sólo ubicaba una canción de ellos que además me gusta mucho. Después de la primera vuelta de este disco me sentí un poco mal por haberles puesto atención hasta ahora aunque bastante feliz por haber escuchado esta chulada de disco. Solos discretos, riffs muy agradables y pegajosos, letras no tan obvias pero tampoco tan rebuscadas hacen de este disco un gran descubrimiento porque aunque tenga 26 años del disco, realmente parece poco escuchado si tomamos como referencia las reproducciones de Spotify. 4.5 que subo a 5 porque en verdad lo disfruté. Songs: Kevin Carter, Australia, A Design for Life
Clever lyrics, beautiful melodies and such a great recording. I loved this album from start to finish, a classic
9/10. Wow, I gave this band's other album an 8/10 and forgot about it entirely. But I'm going to have to go back and listen to more of there stuff, because this was swell.
Pretty chill music. Loved Small Black Flowers. It has a nice melody and stands out on the album which is predominately alt rock.
Despite the supposed lethality of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, the memorial album isn't really that common. Or rather, the great memorial album isn't really that common. Everyone can name the most obvious choice: AC/DC's Back in Black, the band's immensely raucous farewell to their lead singer and buddy Bon Scott. But apart from that, very few albums satisfy both qualities. Perhaps the only other major example is this, the indie Back in Black, the Manic Street Preachers' Everything Must Go. Richey Edwards was, along with the bassist Nicky Wire, the Manics' main lyricist; he was also credited as their rhythm guitarist, but his musical skills were rudimentary at best, his guitar left unplugged during most live shows. Richey was also a very troubled young man, prone to depression, self-harm, anorexia and alcoholism. With their previous album The Holy Bible, Richey unleashed his despondent vision, with themes of the Holocaust, murder, consumerism, radical left-wing politics and despair. The band, friends and family had already become seriously concerned with his behaviour when he disappeared on the 1st of February 1995. His car was found near the River Severn Bridge two weks later. It is not known what exactly happened to Richey Edwards; though several sightings have been reported since, none have been confirmed, and the most common assumption is that he jumped from the bridge. He would have been aged 27. He was officially presumed dead on the 23rd of November, 2008. The centrepiece of Everything Must Go is the title track, not A Design for Life, the Manics' most popular song. Everything Must Go is one of the two songs that directly addresses how the remaining Manics sought to cope with the loss of their friend and in-house ideologue. Whereas AC/DC salutes Bon Scott martially with Have a Drink on Me, Everything Must Go is an apologia to Richey, an admittance that the band can't retain his outlook with his departure, and instead has to explore whatever path emerges for them. The chorus is heartbreaking when you realise they're asking their friend to forgive them for no longer being the band he wanted them to be. As anyone who's lost someone will tell you, the guilt you feel for moving on is palpable. But the Manics choose not a sombre tone: they start with the Be My Baby drumbeat. Their commemoration of Richey celebrates his life, expressing their fear of the future, but realising that they have no choice but to keep on walking forward. The memory of Richey appears often throughout the album. Five of the 12 songs were co-written by him. The opener, Elvs Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (one of Richey's creations), mocks cheap, tawdry and pathetic nostalgia; in retrospect, this rejection of the past achieves a greater poignancy. More grimly, Kevin Carter, based on a South African photographer of the Rwandan genocide, concerns a figure who took his own life, and Small Black Flowers that Grow in the Sky explicitly references self-harm (Richey had penned both). But the tracks written after Richey's disappearance reveal a band handling their grief, not wallowing in it. A Design for Life stems far more from Nicky Wire's politics than Richey's: George Orwell and the welfare state rather than Herbert Marcuse and the Weathermen. The sound of the album exhibits a walloping shift from their previous album: string-laden and often bombastic, with little of The Holy Bible's post-punk abrasiveness. The final track, No Surface All Feeling, contains perhaps the album's ultimate message: What's the point in always looking back When all you see is more and more junk? I don't believe the question is wholly rhetorical. Rather, it's a band of friends sincerely asking themselves if reminiscence is worthwhile, given it can engender bitterness as much as consolation. For all their reputation as agit-prop sloganeers, Everything Must Go shows the Manics embracing nuance, of accepting that some of the most important questions might not even have answers. Although not strictly speaking a Britpop album (you'd never see the Manics parading a Union Jack), Everything Must Go is one of the most rewarding albums of British indie in the 90s. The critical consensus regarding the period of The Holy Bible and Everything Must Go is that the Manics never reached such heights again. With the most generous will in the world, one is forced to agree. Sure, you can find the occasional corker in the subsequent decades, but it's those two albums upon which the Manics' legacy stands.
This album deftly oscillates between post-punk, Britpop, British alternative, and even grunge. The Manic Street Preacher’s command of song structure shines through on this album, the first following the disappearance of Richey Edwards. The result is a punchy engaging coherent album that reflects the best of what was happening musically in the rock scene. The lyrics are intelligent and the anthemic quality gives this album a sense of triumph and grandiosity.
I had never heard of these guys before and I am now a huge fan. Can't believe I've never come across these guys before. Excellent brit-power-pop that combines great songwriting and interesting song structures with a little 90s punk edge.
Fantastic. I loved the guitars, the creativity in the compositions, the conviction, the vibe - this is a classic album
I was obsessed with the Manics. This was the album that alerted me to them, but because I was a skint pre teen, I could afford Generation Terrorists and The Holy Bible. This is a far gentler, poppier and more beautiful album, and an amazing reaction to the tragedy of losing Richie. I don't know that if be the same person today were it not for the Manics.
Shit man, this was really great. Reminds me of the best aspects of Radiohead around The Bends and Ok Computer, just awesome instrumentation and sound. I'll have to relisten, but what a treat that will be.
Still rules. The band keeps getting better even after tragically losing Richie. Banger after banger.
It's no "The Holy Bible", but then again.. nothing is. You can't really follow up the greatest album of all time. It's hard to put into words how much that album and Richey Edwards' story speak to me, so I'm not going to. Maybe once the generator spits out The Holy Bible. God damn it, this is a pretty heavy one. You can tell the studio was haunted by the ghost of Richey Edwards. It's like the music is trying its hardest to be triumphant, but the melancholy and bittersweetness keeps seeping in. And despite that, it's not a challenging listen. You could give this to a random guy on the street and he would be like "Huh this is a pretty good britpop album". I'm gonna give this a 5/5, but if we expanded the scale, then this is like an 8.5/10 and the Holy Bible is a 10/10.
REALLY CATCHY ALBUM! I LOVED THE WHOLE ALBUM! I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! ONE OF MY FAVORITES NOW!
Their commercial peak, so really great songs. I'm tempted to remove a star for Australia, but the rest is just so good.
Maybe I’m being too generous as this album does have some filler but it’s a 5; all of the singles are amazing and the last three tracks (all not singles) are a treat. You’ve also gotta appreciate how they went from an album so grim (but still amazing) holy bible to something this polished after the disappearance of a member which I would’ve thought would’ve made the music more harsh but this more mainstream direction is great. Oh yeah also the top review for this album (the “britpop is shit one”) is just stupid.
alt-pop-rock-something with an epic nostalgic cinematic feel. most songs could be an anime OP/ED. 4.5/5
This is what I'm doing this for, man! A fantastic album that is extremely My Shit, but I would have never thought to listen to it on my own. This is the kind of big, loud pop rock that I am a sucker for. I'm gonna be listening to this all day. Favorite track: Enola/Alone
I’ve heard of this group but couldn’t name any of their songs. I enjoyed this album a lot, especially on the second listen! The songs are often epic with great swells or strings and synths that really appeals to me. I couldn’t catch all the lyrics as I wasn’t listening in a place conducive to that, but the ones I did were intelligent and interesting and makes me want to investigate them further. A great album, one I’m glad to have in my library.
I'm not at all familiar with this band and even after listening to Everything Must Go, from what I read about them, I still don't know much. This record plays like a concept album or a rock opera à la Green Day's American Idiot but I guess it's not? Almost every song feels epic. I loved many and disliked none. Very glad to have made its acquaintance today.
Another great Britpop record. Standout Tracks: A Design for Life, Kevin Carter, Enola / Alone, Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky
Great indie-rock album. Maintains the classic sound of the late '90s without feeling dated or tired. The more synth-heavy, balladish tracks lose me but most everything on here rocks.
Rock solid breakdown at the end of Enola/Alone. Same as No Surface All Feeling. Nothing I haven't heard before but can't knock it.
took a few tracks to find it's groove but the rest of the album was solid
It was never best album of the band to me... but it's a solid strong record whatsoever
Excellent album. Some great singalong hits. Varied in pace too, some songs show more energy than others to keep it interesting.
I kind of forgot I was listening to this as I was listening to it but it has everything you could want in some good old guitar Brit rock. I definitely hear it’s influence over the second half of the 90s and early 2000s. Plus the tragic backstory is so compelling and mystifying
A formative album in my youth - less potent now but still very enjoyable.
All of the songs were really good. Each one had a different feel but still connected. Really liked the vocals.
First album without Richie Edwards and it shows. The sound of a band deliberately making the leap from clubs to stadiums. Still sounds great.
Some gems on here (Australia, Design for life), and a generally good album
Good tunes, and a solid brit pop foundation. Over all it was an easy record to listen to, and it ended up bleeding over in to their other work. I wouldn't say that this stands out especially significantly against other tracks from the same band.
I remember hearing about this band years ago but the album that was suggested was "The Holy Bible." I think I didn't listen to it because of the freaky album cover. I know that makes no sense coming from a guy that loves Aphex Twin. I regret that now. This band is amazing and unlike my last listen I enjoyed it enough to go on to the bonus tracks (although I don't include them in the rating of the album but they're good too). Great use of orchestrion on the album. Some of the guitar also reminded my of Alex Lifeson for some reason (Enola / Alone in particular). This is a definitely a band I'll be exploring more of!
Tough one to rate. First off, if you've never or barely heard of them, they're better than you think. This album is quintessential MSP - a more adult alternative rock with lyrics a mix of observational perspective of everyday life (e.g., A Design for Life, Kevin Carter) or political (e.g., Elvis Impersonator, Everything Must Go). If you put together their best songs from the 90s you'd have a great album. This one is just good. I hate the term Britpop because I feel most of those bands were rock, like these guys. Softer vocals and more instrumental mixes then you get with American rock (and its angst or edge) but their guitar/bass/drum work is still good (check out Enola/Alone or Australia, or Sleepflower on the album Gold against the Soul). It couldn't stay grunge forever and they can rock. But they mix it up, not unlike some of the new American alternative at the time like Third Eye Blind. In the end, the album is a bit uneven.
Wow, what a surprise. Awesome alternative record that somehow eluded me all these years. Great stuff.
Wenn Theatralik, dann gern diese hier. Dennoch muss ich leider feststellen, dass diese Platte, die an meinem in reichhaltigerer Fülle badenden jüngeren Ich etwas ungeschmeckt vorbeifloss meine verwitterte Gestalt nicht mehr ganz so anrührt. So bleiben mir die ewigen A Hits Design For Life, Eveything Must Go, The Girl Who Wanted To Be God und No Surface All Feeling auf ewig Hits, während der Rest dahinter leider verschwindet. 3,9 aber natürlich für immer!