Pen and Sword Books: Manic Street Preachers: Album by Album

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Manic Street Preachers: Album by Album (Hardback)

Hobbies & Lifestyle > Biography Hobbies & Lifestyle > Music P&S History > British History P&S History > By Century > 20th Century P&S History > By Century > 21st Century P&S History > Social History World History > Europe World History > UK & Ireland

By Marc Burrows
Imprint: White Owl
Pages: 288
Illustrations: 32 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781399016216
Published: 3rd November 2021
Last Released: 14th January 2022

£20.00

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In a career that’s spanned thirty-five years and generated fourteen albums, fifty-three singles (two of them UK number ones), four Brit Awards, two Ivor Novellas and inspired literally hundreds of university dissertations, quite a few PhD’s and the odd specialist subject on Mastermind, Manic Street Preachers have become, in the words of their 2011 singles collection, national treasures. The Welsh trio (who, to many, will always be a quartet) have a uniquely intense impact on their fans; educating them as much as they entertain and inspire. This book collects fourteen brand new essays, one for each Manics album, from fourteen different writers from diverse backgrounds, tracing the band’s impact on fans and culture and setting each of their works, from 1992’s Generation Terrorists to 2018’s Resistance Is Futile and beyond, into context. The essays are linked by a detailed month-by-month biography by music critic and Manics fan Marc Burrows (The Guardian, The Quietus, Drowned In Sound), who compiled and edited the book, tracing the band’s development from glamourpuss upstart intellectuals to the elder statesmen of British indie rock, via an era-defining run of hits, an historic trip to Cuba and one vanished genius. Manic Street Preachers: Album by Album includes a complete discography and is sourced from in-depth archival research, making it one of the most comprehensive and detailed works devoted to the band yet compiled.

As featured in
South Wales Echo (Cardiff)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A really interesting and insightful read for anyone who is a fan or casual listener of Manic Street Preachers. As a huge fan of the band myself, I thought this brilliantly covered the timeline of the band and felt really personal.
NetGalley, Lauren Hudspeth

A book for true fans of the band. This is a very detailed account and gives a whole new insight into the work of the Manic Street Preachers.
NetGalley, Paula Smith

Manic Street Preachers: Album by Album is a collection of essays, linked by a forensically detailed timeline, detailing the Manics' career. It's also a very personal, often incredibly affecting, catalogue of what the band and their music means to their fans. Sometimes superficial, sometimes searingly moving, fans' memories connected to each album in turn - the losses, the adventures, the discoveries, the fun, the sadness - resonate deeply.

The Manics' later albums have escaped me somewhat. You get older, your teenage heroes melt into the background, it happens. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in all of it - from the gigs I remember, to the albums which have passed me by. And yes, I was inspired to play catch up, to see what I've missed, and in a strange way it felt like a small part of me coming home.

This is a glorious book, and a fitting tribute to a band which deserve not to be forgotten, ever. Silly, silly me.
NetGalley, Ophelia Sings

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Absolute must read for all fans on the group!
NetGalley, Michelle Coates

Certainly one that kept me entertained and engaged along the way, and one which reminded me quite what a fabulous, ludicrous band they were in that long-lost age of their pomp. And it should go without saying that their best album since Everything Must Go was Journal For Plague Lovers.
NetGalley, Alex Sarll

Definitely one for the fans, this is a thoughtful and insightful recounting of the Manic Street Preachers on an album by album basis. Plenty of context and back story to keep the reader interested!
NetGalley, Louise Gray

About Marc Burrows

Marc Burrows is a music critic, author and occasional comedian. His biography The Magic of Terry Pratchett won the 2021 Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction, and he writes regularly for The Guardian, Observer, Quietus and Hey U Guys about music, film and pop culture. He plays bass in the cult Victorian punk band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, and lives in North London with his wife, the poet and author Nicoletta Wylde and a small black cat called Princess. He also has two tropical fish, who he suspects might be psychopaths.