Most astonishing two-album runs in the history of rock music
By Lee Vowell
Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994) and Everything Must Go (1996)
The Holy Bible is capable of standing up next to any other album ever created, so let's just throw that out there. It is punishing, difficult, brutally poetic, aggressive rock interfused with quips from various sources. Not everyone will get it and if you do, it's OK to look down on those who don't. If your friends don't want to understand "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart" then that is their loss.
There is simply too much brilliance on the record to do a deep dive here, but if you are one of the uninitiated maybe start with the more accessible "Faster" before you jump into "4st 7lb" which is the weight that an adult human can be before their death is certain should they suffer from anorexia. As I said, not an easy listenable record but the more you listen, the more you will never stop listening.
The words on The Holy Bible were written by Richey Edwards who suffered from mental concerns during the recording of the album. He was the principal lyricist for the band in their early years. The remarkable part was that the Manics could rework themselves into a trio with someone else taking over writing the lyrics from Edwards and then create even more excellence.
Everything Must Go is not as depressing of an album as The Holy Bible - few are - but its brilliance is close to the same quality and won the British Album of the Year at the 1997 Brit Awards. "A Design for Life" is one of the band's best songs, but the scope and variety of the music are immense. Everything Must Go would be many band's best record, and it would be worthy of being so.