Manic Street Preachers released their debut album, Generation Terrorists, in February 1992, followed by Gold Against The Soul in 1993 and The Holy Bible in 1994. [3] Edwards disappeared in February 1995 and was legally presumed dead in 2008. [4] The band continued as a trio, and achieved commercial success with the albums Everything Must Go (1996) and This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998). That’s fair enough,” Richey shrugged. “People do expect a lot from us and they can get a bit antagonistic. James puts up with most because he’s the singer. He ended up going bare-topped nearly every night on our last tour because there was so much spitting from the crowd.”

Rogers, Georgie; O'Doherty, Lucy (14 May 2009). "BBC News Supermarkets Cover Up Manics CD". BBC News . Retrieved 26 September 2012. Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 4 November 1991". Bubbling Down Under . Retrieved 4 November 2022.The resulting cover shot of Richey’s torso with crucifix and tattoo (altered from ‘Useless Generation’ to the album title) is the defining image of the Manics. influences that have shaped Manic Street Preachers… in ways you wouldn't expect". BBC Radio 6 Music. 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020 . Retrieved 24 November 2023. Paul Monaco (2000). Understanding Society, Culture, and Television. Praeger. p. 100. ISBN 0-275-97095-7. Mojo Honours List '09, The Winners! ( Mojo Honours 2009)". mojo4music.com. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012 . Retrieved 2 March 2013.

It’s So Easy is just an angry song that’s easy to play,” he smiled. “James took me into consideration.” James wore a balaclava with ‘JAMES’ written on it for their performance of Faster on Top Of The Pops in 1994. Several viewers interpreted this as a show of support for the IRA, and the BBC told the band that a record number of complaints (over 25,000) had been received. We felt like we were living in a vacuum," says James. "Everything that we'd been told was great about where we were from had been destroyed economically, culturally. So you start looking for other things, in this barren wasteland of the 80s, and music was the obvious choice. Because, number one, it seemed completely alien to the surroundings you'd grown up in. Saturday at Glastonbury 2023: Guns N' Roses, Lizzo, the Pretenders – follow it live! | Glastonbury 2023". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 June 2023.

After the release of their third album, 1994’s quite bleak The Holy Bible, the band were having to perform as a trio as Richey was becoming increasingly ill through drink and drugs. In February 1995, on the eve of a promotional tour in America, Richey disappeared. While there were sightings of him near his childhood home during the next two weeks, his car was eventually found abandoned at the Severn View service station near the Severn Bridge. a b c Lukowski, Andrzej. "Manic Street Preachers – Generation Terrorists (20th anniversary legacy edition): Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012 . Retrieved 26 November 2012. We were a strange bunch of birds," admits James. "My first love was ELO, and then I became a proper indie kid for a while with bands like Big Flame, Jasmine Minks, The Bodines. Then it was The Clash, Magazine, Wire, Pistols, Skids, and then I suddenly woke up and there was Guns N' Roses and Public Enemy at the same time." There's no glory in being top of the indie charts, there's no glory in being Top 30. You've gotta be No. 1. We just wanna be the most important reference point of the 90s. That's all."

Richey was in the same year as me. In our music lessons we'd bring in stuff like The Fall’s Perverted By Language," he says. "Then he discovered all of the heavy metal stuff so [over the years] Skid Row, Pantera and that sort of thing crept its way in. Richey was listening to Dogs D'Amour when we were in the studio doing Generation Terrorists. I think he liked the story behind it more than the music sometimes." Despite the "complete singles" title, National Treasures does not contain every Manic Street Preachers single. Notable omissions are the band's very first single, " Suicide Alley" (1989), "Strip It Down" from the New Art Riot EP (1990), for which the band's first promotional video was made, [80] and " You Love Us (Heavenly Version)" (1991). For singles originally released as double-A sides, only one song is included: therefore from " Love's Sweet Exile/Repeat" (1992) and " Faster/P.C.P." (1994), only the first of each pair are included. [62] It was typical of the Manics that they would invite Traci Lords, porn star and ex-girlfriend of Slash, to sing a duet with Bradfield on Little Baby Nothing, one of the key songs on Generation Terrorists. In her dull voice, the lyrics (‘ My mind is dead, everybody loves me, wants a slice of me…’) became even more disturbing. Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com . Retrieved 23 March 2022.Manic Street Preachers to Celebrate 21st Anniversary with Singles Collection". NME. 26 July 2011 . Retrieved 2 March 2013. After the release of "Suicide Alley," Edwards joined the band on rhythm guitar and contributed to lyrics alongside Wire. Edwards also designed record sleeves and artwork and drove the band to and from gigs. [2] Manic Street Preachers to headline a night at Eden Sessions". eFestivals.co.uk. 10 June 2016 . Retrieved 29 April 2017. Gold Against the Soul Deluxe Re-Issue". Manic Street Preachers. 11 March 2020 . Retrieved 27 June 2020. On stage in New York, he quipped, "The only good thing about America is that you killed John Lennon."