Biography of Manic Street Preachers

Riding a conspicuous wave of hype out of their hometown of Cardiff, Wales, in the early '90s, The Manic Street Preachers were supposed to be (at least according to some wags in the British rock press) the saviors of British rock. So it was alleged that after they saved British rock, they were going to dominate the world pop market with their Stones/New York DollsSex Pistols fusion. They were loud, made vaguely libertarian political declamations, and claimed that they were the products of a wanton consumer society, addicted to television and alienated by reality. They were the new generation and they had something to say -- most of it bad. Well, the truth was, it was mostly hype, and The Manic Street Preachers managed to grind out mostly uninspired punk-derived hard rock. It did go over pretty well in England, but in America it was almost wholly ignored. Despite carrying their bizarre antics to occasionally ridiculous extremes (all of which garnered much media attention), the (second) strangest moment of this band's career came when guitarist Richey Edwards became incensed when the band's credibility was questioned by an English music journalist. Edwards produced a large knife and slashed the words "4 Real" into his own forearm, a stunt that got the band plenty of ink and required hundreds of stitches. After the release of their most recent record, portentously titled The Holy Bible, and just prior to a major U.K. tour, Edwards disappeared from a London hotel in January of 1995. His car was found several days later, but Edwards (who has a history of depression and substance abuse) has never been seen again, ostensibly bringing the band's career to a very bizarre conclusion. ~ John Dougan