In August 1994 an album was released. Not just any album mind you, as this was the release of the Manic Street Preachers 3rd album The Holy Bible.

The Album

The Holy Bible is probably one of the gloomiest and darkest records to be produced with its bleak nihilistic songs of pure vitriol. Richey, the bands enigmatic songwriter wrote this album during the deepest parts of his depression so this was not going to be any happy album. Topics that are covered in this album range from prostitution, anorexia and self-abuse to the Nazi holocaust and Hiroshima. The lyrical duties were split 70:30 with Richey writing most of them and Nicky writing a few of them along side Richey.
The album was dedicated to their manager Philip Hall who died of cancer 6 months before this album was released

Richey the "face" of the band suffered with depression most of his life and was a person who "practised" self abuse such as cutting himself up and starvation.

During this period in the Manics careers Richey Edwards was at most bleak period in his life and a few months after this was released he disappeared from his hotel room in London just before a pending US tour leaving no notice of where he was going. Some people say he committed suicide whilst others say he just ran away. He has yet to be found still and this only deepens the meaning of the songs on this album as you can actually feel how Richey felt and what state his mind was in. Factors such as his dog dying and Kurt Cobains death also pushed Richey further into his pit of depression

Due to the writing style of this album, the lyrics were not made to be sung. James Dean Bradfield tries to cram all the words into one line and when this cannot be done single lines are broken up and sang over a few lines. The music is quite harsh with a kind of punky vibe entwined with metalac fragments. This adds to the unease of the listener as you hear this album.

Each track is accompanied by intro recordings, which help lead into the song and help give it its general feel.

The Tracks

The Album starts with of with the Yes. This song along with many is personal to Richey and about him in a way. This song is about the prostitution of your self and how prostitutes are viewed as the lowest form of life. The Manics felt like they had prostituted themselves over their careers by having bared their souls to the full. A line introduces the song from a channel 4 documentary about prostitutes with a guy announcing what you can “buy”. The song has some strong lines such as the chorus – “He’s a boy, you want a girl so tear of his cock, tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want” and also lines which show Richey’s pain such as “I hurt myself to get pain out”. This line is now missed out by James when sung live as he finds it to hard to sing it.

Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit’sworldwouldfallapart

This title is eye catching from the start by its use of no spaces. There is though a grammatical error in the title as well! It compares British imperialism to American consumerism according to Nicky. The last lines “fuck the Brady bill” are about American gun laws, which would disenfranchise black communities who do not have licences. A news excerpt introduces the song from American news announcing Regan’s birthday party.

Of Walking Abortion

This monstrous song has a thundering riff, which powers its way to the big chorus – “We are all of walking abortion – shalom, shalom”. The words shalom meaning peace is in a weird place following the previous line. The final line makes you feel uncomfortable too with the words “who’s responsible, you fucking are” repeated over and over.

She is suffering

This song is a rare moment of calm in this album. The she is concerned about desire. It’s about how you have to shed all desire from the body to reach eternal peace such as the Buddhist thing. The song is quite simple lyrically and the music is too but it goes along well compared to other tracks.

Archives of pain

The peace is short lived as the next track carries on from where of walking abortion left off. The song is against the glorification of serial killers and how they should be punished matching their crime. Lines such as “tear the torso with horses and chains”, and “Sterilise rapists” show this. The song is introduced by a line by the mother of a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper calling him the devil himself. The chorus reels of a list of serial killers, weirdly second time around swapping the name Milosovic with Manic Street Preachers!

Revol

This weird song is strange in its lyrical content. It names some leaders throughout history and connects them with analogies about relationships. The title is lover spelt backwards as well. This is there least favourite track on the album.

4st7lbs

This song is introduced by a heart acing line from an anorexic. “I eat too much to stay alive, and not enough to die, I’m sitting in the middle waiting”. The song is about anorexia but does not say its good or bad. It is a very autobiographical song about Richey who was admitted to hospital weighing only 6 stones. It’s about finding your self worth and admiring yourself. The song is very bleak and quite sad as you can feel how Richey felt. This is a disturbing song and probably one of the best on the album.

Mausoleum

This is a song about the holocaust and is quite dark in its nature. The chorus shouts out “ No Birds, the sky is swollen black”. It is about how winners dictate history and even how the holocaust is one way, which the truth is now being questioned.

Faster

A popular track of this album, it is introduced by an excerpt from the film version of 1984. This song is a fast paced one with the trademark James trying to cram a long line into as small a space as possible. This song is about finding strength through weaknesses and how self-abuse is anti social and society speeding up and finding worth in its failure.

This is Yesterday

This is another hint of calm in this turbulent album. This song is quite moving and feels like the singer is going to breakdown. The lyrics are simpler and are written by Nicky instead of Richey. It’s about how you look back on your life and how the youth is the best period of your life. How your memory is more comforting than the future.

Die in the summertime

This songs theme is also about looking on your past and seeing how it was the best times. It’s like when an OAP wants to die with his favourite memories, which are the ones from youth. It is again very personal to Richey and his depression with lines such as “Scratch my self with a rusty nail” showing his self-abuse showing this.

The Intense humming of evil

This song opens up with a long passage possibly from the Nuremberg trials and sets the scene for this miserable song about the Holocaust and concentration camps. The song also has an eerie musical intro with a weird warbling whistling noise. Not the greatest song on the album, it does not seem to fit all together in one piece. It is quite a slow song but the music feels like a machine cranking up when it starts and when it finishes you here what sounds like a steam train slowly pulling up.

PCP

This song is really about freedom of the media and of speech. It is a very fast paced track and especially after the slow last track. The song links PC to PCP, which could mean the drug, or the Portuguese Communist Party. A lot of PC supporters want to be liberal but end up being the opposite.

Packaging

The packaging reflects the dark nature of this album. The front cover is of a painting by Jenny Saville and is a disturbing picture of a grotesque women starring from 3 directions. Inside the booklet each lyric has a small picture next to it, which is relevant to it such as a peach next to 4st7lbs and a guillotine next to archives of pain. The back of the box contains a section from the book the Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau. The writing style uses a eastern style where the letter R is reversed.

Summary

Overall this is truly a work of art, a true masterpiece and defiantly in my opinion the best album ever produced. This shows that there Manics know how to make a good record and show that Richey was a true poet, artist, whatever you wish to call him. This album shows the Manics with more directions than the last album. Even the clothing started to get organised with them all wearing military gear, which fits in well with the style of the album.
This is a must own album…its simply amazing!