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Why hate the Manic Street Preachers?

Gentlemen, gentlemen, I have no affinity for tripe stadium rockers, particularly the Who, who I believe committed dreadful and unspeakable offenses against music and fashion during the 1970s when stadium rock dominated.

However, I cannot concur that the Manic Street Preachers are awful; that title belongs to bands like Oasis.

I attended numerous shows by the Manics, starting from their pub performances in Camden, North London, to their final gig with Richie at The Astoria. That performance was incredible—filled with fast, punky tracks, a cacophony of noisy guitars, amps, drums, everything…utterly smashed at the finale.

It’s impossible for a truly dreadful band to have penned songs like Motorcycle Emptiness, Roses in the Hospital, From Despair to Where, or produced a brilliant album like “The Holy Bible”—personally, I’m not fond of their other albums.

Subsequently, they did transition into a mediocre stadium rock band, but prior to that decline, they created A Design for Life—a stunning song with those poignant lyrics, “Libraries gave us power, then work came and set us free,” “We don’t talk about love, we only want to get drunk”…what other group can rival that lyricism?

What’s the issue with drawing inspiration from The Clash? I refuse to dismiss the Manics or anyone else for their admiration of The Clash, one of the greatest bands in history, the sole band ever capable of merging Punk, Rock, Reggae, Soul, R&B, Rockabilly Dub, Jazz, Disco, and Funk. While PIL and Primal Scream certainly stand among them, no American band has matched what The Clash accomplished—stadium rock, lover’s rock—there you go!

Kudos to James Dean Bradfield, Nicky, and Sean for resisting the urge to sell out and for never feeling embarrassed about embracing literature!

by DesX

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