History Music / ManicStreetPreachers

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: many of Richey James' songs. The band has a stricter-than-most formation of Edwards and Wire (now just Wire) at the lyrics dept. and Bradfield and Moore handling the musical aspects. Many times the lyrics were finished first, and despite their best efforts it led to this problem.

** Later, they changed the line "Collapsing like the Twin Toweres" in "Empty Souls" to "Collapsing like dying flowers", although backing vocals can be heard singing the original line.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Richey James, arguably.

* DreadfulMusician: Richey James, who could barely play the guitar. He only played on two tracks, "La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)" and "No Surface All Feeling".

* LegallyDead: Richey James Edwards. Many already thought he was dead for years before the 2008 declaration, but the band members always held out hope he was still alive somewhere and kept a bank account open with his share of their royalties in it.

** Also the book edition of ''Journal For Plague Lovers'' - the album, a CD of demos and alternate takes, and a book containing photos of the original lyrics and signed by all three remaining band members.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle
** "La Tristesse Durera" (from "Gold Against The Soul") - the title of Creator/VincentVanGogh's autobiography

** "Know Your Enemy" (album) - from SunTzu's The Art of War Chapter III, 'Act Of Strategem'

* LongRunnerLineUp: Either Type 1 ''or'' Type 2, depending on how you view things. They are ''de facto'' Type 2 (a lineup other than the original is the longrunner), having had the lineup of Bradfield, Moore, and Wire since 1995, when Richie vanished. ''Officially'', though, they are Type 1 (original lineup is the longrunner), since they continued to treat Edwards like an official member until they declared him LegallyDead in 2008.

* SeriousBusiness / SelfHarm: when music journalist/BBC Radio 1 host Steve Lamacq questioned their authenticity, Richey famously carved "4 REAL" into his own forearm with a razorblade. Richey had a history of self-harm both before and after the incident.

* SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids: "Life Becoming A Landslide" features the pre-chorus "My idea of love comes from a childhood glimpse of pornogrpahy/though there is no true love, just a finely-tuned jealousy". This also seems to have been the view that Richey, who wrote the lyric, held.

* UncommonTime: Verses of "Yes" constantly change between 7/8 and 8/8 measures. Also parts of the following, "Ifwhiteamerica..." are in 3/4 measure.

The '''Manic Street Preachers''' are a UsefulNotes/{{W|ales}}elsh AlternativeRock band consisting of guitarist/vocalist James Dean Bradfield, bassist Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore. A fourth member, guitarist/songwriter Richey James Edwards, disappeared in 1995, and is believed to have committed suicide.

Tragically, the band's rhythm guitarist, lyricist and spokesman Richey James Edwards vanished in 1995, possibly over the side of the Severn Bridge, after a long history of depression and self harm. He was declared [[LegallyDead presumed deceased]] in 2008. His disappearance occurred less than a year after the release of the controversial but critically acclaimed release, ''The Holy Bible'', a noisy collection of tracks dealing with topics such as prostitution, the Holocaust and eating disorders. considered by many fans to be the band's MagnumOpus.

* DownerEnding: Many songs, especially on ''The Holy Bible'', which is basically a ConceptAlbum about HumansAreBastards and that includes [[YouBastard you]].

Tragically, the band's rhythm guitarist, lyricist and spokesman Richey James Edwards vanished in 1995, possibly over the side of the Severn Bridge, after a long history of depression and self harm. He was declared [[LegallyDead presumed deceased]] in 2008. His disappearance occurred less than a year after the release of the controversial but critically acclaimed release, ''The Holy Bible'', considered by many fans to be the band's best work.

* ManOnFire: Several, in the video for "The Everlasting".

* ShoutOut: Numerous examples, such as Music/PinkFloyd in "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" and MarilynManson in "There by the Grace of God".
** [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f1/Cvr_suicidealleythumb.jpg The cover of their first release]] immediately [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9a/The_Clash_UK.jpg/220px-The_Clash_UK.jpg betrays]] their [[TheClash Clash]]-esque beginnings.

* UncommonTime: Verses of "Yes" constantly change between 7/8 and 8/8 measures.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Their first 3 albums sat comfortably in the 4-5 range. Since then they've released things from between 1-5 on the scale, but never harder than that. ''Everything Must Go'' and ''This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours'' sit at a 3 on the scale. The limited-edition single ''The Masses Against the Classes'' is a definite 5. Their "softest" album to date, ''Lifeblood'', probably sits at a 2. Their latest album ''Futurology'' is a 3 or a 4.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The Manics are quite popular in Thailand. Interestingly, James Dean Bradfield once proclaimed that ''Generation Terrorists'' would sell sixteen million copies around the world, "from Bangkok to Senegal".

* DreadfulMusician: Richey James, who could barely play the guitar.

* TitleTrack: On Gold Against the Soul, Everything Must Go, and every studio album so far since Send Away the Tigers onwards.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Generation Terrorists. The song is on the album, but has since been renamed to Stay Beautiful.

* YouBastard: "Of Walking Abortion" is about how humanity as a species is the physical embodiment of abortion, ending potential lives by killing potential parents before they even have a chance to start, either by complacently allowing war to happen or just by senseless murder and violence. The lyrics state that "everyone is guilty" - including you. The song ends with the repeated couplet "Who's responsible? / ''You fucking are.''"

* GlamPunk: ''Generation Terrorists''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Holy Bible''

The Manic Street Preachers are a UsefulNotes/{{W|ales}}elsh AlternativeRock band consisting of guitarist/vocalist James Dean Bradfield, bassist Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore. A fourth member, guitarist/songwriter Richey James Edwards, disappeared in 1995, and is believed to have committed suicide.

* LongRunnerLineUp: Category 1.5/"Type 1 + 2". It's always been Bradfield, Moore, Wire, and Edwards until the latter disappeared—after that, the remaining three became the constant. It can be said that they're somewhat pushing for type 1, because while Edwards's status was still "missing" and yet to be legally dead, the band still divides their profit evenly and kept Edwards's share in case he returned, as though he's still a member of the group.

* {{Mondegreen}}: From 'Removables': "A bronze moth dies easily" becomes "I bronze my thighs easily".