Everything Must Go (Manic Street Preachers album)

Singer-songwriter James Dean Bradfield said that the sound of the drums was crucial on the album to set the tone. He was inspired by the works of several bands, "I loved records like Pornography by The Cure and Joy Division records and Wire records and Magazine records and Siouxsie and the Banshees|[Siouxsie and the] Banshees records and Wah! records and Associates records where everything starts with the drums". Producer Mike Hedges was the person the group had in mind since The Holy Bible in part for his production role on Siouxsie and the Banshees' single "Swimming Horses" of which Bradfield was a fan. to work at Hedges' own studio which contained a mixing desk coming from the Abbey Road Studios. Everything Must Go represents a change of style for the band. Their previous album, The Holy Bible, had been a stark, disturbing album with a minimal amount of instrumentation, whilst this album embraces synths and strings with an anthemic rock style, has a more commercial feel and fits with the Britpop movement that was prevalent at the time. The lyrical focus of the album is also shifted, due in part to Edwards' departure. Instead of introspective and autobiographical tracks such as "4st 7lb", Wire's predilection for historical and political themes dominates; however, five songs feature Edwards' lyrics – the last time his lyrics would feature in a Manics album until 2009's Journal for Plague Lovers. The album's lyrical themes would continue through their next record, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. In the band's own words, "Enola/Alone" is both "uplifting" and "melancholic", and that's why people can "grab on" as Wire says. The lyrics are also inspired to some extent by Camera Lucida, a 1980 book on the philosophy of photography by Frenchman Roland Barthes. "Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky" and "The Girl Who Wanted to Be God" "Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky" is another lyric written by Edwards, this song is a favourite of the album's producer Mike Hedges, As for "No Surface All Feeling" part of the guitar was recorded by Edwards, and Wire describes the lyrics as a tender end to the album, as the song reflects the pain of losing a friend. == Release ==

The album was released on 20 May 1996. It debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 2 with sales of 60,000 copies. To date the album has achieved Triple Platinum status in the UK, making it their most successful chart album and spending 104 weeks in the Top 100, with the album still in the top five a year after its release. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry awarded the album with a Platinum certification, for sales above one million copies. The album presented the band with a new generation of fans, charting in Europe, Asia and Australia. Since May 1996 Everything Must Go has shipped more than two million copies. Worldwide sales of their next album, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, were to be even higher. Four singles were released from the album. "A Design for Life" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, spending 3 weeks in the top 10 and a total of 14 weeks in the Top 100 being certified Silver in the UK, for sales above 200.000 copies. The title track was released as the second single, peaking at number 5 and enjoying 10 weeks in the UK Top 100. "Kevin Carter", the third single, peaked at number 9, spending 8 weeks in the UK Top 100, being the single from the album that spent the least weeks in the charts because the last single, "Australia", reached number 7 and despite tumbling to number 31 in the second sales week, managed to stay in the UK Singles Chart Top 100 for 9 weeks. All the singles thus charted in the UK Top 10, between 1996 and 1997. A 10th anniversary edition of the album was released on 6 November 2006. It included the original album, demos, B-sides, remixes, rehearsals and alternate takes of the album's songs, spread out over two CDs. An additional DVD, featuring music videos, live performances, TV appearances, a 45-minute documentary on the making of the album, and two films by Patrick Jones, completed the three-disc set. In the 10th anniversary edition the band itself claims that they are still fond of the record, and Wire goes further saying: "I think it's our best record, I am not afraid to say that." The year of 2016 marked another anniversary for the album, being 20 years since its original release thus the band announced a special anniversary edition which was released on 20 May, the exact day that marked the anniversary of the album. It was made available a standard edition, with a double-CD featuring only the remastered album and the concert at the Nynex Arena and the deluxe edition which includes the full album remastered plus the B-sides, a heavyweight vinyl, the 1997 Nynex Arena concert fully restored on DVD, an exclusive new film about the making of the album, the official videos for the all singles and a 40-page booklet. The re-release was accompanied by a UK tour, which ended at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea. On 18 June 2016 HMV, as part of their Vinyl Record Week, released 1,000 copies on blue vinyl. These were strictly limited to one per customer. Packaging and dedication The album and CD packaging was designed by Mark Farrow. == Critical reception ==

Being the first album since the departure of Edwards, the band at the time was under pressure, but after the release of "A Design for Life", which was well received by critics and fans, Everything Must Go was the album that introduced the band to the mainstream public. All the singles were radio friendly and the album was a critical success. Writing for Q magazine in June 1996, Tom Doyle felt that Everything Must Go had "little in common" with its predecessor, The Holy Bible, and saw the album as a return to, and improvement upon, the "epic pop-rock" sound of Gold Against the Soul. Vox magazine's Mark Sutherland saw Everything Must Go as the group's "most approachable" album, describing it as a "record so superb it might just make intelligence fashionable again", and surmising that the album "proves that, professionally, at least, the Manic Street Preachers don't miss Richey." In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "Above all, Everything Must Go is a cathartic experience – it is genuinely moving to hear the Manics offering hope without sinking to mawkish sentimentality or collapsing under the weight of their situation." Writing for Sputnikmusic, Nick Butler concluded that "Everything Must Go is a stellar album, stuffed with great, anthemic songs, and it's a rewarding listening experience. It loses ground to The Holy Bible simply because it's not as unique, but if Everything Must Go is inferior, it's only slightly so." Awards The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 1996 but failed to win it; In the NME Awards of 1996 Everything Must Go was named Album of the Year, and the Manic Street Preachers also won the award for Best Live Act and Best Single for "A Design for Life". == Legacy ==

The album remains a critical success, an important album in Manic Street Preachers' career, and a classic of the British music in the 1990s, being frequently listed amongst the greatest albums ever by British music publications. while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 39 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". The album also placed at number 16 in its list of the best albums released in the magazine's lifetime. The same magazine featured the album in number 22 on their list of "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The album was placed in number 41 on Melody Maker's list of "All Time Top 100 Albums". In 2016 the album was featured in the Absolute Radio's list of greatest albums of all time. In the end-of-year critics' lists Everything Must Go was placed at number 2 by NME and Kerrang! while Q chose the album as one of the best of 1996. Melody Maker and Vox magazine placed the album at number 1 in their 1996's list. The album and was featured in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Website Clash, before the release of the band's twelfth studio album Futurology, said the following about Everything Must Go: "Sympathetically guided by Mike Hedges and with an empathetic but not overbearing application of strings, Everything Must Go managed to combine the more accessible sound of their early years with the vivid imagery of their previous album. Somehow lumped into the latter stages of Britpop at the time, this record remains one of the decade's finest releases and is an essential listen." In 2015 the band announced that they were going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album with their biggest headline show since 1999, at Liberty Stadium, Swansea on 28 May 2016. Special guests would include Super Furry Animals. The album would be performed in full. Before the final show in Swansea the band would tour the album with a series of UK dates: Liverpool, Echo Arena (13 May), Birmingham, Genting Arena (14 May), London, Royal Albert Hall (16–17 May), Leeds, First Direct Arena (20 May) and Glasgow, The SSE Hydro (21 May). In early 2016 the band announced European dates for the tour in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. == Track listing ==

• All tracks recorded at Chateau de la Rouge Motte, except 12 (Big Noise Recorders) and 7 (Real World Studios). 20th anniversary edition DVD 1 (Live at the Nynex Arena 1997) • "A Design for Life" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra remix) • "Everything Must Go" • "Enola/Alone" • "Faster" • "Kevin Carter" • "La Tristessa (Scream to a Sigh)" • "Removables" • "Roses in the Hospital" • "Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier" • "The Girl Who Wanted to Be God" • "Motown Junk" • "Motorcycle Emptiness" • "No Surface All Feeling" • "This Is Yesterday" • "Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky" • "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" • "Yes" • "Australia" • "Stay Beautiful" • "A Design for Life" • "You Love Us" 20th anniversary edition DVD 2 • Documentary: Freed From Memories • "A Design for Life" (official video) • "Everything Must Go" (official video) • "Kevin Carter" (official video) • "Australia" (official video) == Personnel ==

Manic Street Preachers • James Dean Bradfield – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar and piano • Sean Moore – drums, percussion, trumpet and backing vocals • Nicky Wire – bass guitar and backing vocals Additional musicians • John Green – Hammond organ and keyboards • Martin Ditcham – percussion • Julie Aliss – harp • Gini Ball – violin • Sally Herbert – violin • Anne Stephenson – violin • Chris Pitsillides – viola • Clare Orsler – viola • Martin Greene – string arrangements Technical personnel • Mike Hedges – production • Ian Grimble – engineering, mixing • Dave Eringa – production on "No Surface All Feeling", mixing on "Australia" and "No Surface All Feeling" • Stephen Hague – original production on "The Girl That Wanted to be God" • Spike Drake – engineering on "The Girl That Wanted to be God" • Guy Massey – mixing assistant on "Australia" • Chris Blair – mastering (Abbey Road Studios, London) • Farrow Design – design and direction • Rankin – photography ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==