Under-appreciated in the United States, Manic Street Preachers’ third studio album, “The Holy Bible,” is now presented in a DVD/two-CD package featuring ample video footage and an extensive interview with three members (a fourth, guitarist/lyricist Richey Edwards, disappeared in 1995). Harder-edged than contemporaries Oasis, the Manics were direct descendents of the Clash, unapologetically political and far in tone from Brit pop. Like the band itself, “The Holy Bible” is a mass of contradictions. In performance at the 1994 Glastonbury and Reading Festivals, Edwards, who contributed the bulk of the album’s lyrics, is virtually silent, his guitar vastly overshadowed by the very confident and competent guitar and vocals of frontman James Dead Bradfield. Likewise, the heaviness of the songs’ subject matter—anorexia, politics and war—is nonetheless delivered with the raw euphoria of a tight, rocking band. “Yes,” presented at both Glastonbury and in a new video made by bassist Nicky Wire’s brother Patrick Jones, is pure joy. Ten years on, “The Holy Bible” richly deserves a new generation of listeners.—CW
