Performer Notes
- Manic Street Preachers: James Dean Bradfield (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano); Sean Moore (trumpet, drums, percussion, background vocals); Nicky Wire (bass, background vocals).
- Additional personnel includes: John Green (Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards).
- Recorded at Chateau De La Rouge Motte, France.
- The cathartic album title perfectly reflected not only its contents but the band itself: following the traumatic breakdown and disappearance of Richey Edwards, the other Manics were left to pick up the pieces--it was an extraordinary and unexpected recovery. Perhaps most striking was their new sober image--the make-up, military garb and much of the bravado were gone--and their characteristic disaffection seemed more pertinent and controlled. Despite losing a member, the band had discovered a new voice, delivering a collection of powerful and socially aware songs. Poignantly, Edwards' lyrics graced songs including "Kevin Carter" and "Small Black Flowers . . . ," all delivered in James Dean Bradfield's emotional tones.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (12/26/96, p.199) - "...the most underrated album of the year....ABBEY ROAD with tenement-block attitude; GIVE 'EM ENOUGH ROPE as produced by Phil Spector....a record of painstaking melodic craft and thundering execution..."
Entertainment Weekly (8/23-8/30/96, p.124) - "...they focus on more personal concerns and come up with a document of bracing, guitar-swept compositions that yields many a trenchant insight as well as a few anthems." - Rating: A
Q (p.151) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Few albums have as dramatic a story to tell. After a decade, it sounds like a release from a dark place and a life-affirming jump for joy."
Q (10/01, p.85) - Ranked #16 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"
Q (12/99, p.90) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."
Q (6/00, p.72) - Ranked #39 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "The moment the Manic Street Preachers came to terms with their roots....What hadn't killed them really did make them stronger."
Alternative Press (10/96, p.93) - 5 (out of 5) - "...their wide-screen symphonic sweep has that uplifting classic pop feel which is gonna sound great on oldies radio someday....what the Manics lost in angst and emotion, they'be replaced with sharp hooks and humor..."
Melody Maker (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #1 on Melody Maker's list of 1996's `Albums Of The Year.'
Melody Maker (5/18/96, p.48) - Bloody Essential - "...there has always been something of the walking wounded about the Manics, that's why we like them. So it is weirdly appropriate that they should now limp along without their most famous member....We're glad they're still here..."
RIP (9/96, p.73) - 4 (out of 5) - "...What's great about EVERYTHING MUST GO is how the tunes are uplifting yet realistic, anthemic while not being self-righteous, wounding without descending into nihilism..."
Mojo (Publisher) (6/96, p.113) - "...EVERYTHING MUST GO is a string-drenched Phil Spector/Kashmir collision, 'A Design For Life' is rugged and perfect, and 'The Girl Who Wanted To Be God' is splendid soaring pop....a bold and frequently remarkable album."
NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #2 in NME's 1996 critics' poll.
NME (Magazine) (5/18/96, p.50) - 8 (out of 10) - "...tragedy has not dimmed the Manics' creative glow....the sound of a band in bloom....No other group makes music that sounds so much like one final, valedictory salute to everything..."
