Manic Street Preachers

The Manics were formed in 1986 by school friends James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore, Nicky Wire and Flicker, who left when he thought the band were leaving their punk rock roots behind. Richey James Edwards soon began co-writing the lyrics with Nicky, designing record sleeves and other artwork, miming guitar onstage, and driving the band to gigs. They were both critically applauded and panned for the same reasons; their arrogance, posturing, and intellectualism - all of which made them stick out from the bands of the early 90s. They forged a rabid fan base and using their intellectualism to manipulate the media, the most famous incident being when Richey carved the words 4 Real into his arm with a razor blade. Their first 2 albums Generation Terrorists and Gold Against The Soul were critical amd commercial successes but didn't meet the bands expectation of world the domination of their heroes Guns n Roses debut album. After the limited success of their 3rd album, the band talisman Richey Edwards vanished after checking out of his hotel, having never been seen since. Although people have claimed to have seen him which has prompted the band to keep his share of royalties aside should he ever come back. Since his disappearance the Manics have achieved their greatest success, maybe partly due to the kudos added by the mystique of Edwards disappearance, but also due to the increasing scope of their music. All albums since have proven to be big sellers around the world, and they have embarked on the arena tours they craved in the early days.