Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible

The Holy Bible is the sound of a band plunging into chaos, taking in such joyous subjects as the holocaust ("The Intense Humming Of Evil"), prostitution ("Yes"), anorexia ("4st 7lb") and general despair (everything else). Needless to say, the majority of it was written by guitarist Richey Edwards, just before he was hospitalised for depression. It's not the easiest album in the world to listen to, with James Bradfield often having to cram all the words together to fit them all in, but it's worth the perseverance. The dark, gothic (but never Goth) guitars compliment the black mood of "Yes" and the alternately narcissistic and disgusted "Faster" (which samples the film version of Orwell's masterpiece, 1984), while the gentle, acoustic "This Is Yesterday" often sounds close to breaking. Suffice to say, this is not a party record, but for pure, intelligent hatred, of the self and of others, it is fascinating, and still one of the Manics greatest moments.