Know Your Enemy by Manic Street Preachers, album cover
Album · 25 years old this year

Know Your Enemy

Released19 March 2001
LabelEpic
Popularity31.7
Also cited14 March 2001

Know Your Enemy is the sixth studio album by the Welsh band Manic Street Preachers, released on 19 March 2001 on Epic. It followed This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, and it came with four singles, every one of which reached the UK top 20.

The band had first imagined two separate records, each with its own sound and concept, to be put out on the same day. The label vetoed that, and the compromise was one long, wildly varied album. It sold well without matching its predecessor, and critics were divided at first, though opinion has warmed since. In 2022 the band issued expanded two- and three-disc editions with the tracks rearranged into the two albums as originally planned, which makes a fascinating second way into the music.

Know Your Enemy: tracklist, credits and charts

16 tracks · 1:15:30

Tracklist

  1. 1Found That SoulBradfield, Moore, Wire3:06
  2. 2Ocean SprayBradfield, Moore, Wire4:12
  3. 3Intravenous AgnosticManic Street Preachers4:03
  4. 4So Why So SadBradfield, Moore, Wire4:02
  5. 5Let Robeson SingBradfield, Moore, Wire3:46
  6. 6The Year of PurificationBradfield, Moore, Wire3:40
  7. 7Wattsville BluesBradfield, Moore, Wire4:29
  8. 8Miss Europa Disco DancerBradfield, Moore, Wire3:53
  9. 9Dead MartyrsBradfield, Moore, Wire3:23
  10. 10His Last PaintingBradfield, Moore, Wire3:16
  11. 11My GuernicaBradfield, Moore, Wire4:56
  12. 12The ConvalescentBradfield, Moore, Wire5:55
  13. 13Royal CorrespondentBradfield, Moore, Wire3:31
  14. 14EpicentreBradfield, Moore, Wire6:27
  15. 15Baby EliánBradfield, Moore, Wire3:38
  16. 16Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children / We Are All Bourgeois NowBradfield, Moore, Wire, Baker, Eden, Gane, Williamson13:13
Produced by
Dave Eringa, Mike Hedges, David Holmes, Greg Haver
Recorded at
El Cortijo, Andalusia, Spain, Monnow Valley, Rockfield, Wales, Rockfield, Rockfield, Wales, Abbey Road, London, England, Big Noise Recorders, Cardiff, Wales, AIR, London, England, RAK, London, England
Recorded
August–December 2000
Mixed by
Dave Eringa, Mike Hedges, Ger McDonnell, Tom Lord‐Alge
Mixed at
South Beach Studios
Engineered by
Lee Butler, Dave Eringa, Ger McDonnell, Guy Massey, Phil Mossman, Greg Haver
Label
Epic
Length
1:15:30

Singles

  • “So Why So Sad” · 26 February 2001
  • “Found That Soul” · 26 February 2001
  • “Ocean Spray” · 4 June 2001
  • “Let Robeson Sing” · 10 September 2001

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
UK Albums Chart · 20012
Scottish Albums · 20012
Finnish Albums · 20013
Ireland 2 · 20015
Danish Albums · 20016
Swedish Albums · 20017
Greek Albums · 20018
Norwegian Albums · 20018
German Albums · 200113
Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 200119
All 19 charts
Australian Albums (ARIA) · 200120
New Zealand Albums · 200121
Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 200125
Spanish Albums · 200133
Dutch Albums · 200139
Swiss Albums · 200140
Austrian Albums · 200142
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) · 202282
French Albums · 2001147

Certifications

RegionCertification
United Kingdom · 2001Gold

From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.

31.7
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.5k
ListenBrainz listeners
23k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
298
Deezer fans (all editions)

Released the same week

Also released on 19 March

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2001-03-14 (musicbrainz)
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz14 March 2001
Wikipedia infobox19 March 2001
Wikidata19 March 2001
US release20 March 2001earliest US date
UK / Europe release19 March 2001earliest UK or European date
12 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
2001ZAEpic6007689513344other
2001GBEpic4893391067228other
14 March 2001JPEpic Records4988010828387original
19 March 2001GBEpic5099750188026other
20 March 2001USVirgin Records America, Inc.724381011324other
26 March 2001AUEpic9399700084818other
8 June 2009XWSony BMG Music Entertainmentother
1 July 2009JPSony Records International4547366045406other
9 September 2022XEColumbia194399886724other
9 September 2022AFColumbia196589049261deluxe
9 September 2022XEColumbia196587057824other
9 September 2022XEColumbia194399886816other
Cover art sources

coverartarchive · upscaled: major: best source 1417x1393, upscaled to 1500 (x1.08)

SourceSizeVerdict
coverartarchive ✓1417×1393upscaled: major: best source 1417x1393, upscaled to 1500 (x1.08)
deezer1200×1200upscaled
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled