Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh band who formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. They began in a punk vein, pairing glam-tinged, androgynous imagery with lyrics about culture, alienation, boredom and despair, then broadened into a wider alternative rock sound. Generation Terrorists arrived in 1992, followed by Gold Against the Soul and The Holy Bible, the last album with guitarist Richey Edwards, who disappeared in February 1995.

The remaining trio of Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore carried on, and Everything Must Go (1996) reached No. 2 in the UK. This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours went to No. 1 in 1998, as did The Ultra Vivid Lament in 2021. Every studio album has made the UK Top 20, and they have headlined Glastonbury and Reading. Start with The Holy Bible, then Everything Must Go.