Manic Street Preachers

When they first appeared the Manic Street Preachers seemed to fit the familiar template of Clash-inspired, politically-minded punk bands, but their story grew stranger and at times darker. Formed in 1986, the band debuted with the single "Suicide Alley"-despite its foreboding title, an upbeat ode to escapism and teenage kicks. The band's punk roots were clear-not grounded so much in the Clash as in Clash disciples like the Alarm and Stiff Little Fingers. However rhythm guitarist Richey James Edwards-who became the band's lyricist and spokesman-was fond of proclaiming that the band had nothing to do with rehashing the past. In time James' method of acting out, including carving the words "4 Real" on his arm during an interview, became a key part of the band's identity. Following the Clash's playbook, they were full-tilt punk on their debut album, 1992's Generation Terrorists, and went for arena-rock grandeur on the follow-up, Gold Against the Soul. Also like the Clash, they got rootsier and more diverse on the third album The Holy Bible, but there the similarity ends. James' lyrics on that album were unusually personal and angst-ridden, and shortly after its release he was hospitalized for drinking and destructive behavior. He was largely absent from the album promotion, which was at times controversial (they received numerous complaints for wearing Army regalia on Top of the Pops) and ultimately successful, the album hit #6 in the UK. On February 1, 1995, five months after the album's release, Edwards checked out of a London hotel and disappeared. Aside from a few unconfirmed sightings, he was never seen again. Instead of finishing the band, Edwards' disappearance spurred them to a musical catharsis, with the remaining Manics (singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield, bassist Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore) carrying on as a trio. 1996's Everything Must Go sported a newly matured sound, with production by Mike Hedges of Siouxsie & The Banshees fame; and while the songs were steeped in Edwards' loss (with some lyrics he'd left behind), the mood was doggedly life-affirming. It outsold their previous albums in the UK and was the first to chart in the US. They paid one more tribute to Edwards with the 2009 album Journal for Plague Lovers, again using his lyrics and designed as a sequel of sorts to The Holy Bible. The 2010s found the band more prolific than ever, releasing two albums within nine months (the mostly-acoustic Rewind the Film and the upbeat Futurology) in 2013-14. They also recorded a football song for Wales, "Together Stronger (C'Mon Wales)," in 2016. The following year brought a documentary film, Escape From  History, dealing with the post-Edwards era. 2018 brought their thirteenth studio album, Resistance is Futile, where the music remained rousing as the lyrics took a more introspective slant.