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Generation Terrorists [MINIDISC] by: Manic Street Preachers

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Rating: - The Manics Greatest Moment

When i bought this record on cassette in Feb 1992 i thought it was the best thing i had heard in ages from a band that were despised and ridiculed by NME, Lime Lizard etc and many indie zines of the time. Wow! How its stood the test of time man and like so many bands that were never initially understood are now their stable of praise and adulation. It just goes to show if you stick around long enough the sheeple will finally come round. The same can be applied to fashion!
Well then, i recently bought this on Amazon on CD as although i still listen to the cassette which is excellently preserved i wanted to load it on my ipod and relive the moment i first heard it and you know what?. It feels just like 1992 again, even better. I still think this record is the best thing ive heard in ages! The songs, now classics come at you one after the other from the opening riffs to Slash And Burn, NatWest-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds, Born To End, Motorcycle Emptiness, You Love Us and my personal fave and almost forgotten anthem Love's Sweet Exile, the song that led me to the album i heard in that barber shop getting a haircut when i had hair!
The tragic and beautiful Little Baby Nothing which still makes me go all gooey and brings that lump in my throat. In fact after 18 yrs i understand how our world is run and we are ruled by the lowest of men. In fact we are ruled by human scum, tax and draught dodging murderers who foment wars for profit and greed but are too cowardly to fight them so they create terrorism instead getting us to kill eachother for their greed empire we are all helping to build. The Big Brother fascist Police State is here. Songs like Spectators Of Suicide and the line "democracy is an empty lie, dead like are yesterdays tonight!" i understand even better now.
Another Invented Disease is another example of how private unaccountable industries that have infiltrated govt foment plagues as bio weapons and then sell us vaccines laced with toxins as the cure. The Swine Fu hoax. Problem reaction solution! Stay Beautiful and So Dead sound even better today and are defining moments in their career. They never wrote better songs since, not even Holy Bible which is their next classic. Every song is a statement in itself and blends classic hard rock with the fury of punk laced with wonderful acoustic moments and scorching unforgettable solos. A sorta UFO/Clash/Ramones Zeppelin fusion but highly original in its execution.
Crucifix Kiss another gem as is the quite poignant cover with a crucifix dangling and the Generation Terrorists/Useless Generation tattoo. How appropriate to associate a pagan symbol of churchianity with terrorism!
The Manics knew the facts then and shouted it from the rooftops which is why they were despised and ridiculed by an ignorant generation of braindead morons raised on tv media fake culture and lies.
18yrs on and the tv has been replaced by the playstation and we are still a useless generation. Buy this album and learn the truth if you really care anymore. Nuff said. Richey James Edwards(RIP).

Rating: - A classic and a must-have.

The best thing about this album for me is the way the Manics skillfully fuse several genres, punk, glam and metal being the main ones. It's pretty timeless, I mean it came out nearly 20 years ago and it still doesn't sound dated, yet still manages to encapsulate the spirit the Manics were feeling at the time. Sure, there are a couple of tracks on here that could have been left off, but on the whole it's great, I can't even imagine not having this in my collection. Check out the Manics' "Forever Delayed" DVD as well, to see some of the music videos for songs from this and their other albums. They obviously put alot of effort into the whole package of this CD, from finding an appropriate literary quote to accompany each song on the sleeve, to a page full of interesting photos of the Manics. I've owned this CD for 13 years and I am still not bored of it. If you don't have this, I highly recommend you buy it at once!

Rating: - A Masterpiece

People will always criticize this album because they didn't brake America or sellout with it. What people need to remember is that not all albums have to bring huge success to be brilliant. Look at the pistols or The Clash, many bands have brought out albums that weren't successful at the time but they are now classed as classic albums. The Holy Bible is probably the album the Manics get the most recognition for and is classed as a classic album by many people, yet it was unsuccessful in its time.

Generation Terrorist is a rock record in my opinion. It has it's moments when you can hear the punk influences the band aspired to but generally i'd call this a Rock record.

It's well known that Guns N' Roses was a big influence on the band in their early years and on this album you can really hear the similarities to Appetite For Destruction.

This album has some classic Manics tracks on it;

Motorcycle Emptiness
Little Baby Nothing
Slash N Burn
Born To End

They're fantastic songs.

Perhaps the best song on here though is Condemned To Rock N' Roll, the guitar on the album is fonominal anyway but on this track it's something special.

The hole album was recorded by James (although sean did programme a drum machine) so you can really appreciate his musical talent.

If I were to give advice I'd say out of all the Manics albums this is probably the one with the most attitude and the most 'go' in it. So if you like a good ol' rock record pick this, if you want something a little less energetic perhaps Everything Must Go or This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours would be more suitable.

Rating: - Condemned to Rock N' Roll

This is an album that shaped rock music as we know it. It's one of those that grabs you right from the off and pulls you in right until the very end. Yes, that's despite all 18 tracks of it.....

So it fuses James Dean Bradfield's wailing guitar, Nicky Wire's punching bass and sometimes controversial lyrics, Richey James's brilliant topical discussions, as well as Sean Moore's relentless drumming. Sounds all right doesn't it. But can it sustain the quality needed for 74 minutes?

You bet.

You see, after purchasing their latest offering, 'Send Away The Tigers', I was keen to know what Nicky Wire meant when he said that the Manics were trying to 'recreate their old sound'. So I bought their debut, 'Generation Terrorists'.

The opener, 'Slash N' Burn' is a great opener. We're immediately thrust into the world of The Clash meets Guns N' Roses, and a youthful punk influence. This was 1992 you know, although it is now 15 years ago, would you believe. 'Natwest-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds' is one of those that Wire/James were going to write with its topical and political influences oozing through JDB's wailing vocals. 'Born To End' continues the trend of the previous openers, before the album's real gem is unearthed. 'Motorcycle Emptiness' is an anthem. Not just that, it screams confidence, and more importantly, shows the Manics as one of the influential bands of the 90s. 'You Love Us', which made their 'Forever Delayed: Greatest Hits' collection, as well as the previous track, is typical, punk-rock Manic Street Preachers. Another one of my favourites, and a definite crowd favourite in gigs.

The standard dips slightly for the next one. 'Love's Sweet Exile' is good, but doesn't have that edge that the first five tracks seemed to show in abundance. 'Little Baby Nothing' also made it onto their 'Greatest Hits', and it's not difficult to understand why. The lyrics are so thought-provoking, and the tune is brilliant. The next track is very unusual, as it seems the Manics are intent on going a bit Breakbeat/ Trip-Hop (probably to make it blindingly obvious that this is the US version of 'Repeat'). The song is ok, but nothing special. Credit must be given though, full marks for ambition. 'Tennessee' is again, classic Manics, plenty of meaty riffs a la G N' Roses, and it's very good. 'Another Invented Disease' is similar musically, but the more topical Manics songs are the better ones lyrically, as it portrays them as a very intelligent band, and very conscious of current affairs. 'Stay Beautiful' is again, very good, although by now we're realising that the second half of the album isn't as good as the first, although it doesn't mean to say it's a disappointment by any means. 'So Dead' is again, excellent. The trademark sound has been well and truly stamped throughout this record, and it's hard to complain of it. 'Repeat' (the UK version) is better than the US version, because it's more punk and no-frills rock n' roll. 'Spectators of Suicide' slow things down again, to soak up some of the great lyrics James and Wire have to offer. 'Damn Dog' is a cover song, although I'm uncertain of who recorded the original. 'Crucifix Kiss' is excellent, as is 'Methadone Pretty', but the real gem of this second half of the record is 'Condemned to Rock N' Roll', a six-minute something all-out rocker, which has everything Guns N' Roses might have had on some of their songs.

The Manic Street Preachers were determined to enter the scene with a bang. And indeed they did- 'Generation Terrorists' is the Manics at their very finest. Very highly recommended. 9.5/10.

Rating: - Generation Terrific

After the Manics' return to Guitar Hero territory with Send Away the Tigers, I felt the need to dig out this rough diamond. And damn, it's fine. If you go back four or five years, you'd be met with fans claiming that Generation Terrorists hadn't aged well, but for some reason it sounds rejuvenated again in 2007. Upon its release in the early 90s it was completely out of sync with the British indie rock scene of stargazers in their 'loose fit' clothing, and it's no different now, the antithesis of all the indie kids with their guitars held as high as possible and their Talking Heads book of songwriting accompanying them through their short-lived careers before the bandwagon collapses.

Looking back, Generation Terrorists was an extraordinarily ambitious debut. A 73 minute double album of glam/punk/metal/softrock, incorporating dance remixes by the Bomb Squad, poetry intros and Meatloaf-style duets with pornstars. I mean, c'mon, you're sold already, right? The many literary and political references in the lyrics and philosophical quotes on the sleeve might not impress NME readers in an age when most of the current NME bands are little more than gap year students, but it was a brave new world after the antipathetic music scene the Manics were born into.

The musical and lyrical ambitions might not always have been met, but Generation Terrorists has its fair share of Manics classics. Motorcycle Emptiness often vies with A Design For Life for the title of the ultimate Manics song, You Love Us is their evergreen calling card and Little Baby Nothing is a slab of twisted melodic pop that deservedly joined the other two on 2002's greatest hits compilation Forever Delayed. Stay Beautiful remains a live favourite with a chorus chant to end all chorus chants, while the grand finale of Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll has a gloriously unashamed RAWK guitar solo that lasts longer than many full songs these days. Even the cover of Damn Dog, which previously sounded like such a mistake and afterthought, has a playfulness to it that's easier to appreciate in an era where the Manics have once again pressed the fun button.

It's not all about pink rose-tinted spectacles. Natwest-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds is still a duff note so early on in the tracklisting, and some of the lyrics on the album do fall under the dreaded banner of 'Sixth Form', but the flaws add to the charm of this mental collection.

PS. If anyone from Sony is reading, it's time for a remastering.

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