{"product_id":"168-songs-of-hatred-and-failure-a-history-of-manic-street-preachers","title":"168 Songs of Hatred and Failure: A History of Manic Street Preachers","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.roughtrade.com\/collection\/books-of-the-year-2025\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBooks of the Year 2025: #3\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of \u003cstrong\u003eManic Street Preachers\u003c\/strong\u003e is unique in pop. Raging out of the stricken mining communities of south Wales in the late 80s, they were bonded by friendships, family ties, and a self-styled \"geometry of contempt\", whereby \u003cstrong\u003eJames Dean Bradfield\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eSean Moore\u003c\/strong\u003e would orchestrate the daring intellectual broadsides written by \u003cstrong\u003eRichey Edwards\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eNicky Wire\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSeemingly condemned to mere cult status by a cruel juncture of artistic triumph, commercial failure, and personal despair, the story took an agonizing twist when the tragedy of Edwards' 1995 disappearance was followed by a remarkable rebirth built upon \"\u003cem\u003eA Design For Life's\u003c\/em\u003e\" hymn to the band's working-class roots, and then the award-winning, multi-million-selling album \u003cem\u003eEverything Must Go\u003c\/em\u003e, a majestic soundtrack to history and loss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLess than five years later, \u003cstrong\u003eManic Street Preachers\u003c\/strong\u003e played to 60,000 at the national stadium of Wales and had their second UK Number 1 single. Subsequent output has confirmed the band as both a wellspring of restless creativity and a barometer of the cultural conversation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBecause it was music that saved them, it's through the prism of their music that Keith Cameron tells the definitive history of \u003cstrong\u003eManic Street Preachers\u003c\/strong\u003e, drawing on many hours of new interviews to dive deep into 168 songs, from 1988's debut single \"\u003cem\u003eSuicide Alley\u003c\/em\u003e\" to the late-day peaks of 2025's album \u003cem\u003eCritical Thinking\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWriting with the band's full cooperation, his book charts the dynamic evolution of a universe in which Karl Marx and Kylie Minogue happily coexist, that accords Rush and The Clash equal favor, and where Morrissey \u0026amp; Marr meet Torvill \u0026amp; Dean via Nietzsche and New Order in a single four-minute pop song.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNicky Wire\u003c\/strong\u003e, of \u003cstrong\u003eManic Street Preachers\u003c\/strong\u003e, said: ‘No one understands the inner workings and shared aesthetics of \u003cstrong\u003eManic Street Preachers\u003c\/strong\u003e like Keith Cameron: the humor, the misery, the eternal doubt, the culture-alienation-boredom and despair. This book illuminates thirty-five years of songwriting history with immense skill, expert research, dedication, and boundless patience. The art of writing about music and words is dying – the alchemy, the influences, the inexplicable accidents, the capacity songs have to transcend the people who wrote them; I’d like to think that art survives in this phenomenal book.'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"White Rabbit","offers":[{"title":"Special Edition","offer_id":51679941296459,"sku":"R5717-1880","price":49.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":51679952666955,"sku":"R5717-2047","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback  Signed bookplate BOTY","offer_id":53589590180171,"sku":"R5717-2775","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/168Songsstandardcover_db000954-a572-4e1e-b532-88b9b556b21a.jpg?v=1752257210","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/products\/168-songs-of-hatred-and-failure-a-history-of-manic-street-preachers","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}