Forever Delayed: The "Manic Street Preachers" Book

When Welsh assault rock'n'rollers The Manic Street Preachers burst onto the British guitar band stage in 1992, they put the rest of the contenders to shame. In the wake of dance culture, rock bands had mostly abandoned the pure energy and subversive anger of punk and rock in favour of a laid-back hybrid of beats and murmurs. From a small town in Wales, The Manics reclaimed the purity of the form, playing their glam punk with a religious fervour. They had better clothes, slogans and interview technique than anyone since the late '70s and over two albums, '92s Generation Terrorists and '93s Gold Against The Soul, James Dean Bradfield, Richey Edwards, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore fast-tracked from cult heroes to national talking point, offending and confronting as they went and firing off brilliant anthems for the alienated. The self-destructive tendencies of guitarist Richey Edwards provided a melodramatic subplot to the music, as he progressed from carving the words 4 REAL into his arm during an interview, to his final unsolved disappearance prior to the release of '94s The Holy Bible. Like Nirvana, The Manics were always more than just another capable band, and their rise to international stadium-filling status in the aftermath of Edwards' exit has not entirely dissipated their aura. Japanese photographer Mitch Ikeda began shooting the band on their early tours in Japan and became closely involved with their visuals. His elegant images of before and after Richey brilliantly capture their rock-stars-in-leopard-skin flamboyance, as well as framing the fragility and existential doubt that lurked behind the vicious wall of chords. Like Anton Corbjin with US, Ikeda got inside their identity and defined them absolutely. This book, the official memento of ten years of Manic mayhem, includes reminiscence and commentary from the remaining members of the band and an original foreword by Nicky Wire. Read More