Riffs & Meaning: Manic Street Preachers and Know Your Enemy

Despite high and low brow pop culture references in their lyrics, sleeve art, and in interviews, no concise in-depth study exists of the Manic Street Preachers. This book is in some ways a response to that fact, a study of the band through one particular record.
Whilst The Holy Bible, Everything Must Go and even Generation Terrorists seem like obvious albums to cover, 2001's Know Your Enemy is the pivotal point used here to explore the band bestowed a Godlike Genius Award by the NME.
Know Your Enemy encapsulates all previous incarnations of the Manics and acts as a pointer towards their future as a creative unit. It was a real attempt to explore new avenues in sound, embrace their socialist political views, renew their stance as music industry outsiders, antagonize other bands and basically be the Manics the fans really wanted them to be!

Stephen Lee Naish's writing explores film, politics, and popular culture. His essays have appeared in numerous journals and periodicals. He lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.