| Q - Having long broken their promise to self-combust after their debut
album, the Manics return with this third record which strips down the smooth
mainstream rock production of last year's Gold Against The Soul to a dry,
brittle punk sound which is closer to their first single, Motown Junk,
than anything they've done since. The emphasis here is on intensity and
energy rather than melody, with shock lyrical tactics still being employed
by pen-chewing wordsmith duo Nicky Wire and Richey James. The group tackle
the holocaust from the viewpoint of the victims (Intense Humming Of Evil),
get inside the mind of a teenage anorexic (4st 7lbs) and include a well-meaning
rant against the American system with the succinctly titled If White America
Told The Truth For One Day Its World Would Fall Apart. In the midst of
all the fury, there are two melodic highs, She Is Suffering and This Is
Yesterday. Holy Bible proves the Manics to be a band who can subtly
reinvent themselves at every turn.
**** 4 stars out of 5 |