10 Best 1990s Alt-Rock Albums You Need To Hear

3. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994)

The Manics bred a generation of pompous, poetry reading intellectuals who found their home in the cult-classic The Holy Bible. Like an ode to art, literature and the lost sense of youth, this album is the music of a man about to end it all. When Manics’ frontman Richey Edwards disappeared just months after the release of The Holy Bible, he left the world with a rabbit-hole into addiction, ideas of worthlessness and resignation. It’s a perfect, tragic album by one of music’s best wordsmiths.

The Holy Bible was a direct u-turn from the band’s swaggering rock: the Manics had always been political but now they were drawing more from Edward’s soul than ever. Although the result was wonderfully brilliant, it was equally dark and heartbreaking.

His words were written like essays loosely transformed into songs and touching on themes such as consumerism, British imperialism, prostitution, depression, self-abuse, eating disorders, racism and childhood. Lyrically, The Holy Bible is hard listening, but the passion in which singer James Dean Bradfield belts and the power in which the band play makes this album just as big as their previous popular hard rock endeavours and future guitar rock.

Richey Edwards will forever be woven within The Holy Bible, trapped in time amongst the perfection he brought to life.