8. Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEoVxy7VDQ Another year with a surfeit of great albums, 1996 saw Happy Mondays' frontman Shaun Ryder return with Black Grape, and their debut It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah deservedly made the Mercury Prize shortlist. Any album which includes the line "Jesus was a black man, no, Jesus was batman, no no no no, that was Bruce Wayne" is clearly worthy of huge recognition. Also up for the award were Oasis' second album (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, and the War Child album Help, which was released to raise funds for the charity and the work they did in war-torn areas such as the former Yugoslavia. Pulp were crowned the winners on the night, and they were roundly lauded as worthy recipients. They had missed out in 1994, when nominated for His 'n' Hers, but two years later they went one better with their masterpiece, Different Class. Another band who had released their masterpiece in 1994 was Manic Street Preachers. Though The Holy Bible had not been nominated, it is now considered the definitive album in their career. However, it is mired in tragedy as shortly after its release, guitarist Richey Edwards went missing, never to return. After an extended break they returned with Everything Must Go, their cathartic 'moving on' album, and their first release after Richey's disappearance. While it is not their best album, it is their biggest selling one, and propelled them to mainstream success. It was a line in the sand, and a true triumph over tragedy story. The Manics did miss out on the Mercury Prize, but Everything Must Go did get the recognition it deserved at the 1997 Brit Awards where it won Best British Album.