CD1: 1) Slash 'n' Burn; 2) Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds; 3) Born to End; 4) Motorcycle Emptiness; 5) You Love Us; 6) Love's Sweet Exile; 7) Little Baby Nothing; 8) Repeat (Stars and Stripes); 9) Tennessee; 10) Another Invented Disease; 11) Stay Beautiful; 12) So Dead; 13) Repeat (UK); 14) Spectators of Suicide; 15) Damn Dog; 16) Crucifix Kiss; 17) Methadone Pretty; 18) Condemned to Rock 'n' Roll Bonus tracks: 19) Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)
CD2: 1) Slash 'n' Burn (House in the Woods Demo); 2) Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds (Marcus Demo); 3) Born to End (Marcus Demo); 4) Motorcycle Emptiness (House in the Woods Demo); 5) You Love Us (Heavenly Version); 6) Love's Sweet Exile (House in the Woods Demo); 7) Little Baby Nothing (House in the Woods Demo); 8) Repeat (Marcus Demo); 9) Tennessee (House in the Woods Demo); 10) Another Invented Disease (House in the Woods Demo); 11) Stay Beautiful (Marcus Demo); 12) So Dead (House in the Woods Demo); 13) Repeat (House in the Woods Demo); 14) Spectators of Suicide (House in the Woods Demo); 15) Damn Dog (Live); 16) Crucifix Kiss (Marcus Demo); 17) Methadone Pretty (House in the Woods Demo); 18) Suicide Alley (South Wales Demo); 19) New Art Riot (South Wales Demo); 20) Motown Junk (London Studio Demo); 21) Motown Junk
An alternative glimpse into the debut album without its infamous drum machine.
Key tracks: They're demos!
(This is review for the 20th anniversary reissue specifically, for a review of Generation Terrorists itself please click here).
If all the deluxe versions and anniversary re-releases have proven anything, it’s that the Manics are 1) hell-bent on recording every song draft they every write and 2) that they are obsessive archivists. The standard version of the 20th anniversary reissue of the debut Generation Terrorists comes with fully-fledged demos of nearly all the songs on the album, and more - which, like the parent album itself, is bordering on excessive.
This is where I’d normally complain about the lack of everything else that I’d personally deem more important, like all the b-sides (if you want those, you’ll have to had fork out for the super deluxe box set which I as a university student at the time was too poor to do) or even the US remixes of the six-odd songs that got redone for the stateside release of the album. And I do complain, but for a band who will one day very likely have released the original demo for nearly every song in their discography, the bonus disc here is arguably the best set of demos the band have ever released. Lest we forget, Generation Terrorists is a victim of its own production: slick yet somehow incredibly cheap, with a drum machine replacing Sean Moore’s own drumming in an ill-fated attempt to make everything sound bigger. The demos, then, give a chance to hear these songs as actually played by the band, more organically tying together the pre-album singles and EPs and the material that ended up on their debut. Most of the demos have been remastered pretty well to the point that they could just be slightly scruffy studio recordings from an indie act, and that means you nearly have the entire record presented in an alternative way. There’s only a few gaps and exceptions: “Condemned to Rock ‘n’ Roll” was entirely a studio creation so no demo exists, “Damn Dog” was literal studio filler so there’s a completely pointless live version instead, and a few of the demos rely on the same drum machine approach as the album, most predictably “Motorcycle Emptiness”. There’s also no demo for “You Love Us”, and instead you get the original single version released via Heavenly Recordings. I’ve actually grown to prefer the Heavenly version over the years: it’s a lot more whimsical and ridiculous, with some hilarious backing whoops and the singalong outro is far better than the shredding finale of the Generation Terrorists version.
Besides, some of the demos are also intriguing in other ways than just from the production perspective. Many have changes in their lyrics or structure (missing second half of the chorus on “Born to End”, various changes across “Love’s Sweet Exile”, etc) and others almost feel like alternative versions. “Spectators of Suicide” is closer to the original Heavenly Recordings version than the radically different album version, so already quite different in that respect, but it’s also a much peppier and almost pop-like take that’s fascinating on its own. “Little Baby Nothing” is brilliant even in its demo form where the more acoustic-lead approach shifts it away from the glam rock power ballad it would eventually become - and it’s not only got the guest vocals in already, but the take is so different I’m not even sure if it’s Traci Lords or someone else (the credits are glaringly absent with any info). There’s also demos of some peripheral material, which neatly ties the entire early years of the band together. The band’s real debut single “Suicide Alley” never gets acknowledged anymore so its appearance here is a good inclusion (and given the original’s sound quality, it’s not like it was much more than a demo to begin with), and the demos of the title track of the New Art Riot EP and the non-album single and Manics classic Motown Junk pave the path towards the actual album. They are a really good bunch of demos that actually feel like they’re worth the price of admission, much more so than the clear majority of the early takes on the other anniversary reissues.
Elsewhere, the other audio bonuses include the actual “Motown Junk” and the non-album single “Suicidal Is Painless”, both great songs and an integral part of this period of the band so their inclusion is a solid choice. The remastering across the main album can’t fully save its production woes given how baked in they are, but it still lifts the sound up and gives some well-needed care to the original - it still sounds very artificial, but at least it has a little bit of life to it now and out of all the Manics remasters, this is the album that needed it the most and benefits the most from it. The liner notes have a bunch of artwork, photos and article clippings from the era, and the DVD has the token ‘making of’ interview, music videos and live performances - all a decent watch (and I have a soft spot for the mixture of bravado and silliness of the music videos for this album cycle).
Would I, as a completionist, have wanted something more than just demos? Well, yes, but let’s put it this way: this is the only collection of demos from the Manics that I enjoy listening to beyond just the initial geekish exploration. It’s a genuinely interesting set of early takes that do what a good set of such things should do when released out in the public, and provide an alternative view of the songs you're already familiar with. In other words, it's something you can put on just to enjoy it - and that's a feat no other Manics demo set has achieved.
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