CD1: 1) Yes; 2) IfwhiteAmericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart; 3) Of Walking Abortion; 4) She Is Suffering; 5) Archives of Pain; 6) Revol; 7) 4st 7lb; 8) Mausoleum; 9) Faster; 10) This Is Yesterday; 11) Die in the Summertime; 12) The Intense Humming of Evil; 13) P.C.P. Bonus tracks: 14) The Intense Humming of Evil (Live); 15) 4st 7lb (Live); 16) Yes (Live); 17) Of Walking Abortion (Live)
CD2: The US Mix 1) Yes; 2) IfwhiteAmericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart; 3) Of Walking Abortion; 4) She Is Suffering; 5) Archives of Pain; 6) Revol; 7) 4st 7lb; 8) Mausoleum; 9) Faster; 10) This Is Yesterday; 11) Die in the Summertime; 12) The Intense Humming of Evil; 13) P.C.P. Bonus tracks: 14) Die in the Summertime (Demo); 15) Mausoleum (Demo); 16) Of Walking Abortion (Radio 1 Evening Session); 17) She Is Suffering (Radio 1 Evening Session); 18) Yes (Radio 1 Evening Session)
The first of the re-releases, with the legendary alternative mix included. Three songs short of a perfect reissue, but close.
Key tracks: Out of the bonus things... the entirety of the US mix?
(this review is exclusively for the 10th anniversary edition - for the review of The Holy Bible itself, please click here)
The Holy Bible was the first Manic Street Preachers album to get a splashy anniversary re-release, and if you're not planning to do these things chronologically, it's the logical starting point. It's the canonical fan favourite, the big critical darling, the band revere it and, not least of all, it has one of the most enticing potentials for a bulked up deluxe version by virtue of its hitherto unreleased US mix. And that's exactly what the band have brought out here.
As the legend goes, in early 1995 the Manics were planning to tour US. The early Manics sound wasn't seen particularly commercial in the US and the previous albums already had had some partial remixes and rejigging done with the transatlantic audience in mind, and the raw and jagged The Holy Bible was absolutely nothing the band could have had any success with in the States. So, the band agreed that the entire album was remixed for the US release, ready to be in record stores as the tour started. When Richey Edwards disappeared right as the tour was about to start, all plans were understandably cancelled - including the release of the remixed album, which would never make it to the shops. Except, in a few stores in Canada who broke the release date. By the time they had pulled the album off the shelves, enough copies had been sold to turn the then-nicknamed "Canadian Holy Bible" into the Holy Grail of collectibles. Rips existed, but even with them the alternative mix of The Holy Bible was still considered a rare and elusive beast.
The 10th anniversary deluxe edition of The Holy Bible finally brought the alternative mix out into the daylight. Unlike so many alternative mix works tacked onto re-releases, the US mix genuinely has an impact on the album. The original was almost thin in its mix: its sound is dry and skeletal, its harshness working in tandem with the lyrical content and mood of the record. The US mix first and foremost gives the record a veritable backbone. The bass is thick, the drums thunder and everything has more depth. Where the original was almost withdrawn in its cold misanthropy, the US mix is an aggressive force kicking down doors. It's great. It doesn't polish The Holy Bible or turn it any more commercial, but rather it makes it sound all the more fearsome. The US mix gives the album's anger the muscles to do damage with, and it does it to such great effect that in practice, I never listen to the original anymore. The US mix is the definitive version of the album in my opinion, and the other small but important changes further drill down on that opinion: the additional synthwork on "She Is Suffering", the full ending of "Yes" instead of a fade-out and the creepy additional vocal samples haunting "The Intense Humming of Evil" all improve their respective songs, with only the more audible vocal filters on "Faster" landing in the questionable territory.
The rest of the bonus material isn't as exciting or even interesting. The live cuts are fine, but the only really interesting one out of them is "The Intense Humming of Evil", simply for the novelty of hearing it being tackled live. The Radio 1 session cuts are largely identical to the other live material but in better sound quality, but you do get to hear the awkward censored version of "Yes". The two demos have some minor variations to the studio versions but nothing you'd really call attention to. What's genuinely baffling is that the album's three original studio b-sides aren't here. Together they run for under ten minutes, two of them are rare and they would have so much more to offer than any of the other live material. They did eventually get a release on the (incredibly cash-grabby) second re-release on the album's 20th anniversary but there is literally no reason why they should not have been here. And thus, with the band's first deluxe re-release, the great tradition of them always somehow stumbling with begins.
Beyond that though, this is a stellar package and one of the very few anniversary reissues I would recommend that people pick up instead of the original even if they're new to the band, simply because of the US mix's existence. It's amazing how different the same album and the same songs can sound when the production is tweaked, and both versions have entirely different tones to them. There's also a DVD with a suitably interesting interview on the album and the era around it, and various supplementary video material from the official music videos to TV promotional appearances and live performances - all which work well to get you deeper into the album's world from a more visual perspective. The packaging is suitably deluxe-like and the new liner notes are decent, even if more heavily oriented towards era-specific imagery than written word. It does feel celebratory, like a deluxe reissue should - shame it's three songs short of being the perfect anniversary re-release, but it's still pretty close.
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