168 Songs of Hatred and Failure by Keith Cameron

‘A forensic exploration of their compositions and recordings, and everything that has been poured into them . . . completely definitive’ MOJO ?????

The story of Manic Street Preachers is unique in pop. Raging out of the stricken mining communities of south Wales in the late 80s, they were seemingly condemned to mere cult status by a cruel juncture of artistic triumph, commercial failure and personal despair. The story took a further agonising twist when the tragedy of Richey Edwards’ 1995 disappearance was followed by a remarkable rebirth, built upon ‘A Design For Life’ – a hymn to the band’s working-class roots – and then the award-winning, multi-million-selling album Everything Must Go, a majestic soundtrack to history and loss. Within five years, Manic Street Preachers were playing to 60,000 at the national stadium of Wales and had their second UK Number 1 single. Subsequent output has confirmed the band as both a wellspring of restless creativity and a barometer of the cultural conversation.

Because it was music that saved them, it’s through the prism of their music that Keith Cameron tells the definitive history of Manic Street Preachers, drawing on many hours of new interviews to dive deep into 168 songs, from 1988 debut single ‘Suicide Alley’ to the late day peaks of 2025 album Critical Thinking. Writing with the band’s full co-operation, his book charts the dynamic evolution of a universe in which Karl Marx and Kylie Minogue happily co-exist, that accords Rush and The Clash equal favour, and where Morrissey & Marr meet Torvill & Dean via Nietzsche and New Order in a single four-minute pop song – all in the name of what Nicky Wire himself calls ‘the fabulous disaster’ of Manic Street Preachers.

The ‘completely definitive’ (MOJO) story of Manic Street Preachers told through 168 songs – AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

About the Author: A journalist since 1988, Keith Cameron is currently a contributing editor at MOJO. He previously worked for Sounds and New Musical Express, and his writing has appeared in the Guardian, The Times, the Sunday Times, Scotland On Sunday, Kerrang! and Q. He is author of Mudhoney: The Sound and the Fury from Seattle, acclaimed by Mark Lanegan as ‘the definitive book on ’90s Seattle music’.

11 Sep 2025
 

168 Songs of Hatred and Failure: A History of Manic Street Preachers by Keith Cameron ISBN 9781399607414