Trivia / Manic Street Preachers

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• Better Export for You: Oh sweet Jesus. Every single one of their studio albums includes at least some bonus material for the Japanese release:
  • The Japanese release of Generation Terrorists adds "A Vision of Dead Desire" as a bonus track. The 1998 Japanese reissue, meanwhile, replaces it with "Motown Junk".
  • The Japanese edition of Gold Against the Soul includes a bonus disc containing five songs recorded from a live show at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The 1998 Japanese reissue omits the disc, but compensates by including three remixes of "Roses in the Hospital" as bonus tracks, while the 2009 Japanese reissue features an expanded version of the original bonus disc that adds on an extra live track from the Club Citta show and various B-sides.
  • The Japanese release of The Holy Bible includes three live tracks from Glastonbury 1994 as bonus material, with a 2000 reissue in the country adding on a fourth live song recorded at Clapham Grand months prior to the Glastonbury show.
  • The Japanese edition of Everything Must Go slots "No-one Knows What It's Like to Be Me" between "The Girl Who Wanted to Be God" and "Removables" and adds "Black Garden" between "Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning)" and "Further Away".
  • The Japanese release of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours adds "Socialist Serenade" and "Black Holes For the Young" to the end as bonus tracks.
  • The Japanese edition of Know Your Enemy appends "Just a Kid" and "The Masses Against the Classes" to the end as bonus tracks, while the Australian edition includes the latter song and The Avalanches' remix of "So Why So Sad".
  • The Japanese release of Lifeblood adds "The Soulmates" and "Antarctic" as bonus tracks.
  • The Japanese edition of Send Away the Tigers adds on a Cover Version of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero", "Love Letter to the Future", "Morning Comrades", and an acoustic version of the Title Track as bonus tracks. The 2009 Japanese re-release, meanwhile, tacks on a whole bonus disc littered with extra content.
  • The Japanese release of Journal for Plague Lovers includes "William's Last Words", "Alien Orders/Invisible Armies", and a Cover Version of Felt's "Primitive Painters" with the Hidden Track "Bag Lady" as bonus material.
  • The Japanese edition of Postcards from a Young Man includes "Red Rubber" and "Evidence Against Myself" as bonus tracks.
  • The Japanese release of Rewind the Film appends "Death of a Digital Ghost" to the end of the album as a bonus track.
  • The Japanese edition of Futurology includes "Antisocialmanifesto", "Kodawari", and live versions of "Ocean Spray" and "You Love Us" as bonus tracks.
  • The Japanese release of Resistance is Futile features "Holding Patterns", "Mirror Gaze", and a remix of "International Blue" as bonus tracks.
  • The Japanese edition of The Ultra Vivid Lament includes "My Drowning World" and "These Dark Roads" as bonus tracks.
• Creator Backlash:
  • The band members dislike the version of "Specators of Suicide" that appears on Generation Terrorists, claiming it sounds like "fucking Lion Sleeps Tonight" and prefer the more upbeat earlier Heavenly version.
  • They aren't too happy overall with Gold Against the Soul, as its overtly-polished, radio-friendly production proved to be the catalyst for creating the much rawer and far less commercial Holy Bible.
  • Musically, both Know Your Enemy (except "Ocean Spray" and "So Why So Sad") and Lifeblood are looked at rather dimly. Then there were those stunts they did during their early years...
• Creator Breakdown: Richey Edwards, especially while writing the lyrics to The Holy Bible and Journal for Plague Lovers.
• Creator-Driven Successor: Journal for Plague Lovers was inevitably seen as this to The Holy Bible, what with the Richey Edwards lyrics and the occasional sampling.
• Died During Production: The disappearance of the main lyricist would be the death knell for most other bands, but after Richey Edwards' disappearance, the band kept trucking on with Nicky Wire taking over lyrical duties fully. And even then, disappearing hasn't stopped Richey's lyrics from turning up after his disappearance in two albums^note Everything Must Go and Journal For Plague Lovers and an EP.^note God Save The Manics
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: The anniversary editions of The Holy Bible, Everything Must Go and Send Away The Tigers.
  • Also the book edition of Journal for Plague Lovers - the album, a CD of demos and alternate takes, and a book containing photos of the original lyrics and signed by all three remaining band members.
  • The special edition of Greatest Hits collection Forever Delayed (2002) has a bonus CD of remixes.
  • The limited edition of single collection National Treasures (2011) has a DVD with music videos for all 38 of the Manics' singles up till then, and a book containing photos of the band, mostly Richey-era.
  • The limited edition box set reissue of Generation Terrorists, which notably included an extra disc of previously unreleased demos. It was in such high demand that it sold out, and people were paying large amounts of money for it on Ebay. The band have thought about getting another pressing done.
  • Postcards From A Young Man has a 2CD deluxe edition with a bonus CD of demos, and a deluxe 'Mementos' boxed set with a DVD about the album's making, a cassette with demos, and a scrapbook by Nicky Wire with photos of the band and handwritten lyrics, lists and notes.
  • The deluxe edition of Rewind the Film has a bonus CD of demos and live tracks.
  • The deluxe edition of Futurology has a bonus CD of demos and bonus tracks and a book with photos.
  • The deluxe edition of Resistance is Futile has a bonus CD of demos and bonus tracks and a book with photos of the band.
  • The deluxe edition of The Ultra Vivid Lament comes with the album, a bonus CD of demos, and a book with the album's lyrics and photos by Nicky Wire.
  • The deluxe edition of the 2022 recut of Know Your Enemy has a bonus CD of demos.
• Named After Somebody Famous: James Dean Bradfield, after James Dean. Allegedly his father wanted to name him Clint Eastwood first, but his wife threatened to divorce him if he named their kid that.
• The Pete Best: Miles 'Flicker' Woodward, their first bassist who left in 1988.
• Reclusive Artist: Assuming he's still alive, a big assumption to make, under the circumstances, Richey James Edwards would be one of these: he went missing in 1995 and there haven't been any confirmed sightings of him since. 13 years after he vanished, he took this trope to its Logical Extreme: he was declared "presumed deceased"—in other words, Legally Dead. The band has still been keeping his share of their royalties in a bank account since his disappearance.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Originally the band wanted Kylie Minogue to do vocals for "Little Baby Nothing", but she couldn't do it due to contractual reasons.
  • Prior to his disappearance, Richey expressed a desire for the follow-up to The Holy Bible to be a Pantera meets Nine Inch Nails meets Screamadelica Concept Album. Although James later expressed doubts over whether they would have done such a record.
  • The Holy Bible was intended to be released in the United States with a new mix from producer Tom Lord-Alge, but these plans fell through for some reason. The band have stated that, in a rare case of them actually liking something from their American record company, they prefer the US mix over the one used back in their country. The US mix was later released on the 10th anniversary reissue of the album.

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