Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible

[nash]

i will if i see him in town

[noirpunk]

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1295870159' post='1100618']
Hope I've posted this in the right place.

I'm not a Manics fan, but have always loved 'The Holy Bible'. I think it sounds like the work of another band!

What I'd love to know is what bass(es?) Nicky Wire used on the recording?

I've always assumed it was a Ric. But I heard some live stuff from Summer '94, which sounded fairly similar, and he was using a P to my surprise!

He used a Jazz at the time - I think - as well.

So any ideas on what he played on this magnificent record?
[/quote]

Only just noticed this thread. Manics are my favourite band and biggest influence, I've met them on numerous ocassions both as a fan and professionally.
As far as I know after I asked Wire a few questions and listening to it I'd say a P bass. I know that he uses Ampeg amplifiers exclusively and always has done.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I still maintain, to my ears at least, it's predominantly a Rickenbacker. Revol might be a P, at a push.

There are several moments which just scream Rick to me, these being the outro of Archives of Pain, the little bass fill toward the end of 4st 7lb, and The Intense Humming of Evil. A Precision bass just doesn't sound like that.

[daz]

[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1295873909' post='1100708']
I always thought it was a Ric, certainly sounds mostly like a Ric to my ears. He used a J with a third pickup in the Ric spot on Everything Must Go but, to me at least, that vicious growl on The Holy Bible is all Ric.
[/quote]


always preffered [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generation-Terrorists-Manic-Street-Preachers/dp/B000007VOL/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1324309251&sr=8-9"]Generation Terrorists[/url], personally.

[Nibody]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1324309397' post='1472842']


always preffered [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generation-Terrorists-Manic-Street-Preachers/dp/B000007VOL/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1324309251&sr=8-9"]Generation Terrorists[/url], personally.
[/quote]

+1 to that

[Cosmo Valdemar]

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1324305075' post='1472791']
I still maintain, to my ears at least, it's predominantly a Rickenbacker. Revol might be a P, at a push.

There are several moments which just scream Rick to me, these being the outro of Archives of Pain, the little bass fill toward the end of 4st 7lb, and The Intense Humming of Evil. A Precision bass just doesn't sound like that.
[/quote]

Examples:

From 1:10 onward:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbITPljzybE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbITPljzybE[/url]

Intro and outro in particular:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiG7lxhJ0-0&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiG7lxhJ0-0&feature=related[/url]

This one sounds like a Rick in stereo - one amp bassy and clipping, the other clanky and slightly overdriven. The outro seems a lot more distorted.

[Linus27]

The thing I liked about The Holy Bible was it was just so dark, gritty and clunky.

[spongebob]

Glad to see this thread back!

Superb album, still remember the day I bought it - felt timeless on release, and still sounds great.

IMHO, the best set of lyrics to any album...so affecting. How JDB sang them is beyond me - if you listen with the lyric sheet, it's phenomenal, and so amazingly powerful...the references, the imagery...

I've always been in the Ric camp - but TBH, the album could be a mix of P and Ric. He played a P on the dates around the release, and on a bootleg I'd thought it was a Ric until I saw some footage, and it was a P! I suppose it's the amp, the eq...maybe we'll never know for sure.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1324401382' post='1473879']
Glad to see this thread back!

Superb album, still remember the day I bought it - felt timeless on release, and still sounds great.

IMHO, the best set of lyrics to any album...so affecting. How JDB sang them is beyond me - if you listen with the lyric sheet, it's phenomenal, and so amazingly powerful...the references, the imagery...

I've always been in the Ric camp - but TBH, the album could be a mix of P and Ric. He played a P on the dates around the release, and on a bootleg I'd thought it was a Ric until I saw some footage, and it was a P! I suppose it's the amp, the eq...maybe we'll never know for sure.
[/quote]

I remember when I first heard it, one of the defining moments of my teenage years. At that time I was a fully commited metal head, and then this came along and just totally outstripped any Slayer record in terms of imagery, dread and sheer horror. Truly a landmark album, and one that hasn't aged at all. Every time I listen to it I'm astonished, especially considering they purposefully chose to record it in a cheap and dingy studio in Cardiff - a deliberate reaction to the 'rock star' excesses of the previous album.

As for the lyrics, Richey (and to a lesser extent Nicky) gave no thought to how his words would fit into a 'conventional' song structure, and it was then up to James and Sean to wrestle and distort them to fit, resulting in the jarring and alien emphasis and pronounciation.