Yesterday was the first time I listened to the Manic Street Preachers in two years. Don't get me wrong, to those MSP fans, it must be a crime. But not the MSP of today. I'm talking about the best period of their almost 25 year career. I'm talking about the man who created their personality, their image and their stature in music. I'm talking about a lyrical genius. I'm talking about Richey Edwards.
To those who do not know who he is, Richey Edwards was more than just a member in a band. He was a poet. To outsiders he was just the "rhythm guitarist who couldn't play". Sure, singer/lead guitarist James Dean Bradfield mostly played without backing guitar because Richey was pretending to play guitar, but that wasn't Richey Edward's role in the band. His role as the creative force in the band, often cooperating with bassist Nicky Wire, would not only push the boundaries as far as songwriting goes but also pushing himself over the edge.
Richey James Edwards, simply shortened to Richey James or Richey Manic by fans, was always troubled. Shortly after he graduated he started to drink. He was to become a notorious self harmer, and give brutally honest interviews. He was also an intelligent young man, with a degree in politics. It was within the next couple of years where he would become an underground icon, become the most recognisable member of the band and drive his stake into the heart of the public.
His first notoriety, which ironically lead to their debut album pushing more sales, was during an interview with the NME. The interviewer claimed the band was only in it for the money, therefore they were not for real. What did Richey do? He carved "4 Real" into his arm. That image of him posing for the camera, blood gushing down his elbow, clutching his arm up, still strikes me. It was the smile on his face that adds to this. He had to have a couple dozen stitches; he was lucky enough to miss a vein.
That slogan, "4 real", has been imitated more than it has been respected. It was here when he got noticed: he thought that by hurting himself, people would be entertained. People outside of the MSP fanbase didn't take him seriously at first. It was only later on- he would do the unthinkable- when they would give him the respect he deserved.
But the band he was part of was didn't feel like he did. They didn't feel alone, nor angry at themselves. Their debut album, Generation Terrorists, was dismissed by a few journalists as "punk trying to be arty but failing". This was highly unfair on Richey Edwards, who on the same album wrote one of the Manic's best songs Motorcycle Emptiness. It was with this album where Richey got so confident he would write letters to music magazines talking about how good the Manics really were. He even called himself "the blank generation Oscar Wilde" in a letter.
However, the band was only really getting notice on "what Richey did next". The magazines they were in were read because of Richey's usually honest interviews, and even Richey himself knew he couldn't be doing this forever. So that is why he suggested to his fellow bandmates to regroup in a massion to record their follow up album Gold Against The Soul.
With all honesty, and the Manics would agree with me, this is probably the least accomplished Richey era album. The sound of the album was nothing like Richey wanted. At the time, he was listening to Joy Division, Magazine and In Utero era Nirvana. Gold Against The Soul, in his eyes, was "Welsh hair metal". The band even changed their look to appeal to the public eye, with singer James Dean Bradfield dying his hair blonde. However, Richey Edwards was in doubt about the band's direction. He felt the band was going astray to his vision.
He wanted to develop heavily, and perhaps too much for his own good, in such little time. However, the last thing the Manics wanted to do was record another album. Richey Edwards was on his way to rehab, and soon become admitted to a mental hospital, to try and short out his self harming once and for all. This didn't work however, and by the time Richey came out he was still self harming. The tour following MSP's next album, The Holy Bible, would only make things worse.
The Holy Bible is easily one of the best albums of all time, if not to say the darkest album ever made. Richey Edwards was going through hell inside his mind, and The Holy Bible was the release. Gone were the days of pretending to be The Clash 2.0- this was serious and so painfully true. Richey Edwards was at the top of his lyrical game, battling the world and himself all at the same time. The band themselves were too at the height of their power. While this article isn't about The Holy Bible, it remains as Richey Edwards' testament. The songs contain his thoughts of anorexia, death, suicide and politics. However, the legacy of the album doesn't just rest on what was to come in 6 months time.
The tour surrounding The Holy Bible had even more strange behaviour from Edwards. In fact, Richey was still in hospital during the start of the tour, leaving the remaining three members of the band to play without him. He would come back sometime later on. Before a gig in Thailand, a pretty obsessive fan gave Edwards knives. Richey was prompted to cut himself, and he did so, creating a cut on his chest reminiscent of a tattoo. Richey played the whole gig gushing blood. It doesn't stop there: he would smash his head multiple times outside a hotel room, and would continue to self harm before gigs. It seemed no one could stop him. He had lost control.
His last three gigs with Manic Street Preachers were at the Astoria, where even Richey was feeling energetic. In his final ever gig with the band, he prompted the rest of the band to smash up their gear, causing £26,00 worth of damage. It was best to go out in style I guess.
Between January and February 1995, Richey hinted another Manics album, wanting it to sound like a mix between Pantera and Nine Inch Nails. He shaved his head, becoming almost unrecognisable. His last interview, at the end of January, saw him fairly enthusiastic and actually very chatty. However, it seemed to only be on the surface. He surely wasn't feeling happy. He wasn't proud of who he was.
On February 1st he checked out of his hotel room, never to be seen again. No one knew what happened. It was all made clear when his car was found by a famous suicide hotspot. Most people assume it is suicide, but nowadays people can't even guess what has happened to him. After 13 years of searching, he was officially presumed dead in 2008. He was only 27.
As for the Manic Street Preachers, Richey Edwards was the first chapter of an illustrious 25 year career. In 1996, they became a sensation with A Design For Life. Richey Edwards, leaving behind a lot of lyrics, is still as relevant to the band's songwriting as it had always been. The band's Top 10 hit, Kevin Carter, was written solely by Edwards.
That quote underneath all of my messages is from The Holy Bible, coming from a song called Faster. It is my favourite song of all time. And Edwards, still one of the most important lyricists of the past 30 years, puts the nail right on the head during the final seconds of the song, sung through the voice of James Dean Bradfield's shriek:
'So damn easy to cave in- man killes everything.'
The story of this man is extremely interesting and I applaud you for researching and putting his story down for us to read. 
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