Manic Street Preachers: How The US Missed One Of The UK's Greatest Bands 

As an American fan, I seriously wish they were huge here. They're in my top 3 bands of all time and I think that they're the best band of the UK has.

As and American fan, I loved taking advantage of the stateside obscurity of my favorite artists, buying inexpensive tickets to small venues to see them up close while they sold out arenas in other countries. I had a ticket to a MSP show cancelled in 1999, so I never got to see them. So happy to have a ticket to their show with Suede next month! Favorite album Everything Must Go, favorite songs Further Away and No Surface All Feeling

Phenomenal band. Richey will be forever missed and loved.

I saw the Stay Beautiful video on MTV 120 mins and was hooked. They played the Limelight in NYC with Blind lemon I walked in and BL was on stage,the place was packed. I thought I missed MSP. The place empties out and they came on very late.. Thank God I stayed. There must have been less then 50 of us in front of the stage. They were amazing.

Their B-sides are also seriously underrated. The B-sides from the “This is My Truth” era alone could have created an outstanding full-on rock album, in contrast to the aforementioneds more epic ballad type stuff. IMO they arguably have the greatest number of “good/very good” songs of any British band since the big 60s/70s bands Beatles/Stones/Pink Floyd. 13 albums and counting with probably at least 70% of their output at least “good/very good” , and then dump another 30 odd good/great B-sides on top of that. At 52, James Dean Bradfield is still a songwriting machine and his two solo albums weren’t half bad either.

I’m so glad I saw them both pre and post the loss of Ritchie. Epic band

Would just like to point out that The Holy Bible is the best album of all time, and will never be beaten

I had the awesome rare pleasure of seeing them live in Los Angeles in 2009. I even got to meet Sean Moore before the show and talk a lil bit with him. I have always been attached to this band and am sad they do not tour here more often....but I get it. Nonetheless, love James, Nicky, Sean, and of course Richey. xoxoxo

My favourite band of all time. But they're certainly not the sort of band whose music you can instantly fall in love with like so many of their contemporaries. Aside from the 3-4 big hits that they have, their music is a slow burner that rewards the patience of the listener. It's easy to understand why so many people in the US, and even over here in the UK nowadays admittedly, just don't get them. But that's fine, they will always be our special band!

Amazing band that I randomly stumbled on about twenty years ago while listening to a channel on Pandora and hearing "If you tolerate this then your children will be next". I was floored by how good it was, and immediately bought the "Forever Delayed" compilation. After being blown away some more by that CD, I started grabbing all the albums. The only people I know here in the US who have even heard of The Manics are the guys I play soccer with who are from Ireland and Scotland. So many people in the US are missing out unfortunately.

I love this band. Can’t believe they aren’t bigger in the US.

james dean bradfield is an incredible musician. their new single is great too!

I've been a huge Manics fan for 25 years now. I've never felt so alive as when I saw them live for the first time.

The first time i heard about them was at the 1999 MTV Europe Awards show in Dublin. from that moment their music has been with me

I have loved and cherished MSP since the "Generation Terrorist" album. I just knew the band was special and deserved my attention. They have never let me down. I am a United States citizen. Never seen the band in concert. I never cared for most of the successful bands that were MSP's peers because they did not have the integrity or musicality that have sustained MSP.

So pleased you’ve covered the Manics. They’re my all-time favourite band 😊👍🏻

Been a big Manics fan since I heard GT at school, and I was lucky enough to be at the NHS gig.

I think there's one thing that really put the kibosh on the Manics in the US that wasn't mentioned here - the 'Michael Stipe' comment from Nicky. Added to Richie's self harm tendencies and the fact they didn't do drugs - they would have been an absolute nightmare for any A&R company to market.

Proud to be a U.S. fan. Happy to have seen them twice in Los Angeles, one time for Journal for Plague Lovers and another for the Holy Bible anniversary shows. Absolutely amazing and I do realize how lucky I am to have seen them. Just incredible...

"The Manics have always been about more than music... but the music's pretty bloody great." Agreed. New subscriber, thanking you for the video.