In late 1990 Manic Street Preachers announced that they intended to release one double album on a major label, conquer the music scene and then tour the world, before splitting up at the height of their game. But even as they prepared to release the sixth and final single from their debut, the band were already working on material for a follow-up. Although they had failed to achieve the success they had longed for, they had found themselves in such diverse magazines as Melody Maker and Smash Hits, the latter of which would feature the lyrics to the songs Slash N’ Burn and Motorcycle Emptiness. Outspoken, intelligent and aggressive, Manic Street Preachers had created a melting pot of ideas that drew heavily from their influences; not only musicians such as The Clash, Hanoi Rocks and Guns N’ Roses but also writers like Karl Marx and Sylvia Plath. Despite boasting that they would sell sixteen million copies of their first album, Generation Terrorists would be certified Gold in Britain but their plans to dominate the United States, which at that time was in the middle of a grunge epidemic, proved somewhat premature.
Rehearsals for what would become Gold Against the Sould had begun in the summer of 1992, only a few months after the release of Generation Terrorists, and the band had practised their new material at Impact Studios in Kent. This was a busy year for Manic Street Preachers, as they would release a total of four singles, commencing in January with fan favourite You Love Us and concluding in August with a cover of Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless). Their rehearsals, which would also see them working at House in the Woods in Surrey, would see them reunite with Dave Eringa, an Essex-based producer who had worked as an engineer for the band during their recording sessions for Heavenly Records in March 1991. While much of the material from their debut had been written over a period of a few years, even as the band were learning to play their instruments, the songs that would make up Gold Against the Soul were written following the release of Generation Terrorists and saw them venturing further away from the raw punk sound of their earlier songs (such as New Art Riot and Motown Junk) and further towards radio-friendly pop songs.
When bassist Nicky Wire and guitarist Richey James (now more commonly known as Richey Edwards) appeared on the UK music show The Beat in June 1993 to promote the album, they described Gold Against the Soul as having “better songs… better lyrics… more focus… new improved formula.” Among these new songs were such interesting titles as Symphony of Tourette, La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) and Drug Drug Druggy. Recording commenced on January 25th 1993 at Outside Studios in Hook End Manor in Oxfordshire, where The Cure had worked on their 1990 album Mixed Up. Far removed from Black Barn Recording Studio in Surrey, where they had recorded their first album, the Elizabethan home cost £1,500 a day to work in and came with countless distractions, such as a gym and swimming pool. Thus, the anguish and frustration that had become the band’s trademark was distilled by a feeling of comfort that the surroundings provided.
This was not to say that the sessions did not come without its fair share of problems, but there was enough luxury to make it bearable. The comfort and isolation of the studio gave the band a much needed break from the constant publicity that been hounding them for the last eighteen months, which had culminated in an outburst made by Wire during a show at the Kilburn National Ballroom in London the previous month, in which he had stated that he hoped R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe “goes the same way as Freddie Mercury,” in reference to the Queen singer dying from AIDS in 1991. Despite the band being known for their controversial and confrontational opinions, Wire’s comments had been unwarranted and offensive, causing a media backlash against the group. It was time to the Manic Street Preaches to withdraw from the spotlight and focus on their music.
It was evident from the outset that Manic Street Preachers had matured as both songwriters and musicians, with the album littered with memorable guitar riffs and a strong rhythm section, although many detractors would dismiss the overall tone as being too corporate. It was no secret that Edwards lacked the musical abilities of his bandmates are rarely contributed to studio recordings, instead focusing on the lyrics and designing the artwork. Eringa gave the songs a crisp and clean production sound, much as he would do with their 1996 comeback Everything Must Go and its successor, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. The anarchy of Generation Terrorists was hard to find among the well crafted songs, yet Edwards’ increasing depression and alcoholism seeped through the lyrics, perhaps most evident in the songs La Tristesse Durera (“I retreat into self pity, it’s so easy”) and Roses in the Hospital (“Nothing really makes me happy”).
Despite the expensive studio and professional treatment of the band, the sessions were not without their technical difficulties. The recording of the aforementioned Drug Drug Druggy was almost ruined when the tape reel was damaged, but some ingenuity on the part of Eringa resulted in the track being saved. Wire spent much of his time away from recording working on a concept for the artwork, but Edwards, whose musical contributions were minimal at best, spent the hours between sessions downing bottles of vodka, although he would make frequent use of the gym that was available to them. But the luxuries of Hook End Manor forced the band members to question their principals, as they now felt that they were becoming corporate, something that they had always spoken out against. If Generation Terrorists had captured the frustration of their youth, then Gold Against the Soul ran the risk of displaying their acceptance of the mainstream and willingness to conform.
The first single to be released from the album was From Despair to Where, which debuted on June 1st 1993 and showed that the band were no longer content with straightforward punk songs and were instead embracing a more melodic, radio-friendly sound. Nineteen days later, Sony Columbia release Gold Against the Soul to mixed reviews. While critics would compliment the group on their maturing abilities and the professional quality of the production, the album seemed like a far cry from their earlier sound, while also lacking the classiness that the Manic Street Preachers had been promising. Three more singles would be released from the album over the following seven months; the bass-driven La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh), Roses in the Hospital and the bleak-yet-stylish Life Becoming a Landslide. Following the royal treatment they had been given during the recording sessions and the lukewarm reception the album had received, all four members agreed that their next offering needed to be something more raw and personal.
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