Manic Street Preachers - Louder Than War

Starring: Manic Street Preachers Original UK Premiere: 2001 Dvd Release: 17th September, 2001 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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The Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh rock band, one of the biggest in Britain for a period in the late 1990s, known for their early wild exploits; the mysterious disappearance & alleged suicide of Richey James Edwards ; & for a progression of strong iconoclastic albums & energetic gigs. Politically they are staunch socialists, a stance inflected by their working class upbringing & evidenced by their often highly politicised lyrics & their actions. The band, which was originally named Betty Blue, was formed in 1986 by Oakdale Comprehensive schoolfriends James Dean Bradfield, Flicker, Sean Moore & Nicky Wire. For a short period Jenny Watkins-Isnardi joined the group as a singer, but left after a few months to be replaced by James as singer. During this time James had tried writing lyrics, among them the unrecorded Jackboot Johnny, but he gave up & Nicky wrote all their lyrics. In 1988, Flicker left the band, which became a three piece, with Nicky switching from rhythm to bass guitar & recorded their first single, Suicide Alley. Posters Of Manic Street Preachers

DVD Extras: The disc is stuffed full of bonus material but the extensive track listing does exaggerate the amount of original footage featured.

There's also loads of hidden bonus material that can be accessed by selecting/clicking on the Bonus Feature captions that intermittently pop-up: such as their meeting with Fidel Castro, & a full-length version of the Radio Progresso interview. There are breathtaking photos of the guys featured in the photo gallery, & the Manics' discography is particularly thorough.

Furthermore, all of the live footage can be listened to in either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or PCM stereo. The menus are relatively straightforward to use, however the utilisation of the group's trademark blocky typeface in the sub-menus occasionally makes it difficult to read/select track names. The DVD-ROM link is also particularly tricky to access, mainly due to the basic & rather confusing instructions provided on the disc for accessing this exclusive link.--

A month before the release of their sixth album in early 2001, the Manic Street Preachers organised a one-off gig in Cuba. Louder than War contains footage of the entire concert , as well as the groups caper around the island. The country was chosen by the Manics because of Cubas anti-American stance, a position that band members supported & have drawn upon in their material. Superbly produced & edited, the end result however fails to represent the groups visit & views in a positive light. Reading between the lines, its obvious that their trip was just as much a challenge to Americanisation as Whams 1985 tour of China. The band verbally acknowledge that communism has always been openly romanticised, however they fail to recognise the extent to which they have done the same with this promotional concert, & the subsequent merchandising & PR opportunities. Putting ideological issues aside, the disc provides further evidence of the Manics flair for live performance. The dulled colours of the visual material create a drab, if somewhat oppressive atmosphere, but add much needed authenticity to the proceedings. The unreleased tour diary sets the scene more comprehensively than the previously broadcast Cuba documentary, which is also contained on this disc. This is a must for all Manics fans, as well as those wanting a non-guidebook view of modern-day, urban Cuba.

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