Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now, more than ever.., 3 Jan 2005
I'm not going to waste time waxing lyrical about this album, it's content, how each track affects me etc.. because that would only apply to me, and not you. What I will say is this.. 10 years ago when this album was released I decided not to buy it based on the reviews at the time which suggested it was too harsh, too out there, too tuneless, too loud, too everything. Given that I'd loved the sound of Motorcycle Emptiness I assumed that I just wouldn't get on with this album. All of this, combined with a lack of free cash meant that I didn't get it.Now, a decade further on and I have more free cash, this album is purchased and I have to say.. it's essential. It's been in the car for a fortnight now, constantly on the MP3 player and is being played to death and back. The Holy Bible could well be an antidote to the manufactured pap that we are bombarded with at this time... pop idol, fame academy, x factor etc. it's THAT important. It isn't an easy album, but it's much preferable to the bile that we are being subjected to right now. We should take our hats off to whomever is responsible for this reissue (whatever the motives).. this album reminds us of how far the music industry has fallen. This album demands your attention, it grabs you, it hurts you, it screams at you and makes you think, it drags you back to a time when you really felt that your views would count and could make a difference. Maybe that's stupid, maybe we're all just playing the game, but if this album insists that you take just some small piece of integrity into your life once again, then The Holy Bible has served it's purpose.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Absolute Classic, 17 Jan 2005
One of the best albums of the 90s has become even more essential. The 10th Anniversary Edition of The Holy Bible comes in three discs with extras galore.The original album superbly matches metallic art-punk with horrific yet compulsive lyrics. Musically, it is quite a departure for a band whose other albums have more of an anthemic rock element - the influences here are strictly arty (post) punk with James Dean Bradfield on superb form on vocals and guitar. The first 60% of the album is pretty near musically perfect with just a couple of not-quite-so-brilliant songs later on. The Holy Bible has of course passed into mythical folklore with the disappearance of chief lyricist Richey James a few months after the album's release. Was the LP his extended suicide note? The words are often absolutely horrific and nihilistic yet also compulsive when they do connect. The (self) disgust of the repeated "Who's responsible. You f-king are." At the end of Of Walking Abortion is brilliant as are the more beautiful (yet still horrific) images of 4st 7lb "I want to walk in the snow and not soil its purity". Even a song whose words I don't agree with such as the pro-capital punishment Archives Of Pain is effective - "Give them the respect they deserve". The real brilliance of The Holy Bible is how superbly the songs, playing and music match the intensity of the lyrics. The audio extras on the 10th Anniversary Edition include a whole US mix of the album (which the band prefer to the original), radio sessions and live versions of Holy Bible tracks recorded in 1994. Even better, the third disc is a DVD including TV and live appearances at the time and a new interview with the band. Since I stopped the ridiculous practice of awarding quarter stars in my reviews (on my website), I've been trying to award five stars for albums and films when it's deserved. It is this time - a brilliant album with extras galore.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some sort of power, 4 Mar 2006
This album is fantastic.
As for the re-released 10 year addition, i think it is a very well put together package. Aesthetically the 10 year anniversary album is impressive. The liner notes, with a small essay written on the historical aspect of the album, is interesting, and leaves one with a sense of the power that the album has. The notes also pointed me in the direction of Pinter's "No man's land", which was nice!
I was excited by the extras that came with this edition. I found the live tracks to be just awesome; a real insight the band's power as a live act at the time.
It has been noted that this album was released close to "lifeblood", the bands latest studio album, and so making the band painfully susceptible to comparisons with their selves today, and their past glory. All i can say is, the band burned bright here, they were awesome in their attitude, their presentation and their music- no band could ever sustain this sort of form for any period of time. It must have taken sheer nerve to carry this album off, and the reissue of it demonstrates just how much gusto the band did have.
Of course they changed, and arguably never reproduced the what they did here, but their brilliance is preserved in an excellent cd package, and all the little extras like the DVD footage makes for an inspiring look at a band who gave pretty much all they had, and did suffer for it.
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