When asked today at a 6Music gig whether they planned to mark the anniversary, bassist and chief lyricist Nicky Wire stated:

‘I’ve had a good rummage in the attic and there’s plenty of stuff. Lots of letters from each other. Lots of notebooks really that I forgot we had, myself and Richey especially. It’d be nice to do some sort of thing. We’ve wrestled with the idea of doing a gig playing the whole of it, but I’m not so sure. I’d like to do it at Glastonbury actually, I really would.’

Prior to 1994, the Manics had already amassed a following with their debut ‘Generation Terrorists’ and its follow-up, the divisive, ‘Gold Against the Soul’, as well as their often androgynous, glam-punk image. However, it was arguably, ‘Bible’ – seething with its grungey hooks, barbed vocals and intense, politically charged songwriting – which truly put them on the map as one of Britain’s most astute rock groups, and has been retroactively remembered as one of the best rock albums of the 90’s.

The album is remembered for a more sombre reason, however, as it was the last release recorded by the Manics prior to the disappearance of guitarist, scribe and spokesman Richey Edwards, who vanished without trace six months later, and is widely believed to have commited suicide. Indeed, it is the frank depiction of issues such as anorexia (in 4st 7lb) self-harm (Faster) and suicide (Die in the Summertime) in the lyrics which have helped to make the album so morbidly fascinating for some – numerous critics seeing the record  as an insight into Edwards’ notoriously troubled mind.

Edwards disappeared without trace shortly after the release of, ‘The Holy Bible’.

Discussing the albums anniversary, vocalist James Dean Bradfield stated:

‘We’ve definitely found a lot of ‘Holy Bible’ material which we didn’t know we had. I don’t mean music – pictures, perhaps some notebooks, that kind of thing. We’ve found things there, definitely.”

Manic Street Preachers recently released their 11^th studio album, ‘Rewind the Film’, a shift in style which saw the band turn to a largely acoustic sound, collaborating with Richard Hawley and Lucy Rose. Its second single, ‘Anthem for a Lost Cause’ will be released on the 25^th November.

Re-acquaint yourself with the greatness of ‘The Holy Bible’ with its opening track, ‘Yes’ below: