Track Listing

1. Slash N' Burn
2. Nat West-Barclays-Midland-Lloyds
3. Born to End
4. Motorcycle Emptiness
5. You Love Us
6. Love's Sweet Exile
7. Little Baby Nothing
8. Repeat (Star and Stripes)
9. Tennessee
10. Another Invented Disease
11. Stay Beautiful
12. So Dead
13. Repeat
14. Spectators of Suicide
15. Damn Dog
16. Crucifix Kiss
17. Methadone Pretty
18. Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16232 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-04
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
Those fans that discovered this album when it was first released deserve to feel ever so slightly smug. It took most ofthe rest of the world until EVERYTHING MUST GO before this album was fully appreciated. Sounding like a cross between metal and punk, the energy and melody never lets up for one second. After the first three tracks are over, a quick lie-down is in order before you tackle the sentiment of "Motorcycle Emptiness". Lyrically, the Manics are giants; it is a great pity that their statements of ironic values of the 80s and90s are not listened to more. Thank goodness this album wasfinally discovered.

Customer Reviews

Punk for my Generation
Looking back at the greatest albums of the punk revolution its easy to see where the inspiration for this album came. Just glance back to The Ramones or The Clash and there are obvious similarities to this debut for the Welsh (then) four-piece.

Generation Terrorists is in essence a punk album for the younger generation, it retains the snarling teenage angst of the genre's early offerings of the 1970s with that same boredom and political message of albums such as "Never Mind the Bollocks" or "London Calling". In its own right it is equally as important as any of the early punk albums. This kick-started the Manics career and propelled them onto a big label, giving one of the best bands of the 1990s their voice.

Having said that, there are only a limited number of excellent songs. Most of the 18-strong album is pretty standard rock n' roll stuff, though the lyrics are intelligent and typically Manics. Standout tracks include 'Slash n' Burn', 'Stay Beautiful' and 'Little Baby Nothing' - yet what makes the album so brilliant is just two songs, without which this record wouldn't get that fifth star. They are 'Motorcycle Emptiness'; a remarkably beautiful song which is virtually perfect as music goes; and 'You Love Us' - an acid-spitting, gun-waving, petrol bomb-throwing slice of vitriolic punk rock.

In all the album suffers from some major flaws, its too long by about four or five tracks and contains some pretty average material, as well as being 10 years too late for the punk wave. But its strange that these are the qualities that make it so awesome an album. Its snarling yet smart, brash, cocky and loud (effectively a definition of the genre). Its flaws actually galvanise the album and make it what it is.

All in all it is an incredible punk album that has a certain magic that puts it into the 5-star category, despite its flaws.

Generation Terrific
After the Manics' return to Guitar Hero territory with Send Away the Tigers, I felt the need to dig out this rough diamond. And damn, it's fine. If you go back four or five years, you'd be met with fans claiming that Generation Terrorists hadn't aged well, but for some reason it sounds rejuvenated again in 2007. Upon its release in the early 90s it was completely out of sync with the British indie rock scene of stargazers in their 'loose fit' clothing, and it's no different now, the antithesis of all the indie kids with their guitars held as high as possible and their Talking Heads book of songwriting accompanying them through their short-lived careers before the bandwagon collapses.

Looking back, Generation Terrorists was an extraordinarily ambitious debut. A 73 minute double album of glam/punk/metal/softrock, incorporating dance remixes by the Bomb Squad, poetry intros and Meatloaf-style duets with pornstars. I mean, c'mon, you're sold already, right? The many literary and political references in the lyrics and philosophical quotes on the sleeve might not impress NME readers in an age when most of the current NME bands are little more than gap year students, but it was a brave new world after the antipathetic music scene the Manics were born into.

The musical and lyrical ambitions might not always have been met, but Generation Terrorists has its fair share of Manics classics. Motorcycle Emptiness often vies with A Design For Life for the title of the ultimate Manics song, You Love Us is their evergreen calling card and Little Baby Nothing is a slab of twisted melodic pop that deservedly joined the other two on 2002's greatest hits compilation Forever Delayed. Stay Beautiful remains a live favourite with a chorus chant to end all chorus chants, while the grand finale of Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll has a gloriously unashamed RAWK guitar solo that lasts longer than many full songs these days. Even the cover of Damn Dog, which previously sounded like such a mistake and afterthought, has a playfulness to it that's easier to appreciate in an era where the Manics have once again pressed the fun button.

It's not all about pink rose-tinted spectacles. Natwest-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds is still a duff note so early on in the tracklisting, and some of the lyrics on the album do fall under the dreaded banner of 'Sixth Form', but the flaws add to the charm of this mental collection.

PS. If anyone from Sony is reading, it's time for a remastering.

Usual great Manics but with incredible guitars!
The Manics have always had the lyrics and the talent, but somewhere along the way they lost the ability to rock. This album combines their political style with brilliant riffs and guitar solos that are sadly missing from later albums. Slash 'n' Burn, Motorcycle emptiness and Stay Beautiful are all rock classics. If only the other five albums were as exciting...