Customer Reviews

New Art Riot Ep

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New Art Riot Ep 1)New Art Riot. 2)Strip It Down. 3)Last Exit on Yesterday. 4)Teenage 20/20.

As a Manics fan I felt I sould tryout some of their pre Generation Terrorists material. However upon ordering this CD I did not expect it to be up to the standards of their later work. This is after all their first proper release, and they would still be learning their trade.

I was therefore plesantly surprised to find a very well crafted recording. Musically the songs are basic but well put togeather, there are no standout riffs or solos, but James Dean Bradfield's guitar playing shows it is even at this early stage well advanced and Moore's drumming is as steady as ever.The songs have a much greater punk influence (probrably The Clash), and James sings in pure punk style, that had disapeared by Generation Terrorists (for the better in my opinion).

Here however the recording runs into problems. The four tracks were recorded on the same day on relativly cheep equipment with cheep instruments, this was after all before they had signed to Sony and been given loads of money. The quality of the recording and production is poor, the words are hard to distuinguish, the vocals are also not balanced right.

If you can make them out however Nikey Wire's and Richey Edwards lryics are as good as ever, confrontational and demanding of attention and thought. My personal highlights, "I'm drowning in manufactured ego-f**k" (Teenage 20/20), and "Hospital closure kills more than car bombs ever will" (New Art Riot). The stand out song is "Strip it Down".

So not as good as Everything Must Go, Holy Bible, or Generation Terrorists, but better than the rest of their works and a million times better than the corporate s**t that cloggs todays airwaves. Despite the production a must own for Manics fans.

P.S. It's a discrace I had to send off to America to obtain this recording what are HMV/Virgin/Our Price/Amazon UK, playing a by not stocking a key recording from the UK's premier band.

The UK is in various states of knowledge of the Manics. Some people believe they have always been britpop indie ala This Is My Truth, whilst most people are aware that they had a punky past, most of which will have at least heard something of the first 3 albums. However very few people will have heard their very very early material: ie before their first album.

The New Art Riot EP was their second release and actually the only release they have termed an EP (although there have been singles of up to 6 tracks), probably because equal weight is given to the four tracks.

All four are very reminiscent of The Clash, and unlike the debut album Generation Terrorists, do not have the Guns n Roses influences mixed in. They are recorded somewhat sketchily, hence the quality of the sound isn't particularly good. It is much more to the spirit of punk rock than the much more polished album.

In my opinion the most impressive track is 'Last Exit On Yesterday', although my opinion of the four tracks is about equal.

James' voice is the only real let-down. His vocals are much less impressive than the wonderful range and power he learnt to acquire on the second album Gold Against The Soul, his chilling, defined, angry tone on The Holy Bible, his big encompassing sound on Everything Must Go or the soulful crooning and falsetto of fifth album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.

However the EP is definately worth owning, both for the music and as a collectors' item.

I'm glad the "New Art Riot E.P." is still in print because few people know about the manics early punk roots.

After releasing a few minor singles on various labels, They released this E.P. which is straight forward manics. Lyrically this is when The Manics were their most angst and politically loud. Musically its very Early-Clash type punk. It's punk that's listenable, the songs may be simple but their well crafted for punk standards. Buy this before it goes out of print because before I had to buy it on some obscure mail order that took a long time to arrive.

Richey's prensence is really missed today, this proves it. Britain's 90s punk band at early years. The clash influence is really showing. I only know 2 people who have heard this, too few, as the manics here have a real collecters item, get it.