"Everything Must Go" is a song by Welsh

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

, released as the second single from their fourth studio album, '' Everything Must Go'' (1996), on 22 July 1996. The song reached number five on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background

The song is cited by Wire as a message to the fans, saying that the music had changed after the loss of

Richey Edwards Richard James Edwards (born 22 December 1967 – disappeared 1 February 1995), also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. He w ...

, but the band is still the same. Ushering in a new era for the band, Wire's lyrics asks fans to forgive them for changing: "and I just hope that you can forgive us, but everything must go". James Dean Bradfield has said that Sean Moore had a lot of freedom in the drums for his song. Unlike on several previous Manic Street Preachers singles, the drums are not "compressed", they are more open and free, giving a sense of disorder in the song. The song features a prominent string section that commentators such as '' Q'' magazine's Tom Doyle have compared to the songs of

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

and his

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

Release

It reached number five on the

on 3 August 1996, making it their second straight top-ten hit. In Finland the song reached number 18. The CD release included "Black Garden", "Hanging On" and "No One Knows What It's Like to Be Me" whereas the cassette featured a live version of "

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realizing that "it w ...

". An acoustic version of the song appears on the cassette single of "

Kevin Carter Kevin Carter (13 September 1960 – 27 July 1994) was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He was the recipient in 1994 of a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph depicting the 1993 famine in Sudan. He died by sui ...

" released on 30 September 1996.

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remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of the song appeared in the intro movie to the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and European versions of the

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game '' Gran Turismo''. The song also made an appearance on ''

Forever Delayed ''Forever Delayed'' is a greatest hits album and DVD by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released in 2002 by record label Epic. The album included three singles which had never appeared on earlier albums (" Motown Junk", " ...

'', the band's greatest hits album released in November 2002.

Track listings

All music was composed by

James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Biography Early life B ...

and Sean Moore except where indicated. All lyrics were written by

Nicky Wire Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers. Prior to the group, Wire s ...

except where indicated. UK CD1 # "Everything Must Go" – 3:43 # "Black Garden" – 4:28 # "Hanging On" – 3:07 # "No-One Knows What It's Like to Be Me" – 3:04 UK CD2 # "Everything Must Go" – 3:43 # "Everything Must Go" (

Remix) – 6:33 # "Everything Must Go" (

Stealth Sonic Orchestra Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are a British electronic music group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group has written, recorded, and produced five studio albums, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as ...

Remix) – 3:45 # "Everything Must Go" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Soundtrack) – 3:28 UK cassette single # "Everything Must Go" – 3:43 # "

" (live acoustic version) – 2:09 Australian CD single # "Everything Must Go" – 4:43 # "Black Garden" – 4:28 # "Hanging On" – 3:07 # "No-One Knows What It's Like to Be Me" – 3:04 # "Everything Must Go" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix) – 3:45

Charts

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Everything Must Go (Song) 1996 singles 1996 songs Epic Records singles Manic Street Preachers songs Song recordings produced by Mike Hedges Songs written by James Dean Bradfield Songs written by Nicky Wire Songs written by Sean Moore (musician) Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements