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Released: August 25, 1998

Rating: 3.821 (average of 11 ratings)

Genre: rock > Britpop

Quotable: “emphasizes the Manics’ uniqueness as one of the few bands of the ‘90s that can deliver albums as bracing intellectually as they are sonically.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Album Tracks:

  1. The Everlasting
  2. If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next
  3. You Stole the Sun from My Heart
  4. Ready for Drowning
  5. Tsunami
  6. My Little Empire
  7. I’m Not Working
  8. You’re Tender and You’re Tired
  9. Born a Girl
  10. Be Natural
  11. Black Dog on My Shoulder
  12. Nobody Loved You
  13. S.Y.M.M.

Sales:

sales in U.S. only --
sales in U.K. only - estimated 900,000
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. 1 million
sales worldwide - estimated 1.9 million

Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart --
peak on U.K. album chart 1 3

Singles:

  • If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next (9/5/98) #1 UK
  • The Everlasting (12/12/98) #11 UK
  • You Stole the Sun from My Heart (3/20/99) #5 UK
  • Tsunami (7/17/99) #11 UK

Awards:

Brit Award for best British album of the year. Click to go to awards page.

This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours
Manic Street Preachers
Review:
“If Everything Must Go found Manic Street Preachers coping with Richey James’ sudden, unexplained disappearance, its follow-up, This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours, finds them putting the tragedy behind them and flourishing as a trio. Wisely, the group builds on the grand sound of Everything Must Go, creating a strangely effective fusion of string-drenched, sweeping arena rock and impassioned, brutally honest punk.” AMG

“The title is a quotation taken from a speech given by Welsh British Labour Party politician Aneurin Bevan. The cover photograph was taken on Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog. It was the first Manics album to feature lyrics solely by Nicky Wire, while all the music was written by the habitual duo of James Dean Bradfield and cousin Sean Moore.” WK

“Since the band never writes about anything less than major issues, whether it be political or personal, it’s appropriate that their music sounds as majestic and overpowering as their pretensions. Given that the first single was titled If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next, calling the Manics pretentious is fair game, but they make their pretensions work through a blend of intelligence, passion, and sheer musicality.” AMG

“This Is My Truth sports more musical variety than its predecessors” AMG as it “shows the band experimenting with studio and production possibilities, as shown in several tracks e.g. S.Y.M.M., I’m Not Working and Born a Girl.” WK

The album “can meander a bit, particularly toward the end. Nevertheless, these misgivings disappear with repeated listens, as each song logically flows into the next. If the album ultimately isn’t as raw or shattering as The Holy Bible or emotionally wrenching as Everything Must Go, it’s because the ghost of Richey has been put behind them. That doesn’t mean that This Is My Truth is light, easygoing listening…but it’s not as torturous as its immediate predecessors. But what it shares with them is a searing passion and intelligence that is unmatched among their peers on either side of the ocean – and, in doing so, it emphasizes the Manics’ uniqueness as one of the few bands of the ‘90s that can deliver albums as bracing intellectually as they are sonically.” AMG

Review Source(s):

Last updated June 9, 2009.