Rating: 
Summary: Actually, I'm the author
Review: Actually, I'm the author and I'm trying to eavesdrop on other people's reviews and failing miserably (going round in internet circles), and I thought this might unlock the door. Sorry to be a timewaster...
Rating: 
Summary: Stay Beautiful
Review: Definatley the best book on the manics available. Simon Price has an huge knowledge of the band, and as well as a general (and highly entertaining) biography this book also has a number of "essays" on things such as the manics and weslh nationalism, the manics and america and many others. A great read for anyone interested in what i (and many many others) consider to be the most important band of the 90's. My only problem is that Price' personal views on a number of things are a bid evident, but hell he spent the time writing the book so he can do that if he wants.
Rating:
Summary: Stay Beautiful
Review: Definatley the best book on the manics available. Simon Price has an huge knowledge of the band, and as well as a general (and highly entertaining) biography this book also has a number of "essays" on things such as the manics and weslh nationalism, the manics and america and many others. A great read for anyone interested in what i (and many many others) consider to be the most important band of the 90's. My only problem is that Price' personal views on a number of things are a bid evident, but hell he spent the time writing the book so he can do that if he wants.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly everything...
Review: For the most part, this biography is a very well-crafted one; not rushed out on the tails of MSP becomming huge after "Everything Must Go" and even leads up to the release of "This Is My Truth..." An interesting aspect of this book is that the story is told in essay format instead of a chapter by chapter slog through a career of one of the greatest bands in the world today. While at times a little too personal (Simon uses a lot of "I was there..." methods of relaying the story, which must have been some honour, but after a while it gets a little dull) it is incredibly hard not to keep reading until you've reached the end. There is some information that is fresh, while obvious topics keep coming up over and over spread out over the pages. While MSP are undoubtedly allowed their own privacy, you would think someone as close to the band would be able to print more details, thoughts, and feelings. Still, this isn't a dirt sheet like the majority of MSP books on the market, and the money spent will be worthwhile, if only to catch yourself thinking "Hey, I remember when that happened." during the read.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly everything...
Review: For the most part, this biography is a very well-crafted one; not rushed out on the tails of MSP becomming huge after "Everything Must Go" and even leads up to the release of "This Is My Truth..." An interesting aspect of this book is that the story is told in essay format instead of a chapter by chapter slog through a career of one of the greatest bands in the world today. While at times a little too personal (Simon uses a lot of "I was there..." methods of relaying the story, which must have been some honour, but after a while it gets a little dull) it is incredibly hard not to keep reading until you've reached the end. There is some information that is fresh, while obvious topics keep coming up over and over spread out over the pages. While MSP are undoubtedly allowed their own privacy, you would think someone as close to the band would be able to print more details, thoughts, and feelings. Still, this isn't a dirt sheet like the majority of MSP books on the market, and the money spent will be worthwhile, if only to catch yourself thinking "Hey, I remember when that happened." during the read.
Rating:
Summary: My truth
Review: I don't think I can add very much to what the previous reviewers have written regarding the book. However, contrary to what others have said I disagree that Price being so close to the band and having witnesssed many of the events is a bad thing. Golly that's why it's so great. Price has achieved a level of understanding on the manics through his "being there" few will ever surpass. He is a true fan. Regarding the reviewers bias charge I find the author not guilty. He lends equal weight to both positive and negative attributes of individual band members. The last thirty pages he rightfully laments the manics easy transformation in to a rather impersonal stadium rock act. Overall a well written and objective account of this once important band's history.
Rating:
Summary: Wales finest export!
Review: I've waited a very long time for an in-depth biography of "the Manics". I read my first copy cover to cover...twice! That copy has since gone on to other friends/relatives so that they can get an understanding of one of the most important bands of the last twenty years. From their humble beginnings as D.I.Y glam-punks to anti-media darlings in their native Great Britain, from Richey's strong anti-establishment songs to the newer songs aimed at political awareness, from the mysterious disappearance of Richey(where are ye mate?) to the way the Nicky, Sean and James grew stronger as a trio, this is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered about the stories behind one of the greatest bands ever! Buy this book today! It's money well spent!
Rating:
Summary: Their truth...
Review: My dear friend Fiona from Newcastle turned me on to the Manics in 1991 and their first San Francisco show the following year (in the wake of the L.A. riots) remains one of the most powerful I've seen. How fitting, then, that Fiona should send me this book in my Christmas package. Simon Price makes a compelling story even more so with his riveting writing style, lust for detail, insightful analyses, and insider's view. He whisks the reader from Blackwood bedrooms to the world stage and misses nothing along the way, thank God. Who better to even attempt to take on such a task than Price, a gifted writer whose love for the band imbues the story but who can also provide objectivity and constructive criticism?
Buy this book if you're mad on the Manics and just try to put it down. Buy this book if you're a casual fan or have never heard of them and see what you've been missing.
Rating:
Summary: Johnny Rogan, eat your heart out.
Review: Obviously, a juxtaposition of Rogan and Price isn't necessarily as quixotic as one would superficially reason, insofar as they are both two of the most highly respected cosmopolitan writers in Rock today. And I don't think that's a premature rumination on my part of Price--this being his first opus that I was familiar with, and, judging by the punctilious quality of his work, it won't be his last. Price makes it clear to the reader, less than halfway through the book, that he's one of the old, jaded Manics fans, who prefers the old tenative Glam/Richey/Guns'n'Roses with a Doctorate years, to their most recent post-Richey recordings (yeah, but who in his right mind dosen't?). The book totally trancends those other two farcically small Manics books in every category; especially "The Manics in their own words," which, from what I extracted from the book, leaves the reader miserably unsatiated, given the fact that this book clearly permeates more than half of the Manics sometimes epigramish musings. Ditto for that other cursory little farce. A stark contrast to this assiduously researched and long overdue book, that comes to a somewhat predictable semi-climatic denouement, with Price offering his prescience of things to come for the Manics, the old, "to be continued" ending. A must for evey Manics fan. Thank you Mr.Price.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Simon Price has a great advantage when writing the MSP biography. He is both an MSP Fan, and a member of the music press, thus he has both an objective and personal perspective on the Manics to offer. His essays and opinions are fascinating, whilst the history he writes is immensely knowledgeable. At least 50 reviewers have said this before, but every MSP fan should own it. Heck, every MUSIC fan should own it, it's a brilliant piece of rock journalism.
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