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Manic Street Preachers have spoken out about their fears of playing their seminal 1994 album, The Holy Bible, in full - as the LP's 20th anniversary approaches.
There has been much speculation and rumour around how and if the band will mark the anniversary of the post-punk masterpiece - which turns 20 on 29 August.
However, speaking to NME, bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire said that the band were apprehensive about playing the album in full, especially with the lasting legacy of the album's architect Richey Edwards, who disappeared months after the album's release.
"If we were to do it – and it is a big if – there would be a kind of symmetry," he said. "I'd like to look at doing something like the three Astorias [referring to the band's 1994 gigs, their last with Richey]. I'd like to do an American tour of it because we never took it to America and Japan. Obviously Richey disappeared so it would be drawing a line under that as well."
Watch Manic Street Preachers performing 'Faster' at Glastonbury 1994 below
Speaking to Gigwise about the album, frontman James Dean Bradfield said: "We actually feel the looming presence of 20th anniversary of The Holy Bible, I think we feel it quite a lot. We're a bit scared of it really. If we were ever a band who felt like the past defined us too much, and that our past contained too much baggage for us to haul around, I think we'd be finished. We are constantly asked about our past because so much has happened, and naturally we're on our 12th album. If you're so scared of the past like that, it's just game over."
He continued: "If you say 'that's it, I'm never playing that song again' and think there's some kind of Brownie points to be won by making that stance, then that's just sad. "If you're defined by something you've done that you think is awful, then you just end up making wrong decisions all over the place. There are obviously moments like 'The Love Of Richard Nixon' that are not hard to stand by, but hard to see why we released it as the first single for our album. More often than not, we still get some kind of power and rush because we were so obsessed and in the moment when we created it.
"We've never stopped making records so we don't really need to do that Royal Festival Hall circuit. If we do it, I think we'll do it with the confidence that the active part of the band is still there, and making records."
Meanwhile, Manic Street Preachers will be playing V Festival this weekend. For tickets and more information, click here.
Below - Photos: Manic Street Preachers perform epic show at Manchester Apollo
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