Photo: Sony Music
Manic Street Preachers have spoken out about why they've decided to mark the 20th anniversary of their 1994 masterpiece The Holy Bible by playing the album in full.
The band delighted their hardcore fans by confirming the news earlier this week, after over a year of rumour and speculation.
Now, speaking to BBC, bassist and lyricisit Nicky Wire has revealed how the band are doing it in tribute to missing guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards - and why they feel more comfortable doing it after the storming success and critical acclaim of Futurology, their latest album.
"If we'd been coming off the back of a bit of a dud album then we probably would've thought people might think we're doing this because we've had a bad year or something," said Wire. "But because we've had such a good year, it feels like the right time."
When asked about the challenge of performing tracks with lyrics penned by Edwards today in comparison to his tragic disappearance, Wire replied:
"I don't think there's any kind of tumultuous difference, you just kind of live with that every day really."
The full list of dates is below. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 26 September. For tickets and more information, visit here.
A spokesman added: "A 20th anniversary edition of ‘The Holy Bible’ will be released later this year with further details to follow."
Read our exclusive interview with Manic Street Preachers reflecting on The Holy Bible and choosing their album highlights.
Below: All of the tracks from The Holy Bible, ranked in order of greatness
