There’s a fair argument that ‘Everything must go’ is one of the finest albums to have emerged from mid-nineties Britain. At a time when music appeared ubiquitously laddish, here was a band unafraid to mix the intellectual with the banal (“we don’t want to talk about love, we only want to get drunk”) and yet, if the observations that informed the album were no less biting than on previous outings, the music was the Manics at their lushest and most expansive. At the time it seemed that no music publication could refer to the music without using the somewhat facile phrase ‘widescreen’, but their euphoria could be forgiven given the densely claustrophobic record that preceded ‘everything must go’. This special deluxe edition marks the second time the album has been reissued (it also received a three-disc set on the occasion of its 10th anniversary) and, as is so often the way with these things, whilst the result is acceptable, it could have been oh so much better.
Opting for a large-form clamshell box (similar to the one used for the ‘generation Terrorists’ set), it initially appears that lessons have been learned from the ‘holy Bible’ set, which crammed the discs inside a gatefold vinyl sleeve with the result that they frequently came loose. That, however, is where the lessons appear to have ended. Opting for the ever-unpopular method of fixing the CDs to the base of the box with foam inserts, quite aside from the awkwardness of getting to the darn things, reports are already tumbling in of discs, having come loose in transit, arriving scratched – hardly a good sign in a premium product. The vinyl, alas, is equally disappointing. Packaged in what must be the cheapest sleeve I’ve ever had the misfortune to own, the vinyl is in a plain card sleeve (the sort you need to quickly replace if you are to avoid scratches) inside a standard LP jacket with the artwork printed in miniature on a white background. It looks, and feels, immensely cheap and it’s hard to believe that a large company like Sony, with all the resources at its disposal, could not produce a better product. Whilst you could argue that the polaroid-style art is in keeping with the minimalist design of the period, you still can’t help but feel that they could have produced something so much better. The package is rounded out with a cheap, ill-thought out paperback booklet. Lyrics are nicely reprinted from the original notes, which is good, but the layout, which essentially reprints the dull single covers of the era, misses the opportunity to utilize the amazing Mitch Ikeda photos that typified the era (and which came packaged with the original ‘Everything live’ video cassette) rendering the whole thing an incredibly dull, oversized record of the Manics’ least aesthetically impressive period. In short, the package is barely acceptable, rather than exceptional, and it’s disappointing to see fans once again short-changed when just a little extra care could see them rewarded for their loyalty. When independent companies such as Peaceville regularly release packages with a wealth of audio content, far better packaging, and for less, it feels like even more of a kick in the teeth.
Content-wise, this is no less a wasted opportunity. Whilst the 10th Anniversary offered up demos and the newly-issued double CD offers up the (until now unreleased) audio of the Nynex gig, this ‘Super deluxe’ edition offers neither. The demos are all missing in action and the discs are, instead, stuffed with B-sides (half of which are remixes), and the Nynex audio is nowhere to be seen. Therefore, to have it all, fans need to keep hold of the 10th anniversary edition, buy the super-deluxe edition and then fork out again for the 2-disc edition if they want the Nynex audio. It’s niggles such as these that go a long way to highlighting just why the industry is in such dire straits. Of course, the content that is included is (as you might imagine from the Manics) exceptional, and even the remixes are interesting, but, whilst it’s also good to have the album’s B sides collated in one place instead of spread across numerous singles (bearing in mind that each single was released across two CDs and a cassette, each with a different track listing), convenience is pretty much where the positives end, not least because the chronological listing results in multiple versions of the same track stacking up one after the other. In short, although there is plenty of great music to get your teeth into with this package, it falls far short of being the definitive record of a seminal album that it could (and at the price, should), so easily, have been.
Sonically, this, being a brand new remaster, has much riding on it. Unlike classics from the seventies which have often benefitted from a sensitive remaster, ‘Everything must go’, always sounded pretty good to my ears (although some have reported that the original was brickwalled), and fans will be interested to know just what sonic tweaks have been applied to this record. Listening first to the vinyl edition, a certain layer of detail is revealed by the sonic scrubbing but, on the flip side, the album itself sounds harder than I remember, a little less warm perhaps, and it’s hard to imagine opting for this version over the original. The vinyl pressing is good however, although some reports have come in of scratchy editions, and our copy was a pleasure to listen to, marking a high point of the box set.
The big draw, of course, is the long out of print ‘Everything live’, the long-form VHS that celebrated the Manics at their stadium peak in the cavernous Nynex Arena. Restored from the original tapes, it’s about as good as it was ever likely to be, although (like the whole set), here too niggles abound. The 4:3 framing can be forgiven, given the limitations of the technology of the day, but a single PCM soundtrack is disappointing, whilst the lack of a track select feature just feels lazy. However, for those who remember this excellent video, the picture is far clearer than I remember it being in those long-lost days of VHS, whilst the audio has been scrubbed to tolerable levels. Compared to the abysmal footage form the same show that was included with the 10th Anniversary edition, it’s clear just how much work went into re-releasing this much-feted concert, and for this alone, the box set does manage to justify its existence. However, when you consider the care that went into the reworking of the Mad Season live DVD that came as part of the ‘Above’ deluxe set, it’s once again left to the hapless fan to wonder why they’re being treated with such abject neglect. The Documentary fares better and has moments of interest, although (again) there’s little here not already covered by the informative documentary that accompanied the 10th Anniversary edition.
Overall, this is a box set that promised more than it actually delivers. Whilst there are plenty of positives (and those fans that managed to get the signed set will undoubtedly be particularly pleased), the packaging is something of a let-down and it is hard to excuse a large company for such parsimonious behaviour, particularly at a time when the embattled industry should be doing everything possible to woo the record buying public back to physical media. Moreover, the lack of demos and other (widely available) content and the fact that the Nynex audio disc is omitted, will prove to be a constant niggle for fans who are keen to have a complete record of this pivotal moment in the Manics’ career, and so it is hard to recommend this. That said, as a long-time fan, the release of ‘Everything live’ at long last does go some way to make amends, the vinyl copy is a welcome addition to a fan’s collection and the documentary does its best to cover a remarkably difficult period for a group of exceptional musicians. ‘Everything must go’ remains a justly celebrated album, and it deserves a grand tribute. Sadly, this isn’t quite it, and we’ll no doubt see you again in 2026 for the thirtieth anniversary edition.
The video below is reposted from the amazing website www.superdeluxeedition.com and details an unboxing for those who’d like to see more. If you’ve not visited the site before, make sure you add it to your favourite list as it’s one of the most informative and interesting music blogs out there.
