Big Manics Chart 2021 Update

In 2015 I took on the rather foolish undertaking of ordering the whole of the Manic Street Preachers back catalogue, all 307 of them, as well as collating the fans' Manics Top 50s.  So when I decided this year that the return of live music and a new album in the shape of The Ultra Vivid Lament would fit in nicely with a refresh of everyone's top 50s, I thought I'd Repeat (UK) the exercise, this time expanded to 338 tracks.

I first entered the Manics story in 1991, when I was 13.  I had previously seen a clip of Motown Junk on the Chart Show's Indie Chart and thought they looked pretty funny and then soon after taped You Love Us from Mark Goodier's Evening Session (or possibly taped it off my brother who had taped it off the Evening Session).  They were definitely different to all of the other bands featured in NME and Melody Maker etc. in looks and sound and after reading some early interviews it was clear that they were happy to set themselves apart even more than that with their words.

As I was starting to buy more records around that time, my first purchase was the cassette single of the second version of You Love Us and I never missed a release from that point on, snapping up anything I could get my hands on, official or unofficial.  After I sent away for some fan club goodies and received a heap of fanzines, badges, stickers etc. in 1993, they managed to make the progression to being my favourite band, taking over from the Senseless Things.

There aren't many bands that can have such an effect on a person as to subtly shape them but the Manics are such a band.  They've always been around and have been my favourite band for 28 years now, so I couldn't tell you what might have happened if they never existed, but I think I'd probably be a different person, in whatever subtle ways that might manifest itself.

I made a point of not looking at my previous chart all the way through ordering this one, but I also have a pretty good memory and my opinions don't really change that much over time.  So it's interesting to see how close some of the placings are with that in mind, obviously with the addition of 31 new songs the lower reaches were going to drop by around the same amount until the new songs started feeding in, but it's quite weird how similar a lot of them turned out!  

Some songs did change a fair bit, with a few songs going up in my estimations, but in the opposite direction also maybe taking a more realistic view of some of the lesser Generation Terrorists-era songs, ordering with head rather than heart this time.  And don't think that a song being below the 150 mark or around halfway makes it anywhere near average.....far from it, the depth and quality of the material runs deep here.

I was very interested to see the update of the average placing chart that I did below, to see if it actually fits with what I thought my placings of the albums would be.  It ended up being there or thereabouts, Generation Terrorists should probably move up a place as it's dragged down a little by a couple of lower placed songs and Journal For Plague Lovers feels a little low but I can't argue too much with how it turned out.  

As you can tell from the placings, I'm very much an old school type of fan, the first four albums are undoubtedly the best, but their career certainly didn't end in 1996, or even 1994 as some people may believe.  The last 25 years of their career have seen some classic songs and excellent albums, all of which got at least one track in my top 50.  And it's also hammered home by the latest album ranking 7th with a song also breaking into the top 10, which is pretty unheard of for me.  Their B-sides and so called lesser songs can still eclipse a lot of bands' better songs and long may it continue.

So, after several weeks compiling and a few weeks announcing via Twitter, here is the final chart (numbers in brackets denote their placing in my 2015 chart):

1. Motown Junk (1)
2. A Design For Life (3)
3. Stay Beautiful (2)
4. From Despair To Where (4)
5. Motorcycle Emptiness (5)
6. This Is Yesterday (6)
7. Faster (7)
8. You Love Us (8)
9. Still Snowing In Sapporo (-)
10. The Masses Against The Classes (10)
11. No Surface All Feeling (20)
12. Sleepflower (14)
13. Firefight (57)
14. Empty Souls (9)
15. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) (11)
16. Enola/Alone (18)
17. Australia (22)
18. Yes (12)
19. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll (15)
20. Little Baby Nothing (13)
21. Tsunami (28)
22. The Everlasting (33)
23. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (43)
24. Together Stronger (C'mon Wales) (-)
25. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (19)
26. Complicated Illusions (-)
27. People Give In (-)
28. Found That Soul (16)
29. Archives Of Pain (17)
30. PCP (23)
31. Show Me The Wonder (29)
32. Baby Elian (21)
33. The Girl Who Wanted To Be God (24)
34. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (38)
35. Everything Must Go (27)
36. Revol (31)
37. Imperial Bodybags (26)
38. 1985 (32)
39. Postcards From A Young Man (36)
40. Sepia (51)
41. This Joke Sport Severed (47)
42. (It's Not War) Just The End Of Love (30)
43. New Art Riot (35)
44. Donkeys (45)
45. 4st 7lb (37)
46. The Secret He Had Missed (-)
47. International Blue (-)
48. Walk Me To The Bridge (55)
49. Judge Yr'self (25)
50. Sorrow 16 (34)
51. Of Walking Abortion (39)
52. Suicide Alley (41)
53. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart (70)
54. Slash N' Burn (44)
55. Fearless Punk Ballad (48)
56. This Sullen Welsh Heart (71)
57. Ocean Spray (59)
58. Ready For Drowning (42)
59. 4 Ever Delayed (63)
60. Dead Martyrs (64)
61. Patrick Bateman (54)
62. To Repel Ghosts (56)
63. Welcome To The Dead Zone (58)
64. Some Kind Of Nothingness (87)
65. Die In The Summertime (40)
66. She Is Suffering (68)
67. Mausoleum (69)
68. Born to End (61)
69. Life Becoming A Landslide (52)
70. Crucifix Kiss (62)
71. Roses In The Hospital (53)
72. Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds (65)
73. Another Invented Disease (66)
74. Hold Me Like A Heaven (74)
75. Repeat (49)
76. Underdogs (50)
77. Journal For Plague Lovers (46)
78. Theme From MASH (Suicide Is Painless) (104)
79. Love's Sweet Exile (60)
80. Send Away The Tigers (81)
81. We Were Never Told (106)
82. Nobody Loved You (98)
83. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time (77)
84. All Is Vanity (73)
85. Prologue To History (102)
86. Interiors (Song For Willem de Kooning) (75)
87. Virginia State Epileptic Colony (84)
88. Further Away (99)
89. Symphony Of Tourette (89)
90. Velocity Girl (113)
91. The Ghost Of Christmas (185)
92. Vision Blurred (146)
93. Happy Bored Alone (-)
94. Dreaming A City (Hughesovka) (67)
95. Kevin Carter (74)
96. You Stole The Sun From My Heart (109)
97. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (101)
98. Yourself (95)
99. Afterending (-)
100. (Feels Like) Heaven (-)
101. Gold Against The Soul (108)
102. Automatik Teknicolour (90)
103. Be Natural (128)
104. Out Of Time (178)
105. There By The Grace Of God (91)
106. Intravenous Agnostic (127)
107. Peeled Apples (88)
108. You're Tender And You're Tired (156)
109. Golden Platitudes (100)
110. Dead Trees And Traffic Islands (76)
111. Indian Summer (112)

112. Spectators Of Suicide (111)
113. Mr Carbohydrate (110)
114. A Song For Departure (83)
115. Autumnsong (93)
116. Democracy Coma (79)
117. Take The Skinheads Bowling (119)
118. RP McMurphy (79)
119. The Love Of Richard Nixon (85)
120. Bright Eyes (141)
121. Removables (123)
122. Sculpture Of Man (151)
123. Too Cold Here (86)
124. Can't Take My Eyes Off You (176)
125. Black Holes For The Young (124)
126. A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun (82)
127. Don't Be Evil (96)
128. The Second Great Depression (94)
129. Hazelton Avenue (120)
130. Askew Road (149)
131. Solitude Sometimes Is (142)
132. The Vorticists (115)
133. I'm Just A Patsy (92)
134. Drug Drug Druggy (107)
135. The Convalescent (134)
136. Strip It Down (80)
137. Methadone Pretty (97)
138. Us Against You (131)
139. Glasnost (103)
140. I Live To Fall Asleep (186)
141. Distant Colours (-)
142. Umbrella (160)
143. Marlon JD (72)
144. Don't Let The Night Divide Us (-)
145. Love Letter To The Future (161)
146. Orwellian (-)
147. Nostalgic Pushead (114)
148. Boxes & Lists (136)
149. Quest For Ancient Colour (-)
150. The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) (154)
151. Door to the River (265)
152. Last Exit On Yesterday (150)
153. Comfort Comes (140)
154. Charles Windsor (148)
155. The Year Of Purification (166)
156. Epicentre (163)
157. We Her Majesty's Prisoners (126)
158. So Why So Sad (133)
159. Miss Europa Disco Dancer (162)
160. So Dead (116)
161. My Little Empire (217)
162. Black Dog On My Shoulder (155)
163. Montana/Autumn/78 (203)
164. Mirror Gaze (-)
165. Broken Algorithms (-)
166. I Think I Found It (105)
167. Let's Go To War (153)
168. 30-Year War (159)
169. Rendition (189)
170. Futurology (175)
171. Me And Stephen Hawking (138)
172. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (184)
173. Born A Girl (238)
174. Empty Motorcade (196)
175. Running Out Of Fantasy (247)
176. Hibernation (121)
177. My Guernica (139)
178. We Are All Bourgeois Now (173)
179. All We Make Is Entertainment (152)
180. Bag Lady (145)
181. William's Last Words (235)
182. Broken Up Again (177)
183. Auto-Intoxication (158)
184. The Instrumental (137)
185. Dead Yankee Drawl (122)
186. The Intense Humming of Evil (130)
187. Never Want Again (117)
188. Into The Waves Of Love (-)
189. Ostpolitik (231)
190. Pretension/Repulsion (129)
191. Bored Out Of My Mind (125)
192. Ain't Going Down (179)
193. Starlover (144)
194. Let Robeson Sing (168)
195. In Eternity (-)
196. Europa Geht Durch Mich (174)
197. Anthem For A Lost Cause (187)
198. Emily (198)
199. Fragments (211)
200. Cardiff Afterlife (212)
201. Dylan & Caitlin (-)
202. Midnight Sun (181)
203. This Is The Day (135)
204. I Know The Numbers (164)
205. Primitive Painters (198)
206. Everything Will Be (167)
207. Winterlovers (214)
208. Dying Breeds (170)
209. No Jubilees (171)
210. Diapause (-)
211. Hanging On (172)
212. These Dark Roads (-)
213. The Soulmates (207)
214. It's So Easy (190)
215. Tennessee (118)
216. First Republic (182)
217. Black Garden (192)
218. All Alone Here (165)
219. Picturesque (169)
220. Leviathan (206)
221. The Endless Plain Of Fortune (287)
222. Soul Contamination (205)
223. Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children (191)
224. Masking Tape (220)
225. A Vision Of Dead Desire (143)
226. Damn Dog (132)
227. Distractions (228)
228. Socialist Serenade (200)
229. Sequels Of Forgotten Wars (-)
230. Vivian (-)
231. Misguided Missile (157)
232. A Song For The Sadness (-)
233. The Next Jet To Leave Moscow (226)
234. Rock And Roll Music (244)
235. Stay With Me (227)
236.  Are Mothers Saints (216
237. The Drowners (224)
238. Wattsville Blues (241)
239. Groundhog Days (261)
240. Royal Correspondent (204)
241. Last Christmas (237)
242. Just A Kid (219)
243. Love Torn Us Under (218)
244. Valley Boy (278)
245. Close My Eyes (195)
246. 1404 (208)
247. (I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline (243)
248. 4 Lonely Roads (223)
249. Rewind The Film (245)
250. Under My Wheels (209)
251. A Secret Society (202)

252. Antarctic (255)

253. Little Girl Lost (233)

254. Anorexic Rodin (201)

255. Heyday of the Blood (236)

256. The Long Goodbye (242)

257. Everyone Knows/Nobody Cares (188)

258. Wrote For Luck (147)

259. Dead Passive (183)

260. Quarantine (In My Place Of) (249)

261. Litany (270)

262. Kiss My Eyes For Eternity (234)

263. I'm Not Working (252)

264. Happy Ending (222)

265. The Left Behind (-)

266. Blank Diary Entry (-)

267. Alien Orders/Invisible Armies (258)

268. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever (253)

269. Holding Patterns (-)

270. Concrete Fields (-)

271. She Bathed Herself In A Bath of Bleach (193)

272. Facing Page: Top Left (197)

273. My Drowning World (-)

274. I'm Leaving You For Solitude (259)

275. Death Of A Digital Ghost (275)

276. What Happened To The Blue Generation (232)

277. Teenage 20/20 (215)

278. What's My Name (250)

279. Penny Royalty (239)

280. Doors Closing Slowly (248)

281. Lost Voices (260)

282. Red Rubber (180)

283. Black Square (194)

284. Always/Never (210)

285. Sex, Power, Love And Money (240)

286. Voodoo Polaroids (280)

287. Ballad Of The Bangkok Novotel (274)

288. Morning Comrades (213)

289. Kodawari (272)

290. The Last Time I Saw Paris (271)

291. The Sound Of Detachment (230)

292. The View From Stow Hill (282)

293. His Last Painting (251)

294. Locust Valley (268)

295. Horses Under Starlight (254)

296. See It Like Sutherland (246)

297. Buildings For Dead People (273)

298. Liverpool Revisited (-)

299. A Soundtrack To Complete Withdrawal (-)

300. No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me (281)

301. SYMM (269)

302. 3 Ways To See Despair (225)

303. Builder Of Routines (288)

304. Melancholyme (262)

305. Lady Lazarus (266)

306. Time Ain't Nothing (257)

307. Evidence Against Myself (284)

308. Slow Reflections - Strange Delays (256)

309. Train In Vain (285)

310. Been A Son (279)

311. Pedestal (277)

312. Unstoppable Salvation (263)

313. It's All Gone (264)

314. Start Me Up (297)

315. Caldey (229)

316. You Know It's Going To Hurt (295)

317. Mayakovsky (289)

318. Between The Clock And The Bed (292)

319. Divine Youth (293)

320. As Holy As the Soil (That Buries Your Skin) (221)

321. Manorbier (291)

322. Working Class Hero (283)

323. Red Sleeping Beauty (294)

324. Foggy Eyes (298)

325. Little Trolls (267)

326. Fear of Motion (276)

327. Inky Fingers (286)

328. The Passing Show (290)

329. Rock 'N' Roll Genius (301)

330. Wake Up Alone (303)

331. Blistered Mirrors (300)

332. T.E. Lawrence On A Bike (302)

333. Antisocialmanifesto (296)

334. Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel (299)

335. Failure Bound (304)

336. Dixie (305)

337. Glory Glory (306)

338. Engage With Your Shadow (307)

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By Album - Average Placing

Generation Terrorists 82

Gold Against The Soul 74

The Holy Bible 51

Everything Must Go 53

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 121

Know Your Enemy 151

Lifeblood 137

Send Away The Tigers 108

Journal For Plague Lovers 153

Postcards From A Young Man 132

Rewind The Film 218

Futurology 227

Resistance Is Futile 175

The Ultra Vivid Lament 125

or

In Order of Preference
1. The Holy Bible 51
2. Everything Must Go 53
3. Gold Against The Soul 74
4. Generation Terrorists 82

5. Send Away The Tigers 108
6. This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 121

7. The Ultra Vivid Lament 125
8. Postcards From A Young Man 132

9. Lifeblood 137
10. Know Your Enemy 151
11. Journal For Plague Lovers 153

12. Resistance Is Futile 175

13. Rewind The Film 218

14. Futurology 227

(Average placings were rounded to the nearest place)

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By Album (regular album versions)
Final overall placings in brackets

Generation Terrorists
1. Stay Beautiful (2)
2. Motorcycle Emptiness (5)
3. You Love Us (8)
4. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll (19)

5. Little Baby Nothing (20)
6. Slash N' Burn (54)
7. Born To End (68)

8. Crucifix Kiss (70)

9. Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds (72)
10. Another Invented Disease (73)
11. Repeat (75)
12. Love's Sweet Exile (79)
13. Spectators Of Suicide (112)
14. Methadone Pretty (137)
15. So Dead (160)
16. Tennessee (215)
17. Damn Dog (226)

Gold Against The Soul
1. From Despair To Where (4)
2. Sleepflower (12)

3. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) (15)
4. Life Becoming A Landslide (69)
5. Roses In The Hospital (71)
6. Symphony Of Tourette (89)
7. Yourself (98)
8. Gold Against The Soul (101)
9. Drug Drug Druggy (134)

10. Nostalgic Pushead (147)

The Holy Bible
1. This Is Yesterday (6)
2. Faster (7)
3. Yes (18)
4. Archives of Pain (29)
5. PCP (30)
6. Revol (36)
7. 4st 7lb (45)
8. Of Walking Abortion (51)
9. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart (53)

10. Die In The Summertime (65)
11. She Is Suffering (66)
12. Mausoleum (67)
13. The Intense Humming Of Evil (186)

Everything Must Go
1. A Design For Life (2)
2. No Surface All Feeling (11)
3. Enola/Alone (16)

4. Australia (17)
5. The Girl Who Wanted To Be God (33)
6. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (34)
7. Everything Must Go (35)

8. Interiors (Song For Willem de Kooning) (86)
9. Further Away (88)

10. Kevin Carter (95)

11. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (97)
12. Removables (121)

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
1. Tsunami (21)
2. The Everlasting (22)
3. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (23)

4. Ready For Drowning (58)
5. Nobody Loved You (82)
6. You Stole The Sun From My Heart (96)
7. Be Natural (103)
8. You're Tender And You're Tired (108)

9. My Little Empire (161)
10. Black Dog On My Shoulder (162)
11. Born A Girl (173)
12. I'm Not Working (263)
13. SYMM (301)

Know Your Enemy
1. Found That Soul (28)
2. Baby Elian (32)
3. Ocean Spray (57)
4. Dead Martyrs (60)
5. Intavenous Agnostic (106)
6. The Convalescent (135)
7. The Year Of Purification (155)

8. Epicentre (156)
9. So Why So Sad (158)
10. Miss Europa Disco Dancer (159)

11. My Guernica (177)

12. Let Robeson Sing (194)
13. Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children (223)
14. Wattsville Blues (238)
15. Royal Correspondent (240)

16. His Last Painting (293)

Lifeblood
1. Empty Souls (14)
2. 1985 (38)
3. To Repel Ghosts (62)
4. A Song For Departure (114)
5. The Love Of Richard Nixon (119)
6. Solitude Sometimes Is (131)

7. Glasnost (139)
8. I Live To Fall Asleep (140)
9. Emily (198)
10. Fragments (199)

11. Cardiff Afterlife (200)
12. Always/Never (284)

Send Away The Tigers
1. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (25)
2. Imperial Bodybags (37)
3. Underdogs (76)
4. Send Away The Tigers (80)
5. Indian Summer (111)
6. Autumnsong (115)
7. The Second Great Depression (128)
8. I'm Just A Patsy (133)

9. Rendition (169)
10. Winterlovers (207)

Journal For Plague Lovers
1. This Joke Sport Severed (41)

2. Journal For Plague Lovers (77)
3. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time (83)

4. All Is Vanity (84)
5. Virginia State Epileptic Colony (87)
6. Peeled Apples (107)
7. Marlon JD (143)
8. Me And Stephen Hawking (171)

9. William's Last Words (181)
10. Pretension/Repulsion (190)

11. She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach (271)
12. Facing Page: Top Left (272)
13. Doors Closing Slowly (280)

Postcards From A Young Man
1. Postcards From A Young Man (39)

2. (It's Not War) Just The End of Love (42)
3. Some Kind Of Nothingness (64)
4. Golden Platitudes (109)

5. A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun (126)
6. Don't Be Evil (127)

7. Hazelton Avenue (129)
8. The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) (150)
9. I Think I Found It (166)
10. All We Make Is Entertainment (179)

11. Auto-Intoxication (183)
12. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever (268)

Rewind The Film
1. Show Me The Wonder (31)
2. This Sullen Welsh Heart (56)
3. 30-Year War (168)
4. Running Out Of Fantasy (175)

5. Anthem For A Lost Cause (197)

6. (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline (247)

7. 4 Lonely Roads (248)

8. Rewind The Film (249)
9. 3 Ways To See Despair (302)
10. Builder Of Routines (303)
11. As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) (320)
12. Manorbier (321)

Futurology
1. Walk Me To The Bridge (48)
2. Dreaming A City (Hughesovka) (94)
3. Let's Go To War (167)
4. Futurology (170)
5. Europa Geht Durch Mich (196)
6. Misguided Missile (231)

7. The Next Jet To Leave Moscow (233)
8. Black Square (283)

9. Sex, Power, Love And Money (285)
10. The View From Stow Hill (292)
11. Mayakovsky (317)
12. Between the Clock And The Bed (318)
13. Divine Youth (319)

Resistance Is Futile

1. People Give In (27)

2. International Blue (47)

3. Hold Me Like A Heaven (74)

4. Distant Colours (141)

5. Broken Algorithms (165)

6. In Eternity (195)

7. Dylan & Caitlin (201)

8. Sequels Of Forgotten Wars (229)

9. Vivian (230)

10. A Song For The Sadness (232)

11. The Left Behind (265)

12. Liverpool Revisited (298)

The Ultra Vivid Lament

1. Still Snowing In Sapporo (9)

2. Complicated Illusions (26)

3. The Secret He Had Missed (46)

4. Happy Bored Alone (93)

5. Afterending (99)

6. Don't Let The Night Divide Us (144)

7. Orwellian (146)

8. Quest For Ancient Colour (149)

9. Into The Waves Of Love (188)

10. Diapause (210)

11. Blank Diary Entry (266)

B-Sides

1. Sepia (40)

2. Donkeys (44)

3. Sorrow 16 (50)

4. Fearless Punk Ballad (55)

5. Patrick Bateman (61)

6. Welcome To The Dead Zone (63)

7. We Were Never Told (81)

8. Prologue To History (85)

9. Velocity Girl (90)

10. Automatik Teknicolour (102)

Covers

1. Theme From MASH (Suicide Is Painless) (78)

2. Velocity Girl (90)

3. Vision Blurred (92)

4. (Feels Like) Heaven (100)

5. Out Of Time (104)

6. Take The Skinheads Bowling (117)

7. Bright Eyes (120)

8. Can't Take My Eyes Off You (124)

9. Umbrella (142)

10. Charles Windsor (154)

Top 75 of 1998

1998 was the year I left my teenage years behind, it was the year I started my final year at university, it was the year where the number of gigs I went to took a slight downward turn and never really recovered following my most prolific year in 1997.  That was probably partly influenced by Middlesbrough Arena, during the mid-90s every Friday you could find 2nd and 3rd division indie (and occasional rock) bands interrupting the indie disco. So either those gigs started fading along with Britpop or it was my interest that was fading as the new bands I was listening to were increasingly coming from the heavier end of the spectrum.

Looking at some of the songs included here, I would definitely have started frequenting Blaises in Middlesbrough more than the Arena, which had a rock/metal room that I preferred as well as another room that was more like the Arena.  A lot of my favourite bands from earlier in the decade had either split up or changed, Senseless Things & Faith No More were no more, Max had left Sepultura, Manics and Pearl Jam were on pretty different paths to what hooked me in, so the way was open for something new to come along.

In that respect, three of the best albums of the year were debuts (The Haunted, System of a Down and Carrie), another contender for best album of all time was from a band I'd only discovered a year earlier (Cradle of Filth) and another future favourite band contender introduced themselves (Dark Funeral). It was a line in the sand of sorts in my record collection.

My gig list for the year was only 12-strong, the full list is below:

17/01/98 Catatonia, Derrero (@Middlesbrough Arena)

14/02/98 Catherine Wheel, Feline, Radiator (@Middlesbrough Arena)

11/04/98 Dust Junkys, Bullyrag (@Middlesbrough Arena)

18/04/98 China Drum, Pecadiloes (@Middlesbrough Arena)

28/04/98 Tura Satana, Will Haven, Psycore (@Middlesbrough Cornerhouse)

14/05/98 Symposium, A (@Middlesbrough Arena)

30/05/98 Carrie, Feline (@Middlesbrough Arena)

25/09/98 Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Olivia Tremor Control (@Middlesbrough Arena)

13/11/98 Gold Blade (@Middlesbrough Arena)

20/11/98 Delakota (@Middlesbrough Arena)

04/12/98 Miles Hunt and Malcolm Treece (@Middlesbrough Arena)

14/12/98 Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia (@Newcastle Arena)

Two of the highlights were actually the support slots from Will Haven and A, a blisteringly intense (and very loud) performance from the former and some further familiarisation with the latter to set them on the way to what would end up being 3rd favourite band status.  The Manics gig was notable for two things - James introducing Tsunami as 'Toon Army' with it being Newcastle and all and the performance of Clash cover Train In Vain being used later on as a B-side to You Stole The Sun From My Heart.

In terms of my own music, 1998 was a pretty barren year in terms of actually finishing anything, just the one EP from The Personnel completed with my brother.  That highlighted two things - I was taking more care with writing the next Beneath Utopia album and also I had less time for such things moving into my final year at university.  The Underdog album wouldn't see the light of day until May 99, but moved on leaps and bounds from the two previous releases in songwriting terms, even if the sound was still a bit shoddy.

But back to chart matters, the shortlist was shorter than usual, possibly reflecting the fact that while there were still some great songs released in 1998, they were from a more select cast of characters.  This time the only bands that made the list but not the chart were Covenant, A, Pulkas, Spineshank and Sepultura, the latter highlighting that dip in quality after Max's departure.

1. Fear Factory - Resurrection

2. Cradle of Filth - Once Upon Atrocity/Thirteen Autumns and a Widow

3. The Haunted - Chasm

4. Symposium - The End

5. Pearl Jam - Given To Fly

6. The Haunted - Undead

7. Pitchshifter - Genius

8. Korn - Got The Life

9. Napalm Death - The Infiltraitor

10. Dark Funeral - Ravenna Strigoi Mortii

11. Shed 7 - Chasing Rainbows

12. The Haunted - Hate Song

13. Cradle of Filth - Lustmord and Wargasm (The Lick of Carnivorous Winds)

14. Emperor - A Fine Day To Die

15. The Gathering - Liberty Bell

16. Carrie - Breathe Underwater

17. Idlewild - When I Argue I See Shapes

18. The Gathering - Illuminating

19. Cradle of Filth - Beneath the Howling Stars

20. Dark Funeral - The Black Winged Horde

21. Pitchshifter - Please Sir

22. Cradle of Filth - Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids

23. Manic Street Preachers - Tsunami

24. Manic Street Preachers - The Everlasting

25. System of a Down - Suite-Pee

26. Bolt Thrower - Powder Burns

27. Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

28. Black Crowes - Kickin' My Heart Around

29. Bolt Thrower - No Guts, No Glory

30. System of a Down - War?

31. System of a Down - P.L.U.C.K.

32. Metallica - Turn the Page

33. Entwined - Shed Nightward Beauty

34. The Haunted - In Vein

35. Hammerfall - Legacy of Kings

36. Pearl Jam - Brain of J

37. Cradle of Filth - Desire in Violent Overture

38. System of a Down - Spiders

39. Manic Street Preachers - Ready For Drowning

40. Cradle of Filth - The Twisted Nails of Faith

41. Korn - It's On

42. Carrie - California Screamin'

43. Catatonia - Mulder and Scully

44. Entwined - Under A Killing Moon

45. The Haunted - Blood Rust

46. Bal Sagoth - Blood Slakes the Sand at the Circus Maximus

47. Hammerfall - Heeding the Call

48. System of a Down - Sugar

49. Rob Zombie - Superbeast

50. The Haunted - Bullet Hole

51. The Haunted - Shattered

52. Nightwish - Sacrament of Wilderness

53. Nightwish - Sleeping Sun

54. Korn - Dead Bodies Everywhere

55. Iron Maiden - The Clansman

56. Cathedral - Voodoo Fire

57. Dark Funeral - Vobiscum Satanas

58. The Haunted - Choke Hold

59. The Gathering - Travel

60. Manic Street Preachers - Nobody Loved You

61. Manic Street Preachers - Prologue To History

62. Cecil - Acres

63. Dark Funeral - Thy Legions Come

64. Carrie - Joseph

65. Catatonia - Road Rage

66. Divine Comedy - National Express

67. The Gathering - Great Ocean Road

68. Dark Funeral - Enriched By Evil

69. Cradle of Filth - Black Metal

70. Silver Sun - I'll See You Around

71. Metallica - Whiskey in the Jar

72. System of a Down - Know

73. Rob Zombie - Dragula

74. Fear Factory - Edgecrusher

75. Soulfly - Eye For An Eye