This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours is the fifth
albumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
band
Manic Street PreachersManic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
. It was released in September 1998 on
Epic RecordsEpic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, and in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the following year, on
Virgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
.
Background
The title is a quotation taken from a speech given by
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
British Labour Party
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
Aneurin BevanAneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
. Its working title was simply 'Manic Street Preachers'.
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours was the first Manics album to feature lyrics solely by
Nicky WireNicholas Allen Jones, known as Nicky Wire, is the lyricist, bassist and occasional vocalist with the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.-Early life:...
, while all the music was written by the habitual duo of
James Dean BradfieldJames Dean Bradfield is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.- Early life :...
and cousin
Sean MooreSean Anthony Moore is the writer, drummer/percussionist and sometime trumpet player of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.-Early years:...
. The album is a much more subdued affair compared to previous albums with many songs having a more acoustic feel.
At the same time it shows the band experimenting with studio and production possibilities, as shown in several tracks — "S.Y.M.M.", "I'm Not Working" and "Born a Girl". In the bridge of the track "Ready for Drowning" there is a sample of
Richard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
(as
John MorlarJohn Frederick Morlar is a fictional character in the novel and film The Medusa Touch. The novel was written by Peter Van Greenaway and published in 1973; the film was released in 1978, starring Richard Burton as Morlar....
from the 1978 film
The Medusa TouchThe Medusa Touch is a 1978 British supernatural thriller film directed by Jack Gold. It starred Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick and Harry Andrews, with cameos by Alan Badel, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern...
): "I will bring the whole edifice down on their unworthy heads".
The cover photograph was taken on Black Rock Sands near
PorthmadogPorthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...
. Hidden behind the disc's tray is a quotation from the 1995 book,
No Truce With The Furies by
R. S. ThomasRonald Stuart Thomas was a Welsh poet and Anglican clergyman, noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales...
.
The album won Best British Album at the 1999
Brit AwardsThe Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
.
Chart performance
The album debuted at #1 on the
UK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
and spent three weeks at the top of the charts.
The album was preceded by the single "
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next"If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" is a song by the Manic Street Preachers, released as the first single from their fifth studio album, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, with lyrics written by Nicky Wire , and music written by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore...
", which debuted at #1 on the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, their first single to do so. "
The Everlasting"The Everlasting" is a song by Manic Street Preachers, released as a single on November 30, 1998, the second single to be released from the This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. All three members of the band - James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire - share the writing credits...
" reached #11, "
You Stole the Sun from My Heart"You Stole the Sun from My Heart" is a song by Manic Street Preachers, released on March 8, 1999 as the third single from the album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. All three members of the band - James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire - share the writing credits.The lyric concerns Nicky...
" went in at #5 and "Tsunami" at #11.
Tracklisting
All tracks written by Bradfield/Moore (music) and Wire (lyrics).
Personnel
Manic Street Preachers
- James Dean Bradfield – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar (tracks 2, 10, 12), sitar guitar (track 5, 7), omnichord (tracks 4, 5), melody horn (track 10)
- Sean Moore – drums, programming (tracks 1, 3, 5)
- Nicky Wire – bass, acoustic bass (tracks 6, 11), vocals (track 6), Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
(on track 4)
Additional personnel
- Nick Nasmyth – wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
(tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 13), MellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
(tracks 8, 13), keyboards (tracks 5, 7), piano (track 8), Vox ContinentalThe Vox Continental is a transistor-based combo organ that was introduced in 1962. Known for its thin, bright, breathy sound, the "Connie," as it was affectionately known, was designed to be used by touring musicians...
(track 11), accordion (track 9), yang-ching (track 7)
- Martin Ditchum – percussion (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11)
- Andy Duncan – percussion (tracks 2, 6, 10, 12)
- Craig Pruess
Craig Pruess is an American composer, musician, arranger and gold & platinum record producer who has been living in Britain since 1973...
– sitar (track 5), tampura (track 5)
- Ken Barry – whistling (track 8)
- Sally Herbert – string arrangements (tracks 1, 5, 11), violin (tracks 1, 5, 11)
- Gini Ball, Anne Stephenson – violin (tracks 1, 11)
- Jos Pook, Claire Orsler – viola (tracks 1, 5, 11)
- Padlock McKiernan – tin whistle (tracks 4,7,13)
- Dinah Beamish – cello (tracks 1, 6)
- Fenella Barton, Nell Catchpole, Sue Dench, Margaret Roseberry, Sonia Slany, Jules Singleton, Ann Wood – additional string section (track 11)