Manic Street Preachers "you can draw some pretty obvious conclusions from the lyrics." Wire, who admitted finding the task of editing this song "pretty choking", eventually composed the music and sang lead vocals after Bradfield found himself unsuited to the task. Bradfield commented that "Journal for Plague Lovers" was an attempt to finally secure the legacy of their former member Richey Edwards and the result was that, during the recording process, it was as close to feeling his presence since his disappearance: "There was a sense of responsibility to do his words justice. That was part of the whole thing of letting enough
Everything Must Go (Manic Street Preachers album) but if "Everything Must Go" is inferior, it's only slightly so." The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 1996 but failed to win it; however, the album won the award for Best British Album and the Manic Street Preachers won Best British Group at the 1997 Brit Awards. In the NME Awards of 1996 "Everything Must Go" was named Album of the Year, and the Manic Street Preachers also won the award for Best Live Act and Best Single for "A Design for Life". The album remains a critical success, an important album in Manic Street Preachers' career,