Musically, the album departs from the arena rock sound of their previous two albums for a bigger and more abrasive rock sound. The album also features influences from various genres. On the album's diverse sound Pitchfork Media stated that ""Know Your Enemy" finds the Manics attempting to write a protest song in just about every genre." The punk rock-influenced "riotous" sound of the tracks "Found That Soul", "Intravenous Agnostic" and "Dead Martyrs" attribute influences to Sonic Youth and Joy Division. Tracks such as "The Year of Purification" and "Epicentre" foray to a R.E.M.-indebted jangle-pop style. The tracks "So Why So Sad" and "Miss Europa Disco Dancer" were described as "a Beach Boys homage" and "a disco parody," respectively. The tracks "My Guernica", "His Last Painting" and "The Convalescent" were also described as "dark, marching and charging post-punk anthems."