Know Your Enemy (Manic Street Preachers album)

Know Your Enemy is the sixth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released on 19 March 2001 by Epic Records. It was supported by four singles, all of which reached the top 20 of the UK singles chart. Whilst the album sold well, it did not match the success of its predecessor, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. Critics were somewhat divided in their opinions at first, but its reception since has been more positive.

In 2022, the band released remixed and expanded two and three disc editions of Know Your Enemy, rearranging the tracks into the two separate albums as originally intended.

Background

Drummer Sean Moore stated in an interview with a Spanish reporter in 2014 that the songs included on Know Your Enemy were originally intended for two separate albums: Door to the River, which consisted of more reflective and personal material, and the heavier, more politically charged Solidarity, with the intention of releasing both on the same day. The record label was not inclined to put out two albums at the same time (they would feel the same in 2013–2014 with Rewind the Film and Futurology) and so most of the material was released as one lengthy, highly varied, 75-minute album instead. Because of this, Moore felt that the finished album was "strange" and "confusing".

The album departs from the arena rock of the band's previous two albums, featuring a rougher, less polished sound. It also displays influences from a much wider range of styles than before. On the album's diverse sound, Pitchfork Media stated: "Know Your Enemy finds the Manics attempting to write a protest song in just about every genre."

The left-wing political convictions of Manic Street Preachers are apparent in many of the album's songs. "Baby Elián" comments on the strained relations between the United States and Cuba as seen in the Elián González affair. The band also pays tribute to singer and Civil Rights activist Paul Robeson in the song "Let Robeson Sing".

James Dean Bradfield reflected on the album in 2015, placing it as his second least favourite album that the band made. "When we came in to do this album we were reacting to the massive success in Europe and other parts of the world. Not America. But with Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth we had sold millions of records around the world, and after This Is My Truth we kind of reacted against our own success. We thought that we had lost some of that original punk spirit that we’d had. It had kind of always been in the lyrics and some of our performances, but we thought we’d become too polished. We thought that perhaps we had fallen onto a treadmill of success, which was stupid. You look back on all this stuff and think, “What a fucking idiot I was!” You can't help but live in the moment, and basically with Know Your Enemy we tried to be too spontaneous and too organic. We were just laying stuff down quite quickly and not worrying about the production. And we undersold some of the songs on the record. It's not the producer's fault, it's our fault. We backed him into a corner and said, “No, we want to keep things fresh and do it quickly.” And we didn't give the record a chance to breathe or sound good."

Nicky Wire reflected on the album in 2021: "Musically, I was particularly lazy and destructive. Constantly saying, 'It's too tight - can't we use the demo?' Too many lyrics just weren't finished. The original idea was to have two albums: one called Solidarity, after the Polish trade union movement, and one called Door to the River, which was the softer side. James just looked at me: 'Why are you trying to do this weird shit all the time?' In a nice way."

Release

Know Your Enemy was released on 19 March 2001. The album debuted and peaked at number 2 in the UK Album Chart, spending a total of 17 weeks in the Top 100. In Ireland the album reached number 5. Around the world it was fairly successful, It was number 6 in Denmark, number 7 in Sweden, and number 8 in Norway and in Greece. In Germany, Belgium and in Australia it charted within the top 20.

Four singles from the album were released. "So Why So Sad" and "Found That Soul" were released on the same day while "Ocean Spray" and "Let Robeson Sing" were released later. All four singles charted within the top 20 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 2021, Nicky Wire reflected on the album's reputation and sales: "To this day, you see Know Your Enemy at service stations for £2.99, because they bought so many thinking it was by one of those commercial bands! In retrospect, it sold half a million copies. Imagine what we'd give for that now."

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score =

| rev2 = Alternative Press

| rev2Score = 6/10

| rev4 = Dotmusic

| rev4score =

| rev5 = Mojo

| rev5score =

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 7.5/10

| rev8 = PopMatters

| rev8score = unfavourable

| rev9 = Q

| rev9score =

Know Your Enemy received generally mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic the album has a score of 57, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".

Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention, calling it "punk propaganda poppified" and citing "Ocean Spray" and "Let Robeson Sing" as highlights. Furthermore, the "Masking Tape" excerpt ("Happy black days/Here's the summer...") originally included at the end of "Epicentre" was removed and added to the end of the track "Groundhog Days" and the Albert Camus quotation was removed from the outro of "The Masses Against the Classes."

Note: On the standard 2-CD and vinyl editions, Door to the River is a 10-track album and Solidarity is a 12-track album. On the 3-CD digibook edition, three alternative/original mixes and the outtake "Royal Correspondent" are added to disc one, while B-sides are added to disc two. None of these tracks have been remixed. The third disc contains demos.

Personnel

Manic Street Preachers

James Dean Bradfield – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards on "Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children"
Sean Moore – drums, drum programming, trumpet
Nicky Wire – bass guitar, lead vocals on "Wattsville Blues", acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Nick Nasmyth – keyboards, backing vocals
Kevin Shields – guitar on "Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children" and "Dead Martyrs"

Technical personnel

Dave Eringa – engineering on tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 and 11–14, mixing on tracks 1–4, 6–9 and 11–16, production
Lee Butler – engineering on tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 and 11–14
David Holmes – additional production on tracks 9, 12 and 16
Greg Haver – production and engineering on "Royal Correspondent" and "Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children"
Mike Hedges – production and mixing on "Let Robeson Sing"
Gerr McDonnel – engineering and mixing on "Let Robeson Sing"
Guy Massey – engineering on "The Year of Putrification" and "Baby Elián"
Tom Lord-Alge – mixing on "His Last Painting"
The Avalanches – remixing on "So Why So Sad (Sean Penn Mix – Avalanches)"
Bobby Dazzler – production on "So Why So Sad" (Sean Penn Mix – Avalanches)
Nicky Wire – creative concept
Farrow Design – design and direction
Neale Howells – original paintings

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Weekly chart performance for Know Your Enemy

! scope="col"| Chart (2001)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Weekly chart performance for Know Your Enemy (remastered edition)

! scope="col"| Chart (2022)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)

| style="text-align:center"|82

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| style="text-align:center"|4

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+Year-end chart performance for Know Your Enemy