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I only got into music towards the end of 1995 at the height of Britpop. ADFL came out which I liked but the EMG single was actually my first Manics purchase. Soon after that I went to my first concert (Oasis at Loch Lomond) which the Manics were support for. A couple of days later I bought EMG the album and over the next year or so bought up the other albums - as well as the taping the NYNEX gig off the radio which is probably my most listened to tape!
I ended up having a stronger connection to the earlier, rockier sound than the polished EMG sound. Rumours were abound that the next album would return to this (I think the NME described the album as being The Holy Bible part 2). I remember tuning into Jo Whiley's show (I think) to hear the premier of Tolerate, and feeling a little disappointed that it wasn't the rocker that I expected.
Two weeks before going to uni I headed to Dundee to see them at the Caird Hall in what I sitll class as one of my favourite gigs. The next day I bought TIMTTMY and had mixed feelings about... there's still songs on there that I really like (Nobody Loved You, Ready for Drowning, Blackdog on my Shoulder, The Everlasting, Born a Girl), but the mid section of the album is just a bit flat, and whilst I now enjoy the live version of YSTSFMH the guitar sound on the recorded version just doesn't work for me.
And here I am, twenty years later, twenty manics gigs more attended....
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