Released January 10, 2000 Length 3:23 | Format CD, Vinyl record (10") Label Epic | |
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Recorded Rockfield Studios, Wales and Rak Studios, London; Autumn 1999 Genre Alternative rock, hard rock | ||
"The Masses Against the Classes" is a song by Manic Street Preachers, released as a limited-edition single in January 2000. It was a stand-alone single, not featured on any studio album, and was deleted, removed from wholesale supply, on the day of release. Despite being deleted on the day of release, the single peaked at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
Contents
Background
The title of the song is derived from a quotation from the nineteenth century British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone ("All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes"). The single begins with a Noam Chomsky quotation and ends with a quotation from Albert Camus. The record sleeve features the Cuban flag albeit without the star, a mark of the band's socialist political ideology. They were to play in Havana in February 2001 to a sold-out Karl Marx theatre with Fidel Castro in the audience, whom they met when he arrived just thirty minutes before they were due to play.
"The Masses Against the Classes" is considered a return to the alternative rock style of music produced by the band in the early to mid-1990s, while the lyrics reply to criticism of the This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours album, which had featured a softer, more pop-oriented sound. The song was debuted on the festival circuit late in the summer of 1999.
Release
The single sold 76,000 copies in its first week and reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 16 January 2000, and spent 9 weeks in the charts. It was the first new number one of the 21st Century and knocked Westlife's "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" off the top spot after four weeks.
The single also reached number 7 in Ireland, while in Finland it was a big success, reaching number 4 and staying in the charts for 4 weeks, in Norway it peaked on number 12 and it charted for 2 weeks, and it is the only Manic Street Preachers single to chart in France, it reached number 157.
The single was released less than two weeks after the huge concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 31 December 1999, and it promoted the song that was played that night, the only video for the single is from the live concert. With that concert at the Millennium combined with the "Masses Against the Classes" reaching number 1 and reaching the top 20 in other 3 countries and the fact that ′′This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours′′ was a commercial and critical success, this is frequently pointed as the peak in the Manic Street Preachers career.
"The Masses Against the Classes" was released both as a CD single and numbered 10"; each version also featured the songs "Close My Eyes" and a cover of Chuck Berry’s "Rock and Roll Music". It was included on the Manic Street Preachers' Greatest Hits album, Forever Delayed. A live version of the song has also appeared as a B-side on "Found That Soul".
Track listing
All music written by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore; except where indicated. All lyrics written by Nicky Wire; except where indicated.
- "The Masses Against the Classes" – 3:23
- "Close My Eyes" – 4:27
- "Rock and Roll Music" (music and lyrics: Chuck Berry) – 2:53