Manic Street Preachers Banned
Posted Fri 15 May 2009 11:34AM BST by Dave Rumour in Snap, Crackle and Pop
You probably wouldn't know it looking at their rather tired 21st century image but the Manic Street Preachers used to be a quite terrifying prospect for some, full of provoctive teen rage, playing "Top Of The Pops" in balaclavas, while tragic lost member Richey Edwards famously slashed the words "For Real" into his bloody arm in a bid to impress former music journalist Steve Lamacq. They might be a lot older now but that's not stopped their new album being banned by four of the UK's big retail giants, with one supermarket calling the artwork "inappropriate".The cover for "Journal For Plague Lovers" (pictured) depicts a girl seemingly with a bloody and battered face and has been painted by acclaimed artist Jenny Saville. The record is considered a follow-up to the Welsh rockers' landmark 1994 album "The Holy Bible", which also featured one of her controversial works. Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons have all refused to stock it with the original image, as Nicola Williamson, music buyer for Sainsbury's explained: "We felt that some customers might consider this particular album cover to be inappropriate if it were prominently displayed on the shelf. "
The Manics have reacted with bafflement at the news, calling their decision "truly bizarre" and pointing to the fact that such shops regularly display products of a similarly graphic nature. "We just thought it was a beautiful painting. We were all in total agreement", explained singer James Dean Bradfield, continuing: "You can have lovely shiny buttocks and guns everywhere in the supermarket on covers of magazines and CDs, but you show a piece of art and people just freak out". "Journal For Plague Lovers" is released on Monday but will only be available in these stores in a special sleeve provided by the publisher.
Are you shocked by the artwork to the new Manic Street Preachers album? Or do you think Sainsburys and co have gone too far in banning it? Have your say here...
Possibly reacted to though, because the first thing I thought of when I saw it was that computer generated image of Baby P.... (Not at all insinuating that the artist's copied that tragedy, but battered and broken faces have quite a fresh wound in the public eye at the mo....)
I hope that this decision by the supermarkets will make some people consider how much we allow these large companies to dictate to us what our culture is. What right do they have to sensor the images we purchase? Surely, that can only be the right of a government elected by us all.
I don't find it offensive, I think that it looks like a crap daubing from somebody who went over the lines a bit too much with the red felt tip.
People don't seem to like being reminded of real, important issues, which is a shame.
see ya!!!!
Plus who gives these supermarkets the right to censor what i see