The Masses Against the Classes

"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 one on the UK Singles Chart.

"The Masses Against the Classes"
Single by Manic Street Preachers
ReleasedJanuary 10, 2000
RecordedAutumn 1999
Studio
Genre
Length3:23
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Dave Eringa
Manic Street Preachers singles chronology
"Tsunami"
(1999)		 "The Masses Against the Classes"
(2000)		 "So Why So Sad"
(2001)

Background

The title of the song is derived from a quotation from the 19th-century British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone ("All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes").[2] 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. The band later played 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.[1]

Content

"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.[3]

Martin Power proclaimed "The Masses Against the Classes" a "raucous, guitar-driven slice of pop-punk" which recalled Nirvana's 1991 song "On a Plain".[1] On the style of the song, bassist Nicky Wire commented that an "Iggy and the Stooges vibe" had been sought.[1]

Release

The single sold 76,000 copies in its first week and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 16 January 2000, and spent 9 weeks on the chart.[4] It was the first new number one in 2000 and knocked Westlife's "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" off the top spot after four weeks.[5]

The single also reached number seven in Ireland,[6] while in Finland it was a big success, reaching number four and staying on the chart for 4 weeks.[7] In Norway it peaked at number 12 and charted for 2 weeks,[8] and it is the only Manic Street Preachers single to chart in France, where it reached number 157.[9]

The single was released less than two weeks after the large 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. The concert at the Millennium combined with "The Masses Against the Classes" reaching number one as well as the top 20 in three other countries, and the fact that This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours was a commercial and critical success, is frequently pointed as the peak in the Manic Street Preachers' career.[3]

"The Masses Against the Classes" was released both as a CD single and numbered 10-inch vinyl; 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".[10]

Track listing

All music written by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore; except where indicated. All lyrics written by Nicky Wire; except where indicated.

  1. "The Masses Against the Classes" – 3:23
  2. "Close My Eyes" – 4:27
  3. "Rock and Roll Music" (music and lyrics: Chuck Berry) – 2:53

Charts
Chart (2000–2013) Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[11] 6
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 4
France (SNEP)[9] 157
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 7
Norway (VG-lista)[8] 12
Scotland (OCC)[12] 1
UK Singles (OCC)[4] 1

References
  1. Power, Martin (17 October 2010). Manic Street Preachers. Omnibus Press.
  2. Martin Clarke, Manic Street Preachers: Sweet Venom (Plexus, 2009), p. 181.
  3. "THE MASSES AGAINST THE CLASSES".
  4. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  5. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 16 January 2000 - 22 January 2000". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  6. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Masses Against the Classes". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  7. "Manic Street Preachers: The Masses Against the Classes" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  8. "Norwegiancharts.com – Manic Street Preachers – The Masses Against the Classes". VG-lista. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. "Lescharts.com – Manic Street Preachers – The Masses Against the Classes" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  10. "Manic Street Preachers".
  11. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17 no. 5. 29 January 2000. p. 16. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  12. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
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