THB - The critics rate it highly, but I can see their point - It was the year of Parklife and Definitely Maybe (no dismissal, just to let you know ahead of time...you know who I feel about those albums), and here was an work that was certainly not a party album and not an easy ride, something that was up there (some even say beyond...but I view them equally) with Nirvana's In Utero as something that seriously gave the listener a mind-slap of angry and dark honesty. With THB being released shortly after Cobain's passing, and with the public showing not much interest, it quickly turned into that album Critics rate immediately, and we know how they certainly love to give such albums their words to let listeners know that such a work that was one of the dark sides of 1994 lives up to what most listeners say - maybe a little over rated Critic-wise, but certainly ignored chart/public-wise, and criminally largely still is despite all of the write-up we see on a regular basis.
I can understand those who don't view it as high as Generation Terrorists and (I say) the singles from Gold Against the Soul (Who can forget their TOTP performance of "La Tristesse Durera" once seen?). Overall, The Manics are really at their best when they bring in the listener into their driving Rock, or Glam-driven image and sound of the very early days, and THB certainly is something that can divide the listeners down the line with most being on it's side. Still, to me, it was the classic moment when they decided to throw themselves into a dark space all the way, and I salute that as it turned out to be a great album (possibly their best) - For a Pop Culture comparison see the epic TOTP appearance of the aforementioned with the classic controversial THB-era appearance when they were promoting "Faster".
As for EMG - I don't really see it as their Britpop album, more like THE moment when Post-Britpop was started. EMG was released when the "Death of the Party" was in the air, and with Spice Girls quickly shoving most Britpop nearly off the Smash Hits magazines, EMG pointed a way to the future of Rock in The UK/Wales. Although there were not many musicians who followed quality-wise, it was at least a right move for the band, and an album along with (In '97) Radiohead's OK Computer, Blur's S/T, and (in '98) Pulp's This Is Hardcore to understand why something like Oasis' Be Here Now sounded empty and most of the rest of Britpop hardly mattered to most listeners beyond the few still-listening (I was one, but you know what I mean).
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