at The Guardian. Mackay opined "Its darkly rushing chorus is a perfect example of how Bradfield's music lifted Edwards' lyrics into something that, though harsh, was also full of an almost joyous energy, a mile-a-minute thrill and a sense of limitless audacity." James Forryan of HMV selected the song as one of the band's 5 highlights, who regarded it as among the best examples of Edwards' "peak of his powers as lyricist." In 2011, NME ranked the song number two on their list of the 10 greatest Manic Street Preachers songs, and in 2022, The Guardian ranked the song number one on their list of the 30 greatest Manic Street Preachers songs. In 2014, NME ranked the song 217th in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. They later placed it at number 1 in their list of 40 Essential Manic Street Preachers Tracks, with James Dean Bradfield saying "It's one of Richey's soothsaying lyrics. There's a lot of prophesy, in terms of the acceleration of everything, joy, pain, death, consumerism." Top of the Pops performance The band performed "Faster" on the BBC's Top of the Pops, with lead singer James Dean Bradfield wearing an IRA-style balaclava with his first name scrawled over his forehead and the rest of the band wearing military regalia. Many viewers interpreted this as a show of support for the IRA, and the BBC told the band that a record number of complaints (over 25,000) had been received. Track listing CD "Faster" – 3:54 "P.C.P." – 3:53 "Sculpture of Man" – 1:53 "New Art Riot (In E Minor)" – 3:00 10" vinyl "Faster" "P.C.P." "Sculpture of Man" Cassette "Faster" "P.C.P." Charts References 1994 singles British punk rock songs Epic Records singles Manic Street Preachers songs Political songs Songs written by James Dean Bradfield Songs written by Nicky Wire Songs written by Richey Edwards Songs written by Sean Moore (musician) 1994 songs