Writing for '' Q '' magazine in June 1996 , Tom Doyle felt that '' Everything Must Go '' had " little in common " with its predecessor , '' The Holy Bible '' , and saw the album as a return to , and improvement upon , the " epic pop-rock " sound of '' Gold Against the Soul '' . He noted the band 's choice of producer , Mike Hedges , as a possible contributing factor to the overall change in sound , and drew parallels to the lyrics of Kurt Cobain and the " reverb-laden " music of Phil Spector . Nicholas Barber of '' The Independent '' described '' Everything Must Go '' as " the most immediate , assured and anthemic British hard-rock album since Oasis 's '' Definitely Maybe '' " , noting that the record was more accessible when comparing it to the " crushingly heavy-going " sound of '' The Holy Bible '' , especially , he noted , for a band " who once would have spat at the breadhead , corporate-sell-out idea of a hummable ditty . " '' Vox '' magazine 's Mark Sutherland saw '' Everything Must Go '' as the group 's " most approachable " album , describing it as a " record so superb it might just make intelligence fashionable again " , and surmising that the album " proves that , professionally , at least , the Manic Street Preachers do n't miss Richey . " '' Rolling Stone '' critic David Fricke called '' Everything Must Go '' the " most underrated album of the year " , describing it as " a record of painstaking melodic craft and thundering execution , a proclamation of physical and emotional cleansing – up to a point . " In a retrospective review , Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote : " Above all , '' Everything Must Go '' is a cathartic experience -- it is genuinely moving to hear the Manics offering hope without sinking to mawkish sentimentality or collapsing under the weight of their situation . " Reviewing the 10th anniversary edition , Dave Simpson of '' The Guardian '' said that the album " achieved the zenith of the Welshmen 's original ambition : to conquer the mainstream with anger , art and soul . " Writing for Sputnikmusic , Nick Butler concluded that " '' Everything Must Go '' is a stellar album , stuffed with great , anthemic songs , and it 's a rewarding listening experience . It loses ground to '' The Holy Bible '' simply because it 's not as unique , but if '' Everything Must Go '' is inferior , it 's only slightly so . " The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 1996 but failed to win it ; however , the album won the award for Best British Album and the Manic Street Preachers won Best British Group at the 1997 Brit Awards . In the NME Awards of 1996 '' Everything Must Go '' was named Album of the Year , and the Manic Street Preachers also won the award for Best Live Act and Best Single for " A Design for Life "
1997 Brit Awards
1997 Brit Awards
Everything Must Go (Manic Street Preachers album)