| Know Your Enemy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Manic Street Preachers | ||||
| Released | March 19, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | 2000 at El Cortijo, Monnow Valley and Rockfield Studios | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, post-punk, hard rock | |||
| Length | 75:34 | |||
| Label | Epic - 501880 2 | |||
| Producer | Dave Eringa, David Holmes, Greg Haver and Mike Hedges | |||
| Manic Street Preachers chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Pitchfork | (7.5/10) 2001 |
| NME | (7/10) 2001 |
| Q | 2001 |
| Mojo | (favourable) 2001 |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavourable) 2001 |
| Yahoo! Music | (7/10) 2001 |
| PopMatters | (unfavourable) 2001 |
| Jam! | (favourable) 2001 |
| Robert Christgau | link |
Know Your Enemy is the sixth album by the Manic Street Preachers. It was released in March 2001 on Virgin Records. The album has songs ranging from energetic lo-fi rock songs reminiscent of their earlier material to highly produced, more melodic pop songs as well as a disco song ('Miss Europa Disco Dancer'). The album also features Nicky Wire's debut as a lead vocalist ('Wattsville Blues') and James Dean Bradfield's debut as a lyricist ('Ocean Spray'.)
The album derives its name from Sun Tzu's The Art of War Part III, 'Act Of Strategum', the English translation being "So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle". The working title of this album was Fidel, after Cuban president Fidel Castro.
The album reached the Top 20 in many countries including the UK, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Australia and Denmark.
All tracks written by Bradfield/Moore (music) and Wire (lyrics), unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Found That Soul" | 3:05 |
| 2. | "Ocean Spray" (Lyrics by Bradfield) | 4:11 |
| 3. | "Intravenous Agnostic" | 4:02 |
| 4. | "So Why So Sad" | 4:02 |
| 5. | "Let Robeson Sing" | 3:46 |
| 6. | "The Year of Purification" | 3:39 |
| 7. | "Wattsville Blues" | 4:29 |
| 8. | "Miss Europa Disco Dancer" | 3:52 |
| 9. | "Dead Martyrs" | 3:23 |
| 10. | "His Last Painting" | 3:16 |
| 11. | "My Guernica" | 4:56 |
| 12. | "The Convalescent" | 5:54 |
| 13. | "Royal Correspondent" | 3:31 |
| 14. | "Epicentre" | 6:26 |
| 15. | "Baby Elián" | 3:37 |
| 16. | "Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children" | 2:59 |
"Epicentre" features around a minute-long snippet of a vocal part from the song "Masking Tape" as a hidden track after its ending. "Masking Tape" was eventually released as a B-side for "Let Robeson Sing".
On some versions of this album, there is a hidden track recording of "We Are All Bourgeois Now" by McCarthy. It is hidden after "Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children".
A version of "The Masses Against the Classes" appeared on the Australian release, along with a remix of "So Why So Sad".