From widescreen punk anthems to the more alienated, intense rhythms of previous album 'The Holy Bible', it must have been hard for the Manic Street Preachers to decide on the next route to pursue. This decision was made harder still when - during the beginning of the creation of the album - Richey Edwards went missing. Under these circumstances there was a worrying sense of anticipation for fans of the band as the inevitable musical rethink occured. Singles 'A Design For Life' and the title track possessed less punk spirit admittedly but they remain huge, powerful singles aided by strings which made them into an Oasis for the educated. More importantly the album itself was a triumph with supposedly secondary singles of the calibre of 'Kevin Carter' and 'Australia'; the former complex in its lyrics and guitar shapes, the latter seemed to steal the riff from Magazine's 'Rhythm Of Cruelty'. A poignant mid-section is realised in the shape of 'Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky' an atypically subtle send-off from the pen of Edwards it is the quiet centre point of an otherwise loud album. Normal service is resumed as 'Removables' and 'Interiors' reveal the group's strength in depth further proving that the often heralded songwriter Nicky Wire had a perfect foil in the underrated virtuoso singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield. 'Everything Must Go' received critical and public acclaim during its initial reign and five years on they have been proved to be right.