The band originally envisioned Know Your Enemy as two separate albums with very different sounds and concepts,with the intention of releasing both on the same day. However,the record label vetoed the idea and a compromise was made,resulting in a single,lengthy,very diverse record.[2] Whilst the album sold well,it did not match the success of its predecessor,This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. Critics were somewhat divided in their opinions at first,but its reception since has been more positive.
In 2022,the band released remixed and expanded 2- and 3-disc editions of Know Your Enemy,rearranging the tracks into the two separate albums as originally intended.
Background
Drummer Sean Moore stated in an interview with a Spanish reporter in 2014 that the songs included on Know Your Enemy were originally intended for two separate albums:Door to the River,which consisted of more reflective and personal material,and the heavier,more politically charged Solidarity,with the intention of releasing both on the same day. However,the record label was not inclined to put out two albums at the same time (they would feel the same in 2013–2014 with Rewind the Film and Futurology) and so most of the material was released as one lengthy,highly varied,75-minute album instead. Because of this,Moore felt that the finished album was "strange" and "confusing".[2] The only remnant of the original two-album idea was that the first two singles,"So Why So Sad" and "Found That Soul" –reflecting the very different styles at play –were released on the same day as a publicity stunt.[3]
The album departs from the arena rock of the band's previous two albums,featuring a rougher,less polished sound. It also displays influences from a much wider range of styles than before.[4] On the album's diverse sound,Pitchfork Media stated:"Know Your Enemy finds the Manics attempting to write a protest song in just about every genre."[5] They attributed the "riotous" punk sound of the tracks "Found That Soul","Intravenous Agnostic",and "Dead Martyrs" to the influence of Sonic Youth and Joy Division and the jangle-pop of "The Year of Purification" and "Epicentre" to R.E.M.[5] The tracks "So Why So Sad" and "Miss Europa Disco Dancer" were described as "a Beach Boys homage" and "a disco parody" respectively,[4][5][6][7] while "My Guernica","His Last Painting" and "The Convalescent" were described as "dark,marching and charging post-punk anthems".[6]
The left-wing political convictions of the Manic Street Preachers are apparent in many of the album's songs. "Baby Elián" comments on the strained relations between the United States and Cuba as seen in the Elián González affair. The band also pays tribute to singer and Civil Rights activist Paul Robeson in the song "Let Robeson Sing".[8]
About the political side of the record,Wire told The Scotsman,"Unfortunately it was four years before everyone else got interested in politics. It took everyone else a war. Where have these people been the last four years? Forty years? American foreign policy's never changed. There's a track called 'Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children' about forcing freedom on societies that says everything we ever needed to say." Wire also described the album as "a deeply flawed,highly enjoyable folly".[9]
James Dean Bradfield reflected on the album in 2015,placing it as his second least favourite album that the band made. "When we came in to do this album we were reacting to the massive success in Europe and other parts of the world. Not America. But with Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth we had sold millions of records around the world,and after This Is My Truth we kind of reacted against our own success. We thought that we had lost some of that original punk spirit that we’d had. It had kind of always been in the lyrics and some of our performances,but we thought we’d become too polished. We thought that perhaps we had fallen onto a treadmill of success,which was stupid. You look back on all this stuff and think,“What a fucking idiot I was!”You can’t help but live in the moment,and basically with Know Your Enemy we tried to be too spontaneous and too organic. We were just laying stuff down quite quickly and not worrying about the production. And we undersold some of the songs on the record. It’s not the producer’s fault,it’s our fault. We backed him into a corner and said,“No,we want to keep things fresh and do it quickly.”And we didn’t give the record a chance to breathe or sound good."[10]
Nicky Wire reflected on the album in 2021:"Musically,I was particularly lazy and destructive. Constantly saying,'It's too tight - can't we use the demo?' Too many lyrics just weren't finished. The original idea was to have two albums:one called Solidarity,after the Polish trade union movement,and one called Door to the River,which was the softer side. James just looked at me:'Why are you trying to do this weird shit all the time?' In a nice way."[11]
Release
Know Your Enemy was released on 19 March 2001. The album debuted and peaked at number 2 in the UK Album Chart,spending a total of 17 weeks in the Top 100.[1] In Ireland the album reached number 5. Around the world it was fairly successful,[8] peaking at number 3 in Finland and remaining five weeks in the Finnish charts.[12] It was number 6 in Denmark,[13] number 7 in Sweden,[14] and number 8 in Norway and in Greece.[15] In Germany,[16] Belgium[17] and in Australia[18] it charted within the top 20.
Know Your Enemy reached the top 10 in seven countries. It peaked at number 5 in the European charts. Since its release in March 2001,Know Your Enemy has sold more than 200,000 copies in the UK alone.[19]
In 2021,Nicky Wire reflected on the album's reputation and sales:"To this day,you see Know Your Enemy at service stations for £2.99,because they bought so many thinking it was by one of those commercial bands! In retrospect,it sold half a million copies. Imagine what we'd give for that now."[11]
Know Your Enemy received generally mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic the album has a score of 57,which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[20]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said in two and a half stars review that "it was time to strike back with a harsh,political record" after the more "lush arena rock" of their previous albums Everything Must Go (1996) and This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998) "The block-type cover art reveals that at a glance,and so does the ferocious opener,"Found That Soul," both suggesting their dark high watermark,The Holy Bible." observing "This is the album where the Manics tie all their disparate strands together,up the political ante,try new things,all in an attempt to prove they're still vital. When it works,this can be pretty invigorating,but when it doesn't,it's utterly maddening." concluding that the length and inconsistent quality damaged "a record that rocks harder,sounds better,than anything since Richey James disappeared -- but lacks the sense of craft that made Everything Must Go a minor masterpiece."[26]
Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention,calling it "punk propaganda poppified" and citing "Ocean Spray" and "Let Robeson Sing" as highlights.[21]
Victoria Segal from the NME gave a positive review to the album and wrote:"Know Your Enemy sees them scrabbling for some of that early freedom,catapulting themselves back to a time when their minds could only just keep pace with their lipsticked mouths and they had all the establishment credentials of a red light district. It's a dangerous mission,returning to the scene of your earliest triumphs is a textbook example of the fool's errand."[23]
Pitchfork Media described the album as "provocative,well-done,but not quite focused enough to take the listener anywhere in particular."[5]
Mojo called the album "such a sprawling,unwieldy beast that the instrumental hooks take time to emerge".[20]
A negative review came from Rolling Stone,which wrote:"Nowhere amidst all the confusion is there even a worthwhile tune to be salvaged",calling it "hideously dull".[25]
On 9 September 2022, Manic Street Preachers released new 2- and 3-disc editions of Know Your Enemy. In putting together the reissue, Nicky Wire proposed resurrecting the two separate albums that the band had originally envisioned; James Dean Bradfield agreed on the condition that he was allowed to remix the tracks with Dave Eringa. This meant including six additional tracks not featured on the original release: the non-album single "The Masses Against the Classes", "Door to the River" from the compilation album Forever Delayed (but with the orchestra removed), the B-sides "Just a Kid" and "Groundhog Days" and the previously unreleased "Rosebud" and "Studies in Paralysis". The latter two were released as teaser singles in the weeks leading up to the reissue. Two other notable changes were that The Avalanches' remix of "So Why So Sad" replaced the original and that the track "Royal Correspondant" was removed.[27] Furthermore, the "Masking Tape" excerpt ("Happy black days/Here's the summer...") originally included at the end of "Epicentre" was removed and added to the end of the track "Groundhog Days" and the Albert Camus quotation was removed from the outro of "The Masses Against the Classes."
Note: On the standard 2-CD and vinyl editions, Door to the River is a 10-track album and Solidarity is a 12-track album. On the 3-CD digibook edition, three alternative/original mixes and the outtake "Royal Correspondent" are added to disc one, while B-sides are added to disc two. None of these tracks have been remixed. The third disc contains demos.
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