Confrontational, angry and dressed like nu-punk stars, the Manics came from Blackwood and went on to conquer Europe. Heavy eyeliner, feather boas, political sloganeering - it's not the sort of thing you'd usually find in the small South Wales town of Blackwood. But from unlikely beginnings came one of the most important bands of all time to have come from Wales.

They came together in 1986, when James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Sean Moore and rhythm guitarist Flicker formed Betty Blue. Two years later, Flicker had left and Nicky's friend Richey Edwards (previously the group's driver) joined in his place.

Inspired by the passion of The Clash, and moved by Thatcher's suppression of the miners, the band's lyrics exploded with politicised anger. Their first single, the self-financed Suicide Alley, didn't make great waves, and the band moved to London. There, they found a sympathetic character in the form of Bob Stanley: later a member of St Etienne, but then a freelancer for the Melody Maker.

Stanley released a collection of their demos as the New Art Riot EP in June 1990. It caught the attention of Philip Hall, who became their publicist and co-manager. In early 1991 Heavenly released Motown Junk, an inspired three-minute punk blast. Later that year it was followed by You Love Us, a swaggering, arrogant self-regarding slice of brilliance.

The Manics paved the way for a resurgence of guitar bands in Wales. In the press, they were forced to live with punning headlines referring to sheep, boyos and leeks - they got all the clichés out of the way so the bands of the so-called Cool Cymru would be taken more seriously. Yet their image often overshadowed the music. On 15 May 1991 came a turning point for the Manics. Following a gig at Norwich Arts Centre, Steve Lamacq, then writing for the NME, argued with the band that they were in some way disingenuous. The band refuted this, but still Lamacq persisted. Frustrated, Richey Edwards took a razor and carved the words 4 REAL into his forearm. Lamacq was horrified; Richey needed 17 stitches. Six days later the Manics signed to Sony.

In February 1992 the debut album Generation Terrorists was released. Heavily influenced by Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction, Richey said of it, "We wanted to sign to the biggest record label in the world, put out a debut album that would sell 20 million, and then break up. Get massive and then just throw it all away". The album sold 250,000 copies worldwide. Predictably they didn't split up, but the album polarised opinion between those that saw them as the new saviours of rock and roll, and detractors who considered them contrived and insincere. Not that the Manics cared: they were off on their first American tour, shortly after the LA riots, and singles such as Slash 'N' Burn and Motorcycle Emptiness were climbing up the charts.

The second Manics album was released in June 1993. Gold Against The Soul was overproduced and less passionate, but did contain the classic songs La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) and From Despair To Where. However, they also chose to support Bon Jovi for a string of live dates. Things weren't looking good for the band. The troubles continued with the death on 7 December 1993 of their mentor Philip Hall, who had been battling cancer for two years. Meanwhile, Richey's problems were worsening. Weighing less than six stone and subjecting his body to drinking and cutting binges, he was eventually admitted to the Priory in Roehampton.

Richey's despair was documented in the Manics masterpiece, 1994's The Holy Bible. Unremittingly bleak, the opening song Yes contained the lines "I eat and I dress and I wash and I still can say thank you/Puking, shaking, sinking/Can't shout, can't scream, I hurt myself to get pain out". The song was about prostitution, but every line emanated from Richey's fragile state of mind. He rejoined the band for tours with Therapy? and Suede in Europe, and a series of frantic shows at the London Astoria in December. The final night saw them destroying 10,000 worth of their equipment. "We'll never be that good again," said Nicky after the event. It was also their last live appearance as a four-piece.

Although they had never found transatlantic success, at the beginning of 1995 they were preparing to give America one last try. However, on 1 February Richey walked out of the Embassy hotel in London and never returned. His passport and money were found in his Cardiff Bay flat, and two weeks later his car was discovered beside the Severn Bridge - a notorious local suicide spot. The file on his disappearance remains open.

"We decided to carry on in April," said Nicky Wire in The Guardian, "after two months of waiting by the phone and feeling ill and exhausted. We thought we'd been so close, and in the end we couldn't do anything for him." By January 1996 the Manics were recording their comeback album Everything Must Go. It was released on 20 May to critical acclaim, went double platinum and yielded four top ten singles: A Design For Life, the title track, Kevin Carter and Australia.

Two Brit Awards later, they released their weakest album, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. The resulting criticism had an effect on the Manics, and they recorded the angry punk song The Masses Against The Classes in 1999. It reached number one, aided by its limited edition status and a triumphant New Year event at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Nicky stated that "the fourth era of the Manics is beginning".

The fourth era, so far, has involved an audience with Fidel Castro in Cuba, the album Know Your Enemy, and continuing success. With the odds so often stacked against them, Manic Street Preachers have proved again and again to be natural born survivors. Their long awaited greatest hits collection, Forever Delayed, appeared in October 2002, and appeared to be the close of yet another period in their history.

The Manics returned in November 2004 with the album LifeBlood, preceded by the single The Love Of Richard Nixon and a UK arena tour in December 2004. A 10th Anniversary edition of the Holy Bible was also released during December 2004 which included many extras. At the end of the tour ‘Past, Present, Future’ the guys announced that they were taking a 2 year break.

2006 saw James and Nicky take up solo projects. Both did UK tours to support the release of their albums. James’s album ‘Great Western’ was released July 2006 and Nicky’s ‘I killed the Zeitgeist’ got released September 2006.

2007 saw the Manics return with vengeance with the release of their album ‘Send Away the Tigers’ (which reached #02 in the album charts) supported by a 23 date UK tour, played in the smaller venues and also a wide range of European festivals. The album took the band back to their roots and was well received.

The band return with their 9th studio album offering 'Journal For Plague Lovers' on 18th May this year. Produced by Steve Albini and recorded live at Rockfield Studios in Wales during the Winter of 2008, the album features lyrics left behind by former guitarist Richey Edwards across all 13 new tracks. An original piece of Jenny Saville’s art is the cover of ‘Journal for Plague Lovers’, whose painting graced the cover of 1994’s ‘The Holy Bible’.

Nicky Wire said of the decision to use Richey’s words after all this time, "The brilliance and intelligence of the lyrics dictated that we had to finally use them. The use of language is stunning and topics include The Grande Odalisque by Ingres, Marlon Brando, Giant Haystacks, celebrity, consumerism and dysmorphia, all reiterating the genius and intellect of Richard James Edwards”.

Musically the band draw on their classic Holy Bible sound with elements of Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’, as well as a delicate, beautiful acoustic side.