Manics To Take Holy Bible Album On Tour

Manic Street Preachers are taking their 20-year-old album The Holy Bible - viewed by many as their greatest release - on tour for the first time later this year.

The trio, who released their 12th album Futurology in July, will play a series of shows in December, ending with three dates at the Roundhouse in London.

Bleak and abrasive, The Holy Bible was the final album to feature guitarist Richey Edwards.

He disappeared in 1995, little over five months after its release, and his fragile mental state is evident in his final songs.

The London dates, on December 15, 16 and 17, come almost exactly 20 years after the group played their final shows with Edwards - not long after he was treated at the Priory Clinic - when they performed three nights at the now demolished London Astoria.

The Holy Bible was named the greatest album of all time in a poll of viewers conducted by the Newsnight programme in 2005.

A spokeswoman for James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore said: "They have never played the whole record and these very special shows, much rumoured and speculated about, will be must-see events for fans."

The band will kick off their tour at Glasgow Barrowlands on December 8, calling at Manchester's Albert Hall, Dublin's Olympia Theatre and ending at the Roundhouse.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on September 26.