The Masses Against The Classes
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| The Masses Against The Classes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Missing image The_Masses_Against_The_Classes.jpg Single cover | ||
| Compact disc single and 10” vinyl record by Manic Street Preachers | ||
| Forever Delayed | ||
| Released | January 10, 2000 | |
| Recorded | Rockfield Studios, Wales and Rak Studios, London Autumn 1999 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 10 mins 46 secs | |
| Record label | Epic | |
| Producer | Dave Eringa | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Forever Delayed track listing | ||
| Tsunami (10) (1999) | The Masses Against The Classes (11) (2000) | From Despair To Where (12) (1993) |
The Masses Against The Classes was a limited-edition single released by Manic Street Preachers in January 2000 (see 2000 in music), following the success of their year-end concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium the month before.
The single reached number one in the UK charts on January 22, 2000 without any promotion by the band; it was their second #1 single joining "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (August 24 1998). It was deleted (removed from wholesale supply) on the day of release.
"The Masses Against the Classes" was released both as a CD single and 10"; each version also featured the songs "Close My Eyes" and a cover of Chuck Berry’s "Rock and Roll Music".
A live version of the song has also appeared as a B-side on "Found That Soul" (February 26 2001).
Although "The Masses Against the Classes" was not formerly featured on any album release, it was included on Forever Delayed (October 28, 2002), Manic Street Preachers' greatest hits album, as track eleven.
The single begins with a Noam Chomsky quotation and ends with a quotation from Albert Camus. The record sleeve features the Cuban flag, a mark of the band's socialist political ideology. They were to play in Havanain February 2001 to a sold-out Karl Marx theatre with Fidel Castro in the audience, whom they met when he arrived just thirty minutes before they were due to play.
The title is possibly an allusion to a quote from William Ewart Gladstone - All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes.