The Manic Street Preachers will always be up there in my favourite bands and their history is a story in itself with how many times they've managed to come back against the odds and still produce some wonderful, re-inventive sounds for the band. Escape From History is focused on the considerable tragedy that struck the band in 1995 with Richey Edwards going missing and the fallout of that leading up to the release of Everything Must Gone with commercial and critical acclaim.

Everything Must Go still stands proud as one of the Manics' greates albums in their long standing discography but what makes it an even more astonishing achievement was how they created it still in the doubts of the future of the band in searching for not only their friend Richey but also themselves in what they could do next in this time of doubt. Escape from History goes into detail with the band members themselves and surrounding managers, producers and so forth that discuss quite honestly how serious this period of time was. There's a great deal of honesty in there and all of the closest people to the band get their say throughout Escape from History.

What I found interesting about the documentary though was the honest from the band themselves. There's a moment in which lead singer James Dean Bradfield begins to realise what they have on their hands with Everything Must Go but slips into a spiral of self doubt wondering to himself if this was something Richey would approve of, if Richey would even like what they were going. Everything Must Go is an obvious departure from the previous albums the Manics had made, and the Holy Bible in particular in being such a brutal listen in comparison thematically. It's no surprise though to hear the producer on Everything Must Go immediately point out to the band upon hearing rough versions of Design For Life that this was the 'jukebox song'. And how right he was.

The style of Escape from History feels very 'Manics' as well, which isn't a huge surprise given that director Kieran Evans is a long time collaborator with the band's videos. In between some of the more sombre discussions we see lingering shots of countryside areas, of coastlines alongside the discussions of Richey's last appearances and there's a real sombre feel to a lot of these moments. It's quite beautiful in a few places but as the discussions falls more towards the development of Everything Must Go more archival footage comes in and we see more of the band than in the initial first half. Plus I think this documentary might be the most I've ever seen drummer Sean Moore talk!

Escape from History is quite an important look at how a band finds itself again after such an awful event in losing not only their bandmate but their friend with no closure. In amongst all of that uncertainty they manage to find a sound that works for them with incredible confidence and re-energizes the band we still have creating relevant music 20 years later. It's a solid documentary even for fans not even that aware of the band just to learn more into this part of their lives and the importance of Everything Must Go to their lives.