James Dean Bradfield quotes:

I became a completely dysfunctional, miserable person, completely uncommunicative and aggressive.

Most bands, when they sign with a major, are from an indie. They usually start off with a big dilemma. They think they're selling a part of their souls or they're losing control over an aspect of their lives or something.

I've never really been interested in replicating the record in live performance, because I'd just get bored. When I was young I used to go and see bands and, even if it was my favorite band, I'd get bored after twenty minutes.

I think it's good that opportunity, like circumstances, can really affect what you do and you have no control over it.

Anybody that forms a group, writes songs and releases records and says they don't care if people like them are complete liars.

The people I've met -- obviously, the people I'm going to meet after concerts are people that bother to hang around and there's going to be more of a chance of things translating to them because they're going to take more time over it, if they're going to wait around to meet us. But so far, it does seem as if things written down are translating into people actually buying it, that kind of way.

It's quite a mistake to think that music fans don't work on major record companies. Sometimes, you know, you do find some good people on corporates, among all the infidels.

Britain, as a pop music nation, used to have this very 'empire' kind of attitude. We used to 'invade' the world with our bands, you know? That's obviously changed, because in Europe they're much more interested in bands speaking their own language. Especially in France and Germany. They're starting to develop their own bands much more.

I'm always very interested in playing in front of different kinds of audiences. It always affects the way you play.

I set myself a rule before I actually write a tune to the lyrics, and the rule is that I've got to take the lyrics on to a level of understanding before I can actually write music to them. What I'm doing is interpretation. If I don't write the lyrics, therefore I must interpret them to the best of my ability. So my rule is that I must understand it, but I don't necessarily have to accept.

I never write a tune before the lyrics. I get the lyrics and then I write around them. Some people write music and the lyrics come along and they say, 'Oh yeah, I've got something to fit that.' If that's the way people write songs, I feel like you might as well just go to the supermarket.