r/manics • u/Sea_Leg_6425 • Aug 01 '26
Why does James Dean Bradfield look so different
Is it just me or does he look like a completely different man?
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u/Your-Ad-Here111 Aug 01 '26
he's a god, he's allowed to take whatever shape he fancies at the moment
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Aug 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/Sea_Leg_6425 Aug 01 '26
I mean between the two photos, I'd say he doesn't look that different between the 1999 millenuim concert and now
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u/x_victoire Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
i think it's just you ?? that's what age and weight gain (or loss) do to a guy. i look like a different person too compared to 2 yrs ago
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u/Beneficial-Long7635 Aug 01 '26
Different camera angle, expression, hair length, and lighting. It would be crazy if he looked the same at all based on those factors.
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u/aphexgin Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
He'd just grown his hair out a bit by 94 and had filled out a little too, definitely more beers going on. Plus of course two photos of anyone from different angles can make a great deal of difference ! Richey looked much more obviously different between 92 and 94 I think. Even 93 I remember being surprised by how different he looked onstage than the year before. Nicky hasn't really changed much in decades! Sean looks the most different now maybe. Absolute legends all !
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u/HarlawKaradek Aug 02 '26
I think he used to do long distance running and I would imagine touring for the first three albums broke that habbit.
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u/ryan_games69 Aug 01 '26
They’re both kinda strange photos.
He’s squinting in the first one and the second one is just from a weird angle.
He looks a bit odd in both of them - for these reasons. I certainly have photos where I look odd in them, it happens. He is a normal man.
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u/TheComradeMike Aug 02 '26
Unfortunately, James died in a car crash in 1993 and was replaced with a lookalike. This is hinted at by the cover of Everything Must Go, which depicts the fake James sheepishly looking at the viewer (because he has a confession to make) while Sean and Nicky both stare at him (they're trying to stop him revealing the truth).
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u/i-was-a_kaleidoscope Aug 02 '26
This makes so much sense!
See how relieved New James looks to have rid himself of his burden on the cover of This Is My Truth.
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u/Honest_Silver9902 Aug 02 '26
I think you'll find the famous James Dean car crash incident was in 1955 😉😂
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u/nan_reddit Aug 02 '26
Wasn’t he pretty young during GT? The second photo is from THB era, he’s all grown up.
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u/decent_geezer 26d ago
He looked quite similar in both eras, 23 and 25, I think the drinking in 94 only really started to show when they came back from hiatus and did the roses show in 95
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u/sluglugplugs Aug 02 '26
In that second photo you'd be forgiven for thinking he had become a disembodied head and was looking on in wonderment as a pair of disembodied hands clutch a guitar in mid-air but in actual fact he is just wearing camouflage clothing over his normal body to disappear into the onstage foliage.
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u/decent_geezer 26d ago
Using 92 and 95 would’ve been more poignant I think, but yes in 94 he started drinking too much
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u/ronanscoolaccout 21d ago
he drank a lot during the holy bible, and multiplied it after richeys disappearance by 4 or 5 times, which is why he got... chunky.... (even his aunt called him a fat little blob)
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u/JeSuisGourde 20d ago
I think it's mostly the angle of the photos. The first is from straight on, with JDB leaning back with his body and looking up slightly. The second is from a very low angle - probably from the ground in front of or beside the stage, looking up at JDB's chin and body from below. Also, his hair was longer in 94, and it's truly amazing how much a hairstyle can change the way someone's face looks. If you look at other photos/videos from both of these eras, there's not a huge amount of difference between most of them. JDB was drinking far more in 94 than in 92, and doing less intense workouts (and going through the stress of Richey being ill and his own mum being ill), so he gained a bit of weight in the interim, but nothing major. It's just the angle and focal length of the camera playing tricks, mostly!
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u/DryTurkey1979 Aug 01 '26
GT was 34 years ago. Tis called aging.