Siouxsie and the Banshees will reissue their second album — Join Hands, originally released in 1979 — on 180-gram vinyl for Record Store Day in the U.K., a limited-edition pressing featuring the original rejected sleeve and with the song “Infantry” restored to its “rightful place as the album closer,” according to the band.
The pressing, featuring a gatefold sleeve, will be limited to 1,000 copies and available only through participating retailers in the U.K.
According to the Banshees, the album was set to be released in 1979 with its John Maybury-designed sleeve when Polydor Records “suddenly got cold feet about the supposedly ‘religious nature’ of the artwork and substituted it for the version we know today.”
The band released the following statements from Siouxsie and Steven Severin:
Siouxsie: “I’ve always loved the artwork John Maybury presented for Join Hands and it’s wonderful to see again after all this time… Along with the inclusion of ‘Infantry’, here it is finally to have and behold in all its full glory.”
Steven Severin: “Not only does the album now look how it was intended but now boasts the original track listing. I can’t really remember why ‘Infantry’ was left off originally. Maybe we felt we hadn’t the time to develop it a bit further, maybe because it wouldn’t have fitted into the live set. Either way, it’s here now for posterity.”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Siouxsie and the Banshees to release new ‘Spellbound’ 18-track best-of in January
- Siouxsie and the Banshees re-pressing ‘Peepshow’ reissue over ‘minor mastering error’
- Tracklists revealed for Siouxsie and the Banshees’ final 4 expanded reissues
- Siouxsie and the Banshees to reissue ‘Hong Kong Garden’ on double 7-inch vinyl
- ‘The feud is over’: Steven Severin says The Banshees talking again after nearly a decade
- Siouxsie plays ‘Kaleidoscope’ in full at first concert in 5 years (SETLIST, PHOTOS, VIDEO)
I wonder if this will be available in the states?
Good question, Tom. Most likely only as an import, since the last batch of remasters were not domestics, yet again. My guess is that when the soon-to-be-released S&TB Box Set is released later this Spring, it will contain a CD with this original artwork. So, THIS Maybury original “disturbed” Polydor that much that the balked? This album cover is completely different from THE SCREAM’s photo visuals. Considering the albums’s content(esp.”Icon” and “The Lord’s Prayer”)It’s certainly different from the military statue reproductions. Maybe the front cover should be what’s seen above, and the back cover could’ve been the soldiers, embossed like they were supposed to be in 1979. This just makes me more curious as to what else is coming in 2015…between Siouxsie’s sophomore LP (BTW, Sam Mendes better call her to write and perform the title track to SPECTRE…who better than a woman who’s got a history of writing and singing about spectral things?), The Box Set, and Severin’s original score to BORLEY RECTORY, this will be a Siouxsie and Banshee(s) release year like none other. Still waiting for those Japanese mini-LP SHM-CD versions of albums 1987-1995,though.
Severin posted that there are 2500 total pressed, 1000 for the UK and 1500 for overseas. He said if sales are strong then Polydor will consider a re-pressing after the required 6 months passes from record store day, as is part of the agreement for participating. And there is no box set forthcoming, and hasn’t been for quite some time. Something else is being prepared for a May/June release and another for late in the year, though no idea what they are at this point.
This looks awesome! Similar but different topic: has anyone found the recent re-issue/re-master of Join Hands (the one that came out alongside The Scream and Kaleidoscope a few years ago, also with an added ‘Infantry’) in an all-paper case like the rest of the re-issues? I have all of them now and it is the only one in a plastic case! It *bugs* me! lol I’ll gladly purchase it again to have a ‘match set’.
Polydor didn’t ‘balk’ at the original cover.
Nils didn’t like it and persuaded Sioux and Severin to scrap it by claiming that he couldn’t find the copyrightholder. John and Kenny always wanted this cover – which is another reason Nils didn’t want to use it. Stirring little spiv, he was.
Who is Nils?