[tweetmeme]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.”
