Tag: 25th Anniversary

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Happy Mondays “Pills ‘n’ thrills and bellyaches”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Happy Mondays
Album Title: Pills ‘n’ thrills and bellyaches
Year released: 1990
Year reissued: 2015
Details: 25th anniversary, reissue, 180 gram, yellow, RSD exclusive

The skinny: A few weeks ago, I shared photos of my translucent yellow, 20th anniversary copy of Coldplay’s debut album, “Parachutes”. For this edition of ‘Vinyl Love’, I decided to keep with the same colour scheme and another anniversary edition, of yet another classic alternative rock album. Picked up on Record Store Day 2015, this Rhino Vinyl reissue of Happy Mondays’ seminal third album wasn’t even on my radar when I ventured into one of my favourite independent shops that day. Indeed, I didn’t even know it was on the list of releases ahead of time but when I saw it on the shelf, the snap decision was made. And it’s one for which I’ve been thankful I’ve made ever since. Not only is the 180 gram slab of yellow vinyl quite pretty and the original album art as confusing and as arresting as ever, but the sound is amazing. “Pills ‘n’ thrills and bellyaches” is one of the greatest examples of what made Madchester so much fun: a swirling conundrum of punk DIY, druggy psychedelics, and dance floor ready beats. “You’re twistin’ my melon, man!”

Standout track: “Step on”

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Levellers “Levelling the land”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Levellers
Album Title: Levelling the land
Year released: 1991
Year reissued: 2016
Details: 2 x LP, 25th anniversary edition, includes bonus live disc

The skinny: Even if you are a regular on these pages, you could be forgiven for not noticing that I have been counting down my favourite albums of 1991 since midway through January, especially given the lackadaisical pace I am setting. But it’s true and I am enjoying it. In fact, just this past Thursday, I posted album number four and the album of our focus today appeared at number six a month ago. Levellers’ sophomore record, “Levelling the land”, is definitely my favourite by the band and when they announced this 25th anniversary reissue, I jumped all over it. The pressing includes “Fifteen years”, a song that wasn’t on initial pressings but was tacked on to the end of the cassette copy I purchased way back in the day. Also included is a bonus disc that features a live performance by the band of the album in full for its 20th anniversary back in 2011. I’m not typically one for live albums myself but it was a nice surprise nonetheless. It definitely captures the riotous, folk rock energy put forth by the fiddle, the didgeridoo, and an ecstatic crowd singing along with every word. Yeah, I’d be right there with them.

Standout track: “One way”

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Cranberries “No need to argue”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: The Cranberries
Album Title: No need to argue
Year released: 1994
Year reissued: 2020
Details: 2 x LP, 25th anniversary, limited edition, clear vinyl, gatefold sleeve, essay printed on inner sleeves, bonus tracks

The skinny: I’d been wanting to add this record to my collection for many years now but the only pressing that seemed to be readily available was the one by Plain Records that by all accounts, is subpar at best. Then, The Cranberries’ debut album, “Everybody else is doing it, so why can’t we?“, was reissued in 2018 for its 25th anniversary (which I bought) and so I figured if I could just be patient, a 25th anniversary reissue of “No need to argue” would soon follow. And this release is definitely worth waiting for. The sound and the packaging is impeccable, the album proper pressed across three sides and some bonus tracks included on the fourth side. My wife Victoria and I were both fans of the album back when it was originally released. Of course, we were both quite young back then and were still getting to know each other but we had this album in common. When I lost interest after “No need to argue”, Victoria continued to follow them. However, she’s yet to listen to the record with me since I got it last fall because she is haunted by how frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan passed a couple years ago. But maybe soon…

Standout track: “I can’t be with you”