2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of our second record “King!” It seems both an impossibly long time ago, yet somehow also like it was only yesterday… We are thrilled to announce that 4AD is honouring “King’s” 30th with a limited-edition, remastered vinyl reissue for Record Store Day 2025 on April 12th! Pressed on limited green vinyl, remastered by Kevin Vanbergen, and featuring original sleeve design by Chris Bigg (v23).
Belly’s second album, “King”, celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special vinyl pressing on Record Store Day 2025. Belly found themselves at something of a crossroads when it came to following up their 1993 debut album “Star” – a wildly successful record that earned the band two GRAMMY nominations including the coveted Best New Artist award
With bassist Gail Greenwood having joined the ranks in between, she plus the trio of Tanya Donelly and brothers Chris and Tom Gorman rented a house in rural Rhode Island to write collaboratively before heading to Nassau in the Bahamas to record in Island Records founder Chris Blackwell’s legendary studio Compass Point (a place famed for where AC/DC, Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, and countless others recorded major works)
Away from industry pressure and guided by veteran producer Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who), they made the most of the relaxed surroundings, recording live in the room and minimising overdubs so to capture as much of the band’s chemistry on tape as they could. Featuring singles “Now They’ll Sleep”, “Seal My Fate”, and “Super-Connected”, the resultant “King” was a step on, a deceptively complex album where the quartet had chosen artistic growth over commerciality
Their lyrics took more of a political and personal bent, while musically it was heavier, in part due to Gail’s muscular playing style and more deft guitar interplay between Tanya and Tom
Keeping its original sleeve design by Chris Bigg (v23), this long demanded repress is coming on limited green vinyl with the album having been remastered by Kevin Vanbergen.S
We are also excited to announce we’ll be playing a limited run of fall 2025 shows to honour “King’s” Anniversary, performing the entire album (plus some other songs, of course). Dates, cities and ticket links coming soon!
SPIN Magazine saying at the time that it marked their evolution from “indie darlings to rock contenders.” Having been out of print on vinyl since its release 30 years ago, 4AD are delighted to be working with both the band and Rhino in North America to finally put it back on the shelves on Record Store Day 2025
The Fat Angel Sings 