James will be reissuing their 1993 album Laid and its 1994 companion piece Wah Wah on March 23 in a number of new formats with the Super Deluxe edition featuring a range of previously unreleased tracks. The Laid album contained the hit single of the same name as well as further Top 30 singles Sometimes and Say Something and is regarded by many as their finest work. Wah Wah was released a year later and is a collection of studio jams recorded at the same time as Laid with Brian Eno and features live favourites Jam J and Honest Joe.
The two albums are also being released on a two-disc Deluxe Edition featuring both albums as the band originally intended it to be released and, more importantly for fans, on 180g heavy double vinyl, a must for collectors as the original vinyl issues are long since deleted. There are also 500 numbered clear vinyl double LP versions of Laid and Wah Wah available from Universal's vinyl store.
According to front man Tim Booth, Laid and Wah Wah are “the culmination of playing four or five hours a day four or five days a week in Manchester and the new band adapting to that. It is about the transition of becoming more of a band but with Brian at the helm.” Booth remembers jamming “hundreds of songs that never saw the light of day” and guitarist Larry Gott suggests it might have been “as many as 340 tracks.”
The Super Deluxe edition also contains extensive interviews with the band about the recording of the album as well as a selection of press cuttings from the time that Even The Stars was heavily involved in the compilation of. The package also includes postcards from the time and a selection of badges.
The tracklisting of the Super Deluxe Edition is as follows:
Disc 1 - Laid - Out To Get You, Sometimes, Dream Thrum, One Of The Three, Say Something, Five-O, PS, Everybody Knows, Knuckle Too Far, Low Low Low, Laid, Lullaby, Skindiving
Disc 2 - Wah Wah - Hammer Strings, Pressure's On, Jam J, Frequency Dip, Lay The Law Down, Burn The Cat, Maria, Low Clouds, Building A Fire, Gospel Oak, DVV, Say Say Something, Rhythmic Dreams, Dead Man, Rain Whistling, Basic Brian, Low Clouds, Bottom Of The Well, Honest Joe, Arabic Agony, Tomorrow, Laughter, Sayonara
Disc 3 - Rehearsals, Outtakes and Jams - Carousel (rehearsal demo of Say Something), Unknown Track 8 (rehearsal demo), Dream Thrum (rehearsal demo), Chicken Goth (rehearsal demo), Jam J (Additional Jam) (rehearsal jam), You Were Born (Take 1) (early version of One of the Three), Bruce Jam 1 (Mix 1)(early version of Knuckle Too Far), Jam D / Rhythmic Dreams alt. (rehearsal jam), Jam E (out-take)(rehearsal jam), Jam 11 (Slow Jam – Grotesque/Angular) (rehearsal jam), Jam 12B (Dreamy Later Singing) (rehearsal jam), Jam P (Fabulous Melody But Unusual Bass) (rehearsal jam), Jam P2 (Later)(rehearsal jam), Jam Q (early version of Honest Joe) (rehearsal jam), Jam R – Beefheart Jam (rehearsal jam), Who Is Gospel Oak? (early version) (rehearsal jam), Falsetto (instrumental version of Skindiving), Jam 13 – Fast Marcus Has Mixed (rehearsal jam)
Disc 4 - America (Live In The U.S. 9/92) (B-side of Sometimes), Building A Charge (B-side of Sometimes), Wah Wah Kits (B-side of Laid), The Lake (B-side of Laid), Seconds Away (B-side of Laid), Say Something (New Version), Assassin (B-side of Say Something/Jam J), Laid (Acoustic 99x, Atlanta 26/2/94), Low Low Low (BBC Session 27/9/93), Sometimes (BBC Session 27/9/93), Tomorrow (BBC Session 27/9/93), Five-O (BBC Session 27/9/93), Jam J (Arena Dub / Amphetamine Pulsate) 12″ remix, Jam J (Sabresonic Tremelo Dub / Spaghetti Steamhammer) 12″ remix
There is also a two-disc deluxe version of Laid available, mixing tracks from disc 3 and 4 as well as two session tracks not on the Super Deluxe.
Disc 1 - Laid - Out To Get You, Sometimes, Dream Thrum, One Of The Three, Say Something, Five-O, PS, Everybody Knows, Knuckle Too Far, Low Low Low, Laid, Lullaby, Skindiving
Disc 2 - America (Live In The U.S. 9/92) (B-side of Sometimes), Building A Charge (B-side of Sometimes), Wah Wah Kits (B-side of Laid), The Lake (B-side of Laid), Seconds Away (B-side of Laid), Say Something (New Version), Jam J, Assassin (New Version), Laid (BBC Session 27/9/93), Five-O (BBC Session 27/9/93), Sometimes (BBC Session 27/9/93), Say Something (BBC Session 27/9/93), Low Low Low Low (BBC Session 27/9/93) (previously unreleased), Tomorrow (BBC Session 27/9/93) (previously unreleased), Dream Thrum (rehearsal demo) (previously unreleased), You Were Born take 1 ( early version of One of the Three) (previously unreleased), Bruce Jam 1 (Mix 1) (early version of Knuckle Too Far) (previously unreleased), Carousel (rehearsal demo of Say Something), Falsetto (instrumental version of Skindiving) (previously unreleased)
More about Laid can be found here on the One Of The Three fansite and about Wah Wah here.
James' official website can be found here. They are on Facebook and Twitter. Some of the band - Tim, Larry, Andy and Dave - are also on Twitter.
Even The Stars also runs the James fan site One Of The Three which is also on Facebook.
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Awesome! Pity i've just recently finally purchased 'Wah Wah' whilst knowing of this 'Laid' 2015 edition. Typical
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