Name: ...If I Die, I Die (40th Anniversary Edition)
Brand: Virgin Prunes

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

4050538821611

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

2CD 28pp Mediabook and Digital Deluxe

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Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2022-12-02

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

WEA /­ ADA

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

Total Cap

2 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

4050538821604

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Clear

Limited Edition Special Finish Gatefold Sleeve and a 16 page booklet. exclusive 12x12 Art Print

2022-11-11

1 / Clear / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Virgin Prunes

Genre US

Label US

Formed in mid-1977 in Dublin, the Virgin Prunes were known as "the most overtly subversive rock group ever to come out of the genre." Their reputation was built on outrageous stage performances and a unique collection of record releases. Singers Guggi and Dave-iD Busaras, along with guitarist Dik Evans, bassist Strongman, and drummer Pod, released their first single in 1980. The band went through several lineup changes before releasing their album Sons Find Devils in 1998. They released a retrospective video and a compilation album of rarities in 1985. The band disbanded in 1986 after Gavin Friday left to pursue a solo career.

In mid-1977, the Virgin Prunes formed in Dublin and quickly gained a reputation as one of the most subversive rock groups at that time. Known for their outrageous stage performances and unique record releases, they made an impact on the music scene. Over the years, the band experienced several lineup changes but continued to push boundaries with their music.

In 1980, Guggi, Dave-iD Busaras, Dik Evans, Strongman, and Pod released their first single together. Despite facing lineup changes throughout their career, including Mary D'Nellon taking over guitar duties and Pod returning as drummer later on; they managed to release albums such as Sons Find Devils (1998), which had been recorded earlier but not released

Reissues of the Year 2022

New Wave / Post Punk

If I Die, I Die was released only weeks before the Heresie box set. The two albums show very different faces of the Virgin Prunes – one that explored mythical worlds and another that showed their surrealistic interest in the creative power of insanity. They also highlight the ways in which the band enjoyed experimenting with different genres, sound forms and recording techniques. As Friday has commented recently, ‘The Virgin Prunes contained four different bands at the same time.’ The album was recorded at the Windmill Studios in Dublin in the summer of 1982 and produced by Wire’s Colin Newman. Rather than adopt an A/B format, the sides of the 1982 vinyl and album cover, which was designed by Steve Averill, were given brown and blue colours, signalling earth and sky respectively. The art work on each side of the sleeve was also inverted so that either side could be read as the front cover. Ursula Steiger’s photography captured, on the brown side, the band running through a forest like a nomadic tribe. On the blue side we then find them in different costumes, performing with fire and mannequins within a derelict building. If I Die, I Die contains nine tracks. The brown side is evocative of distant mystical lands and brings to mind Iroquois culture. It features ‘Ulakanakulot’ (referring to ‘the imaginary land of the Kuli Bird from where the Beautifull People come’), ‘Decline and Fall’, ‘Sweethome Under White Clouds’ and ‘Bau-dachöng’ (meaning ‘secret inner wisdom’). The blue side showcases the slow and frenzied paces of their music, while highlighting the ways their highly visceral songs switch subjects and registers from the ancient and historical, to the social tensions and dysfunctions of a late twentieth-century present. It features ‘Baby Turns Blue’ (which was a very successful Indie single), ‘Ballad of the Man’, ‘Walls of Jericho’, ‘Caucasian Walk’ and ‘Theme for Thought’, which includes spoken passages of Oscar Wilde’s poem ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol.’

This 40th Anniversary edition (out November 11th) features the original album, fully remastered, plus rarities and remixes including unheard rough mixes of tracks such as ‘Ballad of the Man’, ‘Bau-Dachong’ and ‘Theme For Thought’. It also includes a remix of ‘Baby Turns Blue’ by Colin Newman, originally available as promo only, as well as early versions of ‘The King of Junk’ and ‘Pagan Lovesong’.

...If I Die, I Die (40th Anniversary Edition)

Music US