Ladies and gentlemen…
Spiritualized’s 1997 heartbreaking work of staggering genius Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space easily sits on my Top Ten Albums Of All Time list. From the celestial beauty of the opening title track through the brain-melting overdose cacaphony of No God Only Religion and cleansing purity of Cool Waves to the monstrous, brooding swagger of closer Cop Shoot Cop, LAGWAFIS is, without any hint of hyperbole, a perfect record. Every second is essential.
The only thing that kept this record from garnering all the attention it deserved in 1997 was that OK Computer came out that year as well and we all know the attention that record by another British guitar band soaked up all year long. So while LAGWAFIS is certainly a well-known album I’ve always felt it deserved a much bigger audience and, with the impending reissue of the album, maybe it will finally find itself on more people’s shelves (or hard drives).
The reissue is being handled in two parts. The main reissue is being handled by Sony and includes a one disc version and a three disc Deluxe Edition. The single disc features the original record with the original version of the title track which features a medley of the Elvis standard, Can’t Help Falling In Love. This was always supposed to be the version that appeared on the record but Elvis’s people weren’t happy with it so the offending parts were excised and the version of the track we all know and love was born. Of course the Elvis version of the song has been kicking around for years (thanks to a leaked promo copy of the record) but now we get to hear it in all its official glory.
The Deluxe Edition features the album on Disc One with two additional discs of demos, alternate versions, and alternate takes. Basically you get totally different versions of the record. In addition, the discs will be packaged in blister packs in honour of the original release of the album back in 1997. The artwork for the reissue maintains the prescription theme but it is now black and grey as opposed to the original blue and white. I’ve heard the original 1997 CD versions of the album will now be out of print so hang on to them.
The tracklisting for these bonus discs are as follows:
Bonus Disc 1
1. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (A Cappella)
2. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Demo)
3. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Strings)
4. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Kate Telephone Call)
5. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Moles Studio Mix 7)
6. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Original Oratone Ideas)
7. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (A Cappella with Lead Vocal)
8. “Come Together” (Instrumental Demo)
9. “Come Together” (Demo in Lower Key)
10. “I Think I’m in Love” (Original Demo Idea)
11. “I Think I’m in Love” (Demo)
12. “I Think I’m in Love” (Drums/Wah)
13. “I Think I’m in Love” (A Cappella)
14. “I Think I’m in Love” (Vocal Demo January 1996)
15. “I Think I’m in Love” (Gospel Choir Session)
16. “All of My Thoughts” (Demo)
17. “All of My Thoughts” (Strings)
18. “Rocket Shaped Song”
Bonus Disc 2
1. “Electricity” (Demo)
2. “Electricity” (January 1996)
3. “Electricity” (June 1996)
4. “Home of the Brave” (Demo)
5. “Home of the Brave” (Panned Vocal)
6. “Beautiful Happiness”
7. “Broken Heart” (Demo)
8. “Broken Heart” (Strings)
9. “Broken Heart” (Vocal Harmony/Angel Corpus Christi)
10. “Broken Heart” (Early Vocal)
11. “No God Only Religion” (Demo)
12. “No God Only Religion” (Horns)
13. “Cool Waves” (Demo)
14. “Cool Waves” (String Session Mix)
15. “Cop Shoot Cop…” (Demo)
16. “Cop Shoot Cop…” (Dr. John The National Anthem)
17. “Cop Shoot Cop…” (String Session Mix)
For musical trainspotting fans of Spiritualized these discs are akin to a holy grail. These two versions of the reissue are out November 30.
Now, the second part of the reissue is being handled by ATP Recordings and features the same music as the above but then dives deep, deep, deep into Collector territory. Much like the extremely limited edition of the 1997 release, ATP along with Jason Pierce have created a pretty remarkable artifact. From the presser:
ATP Recordings / Spaceman are pleased to be able to offer the very limited collectors edition. This includes 12 x 3” Mini CD’s of the complete album track-by-track, a homage to the original release. This will be accompanied by 2 bonus discs. For those who don’t wish to open the blister pack, each unit will come with a code to download the original album in MP3 format.
Limited to just 1000 units, each collectors edition will come with a prescription numbered out of 1000 and signed by J Spaceman. Anyone who pre-orders the collectors edition before November 30th can have their own name, or name of their choosing printed on the prescription.
See above for a photo of this edition. It’s bananas. Of course, this is also costly. £125. Or about $220 Canadian dollars. You can order it here. Jason Pierce generally pays for a lot of the extravagant artwork himself…so know that your money will be well spent.
Regardless of how you hear this record, if you have not done so before, now is the time. Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is a landmark record and one that even twelve years later I probably play every few weeks.
