Join Hands

Join Hands is the second studio album by the English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 7 September 1979 by Polydor Records. Join Hands took the topic of the First World War as its lyrical inspiration. Musically, it is darker than the band's debut album The Scream: it sounds more claustrophobic and more haunting. It was the last album with the band's first recorded line-up, as guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris quit the group after a disagreement at the beginning of the British Join Hands tour, on the day of the album's release. Upon its release, it was praised by the British press, including Melody Maker, Sounds, NME and Record Mirror. The record peaked at No. 13 on the UK Albums Chart. "Playground Twist" was the only single released from the album. Join Hands was reissued on vinyl in 2015, along with the very first artwork that the band had presented to Polydor in 1979.

Join Hands is the second studio album by the English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 7 September 1979 by Polydor Records. Join Hands took the topic of the First World War as its lyrical inspiration. Musically, it is darker than the band's debut album The Scream: it sounds more claustrophobic and more haunting. It was the last album with the band's first recorded line-up, as guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris quit the group after a disagreement at the beginning of the British Join Hands tour, on the day of the album's release. Upon its release, it was praised by the British press, including Melody Maker, Sounds, NME and Record Mirror. The record peaked at No. 13 on the UK Albums Chart. "Playground Twist" was the only single released from the album. Join Hands was reissued on vinyl in 2015, along with the very first artwork that the band had presented to Polydor in 1979. ==Cover artwork, release and tour== Initially, the group wanted to release an album cover using an edited image from a Holy Communion card, showing children joining hands. The image had been photocopied several times, so it had become distorted. The art direction was by John Maybury, a college friend of Morris. Their manager, Stevenson, was unable to determine who owned the copyright and advised that the band would be bankrupted if they were sued as a result. Polydor also became nervous about copyright infringement, so the artwork was pulled at the last minute; the record company's executives also disliked its religious nature. A UK tour had already been scheduled to coincide with the release of the album, so there was no possibility of delaying the release. Stevenson suggested an alternative cover. He instructed the Polydor art department to design artwork using four statues from the Guards Memorial, from a photo session the band had recently done in front of the monument which commemorates the war dead of the First World War. Four of the soldier statues were cut out from the shot of the band. Siouxsie found the sleeve a workable solution, as she was drawn in by the imagery conjured up by the words for "In Flanders Fields", which inspired "Poppy Day". For her, it was the linchpin for the album. The poppy reproduced on the album cover is a symbol of Remembrance Sunday in the UK. The designer, Rob O'Connor, said about the layout: "The wreath of poppies was devised to help add colour and create a graphic device". An embossed sleeve was planned, with the four soldiers inked in the card, but was not used because the band did not receive the proofs in time. Morris and McKay blamed Stevenson, Siouxsie and Severin, although it was Polydor that refused the extra expense at the last minute. Nevertheless, Severin succeeded in pushing for a gatefold cover: "We wanted it all white because you were supposed to do it all black, and you were supposed to have blackmail lettering on it and so we had it nice and classic", he stated. Maybury's drawings of the band were used on the inner spread; it was the only part of the original design that survived. Join Hands was issued on 7 September 1979 by Polydor Records. It reached No. 13 in the UK Albums Chart. At that time, the breach between McKay and Morris and the rest of the group had become important. A warm-up show in Ireland had caused problems for McKay; none of the ancillary equipment arrived at the venue, forcing him to play without all his effects pedals. Finally, after a brawl at a record shop, McKay and Morris abruptly left the band on the day of the album's release, just a few hours before a concert at the Capitol Theatre in Aberdeen. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but they never returned. Severin later remarked, "Is there another band that that's happened to? I don't think so". A 2006 remastered edition included two bonus tracks: the non-album song "Love in a Void" and the previously unreleased instrumental "Infantry". The album, this time with the Maybury-designed sleeve, was reissued on vinyl for Record Store Day in April 2015. This edition had the original collection of tracks, but "Infantry" was made the album's closing track, as had been the original intent. A 180g vinyl reissue of the album, remastered from the original ¼” tapes and cut half-speed at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell, was released in August 2018¹. ==Charts== ==Certifications== ==Sources==

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369422094 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.