There’s nothing new I can bring to the subject of this album, such is the level to which it has been, depending on your point of view, celebrated, name-checked, referenced, over-hyped, over-analysed and generally been given more than its fair share of attention since release. Whether you think it is some seminal piece of work that more or less single-handedly ushered in the era of sampling or is some over-trumpeted slice of faux-ethnic cultural imperialism, it is what it is and if you’ve not already heard it I urge you to approach with fresh ears and give it a spin.
What I can add though is some version craziness. Well, perhaps not craziness. But enough to pen something on. I’m not going to touch upon the pre-history of the album and the bootleg version – much, but not all, of that surfaced officially with the 2006 re-release of the album in the shape of bonus tracks. What didn’t appear though was one of the tracks that was part of the original album release, ‘Qu’Ran’. Another thing that has gone AWOL over the years is the good taste of the original Peter Saville sleeve design, which I attempt to capture in some small part in the accompanying photos here.
