After the 30th Anniversary Edition of Belly’s King on green vinyl for Record Store Day 2025 flew of the shelves, 4AD are committing the album to the catalogue and finally putting it back in print on black vinyl (Ex-North America). Available from 24th October, the album is remastered by Kevin Vanbergen and features the original sleeve design by Chris Bigg (v23).
+ Pre-order Belly’s King on black vinyl and CD from the 4AD Store +
Belly found themselves at something of a crossroads when it came to following up their 1993 debut album Star – a wildly successful record that earned the band two GRAMMY nominations including the coveted Best New Artist award. With bassist Gail Greenwood having joined the ranks in between, she plus the trio of Tanya Donelly and brothers Chris and Tom Gorman rented a house in rural Rhode Island to write collaboratively before heading to Nassau in the Bahamas to record in Island Records founder Chris Blackwell’s legendary studio Compass Point (a place famed for where AC/DC, Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, and countless others recorded major works). Away from industry pressure and guided by veteran producer Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who), they made the most of the relaxed surroundings, recording live in the room and minimising overdubs so to capture as much of the band’s chemistry on tape as they could.
Featuring singles ‘Now They’ll Sleep’, ‘Seal My Fate’, and ‘Super-Connected’, the resultant King was a step on, a deceptively complex album where the quartet had chosen artistic growth over commerciality. Their lyrics took more of a political and personal bent, while musically it was heavier, in part due to Gail’s muscular playing style and more deft guitar interplay between Tanya and Tom. SPIN Magazine said at the time that it marked their evolution from “indie darlings to rock contenders”.
Having been out of print on vinyl since its release 30 years ago, 4AD are delighted to put it back on the shelves after a limited-edition release on green vinyl for Record Store Day 2025. Keeping its original sleeve design by Chris Bigg (v23), featuring photography by Christopher Gorman and Stephen DiRado, this long demanded repress is now available on black vinyl with the album having been remastered by Kevin Vanbergen.
Belly continue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of King, touring the album across the UK and US over the next few months, including a London show at Electric Ballroom on 1 October. The full list of dates is included below, and for tickets and information head here.
September
18th – Greenwich Odeum, Greenwich, RI, USA
23rd – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
24th – Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, UK
25th – Project House, Leeds, UK
26th – Academy 2, Manchester, UK
27th – Network, Sheffield, UK
29th – Trinity Centre, Bistol, UK
30th – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, UK
October
1st – Electric Ballroom, London, UK
23rd – Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA, USA
24th – Sony Hall, New York, NY, USA
26th – District Music Hall, Norwalk, CT, USA
27th – Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, USA
November
7th – Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles, Ca, USA
8th – Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA
9th – The Crocodile, Seattle, WA, USA
10th – Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL, USA
11th – Parkway Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, USA
12th – Parkway Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, USA
28th – Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA, USA
December
10th – Mohawk, Austin, TX, USA
11th – Granada Theatre, Dallas, TX, USA
12th – Oriental Theatre, Denver, CO, USA
14th – Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville, TN, USA