NEWS
Public Image Ltd (PiL) have announced plans to release an alternative US mix of their debut album ‘First Issue’ on Record Store Day 2025.
The “long lost” version of the 1978 record from the post-punk band, fronted by former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, features mixes and re-recordings of tracks from the original album that were created during the 1979 sessions for their second studio album ‘Metal Box’.
This version of ‘First Issue’ has never been released and it includes different sleeve artwork compared to the original version.
According to the official RSD listing “an alternative version of ‘First Issue’ was initially intended for release by Warner Bros. in 1979, but it never saw the light of day. It was thought the recordings were lost. However, the misfiled tape was later accidentally discovered in the Warner Brothers vault in the USA and features mixes and re-recordings of tracks from the original debut.”
The LP was announced as part of the extensive RSD ’25 list – also featuring exclusive vinyl drops from the likes of Oasis, Charli XCX, Fred Again.., The Cure, Gorillaz and Taylor Swift.
These will be available when the annual event returns for its 18th edition on Saturday April 12.
The band are set to the hit road for their ‘This Is Not The Last Tour’ in May. The UK and Ireland dates also include a headline show at Dreamland Margate.
Elsewhere, Frank Carter is currently fronting the Sex Pistols who are set to perform a gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall for Teenage Cancer Trust on March 24.
The band with Carter in place of Lydon, played a series of shows including an autumn UK tour. In November, they were announced as part of the Download 2025 line-up, and earlier this year an Australian and US tour was announced.
Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones recently spoke to NME, about Lydon’s non-inclusion in their recent tour.
He said: “John ain’t interested in doing it. You think you’re gonna get a negative thing by doing [it without him], but I’m surprised. There was no backlash whatsoever. There was a few die-hards on Instagram, but they hadn’t even seen us. They just can’t see it without John, which I get, but even the ones that came out of curiosity were into it after a couple of songs.”
Jones continued: “I wish him well. He’s going out this year, doing PiL again, and I hope he does well. I know he must be in a weird place, losing his wife and his best mate [Lydon’s wife Nora Forster and long-time friend and manager John “Rambo” Stevens died in 2023].”
NEWS
A London concert recorded in 1994 by The Cranberries, which was previously thought to be lost, will soon receive its first official release.
Titled ‘The Cranberries: Live At The London Astoria II, 1994’, the recently discovered recording captures the group performing at the now closed London venue. The concert included nine tracks from their celebrated album ‘No Need To Argue’, which arrived later in 1994 and included the hugely successful single ‘Zombie’.
The release contains 15 intimate live recordings in total. Several songs from the band’s 1993 debut album ‘Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?’ also appear on the collection, such as ‘Pretty’, ‘Linger’ and ‘Dreams’.
Fans will be able to purchase the recording as a 2xLP Limited Edition Molten Lava Vinyl, standard black vinyl or CD. It will also arrive on digital platforms on September 4 through Island/UMe. Preorders and presaves are available here.
Drummer Fergal Lawler recalled the excitement surrounding the performance, saying: “It was such a buzz playing in The Astoria. We had returned from the US and taken a bit of time off for Christmas. This was our first concert back in London after achieving such success in America. We were delighted to see a few of our hardcore fans at the front of the stage, I think we felt proud that all our hard work had finally come to fruition.”
Singer Dolores O’Riordan died at a London hotel in 2018. An inquest later found that she had accidentally drowned in a bath after becoming intoxicated by alcohol.
The group’s popular song ‘Linger’ was also recently heard in the Apple TV adaptation of Cape Fear.
Javier Bardem plays Max Cady in the newest interpretation of the famous psychological thriller, which originated with John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners.
Cady is a violent former prisoner who remains completely unrepentant. Following his release, he begins pursuing Tom and Anna Bowden, portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Amy Adams, seeking revenge against the couple who represented him in court 17 years earlier.
Cape Fear has previously inspired two widely praised movies. J. Lee Thompson directed the 1962 adaptation starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, while Martin Scorsese directed the 1991 version featuring Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte.
‘Pretty’
‘Dreaming My Dreams’
‘Linger’
‘Ridiculous Thoughts’
‘Daffodil Lament’
‘How’
‘Everything I Said’
‘Not Sorry’
‘Waltzing Back’
‘Dreams’
‘Zombie’
‘Liar’
‘So Cold In Ireland’
‘Empty’
‘Still Can’t…’
