The Charlatans have announced an expanded 30th Anniversary Edition of their 1994 third album Up to Our Hips which will be out as a double LP or double CD set on November 8 via Beggars Arkive. The original album has been remastered and the second disc includes b-sides, alternate takes, demos and radio sessions, and comes packaged in reimagined artwork by Nik Void. Preorder it here.
Up to Our Hips was a transitional record for The Charlatans, with the ecstacy-fueled haze of the Madchester baggy scene burning off and Britpop still to come. The band adopted a more Stonesy rock feel, still groovy, but less obviously so. It also found them in a bit of a state. Keyboardist Rob Collins had been arrested in 1992 for being a getaway driver in an armed robbery and it was clear he would serve time — he got eight months while claiming he didn’t know what was happening when he offered to give his friend a lift — and that would impact the recording of the album. Working with producers Steve Hillage and Dave Charles at Monnow Valley studio, The Charlatans persevered and Up to Our Hips went Top 10 in the UK; singles “Can’t Get Out of Bed,” “I Never Want an Easy Life,” and “Crashin’ In” all went Top 40.
Frontman Tim Burgess notes this reissue is dedicated to Collins (who died in a car crash in 1996) and drummer Jon Brookes (who died of a brain tumor in 2013) and says, “I hope the expanded edition allows the listener a never before sneak peek behind the curtain at a record being made by a band in crisis.”
Check out the Up to Our Hips Expanded Edition tracklist and artwork below.
The Charlatans – Up to Our Hips (30th Anniv. Expanded Edition)
A1. Come In Number 21
A2. I Never Want an Easy Life If Me and
He Were Ever to Get There
A3. Can’t Get Out of Bed
A4. Feel Flows
A5. Autograph
B1. Jesus Hairdo
B2. Up to Our Hips
B3. Patrol
B4. Another Rider Up in Flames
B5. Inside-looking Out
BONUS DISC:
C1. Subterranean (B-Side)
C2. Full of Culture (Out-take)
C3. Out (B-Side)
C4. Up to Our Hips (Recorded Live For The Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley Show)
C5. Stir It Up (Alternate Instrumental Mix)
D1. Withdrawn (B-Side)
D2. Feel Flows (Alternate Mix)
D3. You & Everybody (Out-take)
D4. Don’t Let It Stand AKA Can’t Get Out of Bed (demo version)
D5. Another Rider Up In Flames (Recorded Live For The Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley Show)