Gene Loves Jezebel – Discover & Glad To Be Alive (40th Anniversary Expanded)

Beggars Banquet announce the 40th anniversary reissue of Discover, the breakthrough album by Gene Loves Jezebel, newly remastered and expanded across a double LP.

The release is completed by Glad To Be Alive, a live recording from a show in Nottingham in 1986, pressed to vinyl here for the first time since its original release. Capturing the band in full flight, it offers a raw counterpoint to the studio record. Louder and unrestrained, demonstrating the energy that drove their rapid ascent during this period.

For this 40th anniversary edition, the original album has been remastered by Henry Rudkins at AIR Studios. It is presented on double black vinyl with updated artwork.

Twin brothers Jay Aston and Michael Aston began making music together in 1980, forming their band initially called Slav Arian with guitarist Ian Hudson and a drum machine. Raised in Porthcawl, South Wales, the Astons relocated to London in 1981, where the project evolved into Gene Loves Jezebel.

Originally released in 1986, Discover captures Gene Loves Jezebel at a watershed moment, propelling the band to an international audience. On Discover, their sound fully comes into focus, balancing the darker textures of their early work with a sharper, more melodic edge. Built around driving rhythms, chiming guitars and a more expansive sound, the album captured Gene Loves Jezebel hitting their stride with a sound that travelled further than before.

At its centre is “Desire (Come and Get It)”, the band’s most recognisable single. A track that distilled their songwriting into something both urgent and accessible, without losing the edge that defined their early work. Around it, the album moves between taut, rhythm driven tracks and more expansive, grandiose moments.

Format – 2LP