Bloc Party have announced a deluxe box set reissue of ‘Silent Alarm’ to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Find out more below.
It comes as the iconic indie band are celebrating the milestone anniversary for the era-defining debut album. Already, they have Party performed ‘Silent Alarm’ in full at a huge show in London’s Crystal Palace Park – their biggest headline performance to date – and are gearing up for shows in Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton and Torquay this summer, as well as North American tour dates.
Now, the band have confirmed a huge box set reissue of the 2005 album, which comprises four LPs and includes some rare versions of songs. Of the four vinyl records, the first two contain the original album, while the third includes a collection of 12 B-sides and rarities.
The final LP will comprise the band’s legendary John Peel session for BBC Radio 1, which they recorded back in 2004, as well as seven original demos from the era. These have never been made commercially available until now.
As well as the box set, there will also be a smaller two-LP variant, a two-CD edition, and an Amazon Music Exclusive Vinyl Reissue. All of the reissues will be shared on September 26, and you can pre-order them here.
The tracklist for the ‘Silent Alarm’ 20th anniversary edition box set is:
LP one and two – Original album tracks:
‘Like Eating Glass’
‘Helicopter’
‘Positive Tension’
‘Banquet’
‘Blue Light’
‘She’s Hearing Voices’
‘This Modern Love’
‘The Pioneers’
‘Price of Gasoline’
‘So Here We Are’
‘Luno’
‘Plans’
‘Compliments’
LP three – B-Sides & Rarities:
‘Little Thoughts’
‘Skeleton’
‘Storm and Stress’
‘Always New Depths’
‘Staying Fat’
‘Tulips’
‘Two More Years’
‘She’s Hearing Voices [original version]’
‘The Marshals Are Dead’
‘The Answer’
‘The Present’
‘Every Time Is The Last Time’
LP four – BBC Peel Session:
‘So Here We Are’
‘Tulips’
‘Luno’
‘Compliments’
Demos:
‘Banquet’
‘This Modern Love’
‘The Pioneers’
‘So Here We Are’
‘Helicopter’
‘Price of Gas’
‘Skeleton’
When initially announcing the celebrations for ‘Silent Alarm’, frontman Kele Okereke explained: “We’ve been having so much fun playing shows over the past year, so it makes sense to do something special for old and new fans, celebrating 20 years of Bloc Party.
“We heard from a lot of people that they couldn’t get tickets for the [2018/2019] ‘Silent Alarm’ gigs, so a one-off summer party playing that and the bangers feels like the right thing to do.”
Upon the 2005 release, ‘Silent Alarm’ was given a glowing 9/10 review by NME, which described it as “the unpigeonholeable soundtrack to 21st-century life as a cast-off”. It has since been regarded by NME as one of the best indie albums of all time, thanks to singles like ‘Banquet’, ‘Helicopter’, ‘So Here We Are’ and ‘Positive Tension’.
Speaking to us in 2023, Okereke explained: “I’m completely thankful that [‘Silent Alarm’] connected with people; but it’s at that point when I hear any record that we’ve made, I hear the things I’d do differently if I had the opportunity to do it again.”
Not all are for the 20th anniversary celebrations though. Earlier this month the band’s former bassist Gordon Moakes suggested that they were “rinsing” the breakthrough LP.
“The positive for me is that I still earn [money] off the songwriting for that record. So if the band are playing that record, and people are listening to it and buying it or streaming it, then that’s good for me,” he said. “In terms of whether they’re doing it justice, I couldn’t say.”
As for other Bloc Party releases, the band shared their sixth and most recent full-length effort, ‘Alpha Games’, in 2022.
Since then, Okereke teased a new album from the band this January, and said that is “very personal and confessional”, and “about the study of a fleeting relationship from start to finish”.
