Belly - King [30th Anniversary Edition]

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. Away from industry pressure and guided by veteran producer Glyn Johns, 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.

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 saying at the time that it marked their evolution from “indie darlings to rock contenders.”