Party Time: Andrew W.K.’s Wild Debut to Be Expanded for 10th Anniversary

If you were paying attention to alternative rock in the early 2000s, the name “Andrew W.K.” likely stirs up a boatload of emotions. Was he a fun-loving, hard-living, one man party machine? Was he a corporate construction? Was he a darker type of fraud, as suggested by producer “Steev Mike” (link NSFW and relatively nuts) who may actually just be W.K. playing a prank on his delightfully bewildered audience?

Whatever the case may be, Andrew W.K. is celebrating the recent 10th anniversary of his debut album, the hard-rocking I Get Wet, with a new deluxe edition filled with unreleased and truly off-the-wall bonus content.

Known for its hard-driving, almost violently upbeat songs (“She is Beautiful,” “Party Hard,” “It’s Time to Party,” “Fun Night”) and shocking cover art (the image of the long-haired W.K. staring intently toward the viewer with his nose dripping blood all the way down his face is still pretty out there), I Get Wet wildly polarized critics – Pitchfork rated it an 0.6 out of 10 upon initial release, only to name it one of the 200 best albums of the decade – and made Andrew W.K.’s career as an experimental musician, partier, raconteur and motivational speaker (his latest speaking gig scheduled for next month is, no kidding, My Little Pony convention).

For the double-disc reissue, W.K. commissioned new cover artwork (a photorealistic oil painting of the original sleeve by artist Gonzalo Garcia) on top of a booklet with new liner notes and unseen photos, and added a bonus disc of demos, alternate takes and live material. The live cuts are particularly notable, having been recorded through a specially-made system of microphones and monitors meant to amplify the sound to a much rawer degree, mimicking what the artist would hear while onstage. The cherry on top of this hard-partying sundae? A collector’s edition, exclusive to U.S. residents, will feature an autographed booklet, an air freshener in the shape of Andrew W.K.’s bleeding nose from the LP sleeve and…”something”; an assortment of “mystery party items” including locks of hair, used plane tickets, receipts, pieces of cut-up jeans, photos and surely much, much more.

The packages are out on August 28; click below to place your orders – and if you do order the collector’s set, do be sure to share what you got with your package.

Andrew W.K., I Get Wet: Deluxe Edition (Century Media, 2012)

Disc 1: Original LP (released as Island Records 314 586 588-2, 2001)

  1. It’s Time to Party
  2. Party Hard
  3. Girls Own Love
  4. Ready to Die
  5. Take It Off
  6. I Love NYC
  7. She is Beautiful
  8. Party Til You Puke
  9. Fun Night
  10. Got to Do It
  11. I Get Wet
  12. Don’t Stop Living in the Red

Disc 2: Bonus material (all previously unreleased)

  1. It’s Time to Party (Live)
  2. It’s Time to Party (1999 Version)
  3. Party Hard (Live)
  4. Party Hard (1999 Version)
  5. Girls Own Love (Live)
  6. Girls Own Love (1999 Version)
  7. Ready to Die (Live)
  8. Take It Off (Live)
  9. I Love NYC (Live)
  10. She is Beautiful (Live)
  11. She is Beautiful (1999 Version)
  12. Party Til You Puke (Live)
  13. It Just Got Hotter (Sundogs Version)
  14. Got to Do It (Keyboards Version)
  15. I Get Wet (Live)
  16. Don’t Stop Living in the Red (1999 Version)
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Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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0 thoughts on “Party Time: Andrew W.K.’s Wild Debut to Be Expanded for 10th Anniversary”

  1. i remember reading about him at the time in the UK press, and i think i might’ve picked up the import on ebay or somewhere when it came out, and i LOVED it, and still do, especially at the gym! Just fun loud catchy kinda goofy hard rock, not unlike what The Darkness is/was up to, and completely misunderstood, I think, at the time…..thanks for the heads up! LOVE the site, and have learned about cool stuff i had no idea was out! jim

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