Few album titles have been more apt than the Jesus and Mary Chain's 1985 LP debut, Psychocandy. The record took deceptively simple pop songs, influenced by the melodies of Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, and cloaked them in a noisy, fuzz-and-feedback-laden haze that took the darkness of The Velvet Underground one step further. If the group didn't exist, someone would have had to invent it.  William and Jim Reid, two Scottish brothers, formed the core of the band, initially joined by bassist Douglas Hart and drummer Murray Dalglish, soon replaced by Bobby Gillespie. There were later personnel changes, most notably when Gillespie departed to form Primal Scream, with John Moore taking his place. (William Reid himself left the group late in its existence before it disbanded altogether.) The Jesus and Mary Chain was a potent antidote to the glossy production that now largely defines the sound of that decade.

Edsel, a label of the U.K.'s Demon Music Group, has just announced a definitive series of 2-CD/1-DVD Jesus and Mary Chain reissues that begins September 19 with the reissues of Psychocandy and its 1987 follow-up, Darklands. They will be followed by 1989's Automatic and 1992's Honey's Dead on the schedule for one week later, September 26, then Stoned and Dethroned (1994) and Munki (1998) on October 3. The chronological rollout is a sensible one, with Darklands stripping back the layers of noise if not the darkness and Automatic adding new textures to the sound, with keyboards and even strings. Honey's Dead was acclaimed as the most consistent of the group's records since Psychocandy, and Stoned and Dethroned was a detour into more pure, acoustic-based rock, though still based around memorable pop songcraft. The band's final album to date, 1998's Munki, is a lengthy recording at 17 tracks, bookended by the seemingly at-odds tracks "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "I Hate Rock 'n' Roll."  In between, the group recalls the varied sounds it had created over the previous decade-plus.

Rhino had already rewarded fans of the Jesus and Mary Chain with stereo DVD-Audio reissues, including videos, in 2006 (unfortunately on the late, not-very-lamented DualDisc format in the U.S.), and the four-disc box set The Power of Negative Thinking in 2008. But the new Edsel campaign is the most comprehensive yet.  Each title will boast rarities (numbering 30 bonus tracks each for the first two releases!) and a DVD containing music videos and live performances, plus 32-page booklets with new interviews from band members. The high-resolution mixes aren't present.

Edsel has revealed the complete track listings for Psychocandy and Darklands (UPDATE: now all the reissues), and we've got 'em!  These two albums remain a perfect place to start exploring the band's catalogue for bold, polarizing sonic experimentation and solid pop songwriting.  Hit the jump for the full scoop, plus pre-order links! 

The deluxe Psychocandy features all the non-album B-sides, as well as previously unreleased demos, rare outtakes including controversial early track "Jesus Fuck" which the pressing plant refused to manufacture at the time due to its lyrics, the BBC Radio Sessions the band recorded for John Peel (including the 1985 acoustic session) and the debut single "Upside Down." The DVD features the promo videos for the singles released from the album together with previously unreleased TV appearances from The Old Grey Whistle Test, The Tube, a Belgian TV performance and interview, and previously unseen footage of the North London Polytechnic riot.

The expanded Darklands also includes all of the non-album B-sides. They are joined by the rare Some Candy Talking EP, outtakes, more BBC Radio sessions and unreleased sessions and alternates such as the band's Janice Long session from 1986, an alternate version of "Some Candy Talking" recorded for the NME, "Darklands" with strings, and a BBC interview with Jim and William Reid from 1987. The DVD includes the promo videos for all the singles, the band's homemade video for B-side "Kill Surf City" and the group's only appearance on Top of the Pops, as well as performances on Belgian TV and ITV's short-lived TOTP competitor The Roxy.

The remaining four titles largely follow the same format, collating virtually all the band's B-sides and non-LP appearances (including most of the tracks from the Rhino box set). With the exception of Munki, all the sets have B-sides and bonus tracks spilling over from the bonus disc onto the first CD after the original album lineups. While we've not been able to lock down the origins of every track, it looks like live shows and demo tapes will be the source of most of these bonus cuts.

Psychocandy: Expanded Edition (Edsel EDSG8006, 2011)

Disc 1: Original LP and B-sides

1. Just Like Honey
2. The Living End
3. Taste the Floor
4. The Hardest Walk
5. Cut Dead
6. In a Hole
7. Taste of Cindy
8. Never Understand
9. Inside Me
10. Sowing Seeds
11. My Little Underground
12. You Trip Me Up
13. Something's Wrong
14. It's So Hard
15. Suck
16. Ambition
17. Just Out of Reach
18. Boyfriend's Dead
19. Head
20. Cracked

Disc 2: Alternates and rarities

1. Upside Down
2. Vegetable Man
3. In a Hole (John Peel Session - 10/23/1984)
4. You Trip Me Up (John Peel Session - 10/23/1984)
5. Never Understand (John Peel Session - 10/23/1984)
6. Taste the Floor (John Peel Session - 10/23/1984)
7. The Living End (John Peel Session - 2/3/1985)
8. Inside Me (John Peel Session - 2/3/1985)
9. Just Like Honey (John Peel Session - 2/3/1985)
10. Some Candy Talking (John Peel Session - 10/29/1985)
11. Psychocandy (John Peel Session - 10/29/1985)
12. You Trip Me Up (John Peel Session - 10/29/1985)
13. Cut Dead
14. Up Too High (Demo, 1983)
15. Upside Down
16. Never Understand
17. Taste the Floor
18. In a Hole
19. Something's Wrong
20. Just Like Honey (Demo)
21. The Living End (Demo)
22. My Little Underground (Demo)
23. Never Understand (Alternate Version)
24. Jesus Fuck

Disc 3: DVD

1. Never Understand (promo video)
2. You Trip Me Up (promo video)
3. Just Like Honey (promo video)
4. In a Hole (Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test)
5. Riot at North London Polytechnic - Interview and Live Clips
6. Interview (Live on VRT, Belgium)
7. Never Understand (Live on VRT, Belgium)
8. Just Like Honey (Live on The Tube)
9. Inside Me (Live on The Tube)

Disc 1, Tracks 1-14 released as Blanco y Negro LP BYN 7, 1985
Disc 1, Tracks 15-16 released on Blanco y Negro 12" NEG 8T, 1985
Disc 1, Tracks 17-18 released on Blanco y Negro 12" NEG 13T, 1985
Disc 1, Tracks 19-20 and Disc 2, Track 20 released on Blanco y Negro 12" NEG 17T, 1985
Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 released as Creation single CRE-012, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 3-12 released on The Complete John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit SFRSCD092, 2000)
Disc 2, Tracks 14 and 21-23 released on The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities (Blanco y Negro/Rhino R2 202684, 2008)
All other tracks possibly previously unreleased and of as-yet undetermined origin

Darklands: Expanded Edition (Edsel EDSG8007, 2011)

Disc 1: Original LP and rarities

1. Darklands
2. Deep One Perfect Morning
3. Happy When It Rains
4. Down on Me
5. Nine Million Rainy Days
6. April Skies
7. Fall
8. Cherry Came Too
9. On the Wall
10. About You
11. Some Candy Talking
12. Taste of Cindy (Acoustic)
13. Psychocandy
14. Hit
15. Darklands (Alternate)
16. Down on Me (Alternate)
17. Deep One Perfect Morning (Alternate)
18. Fall (John Peel Session - 11/25/1986)
19. In the Rain (John Peel Session - 11/25/1986)
20. Happy Place (John Peel Session - 11/25/1986)

Disc 2: B-sides and more

1. Kill Surf City
2. Bo Diddley is Jesus
3. Who Do You Love
4. Everything's Alright When You're Down
5. Shake
6. Happy When It Rains (Demo)
7. Happy Place
8. F.Hole
9. Rider
10. On the Wall (Portastudio Demo)
11. Surfin' USA (April Outtake)
12. Here It Comes Again
13. Walk and Crawl
14. Some Candy Talking (NME version)
15. Mushroom (Live)
16. The Hardest Walk (Soundtrack Version)
17. Don't Ever Change
18. Swing
19. Darklands (with strings)
20. Interview (Janice Long)

DVD

1. Some Candy Talking (promo video)
2. April Skies (promo video)
3. Kill Surf City (promo video)
4. Happy When It Rains (promo video)
5. Darklands (promo video)
6. April Skies (Live on Top of the Pops)
7. April Skies (Live on Villa Tempo)
8. Happy When It Rains (Live on The Roxy)

Disc 1, Tracks 1-10 released as Blanco y Negro LP BYN 11, 1987
Disc 1, Tracks 11 and 13-14 released as Some Candy Talking EP - Blanco y Negro NEG17, 1986
Disc 1, Track 12 and Disc 2, Tracks 17-18 from Barbed Wire Kisses: B-Sides and More (Blanco y Negro BYN 15, 1988)
Disc 1, Tracks 18-20 released on The Complete John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit SFRSCD092, 2000)
Disc 2, Tracks 1 and 3 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG24T, 1987
Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 15 from Blanco y Negro double 7" NEG24F, 1987
Disc 2, Tracks 4-6 from Blanco y Negro 10" NEG25TE, 1987
Disc 2, Tracks 7-8 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG25T, 1987
Disc 2, Tracks 9-10 from Blanco y Negro 7" NEG29, 1987
Disc 2, Track 11 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG29T, 1987
Disc 2, Track 12 from Blanco y Negro 10" NEG29TE, 1987
Disc 2, Track 13 released on The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities (Blanco y Negro/Rhino R2 202684, 2008)
Disc 2, Track 14 from NME flexidisc GIV 3, February 1986
Disc 2, Track 16 from Some Kind of Wonderful: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack (MCA Records 6200 (U.S.), 1987)
All other tracks possibly previously unreleased and of as-yet undetermined origin

Automatic: Expanded Edition (Edsel EDSG8008, 2011)

Disc 1: Original LP and B-sides

1. Here Comes Alice
2. Coast to Coast
3. Blues from a Gun
4. Between Planets
5. UV Ray
6. Her Way of Praying
7. Head On
8. Take It
9. Halfway to Crazy
10. Gimme Hell
11. Drop
12. Sunray
13. Sidewalking (Extended Version)
14. Sidewalking
15. Sidewalking (Chilled to the Bone Mix)
16. Taste of Cindy (Live in Detroit)
17. April Skies (Live in Detroit)

Disc 2: B-sides and unreleased material

1. Surfin' USA (Summer Mix)
2. Shimmer
3. Penetration
4. Break Me Down
5. Subway
6. In the Black
7. Terminal Beach
8. Deviant Slice
9. I'm Glad I Never
10. Drop (Acoustic Remix)
11. Sidewalking
12. Coast to Coast
13. Take It
14. My Girl
15. Far Gone and Out (Alternate)
16. Silverblade (Alternate)
17. Here Comes Alice (Alternate)
18. Coast to Coast (Alternate - William Vocal)
19. Just Out of Reach ('88 Version)
20. Radio Ad
21. Nine Million Rainy Days (Live in Detroit)

Disc 3: DVD

1. Sidewalking (promo vide0)
2. Just Out of Reach (promo vide0)
3. Blues from a Gun (promo vide0)
4. Head On (promo vide0)
5. Her Way of Praying (promo vide0)
6. Gimme Hell (Live on SNUB TV)
7. Take It (Live on SNUB TV)
8. Interview (Rapido)
9. Interview (MTV Week in Rock)
10. Interview (MTV Australia)

Disc 1, Tracks 1-12 released as Blanco y Negro CD BYNCD20, 1989
Disc 1, Tracks 13-16 released as Blanco y Negro CD single NEG32CD, 1989
Disc 1, Track 17 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG32T, 1989
Disc 2, Track 1 from Warner Bros. single 7-27754 (U.S.), 1988
Disc 2, Tracks 2-4 from Blanco y Negro 10" NEG41TE, 1989
Disc 2, Track 5 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG41T, 1989
Disc 2, Track 6-7 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG42T, 1990
Disc 2, Track 8 from Blanco y Negro single NEG42Y, 1990
Disc 2, Track 9 from Blanco y Negro single NEG42Z, 1990
Disc 2, Track 10 from Blanco y Negro CD single NEG42CD, 1990
Disc 2, Tracks 11-14 released on The Complete John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit SFRSCD092, 2000)
Disc 2, Track 19 from from Barbed Wire Kisses: B-Sides and More (Blanco y Negro BYNCD 15, 1988)
All other tracks possibly previously unreleased and of as-yet undetermined origin

Honey's Dead: Expanded Edition (Edsel EDSG8009, 2011)

Disc 1: Original LP and B-sides

1. Reverence
2. Teenage Lust
3. Far Gone and Out
4. Almost Gold
5. Sugar Ray
6. Tumbledown
7. Catchfire
8. Good for My Soul
9. Rollercoaster
10. I Can't Get Enough
11. Sundown
12. Frequency
13. Silverblade
14. Lowlife
15. Tower of Song
16. Far Gone and Out (Arc Weld Mix)
17. Teenage Lust (Desdemoana Mix)
18. Reverence (Radio Mix)

Disc 2: B-sides and rarities

1. Heat
2. Guitarman
3. Why'd You Want Me
4. Sometimes
5. Teenage Lust (Acoustic)
6. Reverberation (Doubt)
7. Don't Come Down
8. Why'd You Want Me (Alternate)
9. Catchfire (Live)
10. Blues from a Gun (Live)
11. Head On (Live)
12. Reverence
13. Far Gone and Out
14. Halfway to Crazy
15. Frequency
16. Sidewalking
17. Mark Goodier - Honey's Dead
18. Tommy Vance - Lollapalooza

Disc 3: DVD

1. Rollercoaster (promo vide0)
2. Reverence (promo vide0)
3. Far Gone and Out (promo vide0)
4. Almost Gold (promo vide0)
5. Teenage Lust (promo vide0)
6. Reverence (Live on The Word)
7. Far Gone and Out (Live on The Late Show)
8. Teenage Lust (Live at MTV Studios)
9. MTV Interview and Video Retrospective

Disc 1, Tracks 1-12 released as Blanco y Negro LP BYN26, 1992
Disc 1, Tracks 13-15 released on Rollercoaster EP (Blanco y Negro NEG45, 1992)
Disc 1, Track 16 from Blanco y Negro CD single NEG56CD, 1992
Disc 1, Track 17 from Hate Rock 'N' Roll - American Recordings 9 43043-2 (U.S.), 1995
Disc 1, Track 18 and Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG55T, 1992
Disc 2, Tracks 3-4 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG56T, 1992
Disc 2, Tracks 5-7 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG57T, 1992
Disc 2, Tracks 9-11 from Blanco y Negro 10" NEG57TE, 1992
All other tracks possibly previously unreleased and of as-yet undetermined origin

Stoned & Dethroned: Expanded Edition (Edsel EDSG8010, 2011)

Disc 1: Original LP and rarities

1. Dirty Water
2. Bullet Lovers
3. Sometimes Always
4. Come On
5. Between Us
6. Hole
7. Never Saw It Coming
8. She
9. Wish I Could
10. Save Me
11. Till It Shines
12. God Help Me
13. Girlfriend
14. Everybody I Know
15. You've Been a Friend
16. These Days
17. Feeling Lucky
18. Snakedriver
19. Something I Can't Have
20. Write Record Release Blues
21. Little Red Rooster
22. Come On (Alternate)
23. God Help Me (William Vocal)
24. Everybody I Know (Alternate)
25. The Perfect Crime (Alternate)
26. Till I Found You
27. Dirty Water (Demo - William Vocal)
28. Gold Help Me (Alternate Vocal Take)

Disc 2: B-sides

1. The Perfect Crime
2. Little Stars
3. Drop (Re-Recorded)
4. I'm In with the Out Crowd
5. New York City
6. Taking It Away
7. Ghost of a Smile
8. Alphabet St.
9. New Kind of Kick (Live)
10. Come On
11. Reverence
12. Snakedriver
13. Come On
14. Happy When It Rains
15. Teenage Lust
16. The Perfect Crime
17. Everyone I Know
18. Girlfriend
19. Hole
20. Head On
21. Sugar Ray
22. I Hate Rock 'n' Roll
23. Jim & William talk to Steve Lamacq about Stoned & Dethroned

Disc 3: DVD

1. Snakedriver (promo vide0)
2. Something I Can't Have (promo vide0)
3. Sometimes Always (promo vide0)
4. Come On (promo vide0)
5. Something I Can't Have (Live on Later...with Jools Holland)
6. Snakedriver (Live on Later...with Jools Holland)
7. Reverence (Live on MTV 120 Minutes)
8. Sometimes Always (Live on MTV 120 Minutes)
9. Everybody I Know (Live at MTV Studios)
10. Come On (Live at MTV Studios)
11. Interview (MTV)

Disc 1, Tracks 1-17 released as Blanco y Negro LP 4509-96717-1, 1994
Disc 1, Tracks 18-21 released as Sound of Speed EP - Blanco y Negro NEG66, 1993
Disc 1, Tracks 26-27 released on The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities (Blanco y Negro/Rhino R2 202684, 2008)
Disc 2, Tracks 1-3 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG70T, 1994
Disc 2, Tracks 4-6 from Blanco y Negro 12" NEG73T, 1994
Disc 2, Tracks 7-9 from Blanco y Negro CD single NEG73CD2, 1994
All other tracks possibly previously unreleased and of as-yet undetermined origin

Munki: Expanded Edition (Edsel EDSG8011, 2011)

Disc 1: Original LP (released as Creation LP CRELP-232, 1998)

1. I Love Rock 'n' Roll
2. Birthday
3. Stardust Remedy
4. Fizzy
5. Moe Tucker
6. Perfume
7. Virtually Unreal
8. Degenerate
9. Cracking Up
10. Commercial
11. Supertramp
12. Never Understood
13. I Can't Find the Time for Times
14. Man on the Moon
15. Black
16. Dream Lover
17. I Hate Rock 'n' Roll

Disc 2: B-sides

1. 45 RPM
2. Bleed Me
3. 33 1/3
4. Lost Star
5. Hide Myself
6. Rocket
7. Easylife, Easylove
8. 40,000K
9. Nineteen666
10. Reverence
11. I Love Rock 'N' Roll
12. Degenerate
13. Mo Tucker
14. Snakedriver
15. Cracking Up
16. Happy When It Rains
17. Stardust Remedy
18. Head On
19. Sugar Ray
20. Dream Lover
21. Supertramp
22. Virtually Unreal

Disc 3: DVD

1. I Hate Rock 'N' Roll (promo video)
2. Cracking Up (promo video)
3. I Love Rock 'N' Roll (promo video)
4. I Love Rock 'N' Roll (Live on Later...with Jools Holland)
5. Cracking Up (Live on Later...with Jools Holland)

Disc 2, Track 1 from 104.9: An XFM Compilation Album (XFM Ltd. CD2, 1995)
Disc 2, Tracks 2-4 from Blanco y Negro CD single NEG80CD, 1995
Disc 2, Tracks 5-6 from Creation CD single CRESCD292, 1998
Disc 2, Tracks 7-9 from Creation CD single CRESCD296, 1998
All other tracks possibly previously unreleased and of as-yet undetermined origin