Arizona Bay album gets restored and extended

Bill Hicks's posthumous 1997 album Arizona Bay is to be re-released in a newly extended version.

The album was originally recorded in Austen, Texas, in December 1992, as he started to notice the symptoms of what would be diagnosed as the pancreatic cancer which would claim his life on February 26, 1994, at the age of 32

Arizona Bay includes his classic rant urging anyone working in marketing or advertising to kill themselves, while its title comes from Hicks's hope that Los Angeles will one day fall into the ocean due to a major earthquake.

After he taped the album, Hicks added backing music that he recorded, although some critics complained it was intrusive.

The newly restored version loses the music, and includes more than a dozen new tracks enabling fans to hear it 'like an audience did when it was first recorded' according to record label Comedy Dynamics.

Out on November 27, this extended version is an uncut recording of the original live show and is available to preorder from Amazon, priced £8.99. It will also be available via other digital retailers.

Published: 20 Nov 2015