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Return of the Giant Slits

album by The Slits

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ7317220 ↗
Source-derived summary

Return of the Giant Slits is the second studio album by English punk band the Slits, released in 1981 by CBS Records on LP and cassette. In comparison with its widely acclaimed predecessor, Cut, released in 1979, it showcases a rhythmic, more experimental sound, inspired by afro-pop. The Slits would disband for the first time months after its release in early 1982.

The album was out of print for more than two decades until being reissued on CD by CBS Japan in 2004 and then by Blast First in 2007 with a bonus disc featuring alternate versions of songs from the album.

Track listing

All songs written by the Slits. (Published by Virgin Music Ltd.)

Original album

"Earthbeat" (3:50)

"Or What It Is?" (4:24)

"Face Place" (4:23)

"Walk About" (4:43)

"Difficult Fun" (4:06)

"Animal Space/Spacier" (6:42)

"Improperly Dressed" (4:28)

"Life on Earth" (6:33)

CBS Japan issued the album on CD in 2004 with the Japanese version of "Earthbeat" as a bonus track.

Editorial summary

“Return of the Giant Slits” enters the record as album by The Slits. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Return, Giant and Slits can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1981, 1979, 1982, 2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1981. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Return, Giant and Slits.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Return of the Giant Slits” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Return, Giant and Slits provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7317220. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1979, 1982 and 2004.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Return of the Giant Slits”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Return of the Giant Slits primary sources, Return of the Giant Slits archive and Return research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Return of the Giant Slits”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Return of the Giant Slits” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.