By August 1978, XTC were prepared to record their follow-up to White Music. The band had contacted Brian Eno to produce after they learned that he was a fan, but he declined, telling them that they were good enough to produce themselves. Virgin rejected Eno's advice, and the group instead returned to Abbey Road with producer John Leckie. One of the album's tracks, "Battery Brides ", was written in tribute to Eno. Keyboardist Barry Andrews appeared at the sessions with several original songs, but frontman Andy Partridge did not feel they were right for the band. He began taking bassist Colin Moulding and drummer Terry Chambers out for drinks without inviting Partridge, allegedly in an attempt to take over the group. After most of Andrews' songs were dropped from the final track list, the keyboardist told journalists that he foresaw the band "explod pretty soon". An earlier version of "Are You Receiving Me?" was recorded during the Go 2 sessions and was later released on the 2005 boxed setCoat of Many Cupboards. Other outtakes from Go 2 include "Sargasso Bar", "Us Being Us", "Instant Tunes", "Looking for Footprints", "Things Fall to Bits" and "Strange Tales, Strange Tails".
Title and packaging
The album's title was chosen in reference to the board game Go in order to continue the black-and-white colour scheme from White Music. The "2" was added by Andrews. Its cover was designed and executed by Hipgnosis. It consists of an essay about how album covers are used to attract buyers of the album. On the first British pressings of the LP version of the Go 2 album the track listing on the vinyl disc label mimicked the type style of the cover art. The label is crammed full of text. In some non-English speaking countries, the group shot that was featured on the album's inner sleeve in the UK was used instead as the album cover. The French 13-track album, including the bonus track "Are You Receiving Me?", was one of the releases that featured this sleeve. Yugoslavia was another country that issued this version of the sleeve. The essay would change depending on the medium and label the album was released on. A separate essay was prepared for cassette editions in the UK.
Release and ''Go+''
Go 2 was released in October 1978 to positive reviews and a number 21 chart peak. Like White Music, it was given praise in Sounds, Melody Maker, and the NME. The initial 15,000 UK pressings of the album came with a bonus disc of five dubremixes entitled Go+. In 1990, these tracks were included on the 1990 compilation .
