So I prepared a statement for the press, but apparently the [UK national daily newspapers] were told not to print it, because they could then be held responsible if CBS were bombed.

"[5] "Mercy Beat" is "essentially about spiritual salvation which is why I wanted to do [the video for the song] in South America, because of the heavy influence of Catholicism and Americana.

"[3]Johnson and his manager Stevo persuaded CBS Records to advance £350,000 to make the videos, an unprecedented sum for a little-known act.

When Johnson and Christopherson flew to South America to film the videos for "Infected" and "Mercy Beat", events started to spiral out of control.

The video for "Mercy Beat" captures a scene in which the crew were attacked by a cadre of communist rebels, angry at the appearance of what they considered to be Western intruders.

[7] After spending a month in the Amazon jungle, Johnson flew back to New York to shoot the video for "Out of the Blue" with Tim Pope in the Spanish Harlem district.

"[6] The completed film premiered at the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill in West London and was first shown on British television on Channel 4 on 16 December 1986,[3] followed by a showing on MTV.

Already unwell and suffering from bouts of paralysis because of his heavy intake of vodka and drugs, Johnson's failure to take care of his health and his insistence on pushing the boundaries during the making of the videos had a lasting impact.

He separated from his girlfriend of five years (graphic designer Fiona Skinner, who created the The's logo) and withdrew from music for a time to recover his physical and mental health.

In addition to the album and video releases, a paperback book titled Infected 1979-87 was published (ISBN 9780863594441) containing over 120 pages which include the sheet music and lyrics hand written by Matt Johnson, for each track on Burning Blue Soul (1981), Soul Mining (1983) and Infected, along with newspaper clippings, gig reviews, photographs and promotional materials.

Melody Maker stated, "Kicking concepts of democratic creativity in the kidneys, Johnson has justifiably come out with a one-man vision of terrifying proportions.

"[13] Sounds claimed that "there's self-controlled passion and strength seeping out all over this thing",[12] while Q described the album as "grim stuff, with the lyrical tension well-matched by the music.

What becomes clear, however, is that we are dealing with something special... Two sides of this intense brooding can be a bit much to take though, and the lyrics are at times self-consciously poetic, but these are minor complaints.

"[14] A retrospective review in AllMusic said, "Instead of the light fare displayed on Soul Mining, Infected's songs seethe instead of preen, and Matt Johnson's lyrics are laced with tension.

Thematically, he plunges a lance into the exposed midsection of Great Britain, analyzing the state of modern urban life in the country...