Author: mikeladano

Metal, hard rock, rock and roll! Record Store Tales & Reviews! Grab A Stack of Rock and more. Poking the bear since 2010.

REVIEW: Deep Purple – Listen, Learn, Read On (6 CD box set)

In ages past when spells were cast

In a time of men and steel

When a man was taught no special thing

It was all done by feel

So, listen

So, learn

So, read on….

PURPLE BOX FRONT

DEEP PURPLE – Listen, Learn, Read On (6 CD box set, 2002)  (currently $298 on amazon.ca)

I recently listened to this box set again over the course of two weekends. Delving into the gorgeous box, 6 CDs, 120 pages of text, pictures, and credits, I felt fully immersed in a Purple world. Of all the Deep Purple box sets, and there are a lot of them, this one truly is a must. Covering the years of Deep Purple’s first era (1968-1976) plus surprises, there has never been a more comprehensive set of rarities and album cuts by this band.

Starting off with solo tracks by each member of the first four versions of Deep Purple, I never had any of these tracks before, except for the one by Episode Six. I was really impressed with The Outlaws’ (featuring Blackmore) version of “Keep A Knocking”. It was also great to finally have “Medusa” by Trapeze.

After a handful of very 60’s tracks by Deep Purple Mk I, the set really begins. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover helped create an entire new beast. Before too long we’re immersed in demos, rare live versions, remasters, outtakes and the odd album cut. My only complaint was that “Speed King” is not included in its album version, as I think it is superior to the two versions included. Suitable to this version of Purple, disc three kicks off with the 30 minute version of “Mandrake Root” from the 1970 Stockholm concert. Through Fireball, Machine Head, and Who Do We Think We Are, you can hear the band grow, experiment, and eventually stagnate. However, by the end of disc 4, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes are on board. The band was revitalized with the Burn album, but had not changed in their jamming tendencies. Disc five contains the 30 minute version of “Space Truckin'” from the Gaumont, and an unreleased 12 minute version of “Mistreated”, as well as an 18 minute version of “You Fool No One”.

The final disc contains some then-unreleased quad mixes from Stormbringer (now available in a surround sound DVD) and the final recordings of the band. Tommy Bolin replaces Blackmore, and there is material here from his first rehearsals (from the Days May Come CD). By the time the Last Concert In Japan material hits the speakers, you are overwhelmed and exhausted by the majesty of Deep Purple. Simon Robinson wisely ended the set with a remastered verion of “You Keep On Moving”.

Robinson’s liner notes are, of course, detailed and exemplary. It will take you longer to finish them than it will to listen to this monstrous set.  Tracklist is below, for your perusal and analysis.  Click the gallery and enlarge.

5/5 stars. The buck stops here, this is the one.

REVIEW: The Beatles in Mono (box set)

THE BEATLES – In Mono (box set, 2009, currently $260.00 on amazon.ca)

I’ll be brief here, mainly because this is The Beatles, and this music is so ingrained into everybody’s psyches now.   Nobody wants to see me blather on about these songs.  I was very happy with my purchase of The Beatles in Mono, despite the price. I was not lucky enough to get a first run, but Amazon hooked me up with the second run when it was in stock.

The Beatles in Mono is, as far as I know, a complete collection of every mono mix they’d ever done. The Beatles were hands-on with their mono mixes, where George Martin and his staff tended to helm the stereo mixes. This is, therefore, the mixes that the Beatles intended you to hear back in the 60’s. Playing them remastered on a modern stereo today makes them sound that much more fierce and aggresive, noticeably different from their stereo counterparts. In addition many of the actual mixes are drastically different. “Helter Skelter” is the one in particular that jumped out at me. It sounds like a completely different version of the song. Really refreshing after only having the stereo version for 20+ years!

There are some Beatles albums not included in this set, but that’s OK. Let It Be, Abbey Road, and Yellow Submarine were not mixed in true mono. The mono mixes once available of those albums were not mixed by the band.  They were just “fold downs” of the stereo mixes. I guess if you were dying to hear them, you can make your own fold-downs from The Beatles in Stereo set. What is included here is a new compilation called the Mono Masters (a companion piece to the Past Masters) which includes all the non-album mono mixes, and some previouly unreleased ones like “Across The Universe”.

This box set is for anyone who calls themselves a true Beatles fan, anyone who wants to own the versions that the Beatles themselves mixed, or any completist.

Is it worth the price? Well, the packaging is very nice, each CD is housed in its own little duplicate LP packaging with the white, square box. That means you get the full booklet from Magical Mystery Tour and all the goodies enclosed within the White album. Very nice. The CDs slide in and out, which may not be to your personal taste especially after spending this much money. The call, ultimately, is yours. There is also an exhaustive booklet to consider.

5/5 stars

Part 40: Record Store Bands

All record stores have their fare share of record store bands.  The names are fading into obscurity, but there are two that I still remember because I still listen to the CD’s more than a decade later.

It doesn’t matter if a band ever makes it big, or if you’re the only fan.  If the music moves you enough to still listen to it over a decade later, then that is all that matters.  Two bands that I still listen to over a decade later are Here Comes Jim and The Candidates.

Both Here Comes Jim and The Candidares were bands fromCambridge, Ontario Canada.  They were “our” bands – made up of record store guys, our friends, and talented ones at that.  They didn’t sound anything alike, but in my opinion, both had the potential to get signed.

THE CANDIDATES

This four-piece was a rock band influenced by The Who, The Jam, and the mod scene in general.  They started out with all four members wearing suits and ties on stage but this later evolved into a looser image.  Their stage presence was such that they could have played a hockey barn, as they acted as if there was a thousand people in the audience even if there were only a handful.  Their tunes were solid, well composed, and well played.  They boasted three lead vocalists, including this guy Neil M, who came all the way from Scotland to rock the tri-cities.

Their tunes were full of attitude.  For example, “Who’s Your Daddy Now” was a song written for Trevor, about this girl that ended up using him for a ride to her home town (Ottawa) and then breaking it off.  She was obsessed with pictures of herself:

Sold your soul for a photograph,

I tore it up and had the last laugh,

Who’s your daddy now?

He ain’t got nothin’ on me!

The Candidates eventually split and morphed into other bands.  For me personally, nothing was better than the original four-piece, the band that I went to see as often as possible.  They hit me right in the nuts and I think their debut album had all the right moves in all the right places.  They made an equally good second album, but it’s the debut that was special to me personally.

HERE COMES JIM

Another four-piece, this was a more experimental band.  The lead singer was this extremely talented guy named Matty G.  I believe that he was actually a trained singer, which would help explain why he was able to sing so many different styles (often within one song).  I used to compare him to a Mike Patton, a comparison that he was flattered by.  Yet I think the comparison was accurate.  The difference is that Matt used to sing and play lead guitar too.

They had quite a few good tunes.  My favourites were “She Is”, a melodic winner with a chorus that kills, and “Negator”.  “Negator” was just a pissed-off, scream-loaded, headache inducing pile of distorted guitars and vocals.  I would compare it to Faith No More tunes such as “Surprise! You’re Dead!” for sheer power and aggression.  Either song could have been a hit, in a just world.

Neil, Matt, and the rest of the gang that I’ve lost touch with are still some of the most talented musicians that the tri-cities have produced.  I’m glad I saw these bands back in the day, bands that are now forgotten in the dusts of time.  However, if you’re ever in the area, wandering through the pawn shops and music stores, and you run into a copy of either album, pick it up.  It’ll be a better listen than whatever Nickelcrap that MTV is pushing these days.

r-l: Me, Tom, Meat

Part 39: Mother’s Day at the Record Store

My first Mother’s Day at the store was unique.  We never tried this stunt again, because it was a bit of a waste.  It was spring 1995.  The boss had brought in a bucket of roses.  He said, “I want you to hand these out to every lady that looks like a mother, that comes in today.”  OK, all well and good.  A little on the weird/awkward/unique side, but OK.  I didn’t want to do it but I didn’t have much choice. You had to kind of guess who was a mother and who wasn’t. Not fun! “Do I look that old to you?” was a common response.

I guess the problem is that most mothers didn’t really go out to buy CD’s on Mother’s Day.  A lot of them headed out for morning brunch with the families, or spent the day with the families.  Then you’d have the occasional crackhead mother that I would skip, because they’d probably just try to smoke the flowers.  On Mother’s Day, it was pretty much just dudes.  They were in there to buy the latest Jann Arden, Celine Dion, or Shania Twain for mom.  As my bucket of flowers sat there, I figured I’d throw in a free one to any non-jerky dudes that were buying gifts for mom, too.  I got rid of a couple more roses that way.

Finally towards the end of the day, the bucket of roses still half full, I had a visit.  It was from a girl I liked named Holly.  Holly was a big Depeche Mode fan, and I had some CD singles in stock.  She picked a couple out and I decided, “What the hell?  Worth a try.”

“These are for you, Holly.”

I handed her the rest of the roses.  She was thrilled.  I didn’t get a date out of it, but at least the flowers didn’t go to a crackhead!

Oh!  And I did bring one home for my mom.

We never did the flowers thing again.  Happy Mother’s Day!

REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Born Again (deluxe edition)

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BLACK SABBATH – Born Again (1983, 2011 deluxe edition)

Born Again is my favourite album of all time. #1. Numero uno.

It wasn’t always that way. When I first owned it (on cassette) I really only enjoyed two songs, “Trashed” and “Zero The Hero”. But I was persistent. Soon other songs started to emerge from the muddy morass that is this album: “Born Again”, “Keep It Warm”, “Disturbing The Priest”. Now, years after first hearing this album, it is an indispensible part of my collection and my musical background. I don’t know exactly why I love it so much. It’s an ugly duckling of an album, uglier even than its cover.

In 1983, Don Arden (father of Sharon Osbourne) recommended that Black Sabbath tap Ian Gillan (ex-Deep Purple) as new lead vocalist replacing Ronnie James Dio. Gillan had just folded his self-titled band (the excellent Gillan) to rejoin Deep Purple, but the reunion failed to happen. Drummer Bill Ward, at this point an alcoholic and still reeling from the death of his father, but still managed to come back long enough to record this album. (Soon, he was out again and replaced by ELO’s Bev Bevan, whose picture is also included inside.) Gillan said he was expecting this to be some new supergroup, under a new name, and was surprised when it became the next version of Black Sabbath.

“Trashed”, a fast smoker, kicks you in the nuts right from the beginning, with Ian Gillan’s colourful storytelling. “It really was a meeting, the bottle took a beating, the ladies of the Manor, watched me climb into my car…” No question what this song is about – drinking, ladies, and fast cars.  Narrowly escaping death, the drinking driver in question proclaims at the end, “Oooh, Mr. Miracle, save me from some pain. Oooh, Mr. Miracle, I won’t get trashed again.”

An atmospheric instrumental called “Stonehenge” (a dark watery piece) seques straight into the biggest asskicker of the whole album. “Disturbing The Priest”, the most evil sounding song on any Sabbath album, is actually anything but. Lyrically it’s just about recording the album next door to a church and waking up the neighbors! You can’t tell that from Gillan’s hellish screams or Geezer Butler’s fluid, lyrical bassline.

Another brief instrumental (“The Dark”) acts as in intro to “Zero The Hero”, the epic single, the most evil video the band ever made, and the riff that Slash (allegedly) ripped off for a little tune called “Paradise City”. Gillan sings his patented “English-as-a-second-language” style of lyrics: “Sit by the river with the magic in the music as we eat raw liver.” Raw liver?  What the hell? Musically, this song is the definition of heavy metal.

Side 2 of the original LP begins with another fast scorcher, but still a much more straightforward song than anything on side one. “Digital Bitch” smokes from start to finish. Angry, vicious and brutal, this is a rock song for metal heads. “Keep away from the digital bitch!” warns Gillan.  Iommi’s riffery is tops.

“Born Again” is, I guess, a fucked up blues, filtered through Tony Iommi’s echoey underwater guitar sounds. If I had to compare it to another song, it would be Deep Purple’s “Wasted Sunsets”, for mood and vibe. Yet this is a much darker beast, highlighted by a metal chorus replete with screams.

Another fast rocker, “Hot Line”, is up next which the band used to play live. Very similar to “Digital Bitch” in style.

The final track is “Keep It Warm”, a midtempo song with rich vocals by Gillan, and more of that Engligh-as-a-second-language lyricism. “Keep it warm, rat, don’t forget pretty pretty one that your man is coming home.” Rat?

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So: if this record is loaded with such amazing riffage and tunes, why was it so unpopular? Why did it almost destroy Black Sabbath as a band? Why did it rate so low, everywhere? The answer is simple to me — the production sucks. Rumour has it that Geezer Butler snuck into the studio and turned the bass up so high that it couldn’t be fixed in the mix. As a result, this is a muddy, bass-heavy album with non-existent cymbals or even treble. Bill Ward’s drum sound is similar to the sound of hammering on a sheet of 1/8″ thick steel. Even his drum style has changed — in the 70’s he was much looser, then he got stiff and this was the first album where he sounds so stiff and relentless.

Yet, as a package, to me it works. I love this album and the sound is part of that. From the cover art, to the look of the band, to the songs & videos, this is a picture of pure rock and roll evil! Sabbath is usually at their best when plying the darkest waters, and Born Again is indeed the darkest of the dark. I think this CD remaster goes a long way towards making the album enjoyable. (The liner notes are also excellent.)

After this tour, Gillan left for Purple (for real this time), and the band hired yet another singer — David Donato who later turned up with Mark St. John (Kiss) in a band called White Tiger. Donato joined the original members for a photo shoot, but this new lineup produced no music, and Sabbath disbanded. Tony Iommi began work on a with another ex-Purple singer, Glenn Hughes (notice a pattern here?)…but that is another totally confusing and convoluted story!

Gillan maintains to this day that he was “the worst singer that Sabbath ever had,” while Ozzy thinks this is the best Sabbath album since he left the band. But, much like Another Perfect Day by Motorhead, it is a different sounding album that has a strong cult following.

You decide!

AND NOW! Onto the bonus disc.

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First up is “The Fallen”, a heavy fast rocker with a great riff. It is a riff unlike most Iommi riffs but it’s a solid one. The song has been heavily bootlegged before, but the deluxe edition is its first official release. Interesting but not essential is an extended version of “Stonehenge”, the watery intro to “Disturbing the Priest”. Next is the live set at Reading. This is the first official release of anything featuring the Sabbath lineup of Gillan/Iommi/Butler and Bev Bevan. I have a bootleg of the Montreal show (Black and Purple), which is awful. Gillan’s voice was all over the map on that one, maybe his monitors were off or maybe he was hoarse, but he sucked that night. This Reading show is much better! You have to remember that Ian Gillan, of all the Black Sabbath singers, put his own spin on these songs. He didn’t always sing the words as they were written, and his voice is so idiosyncratic that it’s hard to put Made In Japan out of mind. That’s not a bad thing to me, I love Ian Gillan. It may not be to everybody’s taste.

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Strongest on the live stuff were “Digital Bitch” and “Hotline”. “Zero The Hero” is sloppy, but drummer Bevan is solid. In fact it is Bevan with whom I am most frequently impressed here. Aside from some “percussion” sessions on the Eternal Idol album, this is the first official release of any Sabbath music with Bev Bevan on drums, and certainly the largest chunk of Sabbath music available with his performances.

The crowd goes absolutely nuts for “Smoke On The Water”, more so than any Sabbath song before it. It’s weird hearing any band that’s not Deep Purple sing the story about Montreaux, but I think they had no choice. They really did have to play it or the crowds would have rioted. Sabbath play a blocky heavy metal version of the song.

Disappointingly, there is no Dio-era material. On the Montreal bootleg, Gillan sang “Heaven and Hell” (gloriously screwing up the words) and “Neon Knights”.

Still, this is an absolutely great reissue. Wonderful packaging and liner notes, finally answering the rumours about that album cover.

5/5 stars! This will always be my favourite Sab platter. Plus it tends to scare the neighbors.

Part 38: More Wood

RECORD STORE TALES Part 38: More Wood

As I said before in chapter 14, record store guys have the best parties, ever.  In the beginning when things were less corporate, we also had the best staff parties.   There were kegs, which automatically meant keg stands. We were outdoors.  There was music.  There were burgers and dogs and even vegetarian options.  One year, a bunch of guys (including our buddy Dave “Homer”), pulled up in a pickup truck with a couch in the back!  Fucking perfect!  We would go all night, no complaints from the neighbors.  This was long before Spoogecakes. This was summer, 1999.

In my humble opinion, the epicenter of these parties was always Tom. He brought the best tunes. He said the most random things (“Frosted Lucky Charms, they’re magically delicious!”) at the most random times. Tom brought the fucking party.

TOM

The triumvirate of Tom, Trev and myself were usually ready to rock out to something a little on the heavier side.  Tom brought the Fu Manchu, which was my first exposure to the band.  From The Action is Go, he played “Saturn III” on repeat.

Spaceman destroy

Mega asteroid

Certain time and place

Floatin’ up in space

Tom brought the tunes, and Tom brought the chicken wings.  Tom used to pull this stunt where he’d eat several wings, bones and all.  (Then, he used to put the rest of the bones in a jar and say he would use it to make soup?)   Well, it didn’t turn out so well for Tom this time.

Trev was working with this one kid from Egypt who didn’t last long.  Boutros was his name.  Well, Boutros used to boast that he could eat “anything” no matter how hot.  Trevor used to laugh at this, having tasted the terrible delights of the habanero pepper himself.  Boutros, despite his boasts, had never heard of this pepper.  He had no idea what he was getting himself into with his boasting.

Trevor made a special trip to get one pepper, just for this party.  It was a mean looking little thing, like a tiny tomato.  He presented it to Smelly.  Smelly laughed.

“That little thing?  That’s what I’m supposed to be so afraid of?  That little thing?”

Boutros was about to insert the whole thing in mouth.

Trevor responded with a chuckle, “Be careful!  Don’t have a bite.  Just cut off a small slice.”

“Yeah whatever!” he said as a slice was prepared for him.

He ate it.  He laughed.  He laughed some more.

Then, his eyes grew wide.  His mouth squeezed shut as he began crying.  He assumed the fetal position.  I didn’t see him again for the rest of the night.  He never boasted about being able to eat “anything” again.

Enter, Tom.  Tom was already well lubricated from generous amounts of cold, frothy beer.  He had also already performed his standard party trick:   the eating of the chicken bones, much to the delight of us.  So, when a very inebriated Tom grabbed what was left of that pepper and bit, we all shouted “NO” at once!  After all, chicken bones and habanero cannot feel good coming out the other end!

As far as I know, Tom spent much of the rest of the evening drinking milk in the washroom.  I do not know what the next day was like for him.  I have never asked.  I don’t want to know.

Intermission: Pranks 2.0 “Thussy Boy”

I’m not in a record store anymore, but in so many respects, absolutely nothing has changed.

I went out to get a sub at lunch.  When coming back, I stopped at my office to check my email before heading to the lunch room.  I found the guilty party taping my mouse down to the desk using heavy duty yellow labels.  Here is the photographic evidence.

And here is the guilty party attempting to escape.

Ahh well, it’s his birthday today.  I can’t be too mad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THUSSY BOY!

REVIEW: The Cult – Capsule 1 (2010)

CAPSULE FRONT

THE CULT – Capsule 1 (EP, 2010)

And then the hype began.

…first of 3, possibly 4 capsules…

…we’re not releasing an e.p…We’re releasing ‘a capsule’…

…new songs…a film aspect…music videos that you can download …maybe a t-shirt…

Bullshit!  It’s an EP dammit!  Which is fine, except this one was so fucking hard to get!  Tried Amazon…nothing…tried eBay…nothing on CD…went to the official Cult site and paid over $30 for this thing.

And then, it didn’t even play in any but one of my CD players!  My oldest one, strangely enough.  See, Capsule 1 is one of them there fancypants “DualDiscs”.  A load of crap, I sez.  Half the time, they don’t work in CD players!  But the idea is, one side of the disc is a CD and the other is a DVD.

Before I get to the music, let’s talk about the DVD side.  Ian’s hyped “film aspect”.

What the fuck was that?  What the fuck did I just watch?  Prelude to Ruins is 4 minutes of abstract whateverthefuck that I’ll never get back.  And for this 4 minutes, I can’t get a regular CD that I can play in my car?

Thankfully, the music is fucking awesome! 

First track “Every Man and Woman is a Star” is a stuttering, triumphant return for the Cult.  I think this is the best Cult track in many years, since possibly “The Witch” which is kind of takes me back to.  Another new song, “Siberia”, follows.  This mournful masterpiece drives with the darkest of pulses.  Ian’s vocal is among some of the most powerful I’ve heard!  Fuck yeah!  This takes me back to why I loved the Cult in the first place!  Both songs show different sides to the band, but upon hearing them there is no way you could mistake them for anything but the Cult.

This “capsule” is rounded out by two live tracks:  the best version of “Rain” that I have ever heard in my life, and a dull “Brother Wolf, Sister Moon”.  Ian barks his way through “Rain”, deviating from melody, but trading melody for aggression.

No T-shirt, Ian!  For $30 you could have sent me a shirt.

I’ve heard that Capsule 2 has skipped the DualDisc concept, but I don’t know for sure because I’ve never been able to locate a copy.  At $10 per good song, I thought that Capsule 1 was a bit pricey.

Musically:  4/5 stars

Value:  1/5

Oh, and Ian, it’s still just an E.P!

Part 37: When Wives Spill Their Pepsi all Over Ronnie James Dio

Back in 2006, a few weeks after I left the store, I became a “normal customer”.  (As if there is such a thing!)  I started getting calls from my former compatriots any time they saw something cool come in for me.  Which was frequent back then.  Today I have a hard time finding discs locally that I still need, as my collection is pretty beefy.

I drove on a snowy Saturday to one of my former haunts to see my friends and former co-workers.  I managed to snag a mint condition used copy of Dio’s Holy Diver – Live.  It was his newest album.   (Also, sadly, his last album released while he was still alive.)    The package was 2 CD’s including one disc of Holy Diver, performed live in sequence.  I tried to explain to Jen how cool this release was:

It’s the first time he’s played the whole album live.  It was his first album, and considered his best solo album by a lot of fans.  It’s a landmark album — you’ll know some of these songs.

Jen had already heard some Dio.  I played Intermission (on vinyl) for her regularly, and she knew tunes like “Rainbow in the Dark” quite well.  Plus, Jen enjoys back rubs.  If she wanted a back rub, for example, I’d put some tunes on, usually Dio.  Soon it became known as “Dio Massages”.  It wasn’t too long before Jen knew most of Dio’s best tunes from Rainbow and beyond:  “Man On The Silver Mountain”, “Holy Diver”, and so on.  Dio Massages became a regular weekend ritual.

So, when I picked up Holy Diver – Live, I was stoked!  I got it cheap, used, which was not always easy with new metal releases.  Metal fans tend to hang on to their new releases, since they’re not always easy to come across in mainstream retail outlets.   Jen and I listened to disc one, and went to bed.

I had rather stupidly left the CD case (with second disc still inside) on the end table.  Right next to Jen’s can of diet Pepsi.  An idiot could have predicted what would happen next.  My only defense is “I am not an idiot!” but it didn’t save my Dio CD.  Jen reached for her diet Pepsi, missed, and spilled.  Dio was drenched – the booklet, the back cover, and the second disc.  I owned the CD for less than a day, and it was already wrecked.  In the morning, the second disc (previously mint) had little beads of dried Pepsi on it.  The booklet and back cover were a lost cause.  Couldn’t even open the booklet, like a teenager’s first Playboy mag!

I called up my buddy at the store where I had bought the CD.  We’ll call him “Steven Tyler” as an alias.  (He happens to share the name of a famous rock star in real life.)

“Steven!  You got any more of those Dio live albums floating around in the system?”

“Nope, sorry man.  You got the only one,” said Steven.

I ordered a replacement copy from Amazon later that morning.  New.  Over $30 all said and done.

MORAL:  DO NOT LEAVE YOUR DIO DISCS NEXT TO A CAN OF DIET PEPSI OVERNIGHT!

I still love my wife more than anything.  She still loves “Rainbow in the Dark”.

REVIEW: Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds of the Western World (deluxe edition)

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THIN LIZZY – Vagabonds of the Western World (2011 deluxe edition)

Thin Lizzy’s history is much like Deep Purple’s in certain respects. Both bands had an early period (three albums for both bands) with an earlier lineup, and a sleepier 1960’s-oriented sound. This is before both bands galvanized their sounds and boiled it down to rock and roll.

Vagabonds is the third of these three Lizzy albums, and the closest in sound to what they would later become. This is also the best of these three Lizzy albums. This deluxe edition of Vagabonds is also the best Lizzy deluxe edition that I have heard thus far. Both the remastering and bonus material is fantastic. Just listen to that bass intro on “Gonna Creep Up On You”. The original CD release did not reveal this much detail, the bass has so much depth now.

The album itself gets off to a slow start, with “Mama Nature Said”, “The Hero and the Madman” and “Slow Blues” which you will hear on this package no less than four times! None of these songs are personal favourites. However track four, “The Rocker”, is a pure Lizzy classic. It could have fit in easily on an album like Fighting, Jailbreak or Johnny The Fox. It is simply awesome with an extra dose of rocket sauce.

From there it’s pretty much non-stop. The title track is up next, a personal favourite with loads of atmosphere. The moody “Little Girl In Bloom” is a tale of a girl who finds herself with child, and must tell her father. Phil Lynott offers his advice on how to do this. Is this based on someone Phil knew? We now know that Phil had at least one son that didn’t know who his father was. Could his mother have been the little girl in bloom?

“Gonna Creep Up On You” and “A Song While I’m Away” end the album in style, a couple of great numbers.

That ends the orginal LP, but disc one is still filled with bonus material from singles and B-sides. One B-side from the original CD is missing, which was “Black Boys On The Corner”. This song however is available on the Thin Lizzy box set, so it can still be had. The other singles and B-sides include the raging classic “Sitamoia”, a song by Brian Downey with its chorus in Gaelic. “Randolph’s Tango” is another highlight, a song which vaguely reminds me of “El Paso” by Johnny Horton in terms of story. It is, not surprisingly, a tango with a fantastic flamenco solo by Eric Bell. You will also hear the funky “Cruising In The Lizzymobile” and the powerful horn-laden “Little Darling” on this disc. “Broken Dreams” and “Here I Go Again” round out the singles. Throw in a couple single edits (for “The Rocker”, “Randolph’s Tango”, and “Whiskey In The Jar”) and you have a near-perfect first disc. But there’s still more. The 1977 remix of “Slow Blues” featuring Gary Moore and Midge Ure is included, its first CD appearance. This track was lifted from a rare remix LP that Lizzy did to bring the sound of their early material in line with what they were doing later. It is vastly different and perhaps superior to the original “Slow Blues”, with Moore re-recording the guitars himself.

The second disc is entirely made up of live BBC recordings, and do they ever cook!  Extra rocket sauce!  They sound incredible and the band was playing great. Live material with the Eric Bell lineup is scarce and this is some of the first live stuff I’ve heard by them. Taken from multiple sessions, you will hear most of the original album performed live as well as earlier tunes such as a sleepy “Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm”. Interestingly, there are also live versions of two later Lizzy tunes: “Showdown”, from Nightlife, and “Suicide”, from Fighting. I had no idea that they were written earlier with the Eric Bell lineup, until now.

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Liner notes are great and there are a handful of pictures included. (There’s even a photo of the very, very rare Funky Junction album, which was basically Lizzy playing Deep Purple covers. Oh, my left nut for a re-release!)

This package is, for a lot of people, probably the only Eric Bell era album that they need. I am happy to report that it is simply a fantastic reissue.

5/5 stars