The Black 'N The Blue
William Smith | Fontana, CA United States | 05/24/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The Black:
Ok, I'm a big fan. I even sported a "Support Black 'N Blue" license frame for a while back in the day... however, I'm not blind. Needless to say the songs on here that did not make the albums (roughly 5) just aren't very good. Not really any of them. The much mystified "Violent Kid" cut from the debut cd to me is silly and not worth my time. "Lifeline" is probably the best but just doesn't have the spirit or spark of the released stuff, in other words these were cut for a reason.
Sadly, the "demo's" of the songs we all love are a double-edged sword; they are obviously from a tape (you'll hear the hiss often) and honestly they sound almost "too close" (or too much like they sound on the real albums), so the "oh wow" moments are at a bare minimum. I would have preferred something a little less "formed" with a higher quality remastering. "Autoblast" live from '84 is the absolute worst sounding and really should have been left off (it sounds that bad, bootleg walkman?). Lastly, the price. I paid a lot less for my disc and cannot in good conscience reccommend this at the price listed here; just being honest.
The 'N:
If you want an amazing Black 'N Blue cd, and already have the original cd's, I cannot reccommend "One Night Only - Live" enough. It may be the best Black 'N Blue effort (believe it or not) since their debut cd and definitely is one of the better live perfomances you'll likely hear, the sound quality is STELLAR.
The Blue:
It's a real treat to have this glimpse into the raw energy that created the songs. Most of the songs sound very similar to what they would sound like later but have that "angst" that can only come from a demo. Chains Around Heaven and I'm the King have a list date of 1981 (two full years before the actual recordings)! So you can see these go back a ways! The band sounds as good as I hoped they would, this period really taps into the creative loop they were into in 81-84. They were an unstoppable force thwarted only by the all-mighty dollar, and bad luck. The track listing is strong, and I am really interested in a follow-up since this is actually called "Anthology 1". I'm waiting to hear a higher quality set of demo's if the Without Love Demo's ever surface. Hurry up Jamie!"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1