LOUDNESS – Thunder In The East [30th Anniversary Premium Box Ultimate Edition]

To commemorate the 30th Anniversary of one LOUDNESS‘ most iconic albums, Nippon Columbia made a “Thunder In The East – 30th Anniversary Premium Box Ultimate Edition“, a true collector’s release requested here at this blog.
The box includes the main album remastered not only on CD, but also on LP and cassette, ‘Crazy Nights’ 7” single replica, 2 DVD, guitar picks, etc, but what marks special interest are the two extra CD featuring previously unreleased material.

You have here “Thunder In The East” freshly remastered, the record that finally put Japanese metal pioneers Loudness on the map for the Western rock world thanks to an emblematic cover artwork, a simple but very effective album title and songs entirely performed in English.
Thank God, the band didn’t abandon their already quite unique sound to appeal to a larger mainstream public and this record still delivers everything one likes about the band.
Of course some tracks are really catchy with more radio potential than before but this doesn’t mean that they are not technically impressive or original.

The 2 bonus CD include pre-production, previously unreleased demos from the recording sessions / creative process.
It’s really interesting to hear how the songs that finally made in the album morphed not only in its structure & arrangements, but also in sound.

On Disc 1 son tracks are sung in Japanese giving to them an extra, exotic touch, and there’s the non-album track ‘Firestorm’ in its very early version, finally recorded by the band several years after.
Disc 2 features instrumental versions of all songs – all different from the final album release – a must for guitarist Akira Takasaki fans.
All these previously unreleased tracks sound quality is excellent.

“Thunder In The East – 30th Anniversary Premium Box Ultimate Edition” is a true ‘collectors item’ including the album in all formats you want plus more exclusive stuff, and these worthy previously unreleased 2 CD.
Limited to 3,000 units, the Box won’t be re-printed anytime soon.
Highly Recommended

Nippon Columbia ~ 【COZP-1102】
Ｌ Ｏ Ｕ Ｄ Ｎ Ｅ Ｓ Ｓ 「ＴＨＵＮＤＥＲ ＩＮ ＴＨＥ ＥＡＳＴ」

Disc 1: Thunder In The East remastered
01 – Crazy Nights
02 – Like Hell
03 – Heavy Chains
04 – Get Away
05 – We Could Be Together
06 – Run For Your Life
07 – Clockwork Toy
08 – No Way Out
09 – The Lines Are Down
10 – Never Change Your Mind

Disc 2: Pre Production Unreleased
01 – THE LINES ARE DOWN (Unreleased DEMO-M3-)
02 – WE COULD BE TOGETHER (Unreleased DEMO-M2-)
03 – GET AWAY (Unreleased DEMO-M5-)
04 – RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (Unreleased DEMO-M6-)
05 – CRAZY NIGHTS (Unreleased DEMO-M4-)
06 – FIRESTORM (Unreleased DEMO-M7-)
07 – HEAVY CHAINS (Unreleased DEMO-M11-)
08 – NEVER CHANGE YOUR MIND (Unreleased DEMO-M10-)
09 – ERUPTION (Unreleased DEMO-M9-)

Disc 3: Instrumental Versions Unreleased
01 – HEAVY CHAINS (Unreleased-M11-)
02 – GET AWAY (Unreleased-M5-)
03 – NO WAY OUT (Unreleased-M15-)
04 – CLOCKWORK TOY (Unreleased-M17-)
05 – THE LINES ARE DOWN (Unreleased-M3-)
06 – CRAZY NIGHTS (Unreleased-M4-)
07 – LIKE HELL (Unreleased-M13-)
08 – NEVER CHANGE YOUR MIND (Unreleased-M10-)
09 – RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (Unreleased-M6-)
10 – WE COULD BE TOGETHER (Unreleased-M2-)

Minoru Niihara – vocals
Akira Takasaki – guitars
Masayoshi Yamashita – bass
Munetaka Higuchi – drums

BUY IT !
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/COZP-1102
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