BLACK ‘N BLUE – The Demos Remastered Anthology 1 (rarities 81 / 84 + unreleased songs)

Before reunite for the comeback album Hell Yeah!, it was released this BLACK ‘N BLUE album titled “The Demos Remastered Anthology 1”. What makes this release so unique and desirable is that it contains demo versions of some of the tracks that later showed up in a better recorded format on their debut for Geffen Records. Even more so is that it has some unreleased songs that never made it to any of the albums, 5 out of the 12 to be exact!
And we added 3 extras…

Question is… can you ‘remaster’ a demo? Well, these are professionally recorded tracks, so the audio quality is good enough to make some hiss cleaning and enhance and tell the difference.
It’s always interesting to listen to a song in its demo format and then listen to the final product. Most of the songs that ended up on the BLACK ‘N BLUE debut stay pretty close to the demo versions.
What makes the demos almost as good as the studio cuts is the raw and punchy compressed sound and atmosphere of the recordings.
Sure, there are minor tape flaws on some parts of the tracks, but all almost unnoticeable.

As far as the remastering goes, I could hear a big difference. The demo version of one of B’NB first songs recorded in 1981 – “Chains Around Heaven” – was originally included on ‘Metal Blade’s Metal Massacre I’ compilation.
When I played that CD version to the one featured here on The Demos Remastered Anthology, they were light years apart.

It’s unfortunate that songs like “Squeeze Me” (1982), “Violent Kid” (1982), “Sign In Blood” (1983), “Cold Heart (1983)” and “Lifeline” (1983) were never included on any of Black ‘N Blue studio albums.
I like these songs just as much as any others and they would have fit perfectly on any of their records. These are must haves for fans of the band and collectors.
The only really poor quality track is “Autoblast (Live)”. It sounds like a bad bootleg that was recorded off of the radio during one of their earlier live performances. The sad thing is the performance itself was flawless. It’s just a really bad recording, but you can still listen to it.

It’s curious to hear the original version of ‘Wicked Bitch’ (1983) recorded with Don Dokken and Michael Wagener producing… these were effervescent days for sure, with many musicians helping each other before the Californian glam metal explosion.

But wait.. 0dayrox always give you more. As extra, we have 3 additional tracks in a demo form with stupendous audio quality.
‘Hell Yeah’ and ‘So Long’ were finally recorded by Black ‘N Blue for their comeback album, even the former was chosen as the album’s title. The arrangements here are pretty different from the final studio versions.
“Serious Drag” remains unreleased, however I think this is a Jaime St. James solo demo.

This Zoom Club Records release “The Demos Remastered Anthology 1” really worth the listen to enjoy these songs from its inception, and to discover new ones never officially released before. Before you ask for, there’s not ‘Anthology 2’ so far… but I hope it comes out soon.
HIGHLY Recommended

Only at 0dayrox

01 – Chains Around Heaven (1981)
02 – I’m The King (1981)
03 – The Strong Will Rock (1982)
04 – Squeeze Me (1982)
05 – Violent Kid (1982)
06 – Sign In Blood (1983)
07 – Wicked Bitch (1983 recorded with Don Dokken)
08 – School Of Hard Knocks (1983)
09 – Cold Heart (1983)
10 – Hold On To 18 (1983)
11 – Lifeline (1983)
12 – Autoblast (Live 84, Texas)

0dayrox EXTRAS:
13 – Hell Yeah (unknown date)
14 – So Long (unknown date)
15 – Serious Drag (unknown date)

Jaime St. James: Lead Vocals
Tommy Thayer: Guitar
Jeff Warner: Guitar
Patrick Young: Bass
Pete Holmes: Drums

BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Demos-Anthology-Black-Blue/dp/B01K8MTVJU