BANDIT – Bandit [Bad Reputation remastered reissue] (2022) *HQ*

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UK’s Seventies hard rockers BANDIT are mostly remembered for their connection to AC/DC, being the previous band of bassist Cliff Williams. After Williams departed his prior band Home, he and vocalist Jim Diamond drafted a few other musicians – including drummer Graham Broad (Roger Waters’ band) and guitarist Danny McIntosh Jr (guitarist and husband of singer-songwriter Kate Bush) for their new project, Bandit.
We already featured here Bandit’s second and final album, now it’s time for their self-titled debut LP ”Bandit”, released for the first time on CD by Bad Reputation Records and with a vibrant remastered job.
After years playing the UK circuit and releasing three albums as a founding member of the progressive rock group Home, Cliff Williams joined Bandit for their self-titled 1976 release before landing an audition with AC/DC a year later following the firing of Mark Evans shortly after recording 1977’s “Let There Be Rock”. Williams debuted with AC/DC on the tour in support of the album as he settled into a new life in Australia.

Back to the album, musically ”Bandit” is a polished hard rock LP framed by Jim Diamond’s high-tension vocals and the twin-guitar interplay of Danny McIntosh and James Litherland. The album presents their full five-piece lineup with bassist Cliff Williams and drummer–keyboardist Graham Broad.
“Ohio” opens the set with an elastic, jogging pace and panned chordal movement. Diamond moves from rasp to uplift across the the acoustically filled “The Leader of the Pack”, soulful tune. “Dance When You Boogie” shifts from hazy, suspended chords to tightly sliding guitar figures and a sudden lift in Diamond’s range.

Other highlights include “Hung Up on Your Love,” where bending dual-channel lines and accelerated drum passages drive a lengthy, sectioned arrangement. The closing “Love and Understanding” stretches into slow, open harmonies with drawn-out chords, octave runs, and a rising string presence.
Sessions occurred in 1976 with producer John Alcock. Bandit received a spread in Trouser Press but received scant promotion from their marketing-challenged label Arista.
In March 1977, Bandit members accompanied Old Grey Whistle Test host Bob Harris to a London pub where the party got drawn into an altercation with members of the Sex Pistols. The band collapsed around Danny McIntosh, who assembled a new four-piece lineup for a second, and final album ‘Partners in Crime’.

”Bandit” is pure mid-Seventies Brit hard rock with a soulful delivery, especially thanks to Jim Diamond’s voice and songwriting. Diamond left Bandit after this album finding success with British new wave group Ph.D. He wrote the song “Little Suzi’s on the Up”, later made famous by Tesla on their debut album Mechanical Resonance, as ‘Little Suzi’.
Highly Recommended

01 – Ohio
02 – Hard On A Loser
03 – The Leader Of The Pack
04 – Dance When You Boogie
05 – Mr. James
06 – Hung Up On Your Love
07 – Rocking My Soul Out
08 – Pulling Them Punches
09 – All Coming Back To Me
10 – Love And Understanding

Bass, Backing Vocals – Cliff Williams
Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Graham Broad
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Danny McIntosh
Guitar, Harmonica, Backing Vocals – James Litherland
Lead and Backing Vocals – Jim Diamond

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