ROSE TATOO – The Albums 1981-84 [Cherry Red / Lemon 4xCD Box Set] (2026) *HQ*

320_1 /// 320_2 /// HQ

Cherry Red’s imprint Lemon Records is releasing ”The Albums 1981-84”, a 4xCD, 53-track clamshell box set by Australian Hard Rock legends ROSE TATOO, which gathers together all of their releases from 1977 to 1984, fully remastered and with the addition of 13 bonus tracks.
This hugely influential band who will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2026 finally receive a deserved box set with all their relevant era together – a great listen of pure Rock n’ roll.
Disc 1 is ROSE TATOO debut LP ‘Rock N Roll Outlaw’ which contains the track ‘Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock N Roll)’ later covered by Guns n’ Roses on their million selling ‘G’N’R Lies’ LP. Also features the No.10 Australian chart hit ‘Bad Boy For Love’. Disc 2 is the No.40 UK Album chart smash ‘Assault & Battery’ which features the ‘Rock N Roll Is King’ single which reached No.37 in Australia.
Disc 3 is 1982’s seminal ‘Scarred For Life’ opus which contains the anthem ‘It’s Gonna Work Itself Out’ plus three non LP bonus tracks. An essential, must have album.
The fourth disc is 1984’s ‘Southern Stars’ album which features the singles ‘Freedom’s Flame’ and ‘I Wish’ (No.27 in Australia).

Like so many bands, ROSE TATOO suffered from revolving-door-syndrome, changing its contingent so often that it spun with dizzying speed. The band members, whatever the lineup, were already heavily tattooed before forming the group, and so they adopted the ROSE TATOO name to seal their fate as a group of “outlaws”, with a distinct, tough look, and a sound that was “totally urban, night time jungle maleness”.
A “kind of” stable line up – Angry Anderson, Pete Wells, Mick Cocks, Geordie Leach and Dallas Royall toured the debut album in 1980. Across the USA, then onto Europe, where it gained some traction, charting in several countries.
The band’s sound clearly had its roots in the blues, etching the names of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters into hard as nails rock and metal.

The producers of the band’s recordings, ex Easybeats Harry Vanda and George Young, also produced AC/DC’s early albums. There’s a similarity in sound that doesn’t duplicate, but lays down another layer of Australian rock’n’roll that expanded further through bands like The Angels and Cold Chisel.
The punky, tongue in cheek rock of ‘Nice Boys’ (later covered by G’N’R) on the debut features Pete Wells’ trademark slide guitar, which became a keystone of the band’s sound.

Debut Rose Tatoo released in Australia 1978, re-titled Rock’n’Roll Outlaw in some countries and released 1981, merged street rock with anthemic blues. A blood pumping blueprint that remained timeless through this and the next 3 albums.
Assault & Battery cemented the band’s place as a leading exponent of Aussie Rock, and is cleverly augmented with 5 live tracks, proof if any were needed, that live, they burned the house down. ‘Bad Boy For Love’ is the incendiary device that ignites the fire. ‘Rock’n’Roll Is King” keeps the flame alive.

Third album, Scarred For Life, saw a lyrical narrowing of the band’s elemental hard rock, stripping the messages back to the bone. ‘We Can’t Be Beaten’, ‘Revenge’ ‘Fighting Sons’ and ‘All Hell Broke Loose’ could be a Rose Tattoo manifesto.
The fact that this gritty emotional honesty was matched by sound musicianship and memorable tunes made the band stand out even further. This violent undercurrent running through the band’s songs came from a place deeply embedded in Autralia’s working class culture, and like AC/DC’s uncompromising hard rock, it chimed with many.
Fourth album, Southern Star was a relatively polished affair, a commercial venture. Titles like ‘Let Us Live’ ‘Freedom’s Flame’ and ‘Death Or Glory’ suggested a rage against a different target. Deeper, more personal.

If you’ve somehow always thought about picking up a ROSE TATOO album or two but haven’t got around to it, this is a set that’s not to be missed.
Highly Recommended

DISC ONE
ROCK ’N’ ROLL OUTLAWS
1. Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw
2. Nice Boys
3. The Butcher And Fast Eddy
4. One Of The Boys
5. Remedy
6. Bad Boy For Love
7. T.V.
8. Stuck On You
9. Tramp
10. Astra Wally
BONUS TRACK
11. Snow Queen

DISC TWO
ASSAULT & BATTERY
1. Out Of This Place
2. All The Lessons
3. Let It Go
4. Assault & Battery
5. Magnum Maid
6. Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King
7. Manzil Madness
8. Chinese Dunkirk
9. Sidewalk Sally
10. Suicide City
BONUS TRACKS
11. I Had You First
12. Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King (7’ Version)
13. Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw (Live)
14. Bad Boy For Love (Live)
15. Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King (Live)
16. Suicide City (Live)

DISC THREE
SCARRED FOR LIFE
1. Scarred For Life
2. We Can’t Be Beaten
3. Juice On The Loose
4. Who’s Got The Cash
5. Branded
6. Texas
7. It’s Gonna Work Itself Out
8. Sydney Girls
9. Dead Set
10. Revenge
BONUS TRACKS
11. Fightin’ Sons
12. All Hell Broke Loose
13. Branded (7’ Version)

DISC FOUR
SOUTHERN STARS
1. Southern Stars
2. Let Us Live
3. Freedom’s Flame
4. I Wish
5. Saturday’s Rage
6. Death Or Glory
7. The Pirate Song
8. You’ve Been Told
9. No Secrets
10. The Radio Said Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Dead
BONUS TRACKS
11. Never Too Loud
12. Wild One
13. Freedom’s Flame (7’ Version)

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