ROSE TATTOO – The Albums 1981-84 [Lemon Recordings / Cherry Red 4xCD remastered box set] (2026) *HQ*

320_1 /// 320_2 /// HQ

‘Angry’ Anderson, the legendary frontman and songwriter for Australian rockers ROSE TATTOO, passed away a few days ago. He died doing what he loved most: Rock ’n’ Roll. Anderson died aged 79 after he was hospitalised following a cardiac arrest while on tour in Germany with ROSE TATTOO, the balls-out band he fronted for 50 years.
This 2026 Lemon Recordings / Cherry Red released “ROSE TATTOO – The Albums 1981-84“, is a four disc box set including the band’s first four albums, fully remastered and including bonus tracks: 53 tracks across four discs, gathering the Australian street rock legends’ complete studio output from their debut through to 1984, with a healthy stack of bonus material rounding out the package.
Disc one is 1981’s ‘Rock N Roll Outlaw’ — the debut that introduced the world to ‘Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock N Roll)’, later adopted by Guns N’ Roses on G N R Lies, and the Australian Top 10 hit Bad Boy For Love. The album was originally released 1978 in Australia, self-titled. This is a killer set of unadulterated hard rock, a must have for ’70s rock n’ roll fans.
Disc two is the UK Top 40 charting ‘Assault & Battery’, another assassin LP, here including the rare Australian hit ‘Rock N Roll Is King’ alongside 6 live and single bonus tracks.
Disc three brings the seminal ”Scarred For Life” with the enduring ‘It’s Gonna Work Itself Out’ plus three non-album extras. Disc four closes the set with 1984’s ”Southern Stars”, home to the singles ‘Freedom’s Flame’ and ‘I Wish’, with three additional bonus tracks.

The band’s debut Rose Tattoo (1978, 1981 in other places as Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaws) is possibly their strongest. From top to bottom, this album shows Rose Tattoo at their best: blues tinged hard rock with heavy slide guitar us. It’s rough around the edges and delightfully so. It’s pure R N’ R.
The band’s sophomore effort Assault and Battery (1981) is, more or less, a continuation of their debut. If anything, the production is more hard rock based than blues based. The sound is sharp, and there’s great songs aplenty.

While a little more polished and commercial, 1982’s ”Scarred for Life” is another great album, perhaps Rose Tattoo’s most complete, and another essential in your collection. It’s a diverse album, with the band showing other styles in their sound. Had things worked out a little better for them, this could’ve been the band’s Highway To Hell: a more commercial sound while still maintaining the heaviness.

By the time of their fourth album ‘Southern Stars’ (1984), many of the classic line up members had left the band. Angry Anderson and Geordie Leach were the only members left but continued nevertheless. ‘Southern Stars’ saw the band becoming more mainstream with an AOR touch according to times, but still guitar driven. Not so far of what 38 Special was doing at the time.

ROSE TATTOO’s ”The Albums 1981-84” is the perfect package to get the best from the band together; it has the first four albums plus bonus tracks on each disc. They’ve been newly remastered and they all sound great.
Highly Recommended

DISC ONE – ROCK ’N’ ROLL OUTLAWS [remastered +1]
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 [remastered +6]
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 [remastered +3]
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 [remastered +3]
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)

Angry Anderson – lead vocals
Peter Wells – slide guitar and vocals
Mick Cocks – lead and rhythm guitar
Geordie Leach – bass guitar
Dallas “Digger” Royall – drums
Rob Riley – lead and rhythm guitar
Greg Jordan – lead guitar, slide guitar
John Meyer – guitar
Scott Johnston – drums

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www.amazon.co.uk/ALBUMS-1981-84-4CD-CLAMSHELL-BOX/dp/B0G61C5YJ4