Although Slayer would become absolute legends of thrash and their third and fifth albums (‘Reign In Blood’ and ‘Seasons In The Abyss’) would be considered genre classics, the band’s formative years presented a less polished band in many ways. Their debut LP ‘Show No Mercy’ had the speed, but not necessarily the songs or production values. Tracks like ‘Evil Has No Boundaries’ and ‘Die By The Sword’ had a sense of force, but with Tom Araya’s vocal sounding like a man shouting into a bucket and the higher registers of Jeff Hanneman’s guitar cutting through everything at ear bleeding levels, it wouldn’t be until later, via the band’s live shows circa 1991, that the true potential in these songs would become clear. With several years’ distance, other numbers like ‘Fight Till Death’ and ‘Face The Slayer’ just sound a little naive, even if in 1983, Slayer’s speed and aggression was forging a new path for metal.
Tag Archives: deluxe edition
THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol. 12: Fall Heads Roll
On 2003’s ‘The Real New Fall LP’, Mark E. Smith and his band sounded somewhere near the top of their game. Some of their more critical fans might claim the record didn’t quite capture the fire of their early work, but the record boasted more than its fair share of memorable performances. It showed the now veteran act in a position of strength and would be a hard act to follow, if not impossible, especially considering Smith had a habit of shaking things up whenever he felt things might be going too well.
Watch: Levellers release video for “lost” track ‘Alive’ ahead of ‘Zeitgeist’ reissue
Sometimes, “lost” tracks are lost for a reason. One in a while, though, a gem will surface from the vaults that has the power to make fans not only sit up and listen, but actually question why such a great recording could’ve been shelved in the first place.
Such is the case with ‘Alive’, a track from the Levellers archive, released as a single as part of the pre-release promotion for a 30th anniversary reissue of the band’s much loved fourth album ‘Zeitgeit’. Huge fans will, of course, recognise ‘Alive’ as having pride of place as part of the bonus tracks on the “special edition” of the Levellers’ 2017 release ‘Notes From The Underground’, but its inclusion on a reissue of a far more celebrated release is guaranteed to introduce it to new ears.
GREENSLADE – Large Afternoon
Between 2018-2019, Esoteric Recordings – the prog rock subsidiary of Cherry Red Records – ran a brilliant reissue campaign for 70s band Greenslade. Their four major albums were lovingly repackaged and expanded with a wealth of live material, BBC Sessions and various alternate edits. In the case of fan favourite ‘Bedside Manners Are Extra’, the 1973 album was even coupled with a bonus DVD featuring the band’s appearance on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test, making the short set available in full, officially, for the first time. Such a good job was made of these affordable reissues that it was hoped that the campaign would be extended to include keyboard maestro Dave Greenslade’s first two solo albums – 1976’s ‘Cactus Choir’ and 1978’s lavish album and book set ‘The Pentateuch of The Cosmonololgy’ – since both deserved a similar level of TLC. Sadly, it wasn’t to be: instead, fans merely got a compilation disc presenting the best of Greenslade appended with one rare nugget – ‘Feathered Folk’, recorded live at the Reading Festival in 1973, which, in fairness, should’ve featured on the ‘Bedside’ reissue. [As of April 2025, neither of those aforementioned solo discs have had a decent CD send off; the Angel Air reissue of ‘Cactus Choir’ sounds awful, and ‘Pentateuch’ exists in an inferior edited version.]
DELUXE EDITION DREAMLAND: Dire Straits – Dire Straits
Following the launch of the Universal “Deluxe Edition” range in 2001, it has become increasingly normal practice for classic albums – and sometimes not-so-classic albums – to be reissued in an expanded format.
At the affordable end of the deluxe reissue scale, such releases normally take the form of a 2CD set, combining the original album of the chosen release with a disc’s worth of b-sides and/or rare and unreleased material. Most of the big bands of the 70s, 80s and 90s have been awarded deluxe reissues, but for years, there had been one very notable absence: Dire Straits.