[kj] (OT) Lords Of The New Church

[T.B.]

As I've mentioned a few times, probably to the point of being annoying, 
early 80's punk/goth so-called supergroup The Lords Of The New Church has 
always been up in my top 5 favorite bands. In my opinion, the first self 
titled debut album is a must have and way ahead of it's time.  They were 
about the only band I ever got to know as people back when they spent a 
couple years mostly living and playing every shithole in Southern California 
after they lost their record contract with IRS and the notorious Miles 
Copeland. I've maintained contact with both Brian James and original bass 
player Dave Tregunna through the years and one of my friends, Adam Becvare 
actually fronted a sort of Lords "revival" a few years back with Brian and 
Dave.  Late last year, I heard that guitarist Brian James was going to remix 
some key tracks from The Lords original studio albums from the original 24 
track tapes.  Today, I got a surprise in the mail today from Brian James' 
manager.

It's a 2 cd release called "Rockers," one which is 10 IRS era tracks from 
the three studio albums remixed by Brian, and the 2nd disc is a 1982 show 
from their first album tour from an uncredited date/venue in the UK.

First off, the  remixed tracks are a revelation.  Just about every song is a 
vast improvement over the original version.  Many songs have bits of extra 
lead-in instrumental music, etc that give the tracks a more raw live in the 
studio feel. Especially songs from the debut album have a much more 
immediate, in-your-face feel to them without sounding heavy handed from the 
new production.  The songs from "Method To Our Madness" sound most like the 
original album versions, but even those sound fresh.  And after 23+ years, 
we finally get something close (actually better than) the original European 
mix of the title track without the overdubbed guitar on the song's guitar 
hook, plus Stiv's previously unheard extra lyrics just before the guitar 
solo.  My only quibble with this disc is the somewhat odd track selection 
from the first two albums (no Holy War, Russian Roulette, Open Your Eyes, 
Dance With Me........) but considering this set is called "Rockers," perhaps 
Brian's saving those for a future release.

The second disc's is a standard '82 era show set, however several songs have 
been probably edited from the last half of this recording, thus no cover of 
The Rolling Stones' Fortune Teller along with original 1st album songs 
Portabello and Apocalypso.  Also, Stiv Bator seems more sedate and less 
talkative between songs than other shows I've heard from this tour.  On the 
plus side, the recording itself is fairly well balanced and especially 
Brian's guitar is very up front in the mix compared to other '82 era shows 
I've heard.

All in all, a huge surprise how well this turned out and an essential 
purchase for Lords fans or anyone looking for some truly unique early 80's 
punk/goth rock n' roll.  Fingers crossed for a future release of more 
remixed tracks.

T.B.