[kj] (OT) Lords Of The New Church

[Karen Weil]

Yeah, the Lords had some great songs.

k.w.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T.B." <Partyslammer at socal.rr.com>
To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" 
<gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:42 PM
Subject: [kj] (OT) Lords Of The New Church



> 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.

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