Black ‘N Blue – Rarities (Release Year – 2007)
In 2007, Crash Music released Black ‘N Blue’s Rarities. This is a collection of rare demos, live cuts, and previously unreleased songs.
I have been playing this disc for a few months now, but haven’t mentioned it at HRH. The band will be performing a reunion show at Rocklahoma this afternoon, so I thought I would give this disc another look.
The opening cut Violent Kid, is one of the heavier cuts I have heard Black ‘N Blue record. This is a really cool song that deserves a finished studio version. Tommy Thayer really jams on this song.
Sign In Blood is another heavy rocker that reminds me a lot of RATT’s style
of hard rock. This song also deserves a finished studio version. This is a really good tune.
Every Black ‘N Blue recognizes the song Wicked Bitch, as one of the band’s biggest anthems. This version is slightly different that the original studio version, but still worth hearing.
Cold Heart is a demo that didn’t really cut it for me. They could rework this song a little bit, and improve it, but I could see why this one didn’t get released.
Hold on To 18 is a little different than the version on the band’s self titled album from 1984. This one is little more raw, and lacks the cool guitar intro in the beginning of the song. I prefer the original, but this one is o.k. too.
Lickety Split is a cool upbeat tune, that seems to capture Black ‘N Blue having a lot of fun.
A few of the demo cuts on Rarities offer a glimpse into the unreleased disc, Hell Yeah. Serious Drag, So Long and Hell Yeah are all demos from the up and coming (rumored to be) 2009 release.
Serious Drag is a raw sounding cut that has some good sounding guitar parts. This song has potential, but needs some work.
So Long has a cool intro. This version also has that raw demo sound. With a little tweaking, this song could have some hit potential (if radio would actually play the finished version).
Hell Yeah is probably my favorite out of the three songs. This song has a good classic rock vibe about it.
I already had live versions of both Autoblast and I’m the King from the band’s Live in Detroit 1984 record. The cuts here are the same with one exception. The sound quality is far superior to the 1984 record on both of these tracks. For that reason, I am glad to have these songs again.
I have all of the Black ‘N Blue releases prior to this one, so this disc was a must own disc for me. If you are a Black ‘N Blue fan, Rarities is a nice way to round out your collection. Check it Out!
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Violent Kid
2. Sign In Blood
3. Wicked Bitch
4. Cold Heart
5. Hold On To 18
6. Lickety Split
7. Serious Drag
8. So Long
9. Hell Yeah
10. Autoblast (Live)
11. I’m The King (Live)
Black ‘N Blue is:
Jamie St. James – Vocals
Tommy Thayer – Guitar
Jeff Warner- Guitar
Patrick Young – Bass
Pete Holmes – Drums
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Hard Rock Hideout 
I always liked Black -n- Blue back in the 80’s so i bought this as soon as it came out last year. Violent Kid and Sign in blood were decent enough. I liked Lickety Split a lot, it would fit well on Nasty Nasty. I have the Live 1984 album too so those songs didn’t mean much. The Hell Yeah demos were prenty bland for me and I think Jamie was the only original member on those if you look at the small print on the credits.