13/04/01Castle/Sanctuary will be releasing Survivors, Head On, Shock Tactics, and Live at Reading'81 During May. Paul Samson has been asked to assist with these releases using material from his personal archives.
They will feature bonus tracks which are previously unreleased on cd, if at all. Each cd will have a 12 page booklet with photos and excerpts from Pauls personal scrapbooks of the period, and extensive detailed inner sleeve notes by Dave Ling.
Track listings as follows :-
SURVIVORS :- The original 8 tracks, The 5 tracks with Bruces' lead vocal (as per the Repertoire issue) plus 2 previously unreleased bonus tracks, "Big Brother" and "Tomorrow or Yesterday" featuring Bruce on lead vocal.
HEAD ON :- The original 10 tracks, plus "Angel with a Machine Gun" (b side of "Hard Times" single) and the never before heard 91/2 minute "Kingsway Jam". Samson were always jamming to try out new ideas/riffs etc, and at 2am one night, during the recording of "Head On", the boys decided to have a play. The engineer, Chas "Bit cold in here" Watkins, recorded a stereo 2 track tape of it, which was discovered by Paul 20 years later in his infamous sideboard.
SHOCK TACTICS :- The original 9 tracks, plus 3 more recorded at the same time. "Little Big Man" (b side of Riding with the Angels), plus "Losing My Grip" and "Pyramid to the Stars". "Grip" was only previously available on the "Head Tactics" compilation, while the version of "Pyramid" has never been released.
LIVE AT READING 81 :- The original 10 tracks, plus 3 previously unreleased tracks, "Red Skies", "Firing Line" and "Turn out the Lights". These tracks were recorded in rehearsal during June 1981 on stereo 2 track tape. These were the last songs written by the Samson, Thunderstick, Aylmer,Bruce line-up, and this is probably their last recording.All cd's are to be digitally remastered, and all bonus tracks mastered by Paul Samson at Y.D.S. Norwich.
There was a lot of criticism on the Airraid-reissues (see the excerpt from the review further down this page), and this is hopefully a proof that Sanctuary has admitted their halfhearted attempt with the 1999 reissues and decided to make some decent work with these new re-releases.
What could be of interest for Samson fans is the fact that clips from "Biceps of Steel" (Directed by Temple) are used to accompany a segment where Pistol's guitarist Steve Jones tells the story of how he more or less stole most of the bands equipment. The clips used comes from the bit where the "roadie" unloads a truck, puts up the amps and goes to sleep on the Rainbow stagefloor after a day of hard labour.
Apparently Julien Temple own the rights to "Biceps.." as there are no credits given in the endtitles.
There has been no consultation with the band regarding these releases.
Read Metal Hammer UK's review below.
A pretty mixed bag of albums, this. On the one hand congratulations
are in order, and on the other hand someone needs a real bollocking.
First, however, let's wind the clock back to the late '70s/early '80s
and the heady days of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with 'Metal
for Muthas I' and '...II', [7] and [6] respectively. The first volume
features classic metal in the shape of early Iron Maiden, Praying
Mantis, Angel Witch and Samson. Volume Two hasn't weathered quite as
well over the years, with only Trespass being particularly noteworthy
20 years on.
Also included in this commemorative batch are four albums from Samson,
who at one point formed the vanguard of NWOBHM along with the likes
of Saxon and Iron Maiden. Famed mainly for their grunting, masked
drummer Thunderstick, the memory of such gimmicks unfairly
overshadows the band's obvious hard rocking merits. Debut 'Survivors'
[5] featured mainly guitarist Paul Samson on lead vocals with a
certain Bruce Bruce (Dickinson) added in on a few final tracks.
1980's 'Head On' [7] was the first Samson album to feature Brucie all
the way through. Produced by the band themselves this is a touch too
trebly, but the follow-up, '81's cracking 'Shock Tactics' [8], is
excellent. Kicking off in fine style with the Russ Ballard tune
'Riding With The Angels' the muscular production and generally better
songs makes this a classic of the genre. Just ask Lars Ulrich.
In '81 Iron Maiden half-inched ol' Brucie, and 'Live at Reading '81'
[7] (originally released in 1990) marks his last date with the band
and thereafter, although Samson continued, their fortunes dwindled.
And now the bollocking: the repackaging job on these re-issues is
quite abysmal. The rudimentary sleeve notes are a shambles; to have
the spine of 'Survivors' credited to 'Samsom' is unforgivable.
Shameful even.
Air Raid Records reissues
Nicky Moore |
Vocalist Nicky Moore has joined the reformation line-up of Paul Samson, Chris Aylmer and Thunderstick. They are currently working on material for a new album which they hope to release by the summer. No label has yet been finalised.
They will make their live debut when they headline the Metal Crusade 2000 concert at the LA2, at the London Astoria, on Friday May 26th. Also on the bill will be Angelwitch and Praying Mantis. Doors open at 6.30 pm, and the show will end at 10.30 sharp, so don’t be late. Tickets will be on sale from the Astoria box office from 25th January.
All three bands are also booked to appear at the Wacken festival in
Hamburg, Germany in early August, pending contracts.
Which Samson track did Chris Aylmer name his band after?
The right answer; "Doctor Ice"
Congratulations to:
Ardian from Indonesia, Tomas from Sweden and
Vic from the US!
A copy of the compilation CD "Test of time" has been sent to you!
Expect it in your mail!
(The winners have been notified by e-mail.)
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There are six tracks demoed for the new album, and there are another six currently being worked on. The titles for the demoed songs are as follows:
This is your Life Possible producers include Tony Platt, John McCoy, and Paul Samson. |
There are plans for a 3rd compilation CD called "There and Back" which will feature unreleased material from the Nicky Moore/ Pete Jupp era. Paul is adding an update chapter to his book. The original draft covered the time from the start of Samson up to the final disbanding and the new chapter will cover the reformation and the future, with maybe a brief update on the time between. There has been interest shown by a publisher in releasing the book to tie in with the New year Tour. Check out issue #2 of the Samson Fanzine. |