Blackthorne: We Won’t Be Forgotten - The Blackthorne Anthology

Having previously shone a light on the brief tenure of melodic hard rock supergroup Blackthorne by reissuing their 1993 Afterlife debut with bonus tracks, Cherry Red/HNE Records then unleashed the band’s initially shelved second album replete with a disc of live/live in the studio recordings. Not satisfied with that comprehensive overview, now the label hits us with We Won’t Be Forgotten - The Blackthorne Anthology. For those not aware, the melodic rock household names that made this outfit’s debut comprised ex-Alcatrazz, Rainbow, MSG frontman Graham Bonnet, his Alcatrazz band mate and New England keyboard master Jimmy Waldo and Meat Loaf and Kiss session guitarist Bob Kulick. While Quiet Riot, Giuffria, House Of Lords bassist Chuck Wright and Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali formed a mighty rhythm section. However, by the time of the sessions for the proposed second album the latter two had moved along, and keen to get going, the recordings were put together with a drum machine and other band members handling bass. That, therefore, is also a situation that occurs on many of the tracks here - some with a great deal of success and others less so.

A three disc affair housing 44 tracks in total, 30 of which are ‘newly unearthed, unreleased recordings’, this anthology takes the wise move of not simply repeating everything that the label has released up to this point, instead offering up 14 songs from Blackthorne’s one official release and the sessions intended to make up album number two. These tracks can be found on disc one and for the uninitiated what you’ll encounter is a hard cracking rock band going through their paces with real gusto. Think unmasked era KISS meeting WASP down a back alley and then throwing in a dash of the more strutting MTV years. Behind the mic Bonnet adds a barking rasp that, while suiting him down to the ground, was a departure from the smoother rock croon he was and remains known for. Proof of the band’s potency, if it was needed, is easy to hear on the frantic “Sex Crimes� and mean and moody “Skeletons In The Closet�, or through the gritty push and pull of “Cradle To The Grave� and full force buzzsaw riffed “Twist The Blade�. The final three cuts on disc one find an alternate lyric track in the shape of “Sanctuary�, plus early 1994 demos of “Man In A Black Hat� and “Judgement Day�, which show the potential this band had in the studio, while also illustrating the sonic limitations that crop up on this release.

Disc two, dubbed ‘1992 & 1994 Demos’ delves further back, Blackthorne operating in the first of those years with the White Lion rhythm section of drummer Greg D’Angelo and bassist James Lomenzo. Interestingly they may also provide the most revealing insight into what this band, who were arguably neutered in the studio, were really meant to sound like. Angrier, rawer and more vicious, “Afterlife�, “We Won’t be Forgotten� and “Over And Over� suddenly hit in a more ferocious manner. A trio of cuts from this session appear again in a three track demo from the same year but it will be the previously unreleased “Get My Heart Out Of Here� that will cause most interest. With Bonnet singing in a much more expected style, in all honesty this song feels really quite far removed from the Blackthorne catalogue. Although even with questionable sound quality, it does prove an intriguing hint at what this supergroup might have been able to provide in a less snarling setting. Alongside a further collection of ‘early demos’, which I can only conclude are the 1994 sessions alluded to in the title, and which feature songs intended for album number two, comes a 1992 cover of Rainbow’s “Since You’ve Been Gone� where Bonnet re-recorded the vocals in 2018 to improve their sound quality. In all honesty it adds little to the original.

The third disc burrows ever deeper into the vaults featuring ‘rough mix’ versions of seven debut album cuts, including the Rainbow cover that made the Afterlife record, “All Night Long�. The repetition of tracks across this release - and then again throughout the two previous Cherry Red/HNE reissues from Blackthorne - is undeniable, but then neither is the suggestion that the ‘rough mix’ tapes might just be the best representation of songs like “Cradle To The Grave�, “Baby You’re The Blood� or “Love From The Ashes� that you’ll find. Four further tracks round this collection out, with an alternate lyric versions of “Judgement Day�, ‘vocal take recording’ of “Skeletons In The Closet� and instrumental demo of “Since You’ve Been Gone� providing even more content for completists to lap up. Although even for them the ‘1993 rehearsal’ tapes from Mates Studio, which seem to expand upon the edited versions previously available in the Afterlife set, may prove a less visited opportunity.

Even taking into account the bold claims of unreleased material made by this release, in all honesty, encountering songs you’ve simply never heard before boils down to just one track across three discs. Although admittedly they do come replete with an interesting liner essay courtesy of Malcolm Dome and Jimmy Waldo, which all arrives in a classy clamshell box.

By its very nature this anthology (which is a slight misnomer) is only ever going to be a dyed in the wool fan purchase. However, if you fall into that category for Blackthorne, or indeed Graham Bonnet, Bob Kulick or Jimmy Waldo, then you’ll certainly not be disappointed by what this boxset has to offer.

Track Listing
DISC ONE - ALBUM CUTS / 1994 DEMOS / ROUGH MIXES
1. CRADLE TO THE GRAVE
2. AFTERLIFE
3. WE WON’T BE FORGOTTEN
4. OVER AND OVER
5. BABY YOU’RE THE BLOOD
6. SEX CRIME
7. LOVE FROM THE ASHES
8. WILD INSIDE (DEMO 1992)
9. DON’T KILL THE THRILL (DEMO 1994)
10. DREAMING IN THE HIDEAWAY (DEMO 1994)
11. JUDGEMENT DAY (DEMO 1994)
12. SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET (DEMO 1994)
13. INSANITY (DEMO 1994)
14. TWIST THE BLADE (DEMO 1994)
15. SANCTUARY (ALTERNATE LYRIC �" DEMO 1994)
16. MAN IN A BLACK HAT (EARLY DEMO 1994)
17. JUDGEMENT DAY (EARLY ROUGH DEMO 1994)

DISC TWO - 1992 & 1994 DEMOS
1. AFTERLIFE (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO)
2. WE WON’T BE FORGOTTEN (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO)
3. WILD INSIDE (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO CASSETTE)
4. BABY YOU’RE THE BLOOD (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO)
5. LOVE FROM THE ASHES (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO)
6. OVER AND OVER (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO)
7. SINCE YOU BEEN GONE (1992 DEMO / 2018 NEWLY RECORDED VOCAL)
8. GET MY HEART OUT OF HERE (DEMO 1992 �" UNRELEASED SONG)
9. WE WON’T BE FORGOTTEN (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO #2)
10. AFTERLIFE (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO #2)
11. BABY YOU’RE THE BLOOD (ORIGINAL 1992 DEMO #2)
12. TWIST THE BLADE (EARLY DEMO)
13. GUILTY OF INSANITY (EARLY DEMO)
14. WILD INSIDE (EARLY DEMO)
15. SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET (EARLY DEMO)
16. ANGEL OF PLEASURE (WRITING DEMO)

DISC THREE - ROUGH MIXES / DEMOS / REHEARSALS
1. CRADLE TO THE GRAVE (ROUGH MIX)
2. AFTERLIFE (ROUGH MIX)
3. WE WON’T BE FORGOTTEN (ROUGH MIX)
4. BABY YOU’RE THE BLOOD (ROUGH MIX)
5. SEX CRIME (ROUGH MIX)
6. LOVE FROM THE ASHES (ROUGH DEMO)
7. ALL NIGHT LONG (ROUGH DEMO)
8. REHEARSAL TAPE ‘MATES’ (REHEARSAL STUDIO 1993)
9. JUDGEMENT DAY (VOCAL TAKES �" ALTERNATE LYRICS)
10. SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET (VOCAL TAKES)
11. SINCE YOU BEEN GONE (DEMO �" INSTRUMENTAL)

All tracks previously un-released, except CD 1 Tracks 1-14

Added: October 23rd 2019
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Blackthorne Anthology @ Cherry Red
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Language: english

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