Last night I posted the news that the long awaited 2 CD Deluxe Edition of Born Again is to be released May 30th. This came from a track listing at Amazon UK’s site. As of yet, Universal/Sanctuary have not issued a formal press release for this. Last night, however, I said I’d asked around to a few people, and those emails provided some fruit on Sunday. I was sent some artwork for the album, which clearly shows the source and content of the tracks. Here’s an update on the track listing for the album.
Disc 1: (marked as “Original Album”, more on that later)
- Trashed
- Stonehenge
- Disturbing the Priest
- The Dark
- Zero the Hero
- Digital Bitch
- Born Again
- Hot Line
- Keep it Warm
Disc 2:
- The Fallen (Previously Unreleased Album Session Outtake)
- Stonehenge (Extended Version)Live at the Reading Festival, Saturday August 27 1983
(BBC Friday Rock Show broadcast): - Hot Line
- War Pigs
- Black Sabbath
- The Dark
- Zero the Hero
- Digital Bitch
- Iron Man
- Smoke on the Water
- Paranoid
Here’s a capture of the back cover, showing the track listing. Normally, I wouldn’t put this large of an image on the page, but I wanted to make sure you could read it. :)
Disc 2 first. The first two tracks are a cool inclusion, especially if you’re not into collecting bootlegs and have never seen them before. The first is an unreleased (officially) track called “The Fallen”. It’s a pretty complete track from the Born Again sessions that was left off. I can see why it was left off, but it’s still a great track, glad it’s finally getting to see the light of day. The other is Stonehenge, which is a 5 minute long version (as opposed to the 1:58 version that’s on the proper album. So that’s cool, too.
The remainder of the tracks on Disc 2 are labeled as being the radio broadcast version of what’s known as the “Paranoid in Reading” bootleg. In all the time I’ve spent running this site, the two things people ask me for more than any other were the Ray Gillen version of Eternal Idol (released last year), and live stuff with Ian Gillan. Also being released on this set. Now those of you who are into bootlegs and things like that will immediately say “Well, what about the rest of the Paranoid at Reading show? The full show is a lot longer than what’s on this disc!” That’s a valid question, and one I raised myself to Universal when they sent me these materials. I asked why not the longer show? The response I was given back was (I’m paraphrasing here) that the longer version that they did have access to was seriously more inferior quality wise to what the BBC had in their archives from the radio broadcast in 1983. They felt it would have been too obvious to mix the two sources to get it all in there, and because the BBC version was so higher in quality, they chose to go with the better quality over the longer track listing. Their exact words were “too much of a contrast!” So that’s that.
Now. Disc 1. Born Again has had a quite legendary status in that the final mix was considered by a lot of people to be poor. Ian Gillan had a few stories where he threw copies out the window, and threw up when he heard it. Or was that the cover? Anyway, the album has been in desperate need of a remix. Even Tony Iommi said as much when he appeared on Bruce Dickinson’s radio show some time ago. Tony said that the album would get a proper remix. It’s something the fans have been clamoring for for ages. So, what’s on this album? The usage of the term “Original Album” could mean one of two things that I can think of. Either it’s a generic term to refer to “Hey, this is the running order the album was like in 1983”, or it could mean that it’s not the famed “remix”, and is a new remastering. It’s impossible to tell from the track listing. None of the materials that were sent to me indicate whether this is remixed, or just remastered.
So I’ve asked again, point blank about this situation, and will have ANOTHER update when I get more on that. Universal’s press guy told me I’m supposed to get the formal press release for the album in the next day or two, so there’s also that forthcoming.
I’ve also requested a review copy, so I can give it a listen and compare it to the original 80’s pressing of the CD I have (from Germany), as well as the 1996 Castle Remastered version. I want to see how they stack up to the new 2011 edition, whether remixed, remastered, or whatever.
More to come…
Speak Your Mind