Hot on the heels of last summer’s brand new Bombastic Epic release “The Passion of Dionysus”, this summer the first two VIRGIN STEELE albums will be re-issued on August 23, 2024
David DeFeis has included an additional moniker to these re-releases… he calls it…”The Anniversary Edition”, for he has completely re-mixed the albums start to finish from the original multi-tracks. The booklet includes new liner-notes and new unreleased photos.
He states regarding the first album, ”I added that additional title because one, this is indeed a very special re-issue. And two…this is a celebration. Every song on the album has been lovingly restored, with faith, heart & Steele. Incredibly for the most part the original multi-track tapes held up quite well, but now and again some creative decisions had to be made, which not only did not at all hinder the record’s resurrection, but in the end actually resulted in making the album stronger, and the songs even more interesting. The original fire has been kept…enhanced, and sonically there is greater definition all around. You can really appreciate the explosive performances from everyone. It’s like being back in the studio the day it was recorded. In addition to the inclusion of the early demos, we were also able to include several new bonus tracks including a new thrashing doom type song called HELL FROM BEYOND THE STARS, plus an alternate version of THE FIRE GOD, and a new over the top version of the song VIRGIN STEELE (New Orchestral Version)”.
David states regarding the second album: “It was a joy to go back to the original multi-tracks, listen and find all the various outtakes, studio chatter and even a long forgotten piano solo that I had done. In resurrecting this album, I did my best to try to preserve the original feel and integrity of what we were trying to achieve, while at the same time hoping to make it sonically clearer and more direct. The original energy and exuberant fire remains…and there is greater definition all around”.
He continues, “ …for me it feels like being back in those days again only with the knowledge gained from having lived several lives since then. The full album is represented in its original entirety, plus we have included the tracks from the extended play single we had issued right after “Guardians”, which featured the songs, (I AM THE ONE, GO DOWN FIGHTING & WAIT FOR THE NIGHT) and… in addition we were also able to include several new bonus tracks, such as the lost diabolical piano solo…CHAOS CAPRICE, (from the original “Guardians” Sessions), a new alternate version of the song DESERT PLAINS, a brand new track called DIRTY BLONDE ANGEL, (that I had actually written for the AGE OF CONSENT album but we had never recorded until now), and there is also another bonus track in the form of “THE HEAVEN’S DOOR SUITE”, which contains a re-written cover of the song KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR combined with new music that I crafted…”
