Welsh alt-rock group The Alarm will reissue and expand their earliest recordings from the first four years of their discography next month.
Eponymous 1981-1983 and Declaration 1984-1985 will hit stores March 16. Previously released in single-disc form by the group's Twenty First Century label in 2000, these 2CD or 2LP releases paint an even clearer, more definitive picture of this era of Mike Peters and company, including their signing to I.R.S. Records and highest-charting single release (1983's "Sixty Eight Guns," a U.K. Top 20 hit).
The band's first recorded and released works as The Alarm feature on Eponymous 1981-1983, offering all their single sides from this period, an assortment of live non-LP material and five demos. From there, Declaration 1984-1985 expands the band's first studio album with a bonus disc of B-sides and four previously unreleased outtakes.
Full details and pre-order links for all releases are below.
Eponymous 1981-1983 (The Twenty First Century Recording Company, 2018)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Disc 1
- Unsafe Building (Electric)
- Up for Murder (Acoustic)
- Reason 41 (EMI Demo Session)
- The Deceiver (EMI Demo Session)
- Lie of the Land (EMI Demo Session)
- Sixty Eight Guns (Illegal Records Demo Version)
- What Kind of Hell (Illegal Records Demo Version)
- Marching On (EP Version)
- Lie of the Land (EP Version)
- Across the Border (EP Version)
- The Stand (Single Version)
- Blaze of Glory (Long Version)
- Sixty Eight Guns (Single Version)
- Thought of a Young Man (Part 1)
- Sixty Eight Guns (Part 2)
- The Stand (Long Version)
Disc 2
- For Freedom (Live @ The Marquee, Wardour Street, London - 1/30/1983)
- Reason 41 (Live @ The Marquee, Wardour Street, London - 1/30/1983)
- The Deceiver (Live @ The Marquee, Wardour Street, London - 1/30/1983)
- Third Light (Live @ The Marquee, Wardour Street, London - 1/30/1983)
- Lie of the Land (Live @ My Father's Place, Long Island, NY - 9/28/1983)
- A Legal Matter (Live @ My Father's Place, Long Island, NY - 9/28/1983)
- Marching On (Live @ My Father's Place, Long Island, NY - 9/28/1983)
Disc 1, Tracks 1-2 from White Cross Records single, 1981
Disc 1, Tracks 3-7 and Disc 2, Track 3 from Eponymous 1981-1983 - The Twenty First Century Recording Company 21C010, 2000
Disc 1, Tracks 8-10 from Illegal Records single ILS 0032, 1982
Disc 1, Track 11 and Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 from I.R.S. Records 12" single PFSX 1014, 1983
Disc 1, Track 12 from I.R.S. Records 12" single ALARM 12, 1985
Disc 1, Tracks 13 and 15 from I.R.S. Records PFP 1023, 1983
Disc 1, Track 14 from I.R.S. Records 12" single PFSX 1023, 1983
Disc 1, Track 16 from I.R.S. Records 12" single IRSY 114, 1984
Disc 2, Track 4 from I.R.S. Records single PFP 1014, 1983
Disc 2, Tracks 5-6 from I.R.S. Records CD single CC31010, 1988
Disc 2, Track 7 from I.R.S. Records CD single CC31015, 1988
Declaration 1984-1985 (The Twenty First Century Recording Company, 2018)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Disc 1: Original album (released as I.R.S. Records IRSA 7044, 1984)
- Declaration
- Marching On
- Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?
- Third Light
- Sixty Eight Guns
- We Are the Light
- Shout to the Devil
- Blaze of Glory
- Tell Me
- The Deceiver
- The Stand (Prophecy)
- Howling Wind
Disc 2: Bonus tracks
- Peace Train
- Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke? (Take 1)
- Unbreak the Promise (Acoustic)
- Howling Wind (Acoustic)
- What Kind of Hell (Live)
- Pavilion Steps
- Reason 41
- Second Generation
- The Chant Has Just Begun (Single Version)
- Bells of Rhymney
- Bound for Glory
- The Chant Has Just Begun (Long Version)
- Absolute Reality (Single Version)
- Reason 36
- Room At the Top
- Sixty Eight Guns (Original Drum Take Version)
Disc 2, Track 1 from Declaration 1984-1985 - The Twenty First Century Recording Company 21C011, 2000
Disc 2, Tracks 2-4 and 16 previously unreleased
Disc 2, Tracks 5-6 from I.R.S. Records 12" single IRSX 101, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 7-8 from I.R.S. Records 12" single IRSX 103, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 9-10 from I.R.S. Records single IRS 114, 1984
Disc 2, Track 11 from I.R.S. Records 12" single 12-4776, 1984
Disc 2, Track 12 from I.R.S. Records 12" single IRSY 114, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 13-15 from I.R.S. Records double 7" single ALARM D1, 1985
Jason says
These releases are newly remastered by Pete Maher (under the supervision of Mike Peters) from the original I.R.S. master tapes. I am totally looking forward to these reissues, since The Alarm is one of my favorite bands.
Tom M says
The Eponymous 1981-1983 vinyl is a excellent price on Amazon right now.