Last year, Steven Van Zandt looked back on his solo discography with an impressive 6LP/4CD box set. Rock 'n Roll Rebel: The Early Work collected six albums on vinyl and added four CDs of bonus material, adding up to a definitive look at a powerful and politically-charged body of work. Now, the versatile E Street Band guitarist/Sopranos and Lilyhammer actor/Disciples of Soul bandleader is issuing Bob Ludwig's remastered versions of all six original albums on CD, and three of them will come with a special DVD bonus.
Little Steven's CD campaign encompasses:
- Men Without Women (1982) + DVD;
- Voice of America (1984) + DVD;
- Sun City: Artists United Against Apartheid (1985);
- Freedom - No Compromise (1987) + DVD;
- Revolution (1989); and
- Born Again Savage (1999).
Born Again Savage and Revolution are scheduled for this Friday, June 12 (though some outlets are already carrying Born Again Savage). Freedom - No Compromise arrives on July 10 with an exclusive bonus DVD of 1987's Live at the Ritz, filmed at the nightclub housed inside New York's Webster Hall. One week later, on July 17, Voice of America returns to print paired with a DVD of Live at Rockpalast 1984 from Freilichtbühne Loreley, St. Goarshausen, Germany. Then, on July 24, the series concludes with the reissues of Sun City and Men Without Women. The latter release is accompanied by a DVD of Live at Rockpalast 1982, filmed onstage in Grugahalle, Essen, Germany.
While the Rock 'n Roll Rebel box set boasted 51 bonus tracks on 4 CDs -Men Without Women (And Before); Voice of America; Sun City; and Freedom - No Compromise, Revolution (And Later) - those remain exclusive to the box set on CD. They are, however, available to stream. The three DVDs are not included in the box.
Together, these six albums pack a powerful punch. Men Without Women found the onetime "Miami Steve" turning in a Jersey Shore bar band classic of a piece with his contemporary work with Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes. He enlisted members of The Jukes, The Miami Horns, and The E Street Band (including Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici, Clarence "The Big Man" Clemons, and The Boss) as well as Gary U.S. Bonds and The Rascals' Felix Cavaliere and Dino Danelli. But from Voice of America through Revolution, Van Zandt and his varied collaborators radically shifted his sound to take in hard rock, deep soul, synth-driven dance rhythms, hip-hop, and world music. What didn't change: Little Steven's hard-hitting, socially-aware lyrics and edgy, passionate musicianship. 1999's Born Again Savage paid tribute to his heavy rock heroes in the '60s, featuring a power trio of Van Zandt (guitar), Adam Clayton (bass), and Jason Bonham (drums).
For 1985's Sun City, Van Zandt and co-producer Arthur Baker recruited a "Who's Who" to benefit The Africa Fund, including Pat Benatar, Ruben Blades, Bono, Jackson Browne, Ron Carter, Clarence Clemons, Jimmy Cliff, George Clinton, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Kendricks, Darlene Love, John Oates, Bonnie Raitt, Joey Ramone, Lou Reed, David Ruffin, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Pete Townshend, and many more.
With a re-formed Disciples of Soul, Little Steven has released three justly acclaimed albums in recent years - 2017's Soulfire, 2018's Soulfire Live!, and 2019's Summer of Sorcery - in addition to two soundtrack volumes from Lilyhammer. He also continues to crusade for important causes including one near and dear to his heart, music education, with the TeachRock project. "In a time of cutbacks in arts funding, Steve's programs are keeping kids engaged in the arts, and in school - this is his greatest legacy," opined Bruce Springsteen.
With these remastered CD (and CD/DVD editions) from Wicked Cool Records and UMe, this may well be the ideal time to revisit Little Steven's back catalogue. You'll find the track listings and order links below! All titles are also available on vinyl.
Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul, Men Without Women (EMI America ST-17086, 1982) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Lyin' In a Bed Of Fire
- Inside Of Me
- Until The Good Is Gone
- Men Without Women
- Under The Gun
- Save Me
- Princess Of Little Italy
- Angel Eyes
- Forever
- I've Been Waiting
Little Steven, Voice Of America (EMI America ST-17120, 1984) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Voice Of America
- Justice
- Checkpoint Charlie
- Solidarity
- Out Of The Darkness
- Los Desaparecidos (The Disappeared Ones)
- Fear
- I Am a Patriot (and The River Opens For The Righteous)
- Among The Believers
- Undefeated (Everybody Goes Home)
Little Steven, Freedom - No Compromise (Manhattan ST-53048, 1987) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Freedom
- Trail Of Broken Treaties
- Pretoria
- Bitter Fruit
- No More Party's
- Can't You Feel The Fire
- Native American
- Sanctuary
Little Steven, Revolution (RCA PL 83431, 1989) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Where Do We Go From Here?
- Revolution
- Education
- Balance
- Love and Forgiveness
- Newspeak
- Sexy
- Leonard Peltier
- Liberation Theology
- Discipline
Little Steven, Born Again Savage (Renegade Nation LS00199CD, 1999) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Born Again Savage
- Camouflage Of Righteousness
- Guns, Drugs, and Gasoline
- Face Of God
- Saint Francis
- Salvation
- Organize
- Flesheater
- Lust For Enlightenment
- Tongues Of Angels
Artists United Against Apartheid, Sun City (Manhattan ST-53019, 1985) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Sun City - Artists United Against Apartheid
- No More Apartheid - Peter Gabriel & L. Shankar
- Revolutionary Situation - Keith LeBlanc
- Sun City (Version II) - Artists United Against Apartheid
- Let Me See Your I.D. - Gil Scott-Heron, Melle Mel & Duke Bootee
- The Struggle Continues - Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Stanley Jordan, Tony Williams & Herbie Hancock
- Silver and Gold - Bono, Keith Richards & Ron Wood
Bill Mason says
Nice review, Joe! (as always) As a proud owner of the box set, this release is monumental! A truly unbelievable body of work. Now, we need a stand alone release of the three DVD concerts.
Johnathan says
Wish he would have appended the remixes, single edits, and dubs to the Sun City release. If not now, then I guess never, unfortunately.
Sean says
Disappointed the bonus material will not be included on the CD release. While the DVD’s are a nice add, I’d rather have the audio of the converts along with the full concerts from the box set bonus track live material. The previous box set is too much to spend for a CD purchaser that doesn’t collect vinyl.
scott says
I was hoping for a release or information of Rock and Roll Rebel box set on cd. That or a way to buy the bonus material as a set. I’ll hit most of these but the box set on cd would have been nice