Cherry Red June 2019 By Leggy Mountbatten Spear Of Destiny The Albums 1983-85 After the successful reissues of the Theatre Of Hate albums, front man Kirk Brandon`s Spear Of Destiny get the box set works from Cherry Red. After the demise of TOH in 1983 Brandon and Stammers the two main parties formed Spear Of Destiny, although not far from the sound of TOH the new concept gave Brandon more space to refine his sound and record a brand new album with new members called Grapes Of Wrath. Its been suggested that GOW was or were outtakes from a TOH album the band were working on before , none the less whats apparent here is Brandon`s love of Sax and rolling drums and his continued partnership with Stammers makes this a fine piece of work. Opening track and single The Wheel , Flying Scotsman, and Solution which could easily have been a Theatre Of Hate single make this quite a very individual album for the year. As with most reissues you get the bonus tracks, here being live versions of The Preacher, Roof Of The World and Love Is A Ghost as well as 12 versions of Flying Scotsman and cassette mixes. The second album in the set and probably my personal favourite is the 1984 One Eyed Jacks, aided by Dolphin Taylor (TRB Stiff Little Fingers) on drums this is probably SOD`s finest moment and best album. We find Brandon in his best voice and quite frankly his best songwriting, Young Men is a real cracker as is Liberator, and Prisoner Of Love, and the 6 minute version of These Days are Gone…I had this album on its release and it sounds as good as it did, and with again bonus tracks like Liberator Dub, Rainmaker Live this 3 box set is worth having just for this album. The 3rd album in the set see the band members of OEJ reunited for World Service, a simpler production than the earlier albums it includes Come Back which im sure was aimed at the US market, and really should have been a bigger track than it was. Spear Of Destiny didn’t quite make the waves of some of their counterparts in the early 80`s but they were certainly the more interesting and for that reason this is well worth investigating and SOD fans will love the bonus material.
DESCRIPTION ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TRACKLIST • This 56 track 3 CD clamshell box set contains pretty much everything that Spear Of Destiny released on Epic Records during their time with the label between 1983-85. • Disc 1 is the debut “Grapes Of Wrath” album which hit No.62 in the UK charts. It features the No.59 hit single ‘The Wheel’ and now comes with nine bonus tracks including two cassette mixes never previously released on CD. • “One Eyed Jacks” the band’s second album which reached No.22 in 1984 is featured on Disc 2. This includes the UK hit singles ‘Prisoner Of Love’ (No.59) and ‘Liberator’ (No.67) and also features ten bonus tracks. • The third disc is the No.11 hit album “World Service” which contains the hit singles ‘All My Love (Ask Nothing)’ (No.61) and ‘Come Back’ (No.55) and is now bolstered by seven non LP B-sides. • The booklet features a specially commissioned interview by Vive Le Rock magazine’s Eugene Butcher with vocalist Kirk Brandon. • Kirk took Spear Of Destiny around Europe in 2018 on a highly successful tour and there will be lots more shows in 2019 including an appearance in August at REBELLION, the UKs largest Punk and Alternative festival.
DISC ONE GRAPES OF WRATH 1. THE WHEEL 2. FLYING SCOTSMAN 3. ROOF OF THE WORLD 4. ARIA 5. SOLUTION 6. THE MURDER OF LOVE 7. THE PREACHER 8. OMEN OF THE TIMES 9. THE MAN WHO TUNES THE DRUMS 10. GRAPES OF WRATH BONUS TRACKS 11. THE HOP 12. FLYING SCOTSMAN (12” VERSION) 13. THE PREACHER (CASSETTE MIX) 14. OMEN OF THE TIMES (CASSETTE MIX) 15. GRAPES OF WRATH (LIVE) 16. THE PREACHER (LIVE) 17. SOLUTION (LIVE) 18. ROOF OF THE WORLD (LIVE) 19. LOVE IS A GHOST (LIVE)
DISC TWO ONE EYED JACKS 1. RAINMAKER 2. YOUNG MEN 3. EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED 4. DON’T TURN AWAY 5. LIBERATOR 6. PRISONER OF LOVE 7. PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH 8. FORBIDDEN PLANET 9. ATTICA 10. THESE DAYS ARE GONE BONUS TRACKS 11. ROSIE 12. GRAPES OF WRATH (1984 VERSION) 13. FORBIDDEN PLANET (SINGLE VERSION) 14. LIBERATOR (DUB) 15. LIBERATOR (EXTENDED MIX) 16. RAINMAKER (LIVE) 17. DON’T TURN AWAY (LIVE) 18. THE WHEEL (LIVE) 19. PRISONER OF LOVE (LIVE) 20. LIBERATOR (LIVE)
DISC THREE WORLD SERVICE 1. ROCKET SHIP 2. UP ALL NIGHT 3. COME BACK 4. WORLD SERVICE 5. I CAN SEE 6. ALL MY LOVE (ASK NOTHING) 7. MICKEY 8. SOMEWHERE IN THE EAST 9. ONCE IN HER LIFETIME 10. HARLAN COUNTY BONUS TRACKS 11. LAST CARD 12. WALK IN MY SHADOW 13. COLE YOUNGER 14. YOUNG MEN (RETURN OF) 15. COME BACK (CLUB MIX) 16. ALL MY LOVE (ASK NOTHING) (EXTENDED VERSION) 17. COME BACK (DUB MIX)
