'82 REVISITED REVIEW

First off, I have to say that Oliver Klemm releasing this album is a godsend. I have a couple concert tapes from the Heybourne / Skids / Hogg era and in overall sound quality they're listenable but utter crap compared to this, a Paul Samson / Jo Julian production. Offhand, I'd also have to say that this recording is of a much better quality than the band's 1989 live offering, and for those of you wondering about which one to get, this is the one. 
Performance-wise, there aren't much backing vocals here, most likely due to the absence of Skids Riddles, who complemented Heybourne in the earlier lineup. The bass is just as strong with its own character and the drums are typical Angel Witch style. 

"Gorgon" starts immediately, unlike usual concert recordings where the audience cheers fade in first. Perhaps this record wasn't started at the beginning of their set? It's very much like the album version but a bit more fresh sounding. 

A song I had heard before on concert tapes but never too clearly comes next, "Nowhere To Run" with a very powerful main riff, but a rather weak chorus, almost as if Heybourne couldn't think of anything else for it? Slightly disappointing for its jarring effect, negatively. The studio version isn't all that different. 

"They Wouldn't Dare" comes next and is also another song I had known from early concert tapes (as early as 1979), and again it is easy to see why it didn't make any of the EMI or Bronze releases. Not really a bad song but not as memorable as the others. The studio version doesn't differ too much from what's heard live. 

"Sorceress" is up next and has a great lead guitar spot. Not much more I can say about this song that I haven't said before. 

"Evil Games" is a collaboration between Kevin and his wife Susan, who would write some more songs with him on later recordings. By the time this song hit the Screamin' N' Bleedin' record, it still hadn't changed much, although I prefer the later version, but this is still a classic that reminds me quite a bit of an old Ray Bradbury story about a bunch of kids helping a Martian invasion on Earth (it's not really about that, but it does remind me of it). The studio version with the Heybourne / Cunningham / Bruce lineup isn't too different from the live one. 

"White Witch" comes up next and once again, it's a classic and a great listen. 

This is followed by "Angel Of Death" that serves as the final song on the setlist and is also a classic cut. 

"Angel Witch" is the encore with the audience singalong bit, and is also quite timeless. 

I wonder how much of the setlist was cut out from this record, if any was cut at all, but 36 or so minutes doesn't seem like a very long set. Still, it is a great collection Angel Witch material that is even more hard to find than the usual, and the live recording is very clean, and much clearer than the "low budget live album" that the band did under Jeff Weller. 


RATING: 8