Finnish glam rock legends Hanoi Rocks have announced that they will be releasing a long-awaited and much needed remix of their second album, Oriental Beat. The release which the band refers to as the re(al)-mix will be released on March 17 via Finnish record label Svart Records. The original release of Oriental Beat frustrated Hanoi Rocks to the point that they literally hated the album. Lead vocalist Michael Monroe told me in a recent interview that, “… we couldn’t even listen to it. It sounded so bad. Hanoi Rocks immediately left to tour after the recording process and were not present during the mixing process. Michael went on to tell me how there were so many aspects to the album that they weren’t happy with it. The panning (or lackthereof) of the guitars, the odd tuning of the floor tom drum for the song “Motorvatin’,” and loss of sonic energy in the performances. The songs are there but the sound wasn’t.
Recorded in London, UK in 1981, for 200 pounds a day, Oriental Beat was made during the height of the British punk + New Wave movement, when the band was hanging out with everyone from Phil Lynott to the Damned. Hanoi Rocks’ original drummer Gyp Casino says of Oriental Beat that: “Back in the days we gave heart, soul and a bit of pain to make this record something else” but the sound of the album, originally released in 1982, did not match their efforts at the time. Bassist Sami Yaffa called it “the worst sounding album of our career” and Michael Monroe said that “the producer of the album didn’t have a clue what the band was about and his mix of the album was horribly wrong”.
The master tapes for Oriental Beat were thought to be lost forever as they were passed around from label to label during acquisitions. The tapes surprisingly turned up in the Universal Music Group’s vault and after receiving confirmation that the tapes were indeed there, the band congregated and began work on making Oriental Beat the album that they had always envisioned.In addition to the album being re-mixed, the track listing order has also been changed to what the band originally intended.
During our interview, Monroe also stated, “Why wasn’t the song “Oriental Beat” the first song on the album? That song was our big “here we are” moment and instead they put “Motorvatin’ first. This is how it should have been.” Oriental Beat was made when Hanoi Rocks was about to explode onto the world scene and written at the absolute peak of lead guitarist Andy McCoy’s creativity as a songwriter. Rhythm guitarist Nasty Suicide says “only now, with stripping it down to the bare essentials and tweaking it to bring out what was really laid down it became our dream come true! THIS is what it’s all about” as this definitive edition of Oriental Beat now fully displays the ultimate arrogance and attitude which defined the band. Monroe says: “now, 40 years after its original release in 1982, we finally got the album sounding as great as it deserves, with no overdubs or samples,” and McCoy adds that: “It’s better now than ever. This is what it was meant to sound like. So enjoy it…Another shot of Hanoi Rocks”.
Pre-Order HERE (Europe)
Pre-Order HERE (North America)
A1. ORIENTAL BEAT (3:07)
A2. MOTORVATIN? (3:11)
A3. NO LAW OR ORDER (3:39)
A4. TEENANGELS OUTSIDERS (3:28)
A5. SWEET HOME SUBURBIA (4:42)
B1. M.C. BABY (3:01)
B2. VISITOR (3:12)
B3. DON?T FOLLOW ME (3:16)
B4. LIGHTNIN? BAR BLUES (2:37)
B5. DEVIL WOMAN (2:55)
B6. FALLEN STAR (2:32)
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