THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND’s full previously unreleased studio album recorded in 1974 finally gets released 35 years later on March 30th 2009!
The production master tapes of a previously unreleased full-length studio album, ‘Hot City – The 1974 Unreleased Album’, by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, recorded in 1974 and hitherto discarded, have been unearthed, dusted down, fully re-mastered and lined up for release on March 30th on the MLP label, distributed by RSK Entertainment.
'Hot City - The 1974 Unreleased album', which has been fully authorised and approved by the band, features 9 great quality tracks, and comes in a deluxe digi pack sleeve which includes a separate inner sleeve and a 20 page high quality booklet with rare photos and extensive liner notes from the band, with track by track comments and opinions, plus an introduction by SAHB author and ex-manager Martin Kielty.
By 1974, the SAHB steamroller was working at full power. Their first album, 'Framed', had promised great things, the follow-up, 'Next', delivered them, and now the group were planning to record their upcoming third album. The band had been constantly touring and were well rehearsed when in late January, they went into Advision studios in London with legendary US producer Shel Talmy (The Who/The Kinks) to record their biggest album to date. By April, the sessions were finished and the album was mixed.
However, after completion, the band and management had a rethink about the overall sound and amazingly, they decided to scrap the entire album. Shel Talmy then returned to Los Angeles with his tapes. Most of the song titles were later re-recorded and eventually showed up later that year on the official album 'The Impossible Dream' with a different producer on board and the songs changed dramatically.
You can now hear how the album sounded with the original versions of these songs. SAHB fans will be totally surprised and amazed at the different styles, delivery and lyric arrangements of well known favourite songs such as 'Vambo' and 'Man In The Jar', 'Anthem' and 'Tomahawk Kid' and there is a previously unreleased song 'Ace In The Hole' which has not been heard even by the band, since those studio sessions in 1974.
Alex Harvey, who tragically died of a massive heart attack in 1982, aged 46, was renowned for his charismatic persona and daredevil stage antics, and, above all, his astonishing, passionate, demonic vocal delivery. Nowhere is this better captured than on 'Hot City - The 1974 Unreleased album', a treasure trove of re-discovered musical gems.
