Renowned archival label The Numero Group have announced the release of Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip, a collection of tracks documenting the early days of the Los Angeles glam metal scene.
Artists featured on the double album include familiar names like Armored Saint, Black 'N Blue and Lizzy Borden, alongside long-lost songs from Reddi Killowatt, Angeles, Max Havoc, SIN, Lisa Baker, Jaded Lady, Leather Angel, Hellion and Bitch. And in a move that will surely delight fans of the classic Penelope Spheeris documentary The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, Odin also feature.
"The infamous Sunset Strip glam metal scene of the '80s is one that's been covered excessively, and for a good reason," says the album's producer and researcher Adam Luksetich. "But usually, the analysis goes too far past bands like Mötley Crüe, Poison, Quiet Riot, etc.
"Our goal with Bound For Hell was to narrow in on the equally impressive independent or unsigned bands that thrived in that same scene but in most cases, never benefited from the major label feeding frenzy. With a bounty of unseen photos, pages and pages of flyers, and detailed liner notes, these bands get more time in the spotlight."
The collection is accompanied by a 144-page book featuring rare photos and flyers alongside an essay by Katherine Turman, author of Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal.
"The Sunset Strip sang an irresistible siren song to young metalheads, the stretch from Tower Records west to Geffen Records headquarters," says Turman. "The Rainbow and Gazzarri's were ground zero, both inside and on the sidewalks out front."
The Numero Group have also released a stream of the song that gives the collection its name, Bound For Hell by Max Romeo, a band formed in 1981 who would go on include Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazo and W.A.S.P.'s Tony Richards amongst its members. The new release is in addition to two tracks already released by the label, Stormer's Going To The City and L.A. Rock's Cocaine. You can hear all three tracks below, and watch an unboxing video.
Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip is available to pre-order from the Numero Group now, and is available on black vinyl, "white lines" vinyl, a "sheer savage" CD, and a limited edition of 500 "Poser-proof die hard edition" on translucent red vinyl edition, which arrives with a bonus cassette of songs from Black 'N Blue, Lisa Baker, Stormer, Odin and Leather Angel.
The Numero Group are also responsible for Ork Records: New York, New York - a double Grammy-nominated box set of recordings from the label responsible for early releases by the likes of Television and Richard Hell - as well as Blondie's recently announced mammoth 10LP set Against The Odds 1974-1982.
Other release from the label include two collections of proto-metal, Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles and Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares, as well as a long-lost album by early Chicago metalheads Medusa.
Side A
1. Stormer - Going To The City *
2. L.A. Rocks - Cocaine
3. Max Havoc - Bound For Hell
4. Jaded Lady - Rock N Roll Ain't Pretty *
5. Steeler - Ready To Explode
6. Lizzy Borden - No Time To Lose
Side B
1. Sin - On The Run *
2. Black 'N Blue - Give Em The Old 1, 2, 3 *
3. Bitch - Damnation Alley
4. Romeo - Feelin To Rock
5. V.V.S.I. - Savage Kind of Girl *
Side C
1. Hellion - Up From The Depths
2. Angeles - Blade Of Steel
3. Knightmare II - Cold Reception
4. Witch - Cinderella (In Black Leather)
5. Reddi Killowatt - Liquid Lady
Side D
1. Armored Saint - Lesson Well Learned
2. Leather Angel - We Came To Kill
3. Rough Cutt - Take It Or Leave It *
4. Lisa Baker - Fool Of Lies
5. Odin - Judgement Day
Bonus Cassette 1. Black 'N Blue - Rules Were Made To Be Broken *
Bonus Cassette
2. Lisa Baker - Every Girl's Got A Fantasy
3. Stormer - Driving *
4. Odin - Midnight Flight
5. Leather Angel - Need Your Love
*-previously unreleased