Epitaph

History Box Vol.1 - The Brain Years + Bonus CD

  • 4CD
  • Date : 28.04.2023
  • Package : CD Jewel Case Box
  • Running Time CD 1 : 73:12
  • Running Time CD 2 : 51:20
  • Running Time CD 3 : 38:08
  • Running Time CD 4 : 47:52

Epitaph – History Box Vol.1 – The Brain Years + Bonus CD

When we started our musical journey over fifty years ago, no one would have guessed that Epitaph would still be active in 2023.

In the late 1970, we lived with our wives, roadies, dogs, cats and bats in the “Alten Schulhaus” in the small German village of Graue in the Lüneburg Heide and jammed and composed new songs. Our last album “Return To Reality” had been verry successful. So, our record company, Brain Metronome, wanted a new Epitaph production. Our drummer Fritz Randow was impressed by the drum sounds from Hotline Studios in Frankfurt, so we went to record there. It turned out to be a more disco oriented studio with plasmatic people. Not exactly the place for a rock band. But we made the best of it and put out a reasonable sounding recording. Shortly after recording, Michael Karch, our keyboardist, decided to leave the band so we were back to our “Twin Guitars”. We used to play our new songs live before recording. Playing live, our songs had the adrenaline pumping power of Epitaph. This influenced our decision to record the next album live rather than in the studio. I’m not sure if this has ever been done before, but it was born out of a fear of not getting the Epitaph signature sound on an LP. So, we booked Connie Plank’s mobile studio for the album “Epitaph Live” and recorded our new songs live in front of an audience. Only two songs had previously been recorded. Altogether, we recorded three shows in three days. The recordings were then mixed in the Horus Sound Studio in Hanover by Jan Nemec as sound engineer. Our drummer Fritz Randow had accepted Eloy’s Frank Bornemann offer to join the band. Everyone was dissatisfied with the situation, so the line-up split up and Cliff moved to Dortmund to work again with the original line-up of Bernd Kolbe and Klaus Walz and with Norbert “Panzer” Lehmann on drums. This is the line-up which recorded the album “Danger Man”.        (Cliff Jackson, January 2023)

 

Tracklist:

CD 1 “Return To Reality”:

  1. Set Your Spirit Free 03:38
  2. Strangers 05:14
  3. We Can Get Together 07:50
  4. Summer Sky 03:50
  5. On The Road 05:03
  6. Return To Reality 07:39
  7. Spread Your Wings 05:05

Bonus:

  1. Strangers 07:01

(live @ Burg Altena, Altena, Germany, 03.09.1978)

  1. On The Road 05:24

(live @ Burg Altena, Altena, Germany, 03.09.1978)

  1. Return To Reality 08:53

(live @ Burg Altena, Altena, Germany, 03.09.1978)

  1. Summer Sky 03:35

(taken from "The Acoustic Session")

Total: 73:12 min

 

CD 2 „See You In Alaska (Live 1980)“:

  1. Do You Believe In Love 04:20
  2. Hold on 03:58
  3. Bad Feeling 03:30
  4. Keep On Moving 03:51
  5. When I Lose Your Love 06:09
  6. Tonight 05:15
  7. Fantasy 05:07
  8. See You In Alaska 03:26
  9. Telephone Line 03:40

Bonus:

  1. Hold On 05:07

(live @ Burg Altena, Altena, Germany, 03.09.1978)

  1. When I Lose Your Love 06:57

(live @ WDR Studio-L, Cologne, Germany, 03.09.1979)

Total: 51:20 min

 

CD 3 “Live”:

  1. Still Alive 03:56
  2. Hard Life 04:52
  3. Kamikaze 03:50
  4. Tequila Fritz 04:08
  5. Goin' To Chicago 03:11
  6. Die High 04:28
  7. On The Road 05:06
  8. What About Me 03:32
  9. Do You Feel Right 05:05

Total: 38:08 min

 

CD 4 “Danger Man“ (Bonus):

  1. Small Town Girl 03:24
  2. Ain't No Liar 03:29
  3. Let me know 03:44
  4. The Daughter 06:09
  5. Long Live The Children 04:05
  6. Heartless 04:31
  7. High Wire 03:28
  8. Snake Charmer 04:03

Bonus:

  1. Aint No Liar 05:33

(live @ Capitol, Hannover, Germany, 27.11.2012)

  1. Long Live The Children 05:20

(live @ Capitol, Hannover, Germany, 27.11.2012)

  1. Good Times 04:06

(Easybeats cover)

Total: 47:52 min