ROLLINS BAND, a successful project led by former BLACK FLAG singer Henry Rollins, just released demo recordings for their 1992 classic album “The End of Silence” on vinyl on the iconic punk singer’s label 2.13.61 Records. You can buy a copy of it here.
Rollins on the release:
In February of 1991, my bandmates and I sought to the demo songs we had been working on for several months. We went in, played all the songs we had with the arrangements and lyrics such as they were at the time, put a few over dubs on, mixed it to a cassette and were done with it. In October of that year, we would record what became the actual “The End of Silence” album.
Many years later, I contacted my engineer pal, Cliff Norrell, to see if he would give the tapes a more considered mix, thinking that it would perhaps be a good release of unheard music.
We mixed the songs and they sounded pretty damn good. We released the tracks on CD and were done with the project.
Several months ago, I got to thinking that perhaps some people would appreciate a vinyl version of these songs. The tapes had been in storage and well kept. I brought them to Oasis Mastering in Burbank, California to give them a listen and to see if it would be a legitimate endeavor. We listened down to the tapes and again, they sounded good and so we went forth and mastered all the tracks.
After listening to these songs again after all these years, it reminded me of how good that lineup was and how lean and mean the demos sounded. I came to the conclusion that I preferred the demos to the actual album. Hell, we should have just released the demos and saved everyone a bunch of time and trouble.
So, what you have here is the band with their soundman, Theo Van Rock, in the producer seat. This is a very full-on set of songs and we are very happy to be able to bring them to you on LP.
While it is impossible to recapture the past, it is interesting to take advantage of a clear rendering of what was and bring it into the present. These demos are a good example of the advantage a band has when they do things themselves.
We made an initial pressing of 950 of this 2LP set. 450 pressed in orange and yellow. The rest are in black. The LPs are 180-gram vinyl so the low end would be able to give you the proper beating you deserve!
I hope you enjoy the trip.
Track listing:
Side A:
1. Low Self Opinion
2. Grip
3. Tearing
Side B:
1. You Didn’t Need
2. Almost Real
3. Obscene
Side C:
1. What Do You Do
2. Blues Jam
Side D:
1. Another Life
2. Just Like You
3. Human
