New Wave of British Heavy Metal masters Raven have a four CD box set of their Atlantic years due to be released by Cherry Red on 25 April 2025.
This set spans the period they were with Atlantic Records after being signed by the label in the mid-1980s after the success of their earlier albums with Neat in the early 1980s.
Incidentally, those early Neat albums were reissued, also by Cherry Red, in a nice box set in 2019. Check out my review of that set here.
Perhaps it was due to pressure from being signed to a major label looking for a return on their investment as Raven moved away from the frantic heaviness of the Neat years to a more commercial incorporating glam rock and hair metal elements.
Well, this was the latter half of the 1980s and that sort of stuff was coming in wasn’t it…..?
That said, it’s still Raven and it’s still enjoyable stuff.
What we have here in the Screamin’ Down the House box set is as follows:
Stay Hard from 1985
The Pack is Back from 1986
The Mad EP from 1986 (included on the Pack is Back disc here)
Life’s a Bitch from 1987
Nothing Exceeds Like Success from 1988
The Mad EP and Life’s a Bitch saw a return to a more typical Raven sound after which they left Atlantic.
Their next move was to release Nothing Exceeds Like Success in 1988 via Combat Records. Back to classic Raven.
Here is Screamin’ Down the House from The Pack is Back:
The Gallagher brothers have kept the flag flying since the mid-1970s when originally forming the band with their most recent studio release being All Hell’s Breaking Loose in 2023.
This release is another of the fine jobs which Cherry Red does with these box sets. The nice sturdy clamshell box, booklet, extensive liner notes etc. And a great way to bag four Raven albums at a reasonable price.
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