poster and “Live At The Ritz 1987” concert DVD, Voice of America is paired with its own foldout poster and “Live at Rockpalast 1984” DVD and Men Without Women includes a 16panel fold out poster and “Live at Rockpalast 1982” DVD. Taken together, the three concert DVDs in the box set, or also available on the individual CD/DVD album versions, provide a compelling document of Van Zandt and the band’s evolution with the 1982 Rockpalast concert marking only the second-ever Disciples of Soul show. “We were much bigger in Europe due to the political nature of our music and I also credit performing on the Rockpalast TV show in ‘82 and again in ‘84 that went live to 17 countries with helping to get our music to a massive audience,” says Van Zandt.” It was a blast revisiting these shows and I’m thrilled they are now being released for all to enjoy.”
LITTLE STEVEN’S EARLY SOLO CAREER CELEBRATED WITH EXPANDED CD/DVD EDITION OF ACCLAIMED ROCKNROLL REBEL – THE EARLY WORK BOX SET OUT NOW VIA WICKED COOL/UMe 13-DISC ANTHOLOGY COLLECTS SIX CLASSIC LONG-OUT-OF-PRINT ALBUMS ALONGSIDE RARE LIVE CONCERT VIDEOS AND FOUR ADDITIONAL CDS FEATURING 51 BONUS TRACKS OF RARE AND UNRELEASED RECORDINGS OF STUDIO OUTTAKES, B-SIDES, REHEARSALS, LIVE PERFORMANCES AND MORE Little Steven’s acclaimed careerspanning box set, RockNRoll Rebel – The Early Work is out now via Wicked Cool/ UMe. The 13-disc CD/DVD set collects all of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s solo records between 1982 and 1999, including newly remastered editions of six classic albums: Men Without Women (1982), Voice Of America (1983), Freedom – No Compromise (1987), Revolution (1989) and Born Again Savage (1999), as well as the landmark protest record, Sun City (1985), by Artists United Against Apartheid, the supergroup of musicians brought together by Van Zandt, record producer Arthur Baker and journalist Danny Schechter, to fight racial injustice in South Africa. Men Without Women, Voice Of America, and Freedom – No Compromise each include an exclusive DVD featuring a classic full-length live concert video from the same era as the album.
Mastering, also boasts four CDs of rarities culled from Van Zandt’s personal vault, allowing an in-depth look at his early solo career with 51 tracks spanning previously unreleased demos, B-sides, rehearsals, outtakes, radio spots, non-album singles, classic concert performances, and a number of studio gems, previously unavailable until the box set’s original vinyl release in December 2019. One of the many highlights is the rollicking title track that gives the collection its name. Van Zandt offers personal background and insight about the bonus tracks in the accompanying liner notes. The CD/DVD box set of RockNRoll Rebel – The Early Work is available to purchase exclusively via the uDiscover music store: https://littlesteven.lnk.to/Catalog
Long out-of-print on CD, all six albums are also now available globally as The comprehensive collection, individual CD or CD/DVD editions. Freedom mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway – No Compromise features an 8-panel foldout 84 Rock and Blues International • September 2020
To coincide with the release of RockNRoll Rebel, Van Zandt has been making select performances from the live DVDs available on his official YouTube channel for the first time. The videos can be watched here: https://littlesteven.lnk.to/ Catalog/YouTube Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul made their spectacular debut with 1982’s Men Without Women, highlighted by a pair of rock radio favorites in the opening “Lyin’ In A Bed Of Fire” and “Forever,” the latter of which spent nine weeks on Billboard’s “Hot 100” while also receiving heavy rotation at the newly launched MTV. Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul celebrated Men Without Women with sold out live dates including a legendary performance at NYC’s famed Peppermint Lounge that saw electrifying renditions of the album’s “Save Me” and “This Time It’s For Real” (written by Van Zandt and made famous by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes), both included on RockNRoll Rebel – The Early Work. Nearly four decades later, Van Zandt’s “Out Of The Darkness,” a standout from his album Voice Of America with its hopeful lyrics of “There’s a hunger can’t be satisfied/ And the streets are filled with rage/It’s time to dig deep inside ourselves/And face the life we’ve made” sound as relevant as ever, and sadly could have been written about our current times. “As I said on tour back then and continue to say, we have entered a dark time in the history of our civilization, and not just in the USA, the problem is worldwide. Increased nationalism, isolationism, and religious extremism are nearly everywhere. Those of us who believe in the globalization of peace and prosperity must stick together and be prepared to non-violently fight for what we believe in for as long as it takes.” A small quantity of the vinyl edition of RockNRoll Rebel – The Early Work, released in December 2019, are still available exclusively via uDiscover. Limited to just 1,000 copies, the bespoke slipcase box set collects the six remastered albums across seven colored vinyl LPs alongside the same four CDs of rarities and bonus tracks. In
