{"id":28682,"date":"2025-02-18T05:30:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T10:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28682"},"modified":"2024-12-13T11:38:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T16:38:08","slug":"album-review-the-saints-im-stranded-box-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/album-review-the-saints-im-stranded-box-set\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The Saints \u2013 (I\u2019m) Stranded Box Set"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/saints_stranded_box.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-28683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/saints_stranded_box.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/saints_stranded_box-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/saints_stranded_box-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Accepted wisdom holds that punk rock came about circa 1976-\u201977, primarily in London and New York City. The truth is that the seeds of the style were sown much earlier, and in more places. Case in point is Brisbane, Australia\u2019s Saints. Founded in 1973, the group made exciting music that bore all of the hallmarks of what would come to be known as punk. During two periods in 1976, the Saints recorded the songs that would appear on their debut LP, 1977\u2019s <i>(I\u2019m) Stranded<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Released on industry giant EMI in most of the world, (<i>I\u2019m) Stranded<\/i> eventually took its place among the great debuts in rock history; today it\u2019s acknowledged as an important and influential release. Even though the Saints were plying their trade some 10,000 miles from Manhattan and Soho, their music bore a kinship to the sound of bands like the Ramones, Clash, Damned and Sex Pistols.<\/p>\n<p>The somewhat lo-fi quality of the record\u2019s production only adds to its immediacy. A modest commercial success, the ten-song, 35 minute LP did spawn a pair of singles, the title track and \u201cErotic Neurotic\u201d; both were original tunes written by vocalist Chris Bailey and guitarist Ed Kuepper. Not every tune on the record was a buzzsaw punker; \u201cMessin\u2019 With the Kid\u201d (an original, not the blues classic) has more in common with \u201870s Rolling Stones or Neil Young and Crazy Horse. But the album remains at the forefront of the era\u2019s trend toward stripped-down rock.<\/p>\n<p>A new box set brings together the original <i>(I\u2019m) Stranded<\/i> album and three more vinyl discs of related material. Joining the remastered 1977 LP is a previously unreleased demo mix of the record. Featuring the same songs in the same order, it\u2019s subtly different from the released version. The demo mix of \u201cErotic Neurotic,\u201d for example, is stronger and more visceral than its official counterpart. The disc also includes one extra cut, \u201cUntitled.\u201d Though a bit ragged, it\u2019s easily as good as anything on the official LP.<\/p>\n<p>The third record in the set is a collection of singles and EP tracks from sessions in Sydney and London plus five songs from a 1977 live set in Sydney. The undoubted highlight of the studio tracks is a blazing stab at \u201cRiver Deep, Mountain High,\u201d originally a minor hit in 1966 for Ike &amp; Tina Turner. The Saints\u2019 take on the tune is a spiritual cousin to the Pistols\u2019 reading of the Monkees\u2019 \u201c(I\u2019m Not Your) Steppin\u2019 Stone.\u201d The live recording of \u201cErotic Neurotic\u201d is pummeling in its intensity, suggesting what Detroit\u2019s Stooges might have sounded like had they played much faster.<\/p>\n<p>The fourth record in the <i>(I\u2019m) Stranded Box Set<\/i> features the entirety of a 1977 live set at London\u2019s Hope &amp; Anchor. Like nearly all of the material beyond the original LP, its appearance in this box set marks its debut on vinyl. Featuring excellent fidelity, it may well serve as the definitive document of the Saints at their best. The band\u2019s edge-of-mayhem, full-frontal sonic assault is showcased on this bracing, 14-song set.<\/p>\n<p>The box includes a photo essay, a sticker and other ephemera, but it\u2019s ultimately about the music. Taken as a whole, <i>(I\u2019m) Stranded Box Set<\/i> represents the entirety of the Saints\u2019 recorded output between 1976 and 1977. While they\u2019d go on to more great things \u2013 including the 1978 landmark \u201cKnow Your Product\u201d single that melded punk and a horn section(!) \u2013 <i>(I\u2019m) Stranded<\/i> remains the place to start when approaching the work of this important band. And this new box set represents the best way to embark upon that endeavor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accepted wisdom holds that punk rock came about circa 1976-\u201977, primarily in London and New York City. The truth is that the seeds of the style were sown much earlier, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,59,62,65],"tags":[5582],"class_list":["post-28682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-punk","category-rawk","category-review","tag-the-saints","cat-19-id","cat-59-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28684,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28682\/revisions\/28684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}