Atlantic/BMG [Release date: 17.11.23]

It had to happen. The boxed Winger story from 1988 to 1993 and “the only remasters approved by Kip Winger.” As ever, it doesn’t help those who have already indulged in previous vinyl or CD although they will receive some consolation that there are no bonus tracks in this box set, or more accurately “slipcase”. The “bonus” is in fact “Demo Anthology” although the tracks did appear on the earlier Frontiers compilation (2007) which I assume hardcore fans will already have and I assume is still available.

Readers will know from my recent album and gig review that as a hardcore fan (who bought the original vinyl back in the day) the band’s recent visit to the UK was somewhat disappointing. No deep cuts and a greatest hits as they played support to Steel Panther.

We can console ourselves by revisiting the three albums they recorded for Atlantic and now remastered by the redoubtable Ted Jensen. (In my star rating, please note it refers to this presentation not the original albums).

The debut – Winger – in 1988 was a prime time slice of hair metal that even though (wrongly) pilloried in the media subsequently says more about those critics poor taste than anything else. It’s not surprising that the band’s core set list includes such gems as ‘Madalaine’, ‘Seventeen’ and the exquisite ‘Headed For A Heartbreak’ which pointed the way to something more substantial.

Fast forward two years and In The Heart Of The Young is a more rounded and mature album. It gave up the staples ‘Can’t Get Enough’, ‘Miles Away’ and the simply wonderful ‘Rainbow In The Rose’.

The latter is a true classic of this genre that defines Winger as a band with real creativity and prepared to push the melodic hard rock envelope to something that is totally immersive and a little bit proggy. The gradually building momentum of this song is irresistible and they repeated the trick on the latest “Seven” with the song ‘It All Comes Back Around’.

It was another three years before Winger’s original parting shot 1993′s Pull produced by Mike Shipley – which has long been a fan favourite. It yielded several strong tracks including ‘Blind Revolution Mad’ and ‘Down Incognito’. But aficionados will approve of pieces like ‘Spell I’m Under’, ‘The Lucky One’ and ‘Who’s The One’ which have a little more depth.

The fourth demo disc doesn’t really add too much to the canon, a little bit more rough and ready perhaps.

As Kip Winger told us in 2013 he keeps everything that the band has ever recorded (check out our interview edit below) so an extra disc may have even included some of these formative sketches. Moreover, as he also confirmed, the original songs did not change much in the hands of – intitially – legendary producer Beau Hill only the recording quality and “the vibe”.

The compilation includes four tracks from the debut and three each from the other two albums, but sadly there’s no super extended jam version of ‘Rainbow In The Rose’.

In our original review for the 2007 anthology Andy Nathan wrote of the tracks “with programmed drums… together with the gang backing vocals, give many of them a distinct Def Leppard feel.” This aspect may be off putting for some.

The earlier release included over three times the number of tracks than the present version covering pretty much all three albums plus pieces that never saw the light of day or were subsequently reworked.

It would be another 13 years before Winger returned with the next album ‘IV’ and their history has been stop-start ever since. Apart from the summer 2023 European/UK tour they have been more active recently, mainly in North America but also including Japan.

Do these remasters sound any better than the original CDs? Probably. The first album, certainly, with more bottom end than the first generation but not much difference with the Rock Candy reissues (2014) and these also had bonus tracks (and sleeve notes!). Interestingly Ted Jensen mastered the original releases.

The CDs are presented in facsimile digipak format but there are minimal credits and no liner notes/booklet which seems a glaring omission. Surely that helps create a “definitive” edition? Bonus tracks would have been good, even contemporaneous live tracks. Perhaps Jensen used up all the budget?

It all seems a little bit lazy and, like the UK tour, a bit frustrating for fans. We should be prepared for yet another reiteration in a few years when they’ll use these remasters as the starting point for hopefully a more worthy and satisfying package.

However for the pints high punters seeing the band for the first time on their recent UK tour it is a good enough starting point. For the rest, apart from updating your vinyl (expensively at £100) or old CDs (excessively) move along please, nothing to see here. ***1/2

Review by David Randall

Kip Winger chatted to Get Ready to ROCK! Radio in August 2013 for a two-part special. In this edit he chats about the Demo Anthology and about his early musical history.

Gig review (Bristol, 2023)
Album review/interview (Seven, 2023)

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