Dogs D’Amour: Dynamite China Years – Complete Recordings 1988-1993, 8CD Box Set Review
8th August 2024A Box Set So Big, It Deserves Its Own Leash
If you’re a fan of sleazy, booze-soaked rock ‘n’ roll with a dash of eyeliner and an inexplicable urge to live in a perpetually hungover state, then buckle up, my friend, because the Dogs D’Amour just dropped a box set bigger than the bar tab at your local dive. Dynamite China Years – Complete Recordings 1988-1993 is an 8-CD collection that’s got more swagger than Keith Richards at a liquor store.
8 CDs is not just a box set, it’s a commitment. It’s like getting a puppy and realizing it’s eight puppies, all with questionable behavior and an addiction to whiskey. But as soon as you hit play, you’ll understand why these guys needed a box set that could double as a small coffee table. Each disc is a shot of rock ‘n’ roll adrenaline that’ll have you howling at the moon, even if it’s only 2 p.m. and your neighbors are glaring at you through the window.
Now, some might argue that Dogs D’Amour is an acquired taste, like cheap whiskey or the ‘morning after’ regrets. But let’s face it, you don’t listen to the Dogs because you want something polished or refined. You listen because you’re ready to roll around in the mud, make some bad decisions, and maybe, just maybe, start a band of your own that no one will ever quite understand.
The collection covers everything from their gritty, glam-infused anthems to the ballads that make you think, “Are they really serious, or just drunk?” Either way, the tunes are catchy enough that by the time you get to the seventh CD, you’ll have developed a full-blown case of Stockholm syndrome. You’ll start thinking, “Yeah, maybe I do need to reapply my eyeliner and wear a feather boa to the grocery store.”
But beware, this box set isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s like being trapped in a pub with a jukebox that only plays one band. By the time you’re done, you’ll either be ready to write your memoirs, ‘Tales from the Gutter,’ or you’ll need a good, long nap.
So, if you’re brave enough to take the plunge, grab a bottle, put on some ripped jeans, and prepare to dive headfirst into the chaotic, booze-drenched world of Dogs D’Amour. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you wake up three days later with a mysterious tattoo and an urge to write poetry that only makes sense to you and other Dogs fans. When it comes to rock ‘n’ roll debauchery, this set is, quite literally, dynamite.
Score 9/10
TracklistDISC ONE
(Un)Authorised Bootleg Album (1988)
1 Firework Girl
2 Chains
3 Gold
4 Pourin’ Out My Heart
5 Wait Until I’m Dead
6 How Do You Fall in Love Again?
7 Kiss This Joint
8 Heroine
9 Tales Of Destruction
10 Dynamite Jet Saloon
11 Swingin’ the Bottle
DISC TWO
In The Dynamite Jet Saloon (1988)
1 Debauchery
2 I Don’t Want You To Go
3 How Come It Never Rains
4 Last Bandit
5 Medicine Man
6 Gonna Get It Right
7 Everything I Want
8 Heartbreak
9 Billy Two Rivers
10 Wait Until I’m Dead
11 Sometimes
12 The Kid from Kensington
13 The State I’m In
DISC THREE
Errol Flynn (King Of The Thieves) (1989)
1 Drunk Like Me
2 Goddess From The Gutter
3 Hurricane
4 Satellite Kid
5 Errol Flynn
6 Planetary Pied Piper
7 Princess Valium
8 Dogs Hair
9 Trail Of Tears
10 Ballad Of Jack
11 The Prettiest Girl In The World
12 The Girl Behind The Glass
13 Things Seem to Go Wrong
14 Oooh! Baby Glass
DISC FOUR
A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles Vol. 1 (1989)
1 I Think It’s (Love Again)
2 So Once Was I
3 Comfort Of The Devil
4 Saviour
5 Errol Flynn
6 The Bullet Proof Poet
7 When The Dream Has Gone
8 Angel
DISC FIVE
…Straight??!! (1990)
1 Cardboard Town
2 Kiss My Heart Goodbye
3 Lie In This Land
4 You Can’t Burn The Devil
5 Gypsy Blood
6 Empty World
7 Back On The Juice
8 Evil
9 Victims Of Success
10 Flyin’ Solo
11 Heroine
12 Chiva
13 Lady Nicotine
DISC SIX
…More Unchartered Heights Of Disgrace (1993)
1 What’s Happening Here?
2 What You Do
3 Pretty, Pretty Once
4 World’s Different Now (Ode To Drug Hill)
5 Mr Addiction
6 Johnny Silvers
7 Cath
8 More Unchartered Heights Of Disgrace
9 Scared Of Dying
10 Mr Barfly
11 Put It In Her Arms
BONUS TRACKS
12 All Or Nothing
13 English Outlaw
14 No Gypsy Blood ’93
15 Hard To Leave This World
16 When Nobody Loves You
DISC SEVEN
Singles, B-Sides & Rarities
1 King of The Thieves
2 Ugly
3 Billy Two Rivers (Live)
4 Victims of Success (Live)
5 I Don’t Want You to Go (Live)
6 Ballad of Jack (Live)
7 Last Bandit (Live)
8 How Come It Never Rains (Live)
9 Baby Glass (Live)
10 Kirsten Jet (Live)
11 Everything I Want (Live)
12 Heartbreak (Live)
13 Trail Of Tears (Live)
14 Medicine Man (Live)
15 Drunk Like Me (Live)
16 I Don’t Want You to Go (Live)
DISC EIGHT
Even More Singles, B-Sides & Rarities
1 I Don’t Want You to Go (12” Version)
2 Trail of Tears (7″ Version)
3 How Come It Never Rains (7″ Radio Edit)
4 Satellite Kid (Single Edit)
5 She Thinks Too Much of Me (Acoustic Version)
6 Drunk Like Me (Acoustic Version)
7 As the Poppies Fall (Acoustic Version)
8 Things He’d Do (Acoustic Version)
9 Never Had A Girl Who Would Die for Me (Acoustic Version)
10 What’s Happening Here? (Acoustic)
11 Heading for The Target of Insanity
Label – HNE Recordings
Release – 26th July
