Big Heavy Stuff (great, though unheralded, Oz band from the 90’s-00’s) have just released Bruises, an expanded version of their 5-track Covered In Bruises EP. It features a raft of previously unreleased material as well as the original EP (along with its hidden tracks) which - and here’s the potential kicker - has all been freshly remixed from the original multi-tracks by Wayne Connolly.
The additional material is mostly excellent (a couple of belters), making you wonder why they didn’t release an entire album at the time, rather than merely an EP. A few of the previously unreleased tracks (including this one) turned up in different forms on later albums or as B-sides.
The remixed EP tracks… I dunno… It’s not like they’ve been radically changed (there’s a few guitar lines either missing or which had been muted from the original mixes, and the odd additional BU vocal). Dave Trump’s original mixes were so ragged and raw (esp. the drums), which was part of the appeal. The new mixes are somewhat more polished, a little more radio friendly. It’s not horrible… more just that it’s different, and that’s a little tricky to get used to after nearly 30 years of listening to the original record. If you’re familiar with the original, you be the judge…
