Los Angeles, CA – The year 1987 marked the dawn of a new era, as gothic greats Rozz Williams and Eva O joined forces to create Shadow Project after crossing creative paths in Christian Death. During a hiatus, they moved from LA to San Francisco, hopeful that a change in environment would inspire them. However, they soon discovered that, no matter where they went, they were confronted with the same lack of ingenuity. Rather than become discouraged and disillusioned, they became more determined than ever to create something for themselves, without the need for acceptance or support from a scene that, in Williams’s words, had become stagnant.
The recordings captured in The Original Tapes 1988 serve not only as harbingers of the success that Shadow Project’s self-titled 1991 debut would bring, but as a poignant requiem for the musical talent of one of goth’s pioneering greats, Rozz Williams. This album is imbued with raw, visceral, emotional catharsis, coupled with the melodic melancholy of Williams’s and O’s vocal musings. This unique musical amalgamation is made evident from the first wailing guitar note and impassioned exclamation of the opening track, “When the Heart Breaks.”
This reissue features all newly remastered recordings for 2023, as well as a rare bonus track, “Blue Heart,” available for the first time ever on CD and digital formats after only previously available as part of an esoteric 1988 cassette compilation, Happy Music Of Earth Vol 1. This track boasts an updated mix by producer and Die Krupps frontman, Jürgen Engler who breathes new life into this avant-garde, spoken word masterpiece by enriching its best qualities and transmuting its essence, while also adding new musical elements and accompaniment, to create a fully realized, sonically rich, dark, experimental anthem that honors and celebrates the legacy of Rozz Williams, Eva O, and their groundbreaking co-creation.
TRACK LIST:
1. When The Heart Breaks
2. Working On Beyond
3. Lying Deep
4. Holy Hell
5. Death Plays His Role
6. Penny In The Bucket
7. Blue Heart