Unreleased songs and albums litter the archives of many production companies, mostly they appear when a peticular milestone is met and an anthology is released, usually with the sticker "With Previously Unreleased Material". In the case of DESIRE, "Screamer on the Rocks" was re-recorded as "Cry at the Sky" when vocalist Doug Betram was replaced by Fred Daniels (if you read my previous review you'll remember I wasn't too impressed by Fred). It actually was a slight upgrade.

The music is basically the same, with two new songs, "Screamer on the Rocks" and "Hold On" replacing "Cry at the Sky", more on those later. The Recording of this album has a better sound, with a more brilliant sound all round, except for the guitar. Again . This time it was sans effects (still reverb heavy) but sounded like it was recorded with one mic at the opposite end of a large empty room. David Svach and Larry Sexton were sterling on their respective instruments, and if Burk Price could have ever figured out his sound maybe they could have gone further, but alas, hindsight is 20/20.

The new songs are actually a good reason to get this version of DESIRE over the previous. "Screamer on the Rocks" is a showcase of their song writing abilities, with several tempo changes and a rather complex cord structure running rampant in the solo section. "Hold On" is my favorite song by far, with an almost radio friendly cadence and lots of fills for the technically inclined to discuss and critque!

If you're a metal historian buff and like to collect these recordings of bands gone by the wayside I have to say "Screamer on the Rocks" is the one for you. Easier on the ears and a couple of better songs make it the version of DESIRE for your repository. If you're just looking for some good early 80's metal though, you can find much, much better at your local record store.