This album features songs recorded during the sessions leading up to the recording of the album in London in 1989. This originally surfaced as a bootleg om a label called Red Dragon Records in 1998 being pressed in Thailand. The M.P.O. acquired the remaining copies of the CD and rather than destroy them sold them on officially. As this is a bootleg on CDr’s the quality on some discs can vary

On 5th April 1988 Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald took some time out from The Alarm’s Eye Of The Hurricane tour to cut some acoustic demos in an unknown Los Angeles recording studio. Presented here, are 16 fledgling songs that would eventually be released to the world as Change. Some of the songs would remain exactly as they are captured here, others would be merged to form a more complete song, some would see the light of day on later albums, whilst others were recorded fro the first and last time ever. This unique document of The Alarm at work, laying the foundations for what ould eventually by The Alarm’s fourth studio album – Sleeve Notes

From October 1988 to March 1989, The Alarm retreated back to North Wales and rented space at the Kinmel Hall, a Christopher Wren style manor house near Rhyl, to begin work on the second phase of the creative process. Some songs are recorded live in the rehearsal studio, whilst others feature drum machine and live overdubs as the band experimented with the final electric arrangements prior to working with Tony Visconti who would eventually be hired as producer – Sleeve Notes

Disc 1 – acoustic
New Frontier
How The Mighty Fall
Hardlands
Tears Of A River
A New South Wales
I Am What I Am
Strength To Strength
Lead Me Through The Darkness
Black Day
Prison Without Prison Bars
Know me Like I Know You
Breaking Point
Serve One Another
Uphill Battle
The Rock
Crossroads
The Wind Blows Away My Words
Black Day
Lead me Through The Darkness
Wonderful World
Take Me Home

Disc 2 – electric
Sold me Down The River
The Rock
Devolution Working Man Blues
Love Don’t Come Easy
Hardland
Change II
No Frontiers
Scarlet
Hope (Black Sun)
Prison Without Prison Bars
How The Mighty Fall
Rivers To Cross
Firing Line
Corridors Of Power
Breaking Point
Change 1

The full album is available in the Audio session of Alarm Central

(Page updated 21/06/2022)