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After 30 years, The Screaming Jets are Better than ever

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Can you believe it’s been three decades since The Screaming Jets released their debut album, All For One?

Even, in 2021, the band’s smash hits – such as Better and C’Mon – are still on national radio playlists.

So, to mark the 30th anniversary of the recording milestone, vocalist Dave Gleeson, bassist Paul Woseen, guitarists Jimi Hocking and Scott Kingman, and drummer Cameron McGlinchey will unveil a special edition of the iconic offering, as well as a few tour dates.

Their journey to the top of the charts started in 1990 when five blokes from Newcastle took the Aussie music scene by the scruff of the neck and gave it a red-hot shake.

Before they had even signed their first record deal with rooArt Records, The Screaming Jets had already clocked up more than 200 shows, won the Triple J Battle Of The Bands competition and established themselves as an onstage, no-holds-barred, powerhouse of Aussie rock ‘n’ roll.

At the time the hard rock music bible Kerrang described front man Gleeson as “a tattooed madman, hell on heels, he leaps around the stage like an epileptic in a minefield: a real horror show cross between Alex from Clockwork Orange and, in part, Mike Patton. Between songs his patter is a hilarious cocktail of equal parts vitriol and obscenity”.

In 1991 they released All For One, which peaked at #2 on the ARIA charts.

The second single from the album, Better was the song that introduced the band to the world, and saw The Screaming Jets embark on their first world tour – to Europe, UK, USA and Canada.

“For a bloke from Cardiff, who’d spent a few years touring round Australia, to find himself on the other side of the world sharing the stage with the likes of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, INXS and, yes, even a band room with Spinal Tap was something beyond my wildest imagination,” Gleeson said.

Flash forward to 2021 and as a 30th year anniversary celebration, and a tip of the hat to where it all began, the current line-up has rerecorded All For One with a fresh new take.

Overseen by original producer, Steve James, the album has been repackaged with new artwork with a clear reference to the original.

“The plan was always to re-record the album for this milestone,” Gleeson said.

“We just didn’t realise we’d be recording under these circumstances.

“One of the things that we’ve always loved about the recording studio is that it’s a bunch of blokes, locked away in our own world creating and mucking on.  

“Obviously that option wasn’t open to us due to COVID-19, so we had to do it like the kids do.

“Our producer Steve James pulled it all together and because we weren’t messing around with arrangements it all went down very quickly and painlessly.”

The relentless touring that followed the initial album release saw The Jets join forces with bands like The Angels, The Choirboys and Divinyls as well as headlining their own shows, and building a die-hard fan base across Australia and the world.

Fast forward 30 years and The Jets are ready to celebrate the anniversary of the album that started it all with a national tour.

The band will perform All For One in its entirety from start to finish for the very first time.

“It’s nice to revisit some of those songs,” Gleeson said.

“A bunch of them we still play live to this day, but during the re-recording of some of the songs we haven’t done for a while… wow, the memories just come flooding back and hopefully it’ll be the same for our loyal fans.

“This tour may even bring people out who haven’t seen us for a while.

“Maybe there will be people there to judge whether we are the same as 30 years ago.

“Maybe they’ll think we are better.”

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