During a soon-to-be-published BraveWords interview in support of his new solo album, When Life Was Hard & Fast, vocalist / guitarist Ricky Warwick discussed the forthcoming box set from The Almighty. Warwick launched the band in with drummer Stump Monroe and bassist Floyd London in 1988; original guitarist Tantrum was replaced by Peter Friesen (Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, VO5) in 1991. The Almighty went on indefinite hiatus in 2008 when London announced he was leaving the band.

Asked if he has a favourite album in The Almighty catalogue, Warwick says "for many reasons it would have to be Crank (released in 1994) because I just feel the band was at it’s most cohesive, most unified, and I had such a great time writing and making that record. And I think the band was at the height of its popularity at that point. It was a good time; 1994 was a good year to be in The Almighty and I have very fond memories of it.”

“It was a great experience, ” he constinues. “We holed up for about five or six weeks in January ’94 in this beautiful studio down in Sussex in the south of England. We had Iron Maiden’s monitor system in this barn – they lended it to us – and no pun intented but we had it cranked, thus the name of the album. We would just go in there and play full-on, and we were all so invested in it as a band. We were all focused and driven and inspired. Every day was exciting. I remember getting up every morning and couldn’t wait to get in there, plug in and play. We recorde it at the Manor – which is Richard Branson’s old place – during a beautiful hot summer. We’d work our asses off during the week, friends would come down on the weekends and we’d party. It was a great time and a great vibe. It was a good time to be alive and I think that’s why the album means so much to me personally. And it’s a killer album.”

Read more here.

Ricky Warwick will be releasing his new studio album, When Life Was Hard And Fast, on February 19 via Nuclear Blast. Pre-order the album in various formats, including a 2CD digipack which includes the bonus covers album Stairwell Troubadour, here.

Warwick has released the album's title track, featuring none other than Def Leppard's Joe Elliott on backing vocals. The accompanying video depicts the County Down Ards TT Motor Race that is seen on the album's cover and ran from 1928-1936. The cover shows an accident from one of the races that happened directly in front of a field that was part of a farm owned by Ricky's grandfather, where Ricky himself lived for the first 14 years of his life.

For the process of recording the album, Ricky was joined by Robert Crane (bass), Xavier Muriel (drums) and Keith Nelson (guitar) as well as a number of special guests including Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Andy Taylor formerly of Duran Duran, Thunder's Luke Morley, Dizzy Reed of the mighty Guns 'N Roses and even Ricky's daughter Pepper. Keith also produced the new album, having previously worked with Buckcherry, Blackberry Smoke and Alice Cooper.

When Life Was Hard And Fast tracklisting:

"When Life Was Hard And Fast"
"You Don't Love Me"
"I'd Rather Be Hit"
"Gunslinger"
"Never Corner A Rat"
"Time Don't Seem To Matter"
"Fighting Heart"
"I Don't Feel At Home"
"Still Alive"
"Clown Of Misery"
"You're My Rock N Roll"

Stairwell Troubadour tracklisting:

"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" (Dead Or Alive cover)
"Ooops!...I Did It Again" (Britney Spears cover)
"Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran cover)
"1000 Dollar Car" (Bottle Rockets cover)
"Cocaine Blues" (Johnny Cash cover)
"I Don't Want To Grow Up" (Ramones cover)
"I Fought The Law" (The Clash cover)
"Burning Love" (Elvis Presley cover)
"Jesus Loves You...But I Don't" (The Almighty cover)
"Wrathchild" (Iron Maiden cover)

"You Don't Love Me" video:

"Fighting Heart" video: