It’s one of the most influential Australian albums of all-time, and now Cold Chisel are set to release a 40th anniversary edition of their breakthrough album, East.
Released as their third album on June 2nd, 1980, East was a landmark release for Aussie music. Featuring singles such as “Cheap Wine”, “Choirgirl”, “My Baby”, “Ita”, and more, almost every track on the album has since become a staple of rock radio, with the album itself winning a number of accolades at the 1980 Countdown Awards.
In a review of the record upon its release, Rolling Stone critic Ed St John noted that East was “something quite different, quite unique in Australian music”, eventually noting that it is “a superb album”.
While the record has been reissued on CD a handful of times over the years, its only other vinyl reissue to date took place in 2016. Now, with its 40th anniversary taking place in just under a month, Cold Chisel will be sharing a limited edition version of the record for their eager fans.
Announcing its release on social media this morning, the group acknowledged the legacy of East before breaking the news.
“East is 40 years old,” the post began. “It’s now something like 9 x platinum (it’s hard to tell, it sold across two different record companies; 6 or 7 different formats; before they starting keeping proper records of sales).
“It spawned the most incredible songs: ‘Cheap Wine’, ‘Rising Sun’, ‘Choirgirl’, ‘My Baby’, ‘Four Walls’, ‘Never Before’, ‘Star Hotel’, ‘Ita’, ‘Standing on The Outside’… It featured songwriting contributions from each band member… Cold Chisel won almost every single Countdown music award – and received none of them. It’s the stuff of hard won legend.”
To celebrate, the group are set to release a special vinyl run of the record, limited to just 1,000 copies. In addition to the main record, a special 7″ vinyl single will also be included (as per its original release), featuring their cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, and the Don Walker-penned “The Party’s Over”.
While Cold Chisel wrapped up a run of live performances earlier this year, they released their most recent record – Blood Moon – back in December, which saw them once again top the ARIA charts.
Cold Chisel will release their 40th anniversary edition of East on May 29th, with pre-orders available now.
