Sadly, Rose Tattoo’s singer, Gary ‘Angry’ Anderson passed away back in September 2026. Here’s a review of the band’s album compilation on Cherry Red Records I wrote for Ever Metal earlier this year.
Rose Tattoo – The Albums 1981-1984
Cherry Red Records
Release date: 20/02/2026
Review by: Alun Jones
8/10
Yes, I admit it – it’s all my fault. Back in the late 80s, dear old Angry Anderson, erstwhile throat mangler for legendary Australian rockers Rose Tattoo, called me on the phone with a problem. Called me on the phone, ‘cos I’m never going to Australia – world tour or not. Snakes? Spiders that can kill you? No chance. Anyway, Angry, bless him, was in a financial rut and I said I had an idea to help him out. So I had a word and managed to get one of his songs attached to a daytime soap opera. I mean, who would know if it was some dumb TV show in the daytime?
So the next thing you know, Scott and Charlene are getting married and Angry’s song soundtracks it. Suddenly, he’s got a massive hit, it ruins his street cred and I’m to blame. Made him barrel loads of dosh, though.
But yes, originally the bloke who did that song off Neighbours was Angry Anderson, vocalist of Australia’s other great Rock’n’Roll band – Rose Tattoo. And great they were. Simple, honest, down-to-earth blokes playing dirty Blues Rock. They even had Vanda and Young – AC/DCs Production Masters – in their corner, creating a gutsy guitar sound sharp enough for a backpacker serial killer.
Four albums are packaged together in this release from Cherry Red Records, the self-titled debut being the best. Starting with out-and-out classic ‘Rock’n’Roll Outlaw’, we also get the street Blues throb of ‘The Butcher and Fast Eddie’, the rowdy stomp of ‘One of the Boys’ and the slide guitar driven ‘Remedy’. You’ll swear that Malcolm and Angus wrote the filthy riff of ‘Bad Boy for Love’, whilst we’ve also got ‘Nice Boys’, a fine tune once covered by those overblown, cock rock losers Guns’n’Roses.
Not that the other discs here aren’t up to scratch – “Assault & Battery” features more of the bawdy, boozy, brawling, slide guitar Rock with ‘Out of This Place’. ‘All the Lessons’ and the title track have an almost Punk energy while ‘Rock’n’Roll is King’ is another vicious stomper.
“Scarred for Life” sees the quality dip a little, but the title track, ‘We Can’t Be Beaten’ and ‘Branded’ still come out punching like a mad kangaroo with a time bomb in it’s pouch. However ‘Sydney Girls’ is less brave Reggae experiment and more “Bouncer should’ve buried it in Mrs Mangle’s garden”. The runt of the litter is fourth album “Southern Stars” – but again the title track will get the adrenaline pumping, as will the anthemic ‘Death or Glory’, before another Reggae squib with ‘The Pirate Song’ almost sinks the ship.
As you can probably tell from the song titles, Rose Tattoo aren’t Radiohead. And yes, many of these lyrics are very dated and misogynistic. But if you can deal with that, and just want to party, then this is the ideal music for a pissed-up bar fight between Harold Bishop and Lou Carpenter over Madge Ramsey. It’s the usual, to be expected level of quality that one expects from Cherry Red, including several bonus tracks and a comprehensive accompanying booklet.
Rose Tattoo’s albums are a goldmine of good time Rock’n’Roll, cast out of sheer, unrefined groove and grit. Rock’n’Roll is King, indeed. Anyone for a cold beer?
Check out Rose Tattoo’s website here.
This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.
