Tank – The Filth Hounds Of Hades: Dogs Of War (1981-2002) box set

Tank – The Filth Hounds Of Hades: Dogs Of War (1981-2002) box set (2007, Metal Mind)

Albums included:
Filth Hounds Of Hades (1982)
Power Of The Hunter (1982)
This Means War (1983)
Honour & Blood (1985)
Tank (1987)
The Return Of The Filth Hounds Live (1998)
War Of Attrition Live 1981 (2001)
Still At War (2002)
Live Bootleg DVD

Tank official website
Tank MySpace page
Metal Mind Productions

The Music:
Tank is one of the legendary Metal bands to come out of England in the early ’80s during the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement of 1979-1983. Their music has been compared to that of the legendary Motorhead but with a little more Punk thrown in for good measure. All of Tank’s classic studio albums are here, including their “reunion” record STILL AT WAR (2002), and both live albums. Each CD has all the classic songs plus bonus tracks that were either B-sides, non-LP tracks, or Japanese bonuses. Honestly, to capture all of these songs on one set is an amazing feat! Add to that a DVD of live performances spanning Tank’s long career.

The Package:
All the albums are remastered using 24-bit technology ion a gold CD. Each individual album is a gatefold digipak encased in a black sleeve box (see picture above). The thick 60 page booklet has tons of pictures, lyrics, liner notes, notes from the band, Tank biography, and discography information. As with all Metal Mind reissues, this is a limited edition set and it is numbered up to 1000.

Bottom Line:
I’ve had this set for at least a couple of months and it has taken exactly that long to listen to each album fully and enjoy some Tank! I had a couple Tank albums already (THIS MEANS WAR and HONOUR & BLOOD) so I was a little familiar with the Tank catalog. What makes this set is that everything is here in one package: all the albums, all the bonuses, and a solid booklet. Albums that I could never find in a record store, or pay top dollar for online, are all neatly remastered and packaged together. Well worth the $125 to $150 retail I’ve seen this go for depending on the place you find it. If you are a fan of Tank or of NWOBHM, then this is an essential box set. I enjoyed listening to all the Tank material I had never heard, especially the bonuses. What also makes this special is that the band got involved and put in their input to make this box set special. Kudos to Metal Mind for another job well done!