An essential early '80s classic that has never been released on its own CD, Scandal's self-titled 1982 EP showcased the greatly underappreciated New York outfit at its purest and best. Fronted by Patty Smyth, who at one time was allegedly offered the lead vocalist role for Van Halen (!) following David Lee Roth's departure, Scandal would unfortuantely go on to suffer the loss of multiple original members and fall victim to studio interference, all of which ultimately led to their dissolution barely three years after the release of their debut.
Scandal never received an official, dedicated release on compact disc, but all five of its tracks would later surface on various CD compilations of material by both Patty Smyth and Scandal. These always omitted at least one of the songs, making it inconvenient to assemble the full EP until the Rock Candy re-release of
Warrior (Scandal's only full-length album) in 2014. This deluxe reissue offers up the entire original EP as bonus tracks, but is it the best route to go for someone wanting a full copy of the debut? Here I'm going to compare the original vinyl release to various issues of this material over the years in an attempt to find the answer.
The CD releases and compilations being compared/referenced here are: [1] Scandal featuring Patty Smyth - Scandalous (1992), [2] Patty Smyth - Greatest Hits featuring Scandal (1998), [3] Scandal - We Are the '80s (2006), and [4] Scandal - Warrior (Rock Candy remaster) (2014).
![Scandal [1982 EP]](images/Scandal-EP.jpg)
