product: Alien – Alien
release date: 19.06.2026
format: CD & digital
territory: world
Genre: AOR/ Melodic Rock
Remark: ltd. to 500 CD’s, remastered by Ritchie Borg, new booklet with liner notes, Pride & Joy Music Classixx Vol. 25, officially licensed from Warner Music
Liner Notes by Martin Stark:
Swedish melodic rock icons Alien are some kind of a blueprint for Scandinavian melodic rock music and AOR of the eighties. Gitarrist Tony Borg formed a new band in 1986 after having worked in various constellations for some time. “I was working as a session musician in really good studios in Gothenburg and in Stockholm, too, and it was easy money as everything was fine but after a while I felt I needed to start my own band. I had to go for a different, more personal aim“, Borg reflects on the very birth of Alien. Having had all the contacts and a couple of original songs already in the pipeline, the guitarist gathered some of the best players around him. Borg and Tarrach even go back to 1985 working on some kind of project which then was to became Alien.
The original line-up of the band with mainman Borg, drummer Toby Tarrach, keyboarder Jimmy Wandroph and bassist Ken Sandin has been complete when frontman Jim Jidhed joined the ranks. “I was extremely happy with having Jim on board because his voice is simply incredible“, remembers Borg. At first there were talks of recording eight or nine demo tracks only but soon the band, as it is was, has been finalized once the debut album took shape. “I remember being in a studio in Gothenburg and as studio time was very expensive back in the day, we recorded days in a row and there was that particular night when I basically sang all night“, Jidhed recalls proudly.
The band already had two singles out in Sweden, “I’ll Survive“ and “Headstrong“, that unfortunately didn’t end up on the album. “We went to the studio and recorded some more tracks when we got the deal with Virgin in 1987 and probably due to the running time of the album, we had to skip a couple of tracks“, says Jidhed not being fully clear about it decades later. But the whole thing picked up pace when outside producers and songwriters came in, resulting in recording a handful of tracks in America. Plus, the single “Only One Woman“, a Marbles cover originally written by The Bee Gees, was to become quite a chart success in Sweden opening many doors for them internationally, too. It went to number one for six weeks straight in their home-country. “We were really taken by surprise, to be honest“, recalls Jidhed. “Our label manager with Virgin Records came up with the idea of recording this particular song. He probably had my voice in mind from the beginning and all I can say is that we weren’t sure whether this was a good idea in the first place or not but then Tony and I arranged the track and made it an Alien song in not more than one day, as far as I remember.“ Nevertheless, especially the frontman was not too convinced of the song at the time. “We were in the States when news reached out to us that “Only One Woman“ got remarkable amount of airplay on Swedish radio. Funnily enough actually, it took several attempts to finally make it take off commercially“, the frontman recalls. But it did. Big time. It went gold in Sweden and has more than six million streams on Spotify by now.
There are basically two “fractions“ in the band with Tony and Toby on the one hand being more or less seventies-rooted whereas the others, including Jim, on the other hand openly favored the softer, more polished side of the band which resulted in tracks like “Go Easy“ and, of course,“Tears Don’t Put Out The Fire“ with huge keyboards which became AOR anthems right away.
The band went on tour in Sweden successfully with their debut only and with their biggest live production to date. The twelve tracks of the iconic self-titled album, apart from the ballad “Only One Woman“, include the other two singles “Tears Don’t Put Out The Fire“ and “Brave New Love“, which are nothing but typical eighties AOR anthems. “Still when we play ’Tears’ to this day, it literally brings tears to many in the audience“, Jidhed proudly states. The sound, tone and soul of the album is represented by this song very much. “Brave New Love“, though, ended up in the American cult movie “The Blob“, also leaving an important milestone in the band’s illustrious history. Borg’s memories concerning “Tears Don’t Put Out The Fire“ are kind of mixed as the creation and the arrangements of the track are pretty unusual for the band. “That song that the fans love so much sees me playing the guitar solo very much in the vein of Gary Moore, who brought this slow way of playing to pure perfection. Usually, I don’t play that way.“
The writing chemistry and the soundscape that is created especially between Borg and Jidhed today is essential to Alien, whereas the given 1988 debut album was written by all five in the band and Pam Barlow and Janet Minto. “Having a vocalist like Jim on board is a true blessing as he gives these songs what they need. He is magic and the fun fact is, he is not musically educated in any university like I am on guitar, but his natural talent as a singer is simply amazing“. There can’t be more praise and pride than in that statement by the guitarist. “When I write a Deep Purple riff and Jim sings on it, it most likely sounds a bit like Journey.“ But vice versa, Jidhed acknowledges his band mate for many years as an exceptional songwriter and band leader, too. “Tony is absolutely passionate about his guitar and works very hard in all respects.“ Navigating a band through hard times, which were soon to embark on Alien after the record came out in Sweden, certainly is no easy task and needs brave decisions at times.
After putting it out in Sweden in 1988, the debut album was released internationally, especially for the US market, in 1989 with a totally different artwork and partly different track list with five songs being remixed and two new songs “The Air I Breathe“ and “Now Love“ with a new voice on board. These songs replaced, for example, “Dying By The Golden Rule“ and “Dreamer“, introducing new frontman Pete Sandberg as Jidhed left the band after heavy touring in Sweden due to personal reasons. He became father and wanted to focus on his family. “We were surprised how fast everything could happen and at the same time, too. Both me and Jim became fathers more or less around the same time and we were on tour, recording and promoting our music sometimes for weeks in a row and left our families struggle at home. We didn’t fight whatsoever but agreed on the situation in good terms“, Borg remembers. Jidhed came back many years later, though, and only in recent times things in Alien became full circle. Looking back on the chapter with Sandberg fronting the band, Borg today is not too happy about some past decisions. “Pete did a really good job, though. He had a good name in Gothenburg and was super nice to work with but at the end of the day, it didn’t feel right. We actually didn’t fully understand that somehow the second version of the debut album with changed tracks and a new voice on two songs depicted a different band in a way.“ Borg obviously had to deal with a difficult situation in a very fast and defining time for the band Alien that was still very fresh and hungry at the time. And then there was Virgin, of course, a major label and big player in the music scene, certainly pushing them to continue, too.
The rest is history. The (original) “Alien“ is one of the best debut albums in Swedish melodic rock history for sure… And here it is again! But luckily, 2026 sees Borg, Jidhed and Tarrach still going strong, playing live shows around the globe, regularly putting out albums, like a live album called “Live At Sweden Rock“ recently, and much more. Their last studio effort “When Yesterday Comes Around“ (2025) sees the band not only going back to the very style of the debut, also the artwork is pretty reminiscent of the good old days of 1988 when the iconic album “Alien“ came out. To put it in a nutshell, the band Alien is pretty much alive… There is even a new album in the pipeline…
Martin Stark, Nordhastedt
Track List:
- Brave New Love
- Tears Don’t Put Out The Fire
- Go Easy
- I’ve Been Waiting
- Jaimie Remember
- Feel My Love
- Only One Woman
- Wings Of Fire
- Dying By The Golden Rule
- Touch My Fire
- Dreamer
- Mirror