Just one month into 2026, Cherry Red Records have released another box set. The set is devoted to hard rock band Wild Horses, a super group formed by Brian Robertson and Jimmy Bain. The release, Standing Our Ground, is a a massive six disc set consisting of the band’s entire output. While the band only released two albums in their time together, Standing Our Ground gives listeners a chance to dive deeper into their careers.
A Little Bit of History
Wild Horses first formed around the time that Brian Robertson was kicked out of Thin Lizzy in 1977. After hurting his hand in a fight defending a Thin Lizzy roadie, Robertson was meant to only leave the band temporarily while Gary Moore completed the remainder of the tour. Though after the tour, Robertson was asked to not return to Thin Lizzy. Robertson would then meet up with bassist Jimmy Bain, who had been fired from Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Together, the two would begin to form early versions of Wild Horses. Though later in the year of 1977, Robertson rejoined Thin Lizzy and would stay with them until the release of Live and Dangerous in 1978.
Robertson and Bain would spend the next few years forming the band. Musicians such as Jimmy McCulloch, Kenny Jones and various others would have short tenures in Wild Horses. Eventually, future UFO guitarist Neil Carter and former Pat Travers Band drummer Clive Edwards would end up becoming the first recording line up of the band.
The First Album (1980)
The band hits the ground running with their energetic debut album. The band are in fine form, with a collection of ten songs that fit right in with the hard rock music from that time period. Robertson shines with his guitar work, inserting some Lizzy-esque guitar licks in many songs. Bain serves as the band’s main singer and lends his vocals to a majority of the songs. While not a great singer, Bain’s vocals have a Bob Welch quality to them: using that combination of both singing and speaking. While it might not be the most memorable album, it’s solid nevertheless.
Rating: 7/10
Favorite Songs: Reservation, Face Down, Dealer, No Strings Attached, Criminal Tendencies
Stand Your Ground (1981)
For the second album, Neil Carter had left and was replaced by John Lockton. The sophomore effort from Wild Horses is somewhat of a mixed bag. The album does have the some diversity, with the band playing different variations of their sound. Not all of the song are hard rockers: there’s some surprisingly melodic tunes to be found here. Despite this, the album’s production brings this down. For the few people that know about the two Wild Horses albums, some claim this to be the superior album. It’s not a bad album at all. It’s just different.
Rating: 6.5/10
Favorite Songs: I’ll Give Love, In the City, Another Lover, Miami Justice, Stand Your Ground
Bonus Material + Remixes
Each of the two studio albums has its own disc of bonus material. This bonus material includes demos and alternate takes of different songs. On average, these alternate versions don’t sound too different from what ended up on the two studio albums. The tracks that might be most interesting to listeners are the alternate takes/demos of “Flyaway,” one featuring Phil Lynott on lead vocals and the other with Gary Moore on guitar.
On the discs featuring the main albums, there are new remixes of the songs. This includes:
9/10 songs from The First Album
7/10 songs from Stand Your Ground
The remixes on for The First Album have a little more reverb, with the vocals being buried in a few mixes. In parts, the songs do sound punchier and not as flat as the originals. Stand Your Ground‘s remixes, however, are well worth checking out: the songs sound much clearer and might be improvements over the original versions.
It’s strange that the albums weren’t both remixed entirely but between the two, the Stand Your Ground remixes are the better of the two.
The Live Albums
Included in this set are two full concerts from the band. One is at the Marquee Club in 1980 while the other is a concert in Japan that same year. Both shows are fine, with the Japan show being the superior one. The Marquee Club show seems to be from before the first album was released, given how Jimmy Bain mentions that they’ll have an album out soon. By the time the band released their first album, the Japan show had a setlist that was made to promote that album.
While the live shows are nice to have, there’s one thing that holds them back: Jimmy Bain and and Brian Robertson don’t have the frontsman-ship of the people they played for. While both are great musicians, they pale in contrast to the people that fronted the bands they were in. Even then, they give good performances.
Conclusion
As a whole, Standing Our Ground is a great box set full of music from Cherry Red Records. Along with the the music, there’s liner notes with a new interview with Brian Robertson. As to if this set is recommended depends on the listener.
If you’re a die-hard Thin Lizzy fan that must own everything from every member, you’re going to get your money’s worth here.
If you’re new to Wild Horses, this set might overwhelm you. You might be better off with listening to the first two albums only.
At the end of the day, Wild Horses were a band fronted by two men that were one portion of bigger bands. They weren’t Phil Lynott or Ronnie James Dio. The again, I don’t think they were trying to break new ground: Robertson and Bain were two musicians that just wanted to play music. For those who are interested, give these two albums a listen.
The Music: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
I'm a writer/journalist with a passion for music and pop culture. Having graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 2014, I've been looking for a platform in which I can share my passions. Since 2009, I've been posting to my own blog- The Walrus' Music Blog- via Blogger. I'm also the author of two self-published books, "The Camp: Stories from the Summer" and "The College: Stories from King's." Together, the two books cover the story of my life from 2004 to 2014. I've been lucky enough to interview several of my favorite musicians over the years and go to concerts from time to time. I'm also very devoted to the CBS reality TV show Survivor, which I started watching in 2002 when its fourth season started. I currently live in New Jersey.