All of the live material was recorded at various locations earlier in 1985, with the exception of a studio version of "Summertime Girls." The material used on this album was recorded after the release of their previous album (1984's In Rock We Trust), but none of those songs appeared on this album.
Reception
Open Fire would prove to be a success spending 17 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaking at Number 70.[2] The album also produced the song "Summertime Girls" which would go on to become the band's biggest hit, peaking at Number 16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.[3] The studio version of the song also appeared on the band's next proper studio album, Down for the Count, which was released in November 1985.
Despite this, Open Fire would go on to become on the hardest albums to find by the band until Hip-O Records (a subsidiary of Universal that specializes in reissuing previously out-of-print albums and themed music compilations) reissued it with two bonus tracks in 2005.[4] The bonus material consisted of live renditions of "Black Tiger" (which was previously unreleased) and "Summertime Girls." The live version of "Summertime Girls" also appeared as the B-side of the studio cut when it was released as a single. In the same year, Majestic Rock Records also released the album on CD using the track list of the vinyl release.[5] It featured a different front cover, but the back cover was the same as the original A&M release, as well as the Hip-O reissue. Both CD releases are once again out of print, and the album is becoming increasingly difficult to find on the used CD market.
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