By the end of the year, I'd added 194 records to the collection. I don't expect to hit those highs that I had back in 2012, when I was buying every pressing from React! Records, and I seem to have found my comfort zone the last couple of years. I was actually surprised to have beaten last years numbers, as I was really tried to focus more on quality over quantity, but I guess I got wrapped up in the excitement of record collecting and there were a few months where a still bought a lot of records, regardless of their price tag. My numbers were up a little from last year, but where I saw the biggest increase was in my total dollars spent. After crossing off a couple of big ticket items in January, I kept chasing that high throughout the year.
2017 was an epic year. I bought some things that I didn't even think were within my grasp...but, I wanted to get shit done, and I made some big moves. Believe me when I say that it was fucking hard to narrow this down to my Top 5 from this year.
1. Pentagram 'Pentagram' first pressing - Pentagram takes the top spot this year. Not because it was the most expensive record I picked up in 2017, but because I was surprised how much I loved it. I was feeling underwhelmed when I bought it, but once it arrived and it hit my turntable, I was in love. Crushingly heavy.
2. DYS 'Brotherhood' XClaim! pressing - The DYS record was a huge win for me. One of those records that I honestly never expected to own because of the price tag that it carries. Things fell into place this year, and I took the opportunity to grab one.
3. Dio 'Killing The Dragon' NOTVD pressing - Night Of The Vinyl Dead issued two Dio records on their label...Killing The Dragon and Magica...and both of them sell for ridiculous amounts of money. Another record that I didn't know if I would actually be able to own. Only 500 pressed...that's it...unless you want the shitty picture disk. As a Dio fanboy, I feel lucky to own this.
4. Gorilla Biscuits 'Start Today' on purple vinyl - The original REV colored vinyl is for serious collectors only. Again, this wasn't a record that I thought I'd ever own, but it got to a point where I was like, "Fuck it. I've already gone overboard this year, what's one more big record?" Plus, I'd missed an opportunity at Bringin' It Down on green, and Start Today on purple helped ease that pain.
5. Search 'Behind The Lines' special covers - Record collecting is a brotherhood, and that really showed when two different people stepped up to help me complete my collection for the new Search 7 inch. They didn't want anything extra...just wanted to help out a fellow collector. I was humbled by there generosity, and I doubt that I would have these limited pressings if it wasn't for them.
In a complete reversal from the past few years, I was more excited over new Hardcore records than Metal. Hardcore had a fire, and was exciting. Let's not go crazy, I was still a jaded old man for the year, but some shit was able to crack my resistance, and man, those records were a blast.
Don't get me wrong. There were still some great Metal albums that were released this year, but over all I felt underwhelmed. Some of it was really good, but really all I wanted to do was listen to old 80's Metal and Crossover records.
There it is, my 2017 recap. It's funny. A little while ago, I felt like I needed to apologize for not posting as many Hardcore records as I used to. Gone are the days of multiple pressings and variants, but looking back over the year, I still posted a ton Hardcore stuff, and a number of heavy hitters. So fuck that apology. I've got nothing to be sorry for. If you are one of few that still spends the time reading this nonsense, I thank you. Let's see what 2018 brings.
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