Xmas Haul Part 2: Back On Black

Part two of my Christmas vinyl haul. This post is dedicated to all the stuff from Back On Black Records that I got.

Earlier this year, I picked up the used CD of Mercyful Fate's 9 album. Really though, the amazing cover art for this album belongs on the larger LP format. Classic band...even their later day stuff is a fun listen. 9, released in 1999, was Mercyful Fate's last studio album that the band released...even though they never officially "broke up".

Nice looking red vinyl, with the standard gatefold sleeve. I love that Back On Black has taken to incorporating the album cover into the labels.

King Diamond: Satanist and cat person.

When I first started getting interested in Back On Black pressings, around 2008, they had recently released a few Exodus albums. I picked up Shovel Headed Kill Machine, and loved what the label was doing. Two and a half years later, and Tempo Of The Damned finds it's way into my local record store and onto my Christmas list.

Tempo Of The Damned marked the return of Exodus singer Zetro. No holding back on this album. I could not get over how fast and heavy this was when I first heard it. Unfortunately, good things never last, and Zetro was replaced by Rob Dukes the following year. I think that all the early Back On Black releases were pressed on splatter colored vinyl.

The first and the best...Bonded By Blood! An absolute classic, and the only one that the band recorded with legendary frontman Paul Baloff.

Funny enough, while I own two different pressings of this album, I don't own an original on Combat/Torrid. I've got this pressing on blue vinyl, and the 2007 pressing from Monumentum Records (which was an offshoot of Reflections Records).

Another first, and another classic...Megadeth's Killing Is My Business. This album, plus Peace Sells, are the pinnacle of the Megadeth catalog. Nothing else even comes close. It sucks that the band was not able to re-release this album with their cover of These Boots. I feel like I need to track down an original pressing to have the complete record.

Another early Back On Black release on splatter colored vinyl.

The Saints Come Marching Back In

I'm not saying that my appetite for CD's was killed with my new ipod, but it was heavily wounded. Most of the Metal albums that I've bought in the past were typically on CD. With Hardcore, I didn't mind buying both the CD and vinyl formats, but for most of my Metal is was a choice of one or the other...and typically the convenience of the CD won out. The ipod frees me of that choice, and I can truly commit to the format that I prefer to buy...vinyl.

While I've always really enjoyed Armored Saint, I've never really been that attracted to the John Bush era of Anthrax. It was decent, but it never really captured me like the Armored Saint stuff. With Anthrax too busy fucking around with either Joey Belladonna or some new singer, John Bush must have had enough and went back and did an album with his old band mates. Now it has been 10 years since we have seen a new studio album from Armored Saint, but they sound like they haven't skipped a beat. Great traditional Metal.

I was surprised to find out that Back On Black did the vinyl release for this album. Typically, the label just re-issues classic releases on vinyl, so I didn't expect to see that they were releasing the new Armored Saint album. The other surprise was that while Back On Black releases everything on colored vinyl, for this one they actually pressed it on black vinyl. Like most of the Back On Black releases, the gatefold packaging on this is very well done.

Hell Is Here

Reign In Blood may be my favorite Slayer album, but there is something about Hell Awaits that makes it special. It is difficult to call Hell Awaits more evil than Reign In Blood, but there is just something about that album that is darker than it's major label follow up.

I was excited to hear that Back On Black was repressing the first three Slayer albums...Show No Mercy, Live Undead with the Haunting the Chapel EP, plus Hell Awaits. The band covered all their other albums in the Vinyl Conflict box set that came out a couple months ago...and since the Metal Blade vinyl reissues ended up on shitty looking picture discs, I was really looking forward to the Back On Black press.

Stores around here are still stocking the Metal Blade reissue, so I had to go to an ebay store to find the Back On Black pressing. Back On Black on colored vinyl, with a gatefold sleeve. Very nice, but nothing out of the ordinary, or too special. I wish the label would do all of their reissues like the Motorhead ones that they do, and include a brief history of the record and what the band was up to when it was originally released. Still, this is another quality vinyl release.

I now have four copies of this record. Join us join us join us join us.

We're Back!

I got back from my week long vacation today. A week on the lake with the family. No stereo...no computer...no distractions. While it was nice to get away, man, I missed the non-stop barrage of music. First thing that I did, once everything was unpacked, was hit the stack of new vinyl sitting here next to my computer.

One of my newest obsessions has been Back On Black...a new record label, like Night of the Vinyl Dead, that specializes in classic Metal vinyl. Back On Black releases look fucking amazing, and have tempted me to start collecting a number of them. My first order from CM Distro was for two bands that have made a pretty strong return to Thrash over the past couple of years. First up was Onslaught. I never heard this band back when they were releasing albums in the 80's, but after a recommendation, I did check out Killing Peace when it was released last year. I loved the album...great modern Thrash, and has made me go back and visit the bands roots as well. The other band making a comeback has been Exodus. Fuck, I loved this band as kid...I even had the album cover of Bonded By Blood as a back patch for my denim jacket. The band has a new singer now, but I am still loving the albums that they are putting out, and Shovel Headed Kill Machine from 2005 is no exception. Brutal album. Since I had downloaded both of these albums, and hadn't bought them, seeing them get the vinyl treatment from Back On Black was all I needed to pick up these two killer albums.

So, yeah, just like some classic Thrash bands, I'm back. The week on the lake was perfect. We had great weather all week long, and I spent a lot of time swimming with the kids. In addition to swimming and hanging out on the beach, I got a ton of reading done. I finished book number two for The Manly Book Club. Brent made the selection this month with Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Unlike last month, I actually finished the book before our meeting. If I didn't have this past week off and was away from the computer and music, I'm not sure if I would have finished it. However, as strange as it may seem, I really enjoyed this book. I never would have believed that I would have gotten into a book based on the battle of Thermopylae, but damn, other than my inability to keep the names of all the characters straight, I had a great time reading this one. It's my turn to pick the book for next month. I may take the easy way out and go with something that Rob mentioned that he wants to read....Hell, it looks like a good selection, so I'll probably go with that.

In addition to my Book Club reading, I also managed to also finish reading Judas Priest : Heavy Metal Painkillers by Marin Popoff. This book was more up my alley. All the pictures of the band's old singles, and discussion around each song from every album...man, I really wanted to listen to this band over the past week. A really fun read, and I just love Popoff's books.

And since I can't help but act stupid when the camera comes out, here is a picture of me hitting the books this past week. Word.

Record Store Day 2011

Each year I eagerly await the holiest of all holidays, Record Store Day. A day dedicated to recognizing and supporting your local record store. Once again, Jeff and I started the day at Bull Moose in Scarborough. This year we were surprised to find a line of nerds waiting outside the store before it opened and ended up about 30th in line. It was chaos as the doors opened and people rushed inside to make sure they didn't miss out on the more limited pressings of the day. Not only was I on a mission for myself, but I was connected to Marcus and Doug via Facebook on my Blackberry, and was on the hunt for them as well. I had no problem getting what I was looking for, and since Bull Moose has a strict "one per customer" policy, I had to hand off some duplicates to Jeff, so that he could buy them for me.

The first mission on Record Store Day was to pick up the three 7 inches that Revelation Records was repressing. Last year, Bull Moose had a handful of the Sick Of It All records, so I was hopeful that they would carry the newest REV repressings as well.

Word soon got out that there was some color variations with each pressing, and the geek level quickly went through the roof. The Quicksand 7 inch was repressed on blue vinyl, and all three that I picked were very similar in color.

The copy that I decided to keep for myself had some pretty significant black streaks.

The Youth of Today 7 inch was repressed on red vinyl. Again, my three copies were pretty similar in color. One had some slight black streaking, and another had some slight white streaking, but the differences weren't that substantial, so I sold off my extra copies to Doug and Wade.

I kept the copy with the slight streaks of black.

The Burn 7 inch was repressed on yellow vinyl.

Of the three copies that I bought, two of them were dark yellow, while one of them was significantly lighter. Because the color variation was so drastic, I decided to keep two copies of this one. However, having two yellow copies of the Burn 7 inch, makes me feel like a tool for not owning the original pressing on pink vinyl. I'll have to move that to the top of my want list.

Bull Moose didn't sell out of many records that I wanted, but after grabbing myself two copies of the Bad Brains Pay To Cum repress, they were sold out.Later that day, I heard that there was also a copy on gold vinyl that was only available through mailorder. So much for celebrating "Record Store" Day. Mine isn't an original pressing, and it isn't on gold colored vinyl...oh well, I'm still glad that I've got a copy.

The other record that I was interested in, and that sold out pretty quick at Bull Moose, was the live OFF! 7 inch. Grabbed one for me and one for Doug, and then they were gone.

Promoting the Live at River Plate DVD that was filmed from their recent Black Ice tour, AC/DC released a live 7 inch just for Record Store Day.

Everything thus far, has felt like a legitimate release, but the Ozzy 7 inch repress for Flying High Again seems like a cash grab. I don't know why. Maybe it is my disdain for everything he has done since the No Rest For The Wicked LP back in 1988. I just don't really see the point in this re-releasing this 7 inch. I struggled over whether or not I really needed to pick this up, and in the end the only reason why I did so was because of the "Record Store Day" logo on the label stuck to the plastic bag the 7 inch was packaged in. I'm retarded.

For as much money I spent on this day, I really tried to be conscious of some of my purchases. Like the Flying High 7 inch, I debated internally if I really needed to pick up the vinyl repressings of Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman. In the end, I only grabbed Diary, since I didn't own the original pressing on vinyl already.

Then there was the Dio picture disc for Killing the Dragon. Fuck. I love this album, but I hate picture discs, and ones that are only packaged in a plastic sleeve, suck even more. I hated to buy this one, but in memory of Ronnie, I picked one up as a tribute to his greatness.

Limited to 2,500 and numbered. Yipee.

Before we left Bull Moose, I headed over to regular vinyl and flip through the Metal section. As a side note, stores that have separate Metal and Punk sections rule, okay? When I saw the Back On Black vinyl pressing of Nuclear Assault's classic Game Over album, and since I only own this on cassette, I didn't hesitate to pick it up.

Double LP on nuclear yellow colored vinyl and includes The Plague EP as a bonus.

By the time Jeff and I left Bull Moose it was past 10:00, and we had spent over an hour picking out records and agonizing over which ones we wanted and which ones we could live without. By now, the store was just about deserted, as the original mob that had ransacked the place had moved on. Now it was time for us to hit the road bound for Boston to take advantage of the 20% off sale for vinyl at Newbury Comics.

It is hard to believe, but the original Articles of Faith line up from the early 80's got back together and recorded a new 5 song EP. Wow, Vic Bondi's voice sounds the same as it ever did...gruff and caustic...damn, a couple songs reminded me of the stuff released by Cheap Tragedies a couple years back. Good stuff that does not taint the AOF legacy.

Other than the Legless Bull EP, I've never really heard much from Government Issue. When I saw Dischord's 2010 release of Boycott Stabb Complete Sessions, I figured that it was time to remedy this oversight.

Speaking of Discord reissues...I already own the recent repressing of the Flex Your Head comp, which has the blurry photo cover, but when I saw the XXX cover at Newbury's, I couldn't resist buying another copy. Red cover, red vinyl.

Sodom released their new album, In War and Pieces, at the end of last year. Part of Germany's Big Three with Kreator and Destruction, Sodom still release some brutal Thrash. Like Accept's album last year, I was starting to think about just picking it up on CD, because sometimes I have no patience for mailorder. I was glad to find a vinyl copy at Newbury's.

Man, I bought Volume 1 of Motorhead's BBC Live & In-Session back on the Toronto roadtrip in 2009. Record Store Day 2011 I finally get the chance to pick up Volume 2.

Clear colored vinyl and capturing Motorhead live on the BBC in '81 and '86.

Finally, I ended the day with a couple of cheap sale prices items, that I may not have normally given much thought to. The first is a picture disc for Hirax's 2009 album, El Rostro De La Muerte. For $5.00, I picked up the picture disc, along with a bonus 7 inch on blue vinyl.

Then, for the sale price of $1.50, I picked up the Malestrom LP. Man, I saw these guys so many times back in the early 90's opening for Slapshot. They were pretty good for that time period, until they wanted to try and be like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and started including songs from Seseme Street into their live set. Seriously.

I wouldn't have normally given this album a second thought, but hey, if these dudes can rock these haircuts, I can drop some spare change for them. Who is more embarassed, me or them?

Welcome to Boston, Part 4 (Xmas Finale)

Christmas came around and I got the presents from my brother, Paul. Sure I helped steer him in the right direction, but he did make some great choices. He also spent more than I expected him to, so I'm grateful for that as well. Three classics.

Man, I love me some Jimi Hendrix, and this first album from 1967 is his best. This copy is some new Back to Black reissue, and the packaging on this is fantastic. Nice heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. It also includes a booklet with some reflections on the band.

Another classic reissue is the 1977 Young Loud and Snotty album from Dead Boys. I downloaded this album a couple of years ago, and love the attitude and aggression in these songs. Dead Boys was the band that originally did Sonic Reducer that has been covered numerous times, but the first time I heard it was on Overkill's first album. I've tried to check out other Dead Boys stuff, but this is the only album that grabs me.

The third, and last, classic reissue that Paul bought me was Death's 1987 album, Scream Bloody Gore. This album was re-released on Back On Black Records, not to be confused with the Back To Black Hendrix reissue. A few months ago, I was on a mission to collect a bunch of Back On Black releases, but since they are expensive imports and I can only find them at online distros, my obsession died after only obtaining two albums. Still, I hope to continue to pick up a few here and there. So I was really happy to find a copy of Death's first album at Newbury comics, and thankful that Paul picked it up for me. Great gatefold packaging, with an awesome clear with red splatter colored vinyl.

My Mom and Paul both got me the Radio Silence book, so I returned one of them and put the money towards a new USB turntable so that I can easily rip my vinyl to the computer. Thanks for everything Paul!

Latest From REACT!: Part 1 - The Yawn

I've been buying every REACT! Records release, on every pressing that I can get my hands on, since Aram started the label back in 2008. Last year, something strange happened...I bailed on one of their releases...the Skin Like Iron LP. Although I desperately tried to get into the band, and get wrapped up in the hype, I wasn't feeling it and didn't order a single copy. After years of dedication, it was an odd feeling to not buy one of the releases from one of my favorite Hardcore record labels. After that Skin Like Iron LP, I was back on board and ordering every color pressing of every vinyl release REACT! put up in the store. This included a $70 pre-order for four different records that were on the way. 6 to 7 months later the box finally lands on my doorstep, and I'm feeling a little underwhelmed with two of the four releases. That isn't a knock on either of the two records...they just fail to move me.

I was looking forward to the new Damages LP. I enjoyed their first two 7 inches, but I guess moving from 2 song EPs to a 10 song LP was too much for me. They nail the mid-90's Ebullition sound, and while I would expect to dig this, to be honest, I'm struggling. There is some cool stuff going on with some of these songs, but by the end of the album I'm just glad that it is finally over. Sigh.
100 on orange vinyl.

In true 90's Ebullition style, the packaging on this album is first rate, including a newsprint booklet with one full page dedicated to the lyrics for each of the songs.

150 pressed on brown vinyl.

REACT! put forth some creative packaging on this one, with a square cutout on the front cover to view one of the many photos on the record dust sleeve. Very nice. Oh yeah, thanks for the crushed corners, Hellfish. Nice job packaging and mailing these. *rolls eyes*

250 on black vinyl.

The second record from REACT! that I was looking forward to, but ended up struggling through was the 7 inch for Fell To Low. I didn't know anything about this band when I placed my order, and even REACT!'s description was kind of vague, but hey, I took a chance. I don't know, I guess I was expecting something on the quirky side of 90's punk...maybe something like The Hal Al Shedad. The first song shows a bit of promise, but flip it over and the b side just drags.

150 pressed on clear vinyl.

White vinyl was limited to 100.

250 on black vinyl.

Like I said, I can see some people loving this shit, but it just isn't for me. I may give it a spin now and then, but for the most part, I expect this to be largely ignored in my collection. Thankfully REACT! released two other records that will see plenty of playing time on my stereo. More on that in a couple of days with Part Two.