The Most Unbreakable Record Release

Over the past year, Down To Nothing has become one of my favorite bands from today's scene of straight edge hardcore, and The Most was easily one of my favorite albums from 2007. I had two different pressings of the album and I was happy to pick up my third copy when Revelation Records released it again, this time on purple and orange colored vinyl (limited to 525 pressed). Shortly after the second pressing of The Most, Revelation also released Unbreakable. This new record is just a compilation of the albums that Thorp Records had released, Save It For The Birds and Splitting Headache (which itself was a compilation of 7 inch recordings). My copy is on white vinyl and limited to 330 copies.

The other Down To Nothing vinyl that I picked up recently was a copy of The Most, from the bands record release show. I had resigned myself to not buying any new records for a while, when Rob sent me an email with a link to an ebay auction on a Have Heart record. It was a copy of the Have Heart 7 inch that the two of us had bought at the Posi Numbers show in 2005, and he was wondering how much it would go for. I had noticed some records going for ridiculous amounts of money recently and I started looking around ebay to check prices on stuff. I have absolutely no interest in selling anything from my collection...ever, but sometimes I surf around checking to gauge where prices are. To my surprise I came across this Down To Nothing album from their record release show and the tempation was just too strong. The record was limited to only 50 made (this one was number 13), and suddenly I needed to own it. If I didn't, I was afraid that I may never see one available again and would regret not buying one when I had the chance...just part of my collector paranoia. So I was very happy to win it, and at a pretty decent price for such a rare item.

Save The Whales

When I bought the Generations comp that Revelation Records put out a couple of years ago, I was most impressed with a band called Robot Whales. I had never heard of them before and they were unlike any other band on the compilation. The song was just straight forward, driving hardcore....I don't know, maybe similar to the first Quicksand 7 inch, or maybe some of those early 90's emo hardcore bands like Navio Forge or Admiral. I was instantly hooked on that song. I was afraid that the band might just have the one trick, and the style may fall flat when played out over a full length album, so when Vehicle was released, I downloaded it. Man, this entire album is rock solid....just great songs that overflow with incredible passion and emotion. I bought the LP though Revelation but I can't find anything other than a sparse myspace page on the record label the released it. Therefore, I have no idea how many were pressed or if there is anything other than the yellow vinyl that I got.

My Heart Still Beats

Have Heart are one of my favorite hardcore bands of all time, so I was excited to see that some new colored vinyl was being pressed again. Seriously, they could press The Things We Carry every six months and I'd probably buy it. The band will be releasing their new album this summer, and I'm expecting for it to match the intensity of their last record. Can't wait until it drops.

This time around we have new colored vinyl for The Things We Carry from Bridge Nine Records. This is the first pressing that does not come with the cool looking gatefold cover. The white, green and yellow colored vinyl is pretty ugly looking. It is limited to 1,000. I have no idea what the pressing info is for the 2003 Demo 7 inches. Bottled Up Records doesn't really have the pressing info anywhere on line, so I'm at a loss on the numbers pressed for each color. It's too bad, because I really like to keep track of that information. Anyway, the newest colors were clear blue and an opaque yellow. My Have Heart collection is now up to 23 pieces of vinyl.

*Update* I sent a message through myspace to Jeff from Bottled Up Records, asking for the pressing info and he directed me to his trade page on howsyouredge.com. The clear blue vinyl is limited to 121, and the yellow with black labels is limited to 300.

I Love The Dead

I've recently become very interested in a record label out of Italy called Night of the Vinyl Dead. The mission of the record label is to re-issue Metal records that never got a proper vinyl release. Each record is released in limited quantities, and is hand numbered. I remember when they released their first record, the War is My Shepard 12 inch single from Exodus, back in 2006. A friend of mine had told me about the label, but at the time wasn't really into collecting Metal records, and since the price was around $35 for the single I quickly passed on buying it. A year and a half later, and here I am looking to expand my Heavy Metal collection. I checked out the Night of the Vinyl Dead site, and was surprised at how many awesome pieces of vinyl the label had released while I wasn't paying attention. All of a sudden I had a desperate need to own something from this label. I hit ebay and started to search. I was able to pick up two of their newer releases, both of them from overseas ebay sellers. Shipping cost was a bitch, but I did not want to miss out on getting these two records.

Both of these records were new to me, as they were both originally released when I was totally immersed in hardcore and had no interest in the Metal scene. Mercyful Fate, Into the Unknown, is a really cool record. Sure it is a step or two removed from the classics of Melissa and Don't Break the Oath, but it is still some great Fate. The vinyl is pressed on "sunset" vinyl, and just looks sick...matching the album cover nicely. My copy was numbered 367 out of 500. The King Diamond record is a "Collectors Edition" EP. Originally released on CD in 1999, it features songs off of a couple of King's latter day records. I'm really having a good time discovering these albums that I missed the first time around. Fun stuff. The King Diamond record is pressed on white vinyl and comes in a cool PVC cover. Mine is numbered 271 out of 500 made. I can't wait to get more from the Night of the Vinyl Dead catalog.

Thinking Straight

I recently sold one of my records, and made a very nice chunk of change in the process. I really hate parting with anything from my collection, and it's why I make a terrible record trader. I really can't part with anything, because I fear that I'll regret it at some point down the road. Therefore, I hold on to everything. This one record however, the price was very high, and it was one that I really never cared about, so I made the jump and sold it on eBay. Once I had the $350 in my paypal account, I was ready to go on a shopping spree. My initial reaction was to use the money for a nice rare Hardcore record. I made an attempt to get a first pressing of Youth of Today's Can't Close My Eyes. I lost the auction as the record ended up selling well past my maximum bid of $65. I really wanted an original pressing of a Youth of Today record, but at the end of the day I figured that the smartest move was to really put the money towards the new addition we are doing on the house, and buy some shelving for my music room.

However, I was not going to just walk away without buying something! I was watching another auction for Youth of Today's Break Down the Walls. It had the original cover, and looked like it was in mint condition, so I was surprised when I won it for only $5. When I recieved the record, and slid the vinyl out of the sleeve, I noticed the label on the record had Ray decked out in some Krishna gear. I thought it was odd for the Break Down the Walls album, since I didn't think that Ray got into the Krishna thing that early. Upon further investigation it appeared that the vinyl was from the 1992 reissue the Revelation Records did, and not the original pressing. I had heard that Rev had thrown some new vinyl in with the old covers that they had lying around, and it appears that was what I got. I was kind of disappointed, but hey, at $5.00, I'm not going to cry too loudly. So here I sit, still without an original Youth of Today pressing.

As a side note, the one and only time that I saw Youth of Today was at one of their reunion shows. Paul, Rob and I took a drive down to Pennsylvania for the Knife or Death fest in 2004. A ton of great bands played, but I was really looking forward to seeing Mouthpiece and Youth of Today play. The place were the show was held decided that they didn't want the bands swearing on stage and there was NO STAGEDIVING. I was really disappointed, but still had a lot of fun getting up front and screaming along. Unintentionally, this trip kind of kicked off our annual tradition for the Guys Roadtrip.

Bring It On

My recent obsession with metal continues to grow more and more. I find that I keep going back to listen to the classic thrash from my youth, digging out CD's from bands like Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom. I had heard a lot of good things about a new thrash band called Warbringer, and when someone tipped me off that their new album, War Without End, was available for pre-order, I took a chance on it. This album is really good. At times I'm reminded of the first Testament album, and on occasion I expect the band to start doing a cover of Over the Wall. This band recently played at Mark's Showplace in New Hampshire with Exodus, and now I'm kind of regretting that I didn't go. The new Exodus is really starting to grow on me, and now I feel like I should have seen them and Warbringer when I had the opportunity. Anyway, this album is pressed on red vinyl, and I believe it was limited to 1,000 pressed. When the record arrived in the mail, there was also a poster enclosed. Sam thought that the album cover was so cool, that he stole the poster from me to put up on his bedroom door. That boy knows how to make his father proud...I get a little choked up just thinking about it.