New Age mailorder sucks. The label hasn't released anything new that is worth buying in over 10 years. Yet, I still have no problem laying down the cash for their recent repressings. With the exception of the Unbroken record that I've never collected, this is the last of the limited "77 pressing" series.
There is really nothing special about the 77 pressing for Outspoken's Light In The Dark LP. No new cover...just the Walk Proud labels. The truth is that I passed on this when I ordered from New Age 6 months ago. I didn't see the point. Once I got my order for the other Light In The Dark represses, I knew I had to have one. I'm a sucker.
I had heard that New Age had cleaned up it's mailorder process, and they were more efficient, so I soon placed another order with the label. Not much had changed. Emails went unanswered until Mike Hartsfield let me know three months later that my order was shipping. Same shitty packaging though. Bubble envelope? Seriously? Should not come as a surprise that the post office mangled it and the spine of the record cover tore.
The one "77 pressing" that I really wanted was for the first Strife 7 inch. The trouble was, I couldn't find it in the webstore. It seemed that the availability of records all depended on what link you clicked on when you were in the webstore. Some of the Outspoken records weren't available on the Vinyl link, but if they showed up in the Featured Release section, you could order them there. I took a chance and tracked down the original link to the Strife "77 pressing" from and old Facebook post on the New Age Records page. Got it! Seems like all navigation issues are now sorted out, as the webstore has all Strife and Outspoken pressings available.
The sleeve on this record is really cheap. Too bad, because I love the layout on this thing. That front cover shot reminds me of how intense Strife shows were back in the mid-90's. The "77 pressing" neck tattoo for the dude on the back cover is hilarious.