Still Having Their Say

I've been interested in a bunch of books lately. In addition to the fiction that I read constantly...and I'm racing to finish Stephen King's Dark Tower series before the year is up...I've got a stack of music related books growing on my bedside table. Books on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...books on Thrash...a book on Led Zeppelin...a book on AC/DC...the list goes on and on. It is going to take me years to work through the ones that I have, so the last thing that I needed was to add another one to the pile. Yet, when Bridge Nine announced preorders for the xXx Fanzine book, I was so excited, I didn't just order a copy...I ordered the deluxe package deal.

I don't know what came over me. Totally blinded by the excitement of the moment, and a loss of self control, really. If you had tried to sell me a record full of cover songs, featuring a bunch of bands that I didn't know, I wouldn't give you a dollar for it. Yet, here I was jumping at the deluxe package for the xXx Fanzine book with the Still Having Their Say comp.

Listening to this record, my reaction is exactly what I'd expect. This is shit. I hate myself for ordering it, and the chances that I'll ever listen to it again are slim. Sure there are a handful of decent songs...Strife do a great job with the Void cover...Done Dying covering Government Issue is cool...nice addition of Voivod doing a Die Kreuzen cover live...but over all, I just found this incredibly irritating to sit through. Look, I'm old and jaded, and apparently hate a bunch of newer Hardcore bands. I should have seen this coming and saved the extra $20.

xXx Fanzine ran from 1983 through 1988, documenting the Hardcore scene through interviews and photos of the classic bands of that time. I'd never seen a single issue, and surprisingly wasn't very familiar with the 'zine until the announcement of this book...but I was hot to get my hands on a copy and dive in.

This book is amazing. The hardcover packaging really speaks to the quality of this whole thing. I'm really looking forward to sinking my teeth into this.

Oh, I almost forgot...because I hadn't thrown enough money at this book, I felt compelled to buy the mini-zine that Bridge Nine released in advance to help promote the book. I got sucked in with that great looking shot of Dag Nasty on the cover, and the talk about additional photos and interviews.

There really doesn't seem to be that much exclusive content, and I'm not terribly excited over the Nomads flexi, so overall, I probably could have skipped this as well, put my money elsewhere, and just ordered the book.

Man, I don't mean to sound so down on this package, because Bridge Nine did a really great job...I just could have spent my money much more wisely and skipped the deluxe package.