Thursday, June 30, 2022

Red Front Porch

While I was definitely excited for the Pegboy records that Marcus was selling for his friend, the real treasure that I was able to pick up was the colored vinyl pressing for Avail's Front Porch Stories.
Most of the Avail catalog is relatively easy to pick up because, for the most part, those first pressings were only pressed on black vinyl...and we know that the kids really only like to collect those flashy color vinyl options. Front Porch Stories, however, saw a beautiful red vinyl option. This was limited to 218, so in addition to looking great, it is also kind of rare...and therefore it is one of the more expensive Avail records. I've had this on my wantlist for years, but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to drop the money needed to obtain it. When I saw it on the list of records that Marcus was selling, and having the opportunity right there in my face, I suddenly needed to own it.
Marcus happened to be travelling to the US earlier this year, and brought the records across the Atlantic with him. I'm not sure exactly what he was up to while he was here... although I did see a quick video of him vacuuming the REVHQ office, so I assume the he picked up some kind of janitorial job... but I was happy to take advantage of his low shipping costs. Thanks for the records!

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Goodbye Ellston Ave

In recent years, I picked up some Pinhead Gunpowder records... no... check that... it was six years ago. Damn, it feels like I just bought them a couple years ago. Either way, at that time, I grabbed some of their early records and I threw the Goodbye Ellston Avenue record onto my Discogs wantlist. I figured that I'd pick it up relatively quick, but the years quickly passed by and I didn't make a move on it. The first press on Lookout Records was only pressed on black vinyl and it didn't seem very collectible, so I was in no rush and figured that I could grab a copy whenever I wanted to. When Marcus was selling some of his friends records recently, I saw that Pinhead Gunpowder LP on the list, so I figured that it was finally time to get it into my collection.
Pinhead Gunpowder are just a the perfect summertime band. They are upbeat and catchy with just enough snotty attitude to make you want to walk out of your workday and fuck around.
Sure there were plenty of colored vinyl reissues for Goodbye Ellston Avenue, but for me, the first press on Lookout was the only way to go. Man, that font on the backcover for the song titles is hard on the eyes.

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Delayed Reaction

Pegboy were a band throughout the 90's, but during that time, as I was transitioning from metal to hardcore, they never commanded enough of my attention to check them out too closely. I'm pretty sure that I saw the Strong Reaction video on MTV's 120 Minutes, but it mostly likely wasn't heavy or aggressive enough to hook me at the time and I quickly moved on. Whatever the reason, it took me 30 years to finally decide to really check them out with an open mind, and holy shit, they hooked me quick. I downloaded both Three-Chord Monte and Strong Reaction and it wasn't long before I was listening to those songs daily. I expected to pick up the records for those quickly at the end of 2020, but trying to find US sellers turned out to be surprisingly difficult. After a few months I was able to get my hands on a copy of Three-Chord Monte, and then Marcus reached out to let me know that he had a friend that might be looking to sell a copy of Strong Reaction.
I am not a person that has a lot of patience. I tend to over-pay just to get a record that I want right now, as opposed to waiting for a better deal to come around. So even though I was very grateful that Marcus was putting in the effort to help me out, it pained me deeply to wait for things to materialize on this deal. Once all was said and done, I was very happy with how it all turned out.
Strong Reaction quickly became one of my favorite new finds of the year in 2020, so I'm very excited to finally own a copy of this record.
Marcus was selling a few other Pegboy records from his friend's collection, and I grabbed everything that I could. There were a couple of Pegboy records that I'd never listened to before, but Marcus took those for himself, but thankfully he left the Fore EP for me.
Released in 1993, Fore didn't immediately grab me like the early Pegboy records. To be honest, I was a bit turned off by the goofy cover art. Still, it is only four songs, and after listening to it a few times it really started to grow on me. Easily as good and catchy as their earlier stuff.
There was one more Pegboy records that Marcus had available and that was the Field Of Darkness 7 inch. I really wasn't to excited to pick this one up since the song was also on the Strong Reaction album, but it was only a few bucks so I grabbed it anyway.
I didn't realize it at the time the but the b-side song her, Walk On By, is exclusive to this record, so I'm really glad that I added this 7 inch to the pile of records that I was buying from Marcus. Great haul of records at reasonable prices, and now I've finally got a respectable Pegboy collection.

Monday, June 13, 2022

Earth Infernal

Satan were originally a part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, and they released a stone cold classic with Court In The Act in '83. I still need to get that album into my collection, and with my push to make a run at some serious NWOBHM records this year, I'm really hoping to cross it off the want list soon. Until then, I've got the latest Satan album to keep me warm at night.
After a number of member changes, name changes, and years of inactivity, Satan came roaring back in 2013. The three albums they released after reforming have all made it to the number one spot in my year end ranking for metal. They have to be one of the better bands to come back and record new shit. As soon I saw they were releasing a new album this year, and preorders for Earth Infernal went up, I didn't hesitate to throw some money to Metal Blade.
The band isn't doing anything new here with Earth Infernal...just another solid traditional heavy metal record. This is exactly what I'm looking for in my metal...sounding like the 80's in 2022. Almost 40 years since the classic Court In the Act, and Satan still bring some quality metal.

Friday, June 10, 2022

I'd Rather Be Alone

I write up my blog posts in the order that the record arrives in my possession. I've been itching to write the post for this Power Alone record for a while, but I've had to work through a considerable backlog to get here. No skipping to the front of the line, no matter how excited I am about a record.
Marcus sent me a message back in March asking if I'd ever heard the Power Alone record before. It was released back at the start of 2020, and I kind of remembered that people at the time were making some strong comparisons to that 90's hardcore sound. If I bothered to check them out back then, I probably only gave them about 20 seconds of my time and then quickly moved on when I heard the vocals. Revisiting this in 2022, I'm blown the fuck away and so glad that Marcus made the recommendation.
This album hits me fucking hard. These songs are packed with rage, and while initally the singer kind of put me off, I've come around and I'm totally sold on her delivery now. There is so much frustration and anger in her words, and they completely hook me into those emotions each time I listen to it. Honestly, Rather Be Alone is one of my favorite hardcore records right now.
When I was looking to buy a copy of this record, there was a Discogs seller that had the pink vinyl available for less than the current repress that's available through REVHQ. Pink is such a great color, and with that price tag it was obviously the way to go. At the time there was a white vinyl copy available as well for a few dollars more, and seeing how much I'm loving this record, I now wish that I'd bought that one too. Tempting to chase multiple copies for this one.

Thursday, June 09, 2022

Metallica Vinyl Club #5

The Metallica Vinyl Club got off to a rough start. After things kicked off at the start of 2020 the world kind fell apart and the subscription saw a number of problems and delays as it tried to get rolling. The four records were supposed to be sent over a year long period, but ended up being stretched out for around a year and a half. So far the 2022 subscription seems to be on target, so I'm hopeful that things continue to run smoothly for the rest of the year.

Records released through the Vinyl Club are only available to those that have signed up for the subscription, and the purpose is to give the fans some Metallica songs that have never been pressed to vinyl. The only change for this year was that records would be 12 inches instead of the 7 inch format. Metallica songs tend to run a little long, so they figured that the 12 inch format allowed them a bit more flexiblity with better sound quality.

2020 had everyone locked down, and bands were trying to find creative ways to stay busy. A number of bands did some live Zoom recordings with each member playing remotely. It was pretty cool to see bands getting loose and just having a good time. Metallica wasn't content to just jam out one of their songs. Nope, they had to completely rework one and put a new spin on it. Honestly, I had zero interest in Metallica's acoustic version of Blackened and stayed right the fuck away from the video when it was posted to YouTube. Fuck that. So, I was less than stoked to discover that this song was going to be the first record from the Metallica Vinyl Club in 2022.
I have no problem in being proven wrong, and that was definitely the case here. I don't know why I was so hesitant to this version of Blackened, because I've always been entertained by Metallica's live acoustic stuff. In any case, while I went into this song fully expecting to hate it, by the end of the song, I was fully fucking impressed. I don't know how often I'll need to listen to this, but they still did a hell of a job reworking this song. Over on the b-side, we get a live version of Blackened 2020, plus a live cover of the Alice In Chains song Would. I typically really enjoy Metallica covers, but this Alice In Chains song is kind of underwhelming... but then again, I'm not a fan of AIC, so I guess that is to be expected.
As with all the Metallica Vinyl Club releases, the packaging and presentation has been top notch. This release also includes a turntable slip mat, which I'll never use, but is still kind of cool anyway.

Tuesday, June 07, 2022

Forget Me Not

I bought a couple of records last year from my old blogger buddy, Chris, when he fell on some hard times financially. Those records weren't anything that I was actively looking to add to the collection, but when presented with the opportunity, I took it...and they ended up being some of my favorite pieces of vinyl that I picked up that year. When he approached me again in March with another offer to buy something from his collection, I was quickly logging into my Paypal account and sending him some money.
The last Shotmaker record, Mouse Ear [Forget-Me-Not], from 1996, isn't my favorite from the band. In fact, when Chris contacted me to ask if I was interested in buying the record from him, I checked my listening stats and noticed that over the past 15 years, I'd only listened to the album once. The Crayon Club, plus the 7 inches and splits have all just been more exciting for me. Mouse Ear [Forget-Me-Not], however, was the only Shotmaker record that I was missing from the collection, so I figured that if I was ever going to pick one up, it made sense to grab it from Chris now.
Revisiting this album with the arrival of the vinyl, I've found that I enjoy these songs more than I remembered. It still isn't as good as their earlier stuff, but I'm still very happy to add this record to the collection. Transparent purple colored vinyl was limited to 500.

Sunday, June 05, 2022

Escape From New York

Geddes Axe is a true New Wave Of British Heavy Metal obscurity. The band released three EPs across 1981 and 1982 and then they were gone. They don't seem to get the attention that bands like Savage and White Spirit receive, but man, they are too damn good to be ignored. I was excited to grab their Sharpen Your Wits 7 inch last year, and when I recently had the opportunity to pick up another record from the band, I didn't hesitate.
Escape From New York has just three songs on this 12 inch, but each one is NWOBHM brilliance. Full of youthful energy and song writing chops, these boys should have been bigger. I absolutely love this record.
The back cover photos cover just about every style going. The singer is standing there with his his long hair and denim jacket, looking seriously pissed that his mates showed up for the photo shoot with suit coats, skinny ties, and tiger stripped shirts. He has to be thinking, "What the fuck, dudes."

Friday, June 03, 2022

Give 'Em 7 Inches Of Hell

Witchfynde is a classic New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band, and in my mission to get some of their records into my collection, I picked up the In The Stars single earlier this year. At that time I was really looking forward to picking up one of the Witchfynde full length albums soon, but as it turns out, it was more convenient to just grab another single.
The single for Give 'Em Hell was released back in '79, and the cover looks very similar to the Give 'Em Hell album released the following year. That's okay because the red-eye devil goat is a good look. I imagine that this kind of satanic imagery had parents pooping their pants at the time. Save the children!
While there isn't anything exciting here for this record, as both songs show up on the Give 'Em Hell album, I'm still pretty stoked to pick up this NWOBHM single. The black, white and red design is cool, and complements the In The Stars single nicely. Now I just need to get my hands on the Witchfynde albums.

Thursday, June 02, 2022

Fistful Of NWOBHM

Fist were a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band from the early 80's. It took me almost 40 years to finally hear the band when I downloaded a copy of their Name, Rank & Serial Number 7 inch back in 2018. I was knocked over with how great that EP was. Those two songs captured everything that I love about the NWOBHM sound. When I got thinking about making a run at some NWOBHM records in 2022, I knew that I finally needed to pick up something from Fist.
Despite loving the first Fist 7 inch, I hadn't really spent much time with their two full length albums. The second Fist LP, Back With A Vengeance from 1982, has the reputation of being the heavier album from the band, so I queued up the songs on Spotify and was prepared to give them my complete attention. Hot damn. I was immediately hooked, and soon found myself giving it repeat listens. I obviously needed a copy of this and quickly scooped one at a decent price from a US seller on Discogs.
There are different labels with the Neat Records name in either blue, green, red or silver. I tend to think that the blue labels are the first press, so I was happy to grab one of those.