Double The Damage

People expect you to mellow as you get older. Those hard and fast rules that you lived by when you were an idealistic kid are supposed to crumble a bit as you age, right? Yet, here I am, turning 52 years old today and I'm probably more passionate about straight edge than I was at 20. Even at this age, I still don't understand the attraction in drinking, and now that weed is legal, it all just seems to obnoxious and in your face. Hey, I have friends that do all that stuff, and that's fine for what they do, but I have no interest in being around it. No thanks. So yeah, as an old angry edge dude, when I recenly discovered this limited cover for Damage Control's What It Takes album, I needed to fucking own it.

Seriously. A band of straight edge warriors, x'd up and ready to fight with their broadsword and battle axe...fuck yes, I don't care how cheesy it might be, give it to me.

I'm not sure what this cover was made for. Preorders? Tour sleeve? Whatever, it is cool as hell. Red vinyl and number 67 of 100.

Here is the deal. I was just starting to get back into buying records when What It Takes was released in 2005, but I still went with the CD at the time. When I picked up the special cover a few weeks ago, I felt like I needed to own a proper Livewire Records pressing for this thing too. As I was buying the Police & Thieves record release from Gene Melkisethian, I noticed that he had a copy of the Damage Control album available as well, and I figured that I might as well add that to the cart too.

I honestly don't think that this record made much of an impression on me in 2005. It was decent, but I don't think that I really spent much time with it. Listening to in 2022, however, is a blast. Another record from that post-2000 period that I didn't spend enough time with back in the day. It is safe to say that I've listened to this record more this year than when it was released.

Someone was happy that Gene was getting a copy of this. Sorry dude, it's mine now.