Addiction 2010

Back in July, The Essence posted on the REACT! messageboard that they had found some extra copies of the 12 inch Euro pressing of Betrayed's Addiction EP. They had packaged up 35 of these with a limited cover for the final Dirty Money/Dead & Gone showcase, and they were selling what was leftover in their webstore. I quickly grabbed one.

The record is packaged in a black 12 inch cardboard jacket with a cropped version of the lyric sheet insert.

The sticker that was slapped onto the black sleeve was designed by Geert from Control Records. I really like how this came together...solid looking limited cover and a nice addition to my Betrayed collection.

Give and Betrayed

Wow, it feels like I've been waiting for these records for a long time. Pre-orders for the new Betrayed and Give records went up in June...I received the record release pressings of these records in July and August...it took until December for the pre-order package to finally hit my doorstep.

The main reason for the delay was around numerous problems that REACT! ran into with the Give 7 inch. A special insert was included to explain what took so long for this to see the light of day.

This is a good 2 song 7 inch. It doesn't blow me away, but Give pulls off a pretty good D.C./Swiz sound. On the songs where they come at you with some intensity, I'm sucked right in...but sometimes the songs are too laid back, and I lose interest.

200 on yellow. 300 on blue. 500 on black. What is it with the big hole for 7 inch records? Why would a label decide to use that as opposed to the small hole? I don't get it.

I was pretty excited when I heard that Betrayed were releasing a new 7 inch. I knew that they were playing the occasional show, but I had no idea that they were a functional band again. Well, they haven't missed a beat with this new record. It took a little while for the title track, Suffering, to settle in with me, but this whole record is a great addition to a flawless discography.

200 on blue. 400 on white. 900 on black.

Showcase Showoff

I love a good hardcore fest. Hanging out, watching bands kick it live, and checking the merch tables. Seriously one of the best times I've had was catching the last Posi-Numbers fest with my good friend Rob. I had really just started collecting records when I went to that show, and I went nuts buying records...spent so much money. I really don't get to travel much for these type of shows, and while I didn't travel to California for the REACT! Showcase in April, I did get the opportunity to buy the limited REACT! merch from a pretty awesome dude.

One of the hottest commodities at the Showcase had to have been the REACT! boxset. This was a collection of five 7 inches that the label has released. It is too bad that the Get The Most demo wasn't included...it feels a little incomplete without it. Either way, this is pretty fuckin' cool. Screened box with the now classic REACT! image on the front.

The boxset includes a little book that documents each 7 inch included. Lyrics, pictures, history, and even fun facts! Nicely done.

All the records were tied up nicely with a bow. I had to untie them for the picture and it was a total pain in the ass to tie them back together. I can't imagine how insane it was sitting around the REACT! HQ and tying up almost 100 of these things. It took me about 10 minutes to do just one. All of the inserts were included in the box along with a couple of posters. Especially nice is the poster that captures the moment when I almost caught the ass of Mike from Mindset with my face. Classic.

Cool silk screened back to the box. My number looks a little fucked up, but I think it is 84, and not 89, out of 94.

REACT! can hold their own next to my other boxsets.



The Showcase also had some cool special pressings that were limited to 100. Damages on orange vinyl, with the patch that reminds me of Struggle or Econochrist.

Praise was pressed on pink.

I haven't received my Common Cause pre-order yet, but the packaging, once again, is top notch. Showcase pressing is on the coolest color for colored vinyl...gold.

Get The Most decided to make the Showcase their record release show. Nice little fold over deal for the cover to indicate that it is the record release edition. Green colored vinyl.

While Doug was pretty happy with his number 88, as it was a great year for hardcore, I've got to say that 77 was a pretty good year for metal, with cool releases from Motorhead, AC/DC, and Judas Priest. Awww, fuck it, who am I kidding, 88 is still better than 77.

I had been under the impression that my Showcase order was going to be packaged and sent along with the GTM/Praise/Damages pre-order. That didn't happen, and I sent an email to ask what was up. Not sure what the miss was, but to make up for the extended delay in getting everything shipped out, the record release pressing of the new Betrayed record was included. Yeah, that more than makes up for the wait! Holy shit, the song Above The Influence is so fucking good.

Silk screened covers, and hand stamped labels. Limited to 100.

The final piece to my Showcase collection was the "TFS Crew" pressing of the Connection 7 inch from The First Step. Originally released on Rivalry Records, REACT! did a special pressing for the Showcase, and handed them out to the first 77 people at the show. I made an offer to get one, and once we agreed on a price, my collection of the Connection 7 inch went from 9 to 10.