Two Eyes For An Eye

A few posts back I mentioned that I avoid discography collections when it comes to buying records... so of course I'm here to post a discography collection that I picked up recently.

I'd been listening to bands like Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front and Cro-Mags for a couple of years before I truly got into hardcore. I started going to metal shows in Boston at the beginning of 1990, and over the next year, newer and more underground hardcore bands started to make their way into my periphery. By the time we were moving through 1991, I'd pushed a lot of metal aside and Boston Hardcore was my new personality. Bands like Kingpin and Dive were so important to what I was discovering for new bands at the time, but Eye For An Eye just seemed to be on another level. Boston loved that band, and went off the few times that I saw them at The Channel or Bunratty's. Because they were such a formative part of my entrance into the Boston hardcore scene, when Deathwish recently released a compilation 12 inch that contained the band's two 7 inches, it made it really hard to not pick one up... plus, I'm fairly certain that is me in the Bad Religion shirt off to the right, by Lloyd's foot, so that was another incentive to grab a copy.

When it was announced that Eye For An Eye were going to do a reunion show with Have Heart in Boston on July 20th, I was crushed. I had family plans for that day that I was not going to be able to get out of, and it was very disappointing to think that I was going to have to miss out on seeing the band that was so important to my true hardcore introduction. Thankfully, a few weeks before the Have Heart show, Eye For An Eye announced that they were going to be doing a smaller show the night before. Now that was a show that I could make! I might be exhausted for my nephew's wedding the following day, but it was a price that I would gladly pay.

I ended up connecting with my friend Pete that lives in Boston, and made plans to get some pizza before the show. The pizza place was just around the corner from the club, and as we were eating, all the dudes from EFAE came in and hung out with us. Kind of a funny moment with the guys from the band introducing themselves to me like I didn't just drive 120 miles to specifically see them. Fun times for sure. I was a bit anxious about the show and having to awkwardly hang out before the band started, but man, once they started their set with Signs Of The Pride, I was transported back in time. Band was so fucking good that night, and I'm very glad that I made the trip.

One more photo that I stole from the Eye For An Eye instagram page that shows how much fun those early 90's Eye For An Eye shows were, and includes a young and crew cut version of me peaking up over the guy climbing on the crowd.

Blue Eye For An Eye

I have a soft spot for early 90's era Boston Hardcore. Kingpin, Said & Done, Third Degree...back when I started travelling to Boston for shows, I must have seen those bands play a handful of times during 1991.

Eye For An Eye were huge in Boston at the time. Whether they were opening up for Insted or Fugazi, while they were on stage, they owned that crowd. If any band could pack them in at The Channel, it was Eye For An Eye. They were probably one of my favorites from that time period, and their records have held up amazingly well over the years.

I've been looking to complete my collection for their Omega Drone 7 inch for a few years, and when I saw the blue vinyl on eBay a few months ago, I knew it was time to make it happen. No matter what the cost, I knew that I was going to win that auction. Thankfully, no one else was really too interested, and I was able grab it for relatively cheap.

It is no hassle to pull out three records for a shot of the complete collection. Boom! This one is done.