20 Years True

As I was preparing for the 20th anniversary for this blog, and looking at releases from 2006 that I could celebrate with, there was one more record that I wanted to pick up in addition to the Sinking Ships album. So consider this part 2 of yesterdays post.

True Colors were another band that released a record in 2006 when I was starting up this blog, but I didn't end up hearing about them for another year or so when they released the Focus On The Light album. Man, I loved this band over those early blog years, and collected a decent amount of TC vinyl, but somehow never managed to pick up a single version of that first 7 inch from 2006. It seems a bit difficult to find True Colors vinyl available these days, so I was very happy to find this version of the 7 inch available from a US seller for my 20th anniversary.

I never really spent much time with this record, but I've been listening to these 7 inch songs a lot this year. It gives me exactly what I want right now as I'm in this mindset for those often overlooked mid 2000's years of hardcore.

This preorder camo sleeve is rad, and I'm so happy to score one. Number 91 of 100 made.

20 Years Disconnecting

Today is the 20th anniversary of this blog. I started this thing on a whim when a friend of mine said that he was starting a blog about his journey getting into stand up comedy, and I felt the urge to document something here as well. I'd just started getting into record collecting the year before and it had become an obsession. I was constantly scouring eBay, and I was creating checklists for things like my short lived plan to collect all of the Bridge Nine pressings (truly a sign of my 2006 mindset LOL), and starting a "record nerd" blog to write about the things I was buying just seemed to make sense. Who knew that 20 years and 2,644 post later I'd still be doing this thing?

To say that this blog has become my personality would be an understatement. I'm not sure who I'd be right now without it. I love writing about this shit and documenting my musical obsessions, and sometimes I question if I'm buying records because I need to own them or if I'm just using it as an excuse to talk about it here. Either way, I still get a kick out of this thing and don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

When I noticed that I was coming up on 20 years here, I started to put some thought into what I should do to commemorate the event. I wanted a record to post today that was going to fit the 20 year anniversary theme and it seemed that something released in the year that I started this blog would be a good way to go. I started checking my 2006 playlist and discovered a couple of records that I'd never picked up over the past 20 years and figured that now was the time.

It took me a long time to really get into Sinking Ships. I had a brief obsession with them a few years ago, but still I've never really paid much attention to their album from 2006, Disconnecting. After giving the songs a couple of spins last month, I knew that I needed the record for this 20 year anniversary post.

It might have taken me a while to get there, but I am loving this album right now. So happy that I was prompted to give it my attention.

99 pressed on blue vinyl.

2,000 Posts And Years Of Decay

Two thousand posts! It blows my mind to think that I've posted here 2,000 times. When I started this blog 15 years ago, it was just something to kill time and feed my record collecting obsession. I never had grand plans or goals, so to be sitting here typing out a milestone post like this and thinking about the hours and years that I've spent taking pictures and trying to come up with clever (and usually not so clever) things to say...it is kind of mind boggling. Time truly flies and I'm glad that I have this online document that tracks my years of collecting.

When I first noticed that I was approaching the 2,000 mark back at the end of November, I immediately started planning which record I should buy to celebrate the occasion. It was a tough choice, and since I'm never topping my 1,000th post, I decided to go with a record where the title would be a fun play on words for what I've put into this blog. The Years Of Decay.

I've been after the fourth Overkill album, The Years Of Decay, for years. Released in 1989, I didn't think that it would be too difficult to get my hands on a copy, but the task has proven to be tougher than I expected. Strangely, there are very few US sellers for this album, and if someone is selling it from the States, they have it listed at a ridiculous price or it is a cut out. After waiting a couple of years with this on my Discogs want list, I finally decided to focus on a Euro pressing where the prices were a bit lower and there were more options from sellers. Given how much I've wanted this record, and for how long I've been looking for one, it feels good to finally get my hands on one.

I ordered this record back in November, and it legit took two months to land in my mailbox. The postal service has been incredibly slow with the holidays, and I was starting to wonder if this was going to arrive in time. Fear that this record may not arrive pushed me to seek alternate records to fit the 2,000 post title, so I had ordered some back up records just in case The Years Of Decay fell through. Thankfully it finally got here, and was able to proceed as planned.

10 Year Anniversary

Ten years ago today, I came up with the idea to start a blog to document the new vinyl that I was adding to my collection. I'd gotten into record collecting the previous year, and it completely consumed me. It was all that I could think about, and I would spend hours online searching eBay and checking messageboard posts, just to look at pictures of records. I figured that writing a blog about what I was buying would be a nice simple way to kill some time.

Over the years things exploded. This blog ended up being not only a way to burn some time on my obsession...it provided fuel to stoke those flames higher. Within a few years, I met dudes online that were doing the same kind of blogs, and it inspired me to step up my game. I had to take better photos, I had to write better, I needed to buy better records...and I needed to buy more of them, effectively doubling my post counts from 58 in 2008, to 116 in 2009. When I started the blog, $30 was crazy money for me to spend on a record...these days, $30 doesn't even make me pause to think about it. Shit got serious, and escalated quickly.

So here we are, ten years later, and first thing that I did this morning was bounce around on eBay and the discogs marketplace, wringing my hands over the decision of which record I should buy next. Ten years on and 1,242 posts later, and the obsession is still going strong.

For this ten year anniversary, I wanted to post something special. I spent weeks going over some big ticket possibilities that I wanted to chase down for this milestone. Some of them didn't work out, and in the end I figured that the Overkill 10 year anniversary live record, Wrecking Your Neck, would fit the theme perfectly.

Released in 1995, when vinyl was considered a dying format, this live album was only pressed on wax in Germany, so trying to track down a copy can be a bit of work. I found a few available on eBay, but none of them were in great condition. I'm sure that the minimalist packaging doesn't help, and the copies that I'd seen had plenty of ringwear. There was a copy on discogs, that was listed as "Like new. Collector's copy.", and while the price was a bit higher, I didn't mind spending the extra money to get the best.

My favorite part of this live record is that I'm really not that familiar with the majority of the songs on here. I know the first four Overkill albums, from Feel the Fire through The Years of Decay, like the back of my hand...but the few albums after that haven't seen a lot of action for me. With this live set full of songs from Horrorscope, I Hear Black, and W.F.O., this is a cool snapshot of Overkill ten years into their run...and twenty years later, it is awesome that they are still going strong. I wonder how many more years I can keep this blog going...

Lights Out On 1,000 Posts

Whoa, I wasn't paying attention, and it almost got by me. I was working on a post for this blog...nothing special, just another record that was recently released...then I noticed that I was hitting a milestone of 1,000 posts. Damn, I better change my plans and pull out something special for this occasion. What better way to celebrate than with a recent acquisition of a Youngblood test press.

It had been a while since I'd spent any time on eBay. After dropping some big money for the first pressing of Paranoid, I swore off the evil temptress, and stayed clear of eBay. A month and a half went by, and I thought that I'd do a quick search to see what React! rarities were out there. While scrolling through some auctions that a seller had, I stumbled upon a test pressing of the Overload LP from Lights Out.

Fuck. This changes everything. I was no longer just casually browsing auctions...now I had a mission, and I set out to win this test press at any cost.

There is something special about this album. It sinks it's hooks in me, and does not let go. This album is almost 10 years old, and yet still whenever I listen to it, I can't just play it once...as soon as it is done playing, I've got to queue it up again.

I knew that finding this test press on eBay was a rare occasion, and this was an opportunity that I planned to take full advantage of. It feels great to finally have a copy of this. Limited to 24.

1,000 posts, and eight years in on this blog. "I could have given up and gone out like you, but now that's just not me".

Complete collection for the Overload LP. Now is probably a good time to start chasing the Lights Out 7 inch.

Corpse Hung On Post 777

I don't believe in god, and I have this kind of juvenile, close minded, knee jerk reaction to anything slightly religious. When I noticed that my next post count was to be number 777, I decided to pull the most obnoxious record from the pile and move it to the top.

I've never really been able to hang with Death Metal. I was a total Metalhead as a kid, and loved that the sound was getting faster and more aggressive as I moved from Iron Maiden to Slayer, but around '89/90 things started to get even more extreme with bands like Obituary and Deicide. It was too chaotic for me, and those cookie monster vocals were the worst.

Last month I felt a need for something completely over the top. I wanted something that my wife would beg for me to turn off. I wanted something new and brutally heavy. When the Bravewords messageboard voted on their top albums from 2012, Cannibal Corpse was sitting at number 3. The band has been releasing albums since 1990, but I knew that it was time for me to give them a listen.

Torture was just the album that I was looking for. Violent and ugly. It isn't going to be my favorite Metal album by any stretch, but when I want to get absolutely pummeled for 44 minutes, I know that I can count on Torture to deliver.

As far as I'm concerned one of the only acceptable times to use splatter vinyl is for Metal records...blood red on clear of course.

Possessed For Post Number 666

When I saw that I had post number 666 coming up, I knew that I needed to get a record that would be appropriate. I originally bought the Possessed album, Beyond The Gates, on cassette in '86 or '87, and then in '88 I bought the CD release on Combat that included the Eyes Of Horror EP. After having a conversation with Doug about the Beyond The Gates LP recently, I've been listening to this album a lot lately. I figured it was time to buy it again...this time on the format that I love the most...vinyl!

The packaging on this is excellent. It is hard to believe that a band was able to convince their record label to spend the extra money for this in the mid-80's.

The "gates" of the front cover open to reveal the wastelands of Hell.

The cover keeps folding out for a full six panel spread. Impressive.

Once I realized that I had post number 666 on the horizon, I didn't have much time to react. I quickly jumped on to eBay and started my search. While I would have preferred the Combat pressing, I was happy to settle for the UK pressing on Under One Flag.