Name, Rank & Serial Number

Earlier this year I picked up the Fist album, Back With A Vengeance, as a part of my attempt to fill a lot of holes in my New Wave Of British Heavy Metal collection. As we close in on the last part of the year, the NWOBHM Chase of 2022 hasn't been as successful as I imagined when I started this quest back in January. Sure, I've picked up a couple of big records here and there, but overall once we got passed the initial surge, I've just been too interested in hardcore records and I lost focus on the original goal. Well, if there is anything this blog succeeds at, it is it's unfocused and manic obsessions.

So as I was posting about Back With A Vengeance back in June, it triggered me to finally pick up the first Fist record, the Name, Rank & Serial Number 7 inch. This was the Fist record that introduced me to the band, and while they were a NWOBHM band in the early 80's, I didn't check them out until 2018. Always late to the party, but I was hooked immediately with these two songs. The 7 inch was originally released on Neat, but the band was quickly picked up by MCA, and they reissued the record. The Neat pressing of this 7 inch is really the only way to go.

Catalog number NEAT04, but really the second NWOBHM single that Neat released, and I'm super happy to have it in my collection. It also makes me want to chase those other early Neat singles that I'm missing.

NWOBHM: Eat The Rich

After picking up the Persian Risk and Avenger singles from an overseas Discogs seller, we started exchanging a few emails. Turns out he runs a small club in his hometown in Belgium, and often times gets the old New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands to play there...plus he was around in the NWOBHM heyday, travelling to London a few times a year to see those bands play live in their prime. Fucking amazing.

So after messaging back and forth, and he seemed like such a quality seller, we made a deal off of Discogs for me to pick up one more record.

Like the Avenger 7 inch, I'd never heard the Tysondog single when I'd seen that the seller had it available. They were a band that was on my radar to check out at some point, but I'd just never gotten around to it. I quickly downloaded the songs for the single through Soulseek and I was immediately digging what I heard. Straight forward New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Another band that I need to dig deeper into and check out their full length from the following year.

So that's it. Three NWOBHM singles from Neat added to the collection. All of them in the best of condition, and I love the continuity of the basic black and white covers across all three of them. Fantastic.

NWOBHM: Too Wild To Tame

Considering that I was already dropping a decent amount for the Persian Risk record, it was probably a dangerous move that I also scrolled through the list of records to see what else the seller had to offer. I did a search to see if they had any other Neat Records singles available, and when I saw the Avenger 7 inch I figured that I might have to add another record to the order to help me justify the overseas shipping costs.

Before seeing the Avenger single in the list of records the seller had available, I had never heard these songs before. I was in a NWOBHM mood, so I jumped over to Soulseek to grab a download and within minutes I was giving the songs a spin. Wow! I was loving what I heard. I'm a huge fan of the band Satan, and when I discovered that the singer, Brian Ross, also did vocals on the Too Wild To Tame record for Avenger, I knew immediately that I couldn't walk away without adding this 7 inch to my order.

Funny how I can go from never hearing a record to buying it in about 15 minutes.

NWOBHM: Ridin' High

I did a pretty solid job chasing after some New Wave Of British Heavy Metal records last year, but for this year, it has been a total bust. I've had my sights set on other targets, and that has kept my attention for most of the year. As we started to move into September, and it seemed like the end of the year was creeping up all too quickly, I started to take stock of where my focus had been for record collecting this year. I noticed a large hole when it came to NWOBHM, and it suddenly seemed urgent that I fix that oversight.

Persian Risk were a NWOBHM band out of Cardiff, and are probably best know for having Phil Campbell on guitar, before he jumped to Motorhead in '84. I first discovered the band last year when I was downloading a ton of rare NWOBHM stuff on Soulseek, and given the Phil Campbell connection, I was surprised that I'd never heard of them before. I really enjoyed what I heard from their first two 7 inches, so when I started thinking about a NWOBHM shopping spree, Persian Risk was my first search on Discogs.

Like I said, there were two options I was looking at for Persian Risk records...the Calling For You 7 inch from '81, or the Ridin' High single from '83. Calling For You was released on some obscure independent label called SRT and can carry a price tag between $200 and $300, and Ridin' High was released on Neat Records and goes for around $50...alright...looks like I'll take the Ridin' High option. Damn, NWOBHM collecting is no joke.

Can We Survive The Bliztkrieg?

As I was obsessing over the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, I got the idea into my head to buy some early singles that were on the Neat label. I already had the first Raven 7 inch (NEAT06), and since NEAT01 and NEAT02 don't count for shit to metal collectors, I started thinking about grabbing the first Tygers Of Pan Tang (NEAT03), Fist (NEAT04), and White Spirit (NEAT05) records. These 7 inches don't go for insane prices, so it seemed like a great idea to chase them and knock 'em all off my list during this obsession...and then shit escalated.

For the hell of it, I started checking what Neat singles came out after those four, and was curious to see what it might look like to chase the first nine 7 inches...because you know, nine records make for a good photo on Instagram. If I thought that prices were manageable through the first Raven 7 inch, things quickly get out of control by the time you get to the first Venom single...and then prices take another big jump with the Blitzkrieg record.

Suddenly, I was scrapping my original plan completely, and going after a heavy hitter. Sometimes you just have to go big.

Welcome To Hell

I've been slowly preparing myself for an oncoming New Wave Of British Heavy Metal obsession. I worked my way through my late 70's playlists on the iPod, and picked up some cheap records for the collection along the way. However, I was ready to make some big moves and quit fucking around. It was time to dive into the deep end of the NWOBHM.

I wanted to make a big impact with this NWOBHM purchase, and cautiously started approaching the idea of chasing some early Venom records. To me, those first few Venom albums are perfect...they are raw, fast and loud...and to cross one off my Want List, would be a big step forward. Venom records on the original UK Neat Records label don't come cheap, so I was kind of worried about what I might be getting myself into...and since I needed one in excellent condition, I thought that I might be getting myself in some trouble here. In the end, all things considered and relatively speaking, the damage to my bank account wasn't too steep, and I grabbed a copy without breaking a sweat.

Apparently, some early copies came with a poster, but those appear to be as rare as hens teeth, so after a while, I gave up trying to find a copy with one. I found a copy in great condition, and it had the original lyric sheet, and that was enough for me.

Crash Bang Wallop

When I first started this blog almost nine years ago, I wrote about some Raven odds and ends that most people wouldn't care about. The records were pretty far removed from what would be considered Raven's classic period...well beyond those early years with Neat Records. Since falling into a cycle of early 80's Metal this past year, I started digging back into the Raven catalog, and it dawned on me that I was missing some of their more crucial records.

When I started researching the pressing info for those early Raven records, I was surprised to find colored vinyl options for the Crash Bang Wallop EP...and once I made this discovery, I needed to own a copy. There were options of purple vinyl, yellow vinyl, black vinyl, and a few different labels for each...and because of my love for pressing variations, and I couldn't get enough of Raven, I wanted them all. Cooler heads prevailed though, and since I still didn't own Raven's Wiped Out LP, I figured it was foolish to buy multiple copies of Crash Bang Wallop.

A copy on purple marble colored vinyl will have to do...for now.

This Means War

When I first got into record collecting, around 2005, vinyl was just starting to be resurrected from the dead. I was new to the game, and I was mesmerized by the shiny, new vinyl reissues...and I bought a bunch of them. Instead of tracking down original Bronze pressings of the early Motorhead records, I was sucked into buying colored vinyl reissues. Same was true of the first Megadeth and Exodus records...plus countless of others as well. I felt as though, somehow, my purchases were casting a vote that vinyl was still a legit format...that vinyl still mattered. Vinyl has made a pretty strong comeback, and nowadays, it is rare to find a new release that doesn't get the vinyl treatment. So why am I still buying reissues?

Over the past few years, the countless REV reissues and Record Store Day releases have started to leave a sour taste in my mouth. What started out as fun, started to occasionally seem more about labels looking to make a quick sale, and I've started to question my attachment to those vinyl reissues.

I've always thought of record collecting as a kind of historical mission...capturing and preserving music history. After some recent conversations with other collectors, I started to question what the point was in buying all of these reissues and I've started to refocus my priorities. I don't have any issues with vinyl reissues, but I now see them as something for either those that don't care about the history, and just want a copy on their shelf, or those that obsess and need every single pressing from a certain band. There is nothing wrong with either of those, but for most of my Metal collection, I don't find that reissues really fit in with the definition of what I want my collection to be. Now if we are talking about Dio, all bets are off, and I'll buy anything.

Recent talks with a few friends has put me in a Metal state of mind. With the additional talk about original pressings, it wasn't long before I was surfing around eBay looking for something to satiate my hunger.

I've picked up quite a few original Metal pressings lately, but one of the first things that got moved up on my endless Want List were the original pressings for the first four Venom albums.

Fuck Earmark. Fuck Back On Black. Fuck the multitude of pressings for different countries. I needed the original UK pressings from Neat Records. After losing out on a copy of Black Metal, I managed to score myself a copy of At War With Satan.

Through the Banzai Axe compilation, Rip Ride was the first Venom song that I'd heard...and based on that, At War With Satan was probably the first Venom record that I bought (on cassette of course). I love this album...especially the 20 minute epic of the title track.

Great packaging with the gatefold sleeve made to look like a cover to a bible. Inside reveals a burning cross...Satan laughs...