No Hot Water Music Division

Trying to collect No Idea vinyl has got to be an exercise in patience. If you thought that there were too many pressings and variations for Have Heart, try making a run at a collection for anything on the No Idea label. Looking at the pressing info for the No Division LP from Hot Water Music, I count a total of 41 different pieces of colored vinyl. Of course some of those variations are incredibly low numbers, and would be impossible to obtain, but still...that would be a lot of vinyl to have to chase.

Thankfully, I'm not a huge Hot Water Music fan, and don't have to worry about such things. The band is okay, but they have never really excited me. The one exception is the No Division album. I don't know what it is, but that one Hot Water Music record is the only one that I can really get into. Nothing else really grabs me...but, man, that album is so much fun to listen to.

It had been a while since I'd listened to it, so I decided to give it a spin a few months back. Shortly after that, I found myself in the No Idea webstore picking up the new Black God record, and since I only owned that Hot Water Music album on CD, I decide to finally grab the vinyl for it as well.

I assume this is part of the 7th pressing from No Idea on pale green colored vinyl.

Another Crusade

Back in 2011, Sandwell blindsided me with one of the biggest surprises of the year...Crusades. Two years later, the band was back with their follow up LP, and again it was Mark that let me know it was available. I had no idea this was on the way, so again, it was a nice surprise.

Much like the new Iron Chic record, I wasn't really feeling the new Crusades when I first heard it. I don't know what my problem is...maybe I've had too much Metal on my mind...but after giving it more than just a casual listen, damn, this album is really good. Great melodic punk with some strong anti-religion themes, and Perhaps You Deliver This Judgement With Greater Fear Than I Receive It has to be one of the longest album titles that I own.

The standard pressing for this LP is on both solid red and brown vinyl. However, when I was picking up a copy over at No Idea, I saw that they also had a special The Fest 12 edition available. I have no idea what the Fest 12 is, but with more limited colored vinyl options, it was an easy decision on which one I wanted. Around 30 pressed on clear red vinyl.

Black God III

I really enjoyed Black God when I first heard them last year. I bought a copy of their two 7 inches, and thought that I'd be done. I had no intent to get into the vinyl chase with them, but the more I listened to them, the more I liked them...and once I got hypnotized by the great looking colored vinyl that No Idea pressed for each one, my instincts took over and the hunt was on. Before too long, I'd bagged a few pieces for the collection, and I was feeling good

Then out of nowhere, and without much fanfare, Black God posted on their Facebook page that they had a new record available. I wasn't going to mess around. I immediately headed over to No Idea and scored myself a handful of copies.

No surprises here...this record fits in nicely with their first two. Great stuff.

The first two Black God records each had a set of rules carved into the deadwax of each record. I was looking forward to the next set of commandments from Black God with record number three.

Rule #5: No Splits

Rule #6: No Stress

God Complex

When I first heard Black God last year, I was figued that I would be quite content with one copy for each of their records. I don't need to collect every pressing for every band that I listen to. I only need to collect those bands that I truly connect with...those bands that excite and move me. While I really liked the two Black God records, I didn't really consider them collectable. At least that's what I told myself.

When I placed records I and II, that I owned, next to each other, I loved how they looked. That pink and burgundy just looked amazing together. I started checking the pressing info on No Idea's discography page, and when I saw the five colors listed for II, it got me wondering how they would all look as a full collection. Shit. I think we can all see where this is headed.

My first stop was the local record store. I remember seeing a copy there a year or so ago, and I felt pretty confident that Black God didn't have a big following in Portland, Maine...so I went hunting for it. As a bonus, the record was now on sale for 50% off. Sweet deal.

No Idea doesn't have a lot of info on the pressing for the first record. I assume this is part of the second pressing, listed as the "dark green mix". Limited to 175.

I've never used the No Idea mailorder, but I was desperate for more Black God colored vinyl. I fired off an email to their mailorder crew to find out what they had available for the second record. They were great to deal with and quickly got me the details and I placed my order.

300 were pressed on green/brown mix, and Matt from No Idea included a note to let me know even though this copy was more brown than green, this was the one that I wanted. Of course now I'm wondering how this one might compare to one that has more green than brown.

200 were pressed on clear vinyl.

eBay doesn't seem to see a lot of Black God action. I was looking to build this collection as big as I could for this post, but the only other pressing that I could find was this grey vinyl pressing of the first record.

Six records in for a couple of records that I wasn't going to collect. How does this happen? I can't wait to see where this goes from here.