Handle With Care

I am loving this 30th anniversary goal of picking up 1989 albums this year. There were some amazing albums released that year, and it has been a lot of fun to revisit these classics. I've picked up amazing records from Sepultura and Annihilator so far this year, and I still have a long way to go, but let's cross another banger from the list with Nuclear Assault.

Nuclear Assault were hugely influential to me at that time. I was an angry young metalhead that was down with all the satanic and violent imagery that came along with the music, and then suddenly there were bands that were tackling environmental issues, police brutality and vivisection. The message was important and vital, and suddenly I was starting to stand for something. Given the heavy topics of the Handle With Care album, it's no surprise that a year later, I was really starting to cross over to hardcore, and getting more and more into music with a stronger message.

I'm not sure why, but I've been struggling to find US sellers with these records from 1989, and I keep dealing with sellers from overseas to get these into the collection...even for records that were pressed in the US. I guess that by '89, vinyl was breathing it's last breath over here in the States because once again, I found myself tapping the German marketplace for this Nuclear Assault album.

Nuclear Pounder

I caught Nuclear Assault live, earlier this year, on their final tour. Outside of John Connelly keeping his eyes glued to his notebook for the lyrics, the band was on fire, ripping through their set full of Thrash classics. It was a great reminder of just how great this band could be.

Along with their final tour, the band was going to get together and record one more new EP. After seeing that they still could still deliver live, I was excited to pick up the new record as soon as it was available. When preorders went up over at Dry Heave Records, I jumped on it. The label was doing a limited pressing that was only available from them, and their description of the nuclear pattern colored vinyl sounded cool as hell, so I didn't think twice about the overseas shipping.

There was delay after delay in getting the record pressed, and about four months after the preorder, the record finally shipped. I didn't mind the wait, but man, what a let down that special pressing of colored vinyl turned out to be. Worst. Nuclear Pattern. Ever.

100 pressed.

Nuclear Assault Live at CBGB's

A picture disk of a live album? You'd think this would be a hard sell for me, wouldn't you?

With the minimalist packaging of a single hard stock piece of paper and a clear plastic sleeve, the new live album from Nuclear Assault captures perfectly what I dislike about picture discs. I hate sliding records into their place on the shelf, and having them disappear into the collection. Records need an album cover with a spine so you can find them on the shelf.

And while a live album may capture the excitement and energy of a band, nine times out of ten, I prefer to just spin the studio recordings...and get all of the songs, not just the hits that a band will play live.

So what could possess me to buy this thing? Two songs from Nuclear Assault's early days that I've never heard before. Meteors and Satan's Call. Oh hell yes! These songs rule, and are worth the price of admission. Thrash!