Unsainted

The only thing that I had in my sights for the Black Friday Record Store Day was the latest Dio single. As I started flipping through the bin of RSD releases at the record store, a few more caught my eye. I managed to resist them all, with the exception of a Slipknot picture disc 7 inch.

There was a time in the early 2000's when I was searching for some new music to listen to. I was listening to a bit of hip hop at the time, and I was starting to get interested in metal again, so when I discovered Slipknot it was exactly what I was looking for at the time. Five years down the line, I was more interested in the traditional metal sounds from the 80's, and I no longer cared about Slipknot. When I heard they were releasing a new album this year, I wasn't really interested, but somewhere along the way I decided to check out one of the new songs for the hell of it. I queued up the song Unstainted, and much to my surprise, I found that I really enjoyed the song. I honestly can't believe that I'm listening to this in 2019.

I wasn't sure that I'd be able to hang with the whole album, but fuck me, there are some great songs on We Are Not Your Kind. I'm still not sure if I want to spend the money on the full album, but finding this 7 inch scratched that itch for the moment.

5,000 pressed on a picture disc 7 inch for RSD2019.

Killing The RSD

I don't typically have much interest in the Black Friday Record Store Day, but somehow they still manage to catch my attention with one or two records to force me out the door to participate. The last two Record Store Day events have seen Dio picture disc singles to be released, and I rushed to grab each of those, so when I saw that we were getting another Dio single for Black Friday RSD 2019, I couldn't let it pass me by.

I'm not really interested in picture discs, but for Ronnie James Dio, it's all good. I love the new artwork for this latest 12 inch single.

For side A, we get a live version of Rainbow in the Dark. I'm not sure if this version has ever surfaced before and they just pulled it randomly for this release, or if it is special for this record. On the B side, we get a studio version of Killing the Dragon...which judging from the front artwork, I would have thought this would have been the A side song. Weird.

The hype sticker that promotes the Killing The Dragon song being released for the "first time ever on vinyl" is a straight up lie. Night Of The Vinyl Dead released the Killing The Dragon album in limited quantities back in 2009, plus there was a fucking Record Store Day picture disc release of the album in 2011. RSD, try to remember your own damn releases.

Hand Of Dio

When I saw the list of Record Store Day exclusive releases this year, I wasn't very excited about anything on there, and for the couple of records that did catch my eye, I told myself that I wouldn't sweat it if I wasn't able to grab one. Yet, when the latest Dio picture disc didn't show up at the local record stores around here, suddenly I found myself desperate to find one, and I had to rely on Discogs to finally track one down.

There isn't anything new or special with this newest Dio single. The two songs have already shown up on other albums, but you know that I had to buy it for the Dio collection anyway...plus, it will sit nicely next to the Dio picture disc single that was released for the Black Friday RSD last year.

Just like that Holy Diver - Live at 35 single from last year, this one looks nice, but with some serious cupping, the record is kind of shitty quality. This one is definitely for serious collector nerds only.

3,000 pressed.

Caress Of Steel

Record Store Day 2019 was kind of a bust. Sure I dropped over $60 on records, but overall, it felt like it came up short. Before calling it a day, I found one more record to add to the collection.

I love the early Rush records, but my collection is pretty thin...I mean, the Farewell To Kings album is really the only one that I've bothered to chase down. I'm not sure why my Rush collection has been so slow to come together, but when I saw Caress Of Steel in the used bins for $7, I knew it was time to make a move.

Caress Of Steel is Rush's third album, and their second one to be released in 1975...because bands in the 70's often would crank out two albums a year...and this record sees the band starting to really push the envelope with their two epics The Necromancer (over 12 minutes) and The Fountain Of Lamneth (around 20 minutes). Happy to finally have this in the collection.

Live Without A Net

When I was out hitting the used bins for Record Store Day, I found that there really wasn't very much that was grabbing my attention. I was hoping for a nice big haul, but I ended up with only a small handful. I saw the double live Angel album, and while it wasn't a very exciting find, I figured that I'd grab it just because it was there.

I like Angel. Their first three albums are really great, heavy slabs of 70's rock/metal...but I've never bothered with anything after On Earth As It Is In Heaven from '77...completely ignoring both White Hot and Sinful. I don't know...I've read some reviews that seem to draw the line at that On Earth As It Is In Heaven album, and that Angel got too commercial after that record, so I've stayed away. I saw this Live Without A Net album from 1980, and figured that I'd take the chance. I mean, if there was a place that the band might keep the newer songs energetic and a bit more heavy, I figured it would be in a live setting, so I rolled the dice.

If I'm going to be honest, my first time though this album, I struggled to pay attention, and by the last song, I figured that I'd wasted my money. The second time through the record was a different experience, and suddenly the songs were jumping off the vinyl at me. The songs were alive, and totally sucked me in. I loved it, and the new songs sounded good enough that I might have to finally check out those other Angel records.

One thing that bothers me about this double live album is how it was pressed. For some reason, the pressing plant pressed the record with side 1 and side 4 on one record and side 2 and side 3 on the other, so flipping the first record after side 1, puts you at the end of the show with side 4. So weird.

Boyz Are Gonna Rock

Last year, I had a great Record Store Day haul, full of 80's hair metal bands. I was looking for more of that kind of action this year, but overall, it was a big let down as the record store used bins failed to really deliver. My one and only big hair metal score this year was for the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion album.

I wasn't a fan back in '86 when the debut Vinnie Vincent Invasion album was released. I was really straddling the line that year...on one side, I was a fan of stuff like Raven's The Pack Is Back and W.A.S.P's Inside The Electric Circus...and on the other side I was thrashing it out with Slayer's Reign In Blood and Metallica's Master Of Puppets. Honestly, I don't know if there was a rhyme or reason to what I found acceptable and what I didn't...maybe it was based on the release date, and towards the tail end of the year, I wasn't messing around with big hair bands like Vinnie Vincent Invasion...but whatever the reason, I was never interested in this one as a kid.

Of course, I've been on a big hair metal kick this year, and I've been hungry to find some treasures that I ignored the first time around, and Vinnie Vincent Invasion fits that bill. They certainly had the look, with the hair teased up for miles, and I'm getting a kick out of the songs. Fun stuff!

Dio County Ball

I'm damn proud of my Dio collection, but I know that there are a few big holes that need to be filled. A couple of those holes are for Dio's first major band, Elf.

I'm not a huge fan of Elf...I mean they are okay, and I enjoy listening to them from time to time, but overall they are too old-timey with that honky tonk piano, and I don't feel compelled to return to their albums very often. The songs are cool, but man, if they had ditched the piano, and gone with a hammond organ like Deep Purple, I think they would have held up much better.

While out for Record Store Day this year, my first stop uncovered this Elf record from 1974. The record was still sealed, so I quickly scooped it up. It ended up being my most expensive pick-up for the day, but for record that was still sealed, the price tag wasn't too high.

This pressing of Carolina County Ball is the reissue from 1984, but I'm cool with that because it matches my pressing for Trying To Burn The Sun, with the "featuring Ronnie James Dio" box in the corner of the cover.

One Night Stand

I don't pay much attention to Record Store Day releases any more. I'll scan the list to see if anything jumps out at me, but for the most part there is rarely anything that I'll sweat if I don't happen to pick it up. This year there were two items on the list that I wanted to pick up if I happened to come across them...but as it would turn out, I only ended up with one of them, as the Dio single appears to have only been released in Europe. I'm still coming for you Dio...it just may take some time.

Initially, I thought that the Youth Of Today 7 inch released for Record Store Day was goofy as hell, but that's only because I'd forgotten how much fun this One Night Stand cover is. Originally done by The Partridge Family, Youth Of Today completely make this song their own. Considering that I think it was only available on the REV100 CD, it is cool to finally see the song on vinyl.

As much as people grumble about how much they hate Record Store Day, it's funny to see the collector nerds scramble when Revelation poops out 6 different pressings of this single. I don't play that game anymore, and since this 7 inch carried a bullshit price tag of $11.00, I'm happy with just this one pressing. Kincaid labels on magenta colored vinyl is limited to 1,000 pressed.