The Chase Is On

While I've always loved Reach The Sky, it wasn't until a few years ago that I got it in my head that I needed to really collect them. I made a good run at their first 7 inch and quickly grabbed a complete collection, plus I picked up some other random records from the band and I was on my way.

Somehow, three years have passed since I started up this Reach The Sky collection, and since that initial burst of activity I've made no further progress. While I was picking up some cheap records from a Discogs seller, I noticed that they had some records from my want list available. They were ridiculously cheap, so I didn't hesitate to grab them.

The Open Roads And Broken Dreams 7 inch was the first record from the band, after their Lost Glories demo, and the Boston hardcore scene was really strong at that time. I must have seen this band every other month back then.

Green vinyl is limited to 400. I have the white pressing so now all I need is the blue.

When the Everybody's Hero 7 inch was released in 1999, I wrote it off as pointless single from Victory. All the songs were on the So Far From Home album from Reach The Sky, and it kind of bummed me out when bands would release these kind of singles. It felt like a trick where the label would get you to buy the 7 inch, and then also include those songs on the full length a couple months later. Nothing exclusive here, but I do love these songs, and I want to complete the collection, so.....

This 7 inch was pressed on both grey and clear colored vinyl, and now I have them both, so this one is complete.

I'm almost done with the Reach The Sky 7 inch collection...unless I also chase after their splits with Buried Alive and With One Intent...which of course I'll have to do, and there are a number of pressings for those two records, so it may take me a little longer to complete this.

Lost And Found Glories

It is a pretty rare occasion for me to chase multiple pressings of a record these days. That game was ruined for me with endless repressings and preorders that would go six colors deep, so in most cases, I'm quite content to own one copy. I've got way too many records that I still don't even own on vinyl yet, so I've got very little time to spend dicking around with multiple pieces of colored vinyl. Still, I'm a collector at heart, and sometimes I'm drawn back into those habits.

The past year or so, saw me rekindle some interest in Reach The Sky, and since my vinyl collection for the band was shit, I started filling some holes.

I made a good run at some 7 inches, but came up a little short when it came to their Lost Glories record. I added both the blue and the gold pressings to the red vinyl that I already owned, so the only one that I was missing was the white vinyl. Goddamn. They were all readily available, and cheap, but that white wax was nowhere to be found. I posted a photo of the incomplete collection to Instagram, and people jumped in to say they would check to see if they had a copy for me, but it was to no avail. When some guy commented that he had been searching for a few years, and just happened to score one through Discogs, my hopes were dashed. I don't think that white vinyl is super rare, but it has only shown up on Discogs twice in the last few years...so I added it to my Want List, and expected to play the long waiting game.

When a copy showed up a couple months later, I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Four records and the collection is done. That felt good.

Stuck In The 90's: Finale - Reach The Sky

As the 90's came to a close, a lot of that weird shit fell away, and bands got back to playing straight up Hardcore again. For me, it was perfect timing for the "Youth Crew revival" to happen, as I was growing more and more tired of the screamo/chaotic thing that was going on. As we got over the hump of '95, I just wanted to get back to stagedives and singalongs.

Thankfully, a bunch of bands came around at the perfect time, and made Hardcore fun again.

Reach The Sky were one of those bands. When they were on stage, their passion and energy just carried out to the floor. They didn't follow the Youth Crew template, but man, kids loved to crowd to the front of the stage and jump around.

When I was recently at the Violence To Fade show back at the end of May, I was checking out some records that someone had for sale. In the pile were a bunch of Reach The Sky records, and they caught my attention. I didn't have the money to buy them at the time, but it planted a seed. I'd never really considered chasing multiple copies of the Reach The Sky records, but seeing a few pieces of colored vinyl at the distro table ignited a spark, and after getting home from the show I couldn't stop thinking about them. It didn't take me long to hit up discogs, and find a seller with multiple pressings available.

I already own the red vinyl for the Lost Glories 7 inch, so I grabbed the gold and blue pressings. I just need the white vinyl to call this one complete.

When Reach The Sky released Open Roads And Broken Dreams back in '98, I was all about the CD, and didn't buy the vinyl. This white pressing is my first piece of vinyl for this one, and I'm happy add it to the collection.

The Everybody's Hero record is pointless, as the four songs here ended up on the band's So Far From Home album....but then again, I just bought my second and third copies of the Lost Glories 7 inch, so I've got "pointless" nailed down.

Homecoming

My record collecting focus has been all over the place this year. Seems like every other week, the wind blows in a new direction and the flames of my obsession shift, and I start burning though another style of music. The year started with my continued Metal obsession, and then there was a slight shift to early 80's punk, and then I spent a few months listening to nothing but late 70's Punk before a steady diet of early 70's Rock. The latest wave of albums blasting through my daily playlists were strictly from 1996, and then I started branching out to other Hardcore albums from that 90's time period.

After spending the past few years in such a Metal state of mind, it felt weirdly refreshing to start dusting off those old Hardcore tunes. Out of nowhere, I was getting charged up and chasing Hardcore vinyl again.

Earlier this year, Marcus posted a couple of Reach The Sky records over on his blog, and it got me thinking about how long it had been since I'd heard this band. It planted the seed that I should finally chase these pieces of vinyl. During my 1996 obsession, a few months later, the seed grew to full fruition, and I knew that it was time to make a move.

Man, I saw this band so many times in the late 90's/early 00's. They were always fun to see live, with tons of stage diving. Yet, here we are, over 15 years later and I'm finally picking the vinyl for the first time.

314 pressed on green vinyl.