This is my final post for the Initial First Five project that Marcus and I did. Initial Records number 5 was the This World Rejected 7 inch.
Another Initial release that I'd never heard before and I kind of assumed that it would be some kind of tough-guy hardcore that would leave me unimpressed. WRONG. While this might be a little "tough", this record is so fucking good. Easily my favorite surprise from this project. It has that great 90's hardcore crunch and groove that immediately has me moving and finger pointing as I sing along. This record is so rad and I want to collect every pressing. I was doing good and showing restraint for so long... content with just one version of a record, but lately I've found myself going off the rails and wanting to collect every single version that I can get my hands on. I've been listening to a lot of 90's and 00's hardcore this year, and that shit just puts me in a collectors headspace.
I was only able to track down this light blue version with the limited and numbered cover, but man, I really need the translucent blue and orange colored vinyl too.
When Marcus and I were going to start this Initial project, I saw the cover for the Jackhammer 7 inch (Initial Records number 4) and was like, nope never heard of them. When I started to dig into the details on Discogs and saw the back cover, I was shocked. Wait. This image with the band logo across the top was suddenly familiar and I knew that I did own it.
I have a box of around a hundred 7 inches that I've shoved into the back of my closet... records that I bought back in the 90's and did not like, but also never wanted to take the time to get rid of them... so there they sit and collect dust. As soon as I saw the back cover of the Jackhammer 7 inch, I knew that it was in that box, and rushed to dig it out.
Look, I totally understand why I didn't like this when I picked it up in 1993. It has a slower, more metallic hardcore sound that kind of reminds me of Integrity... and I didn't really like that style at the time. Listening to it today, I can appreciate it much more, and I'd love to get the colored vinyl version of this for the collection someday... but right now I guess I'm stuck with only the black vinyl.
At the end of the project, Marcus and I did a ranking of the first five Initial releases and mine looked like this:
1. Guilt - Empty?2. This World Rejected - S/T
3. Ricochet - Evolve
4. Pittbull - S/T
5. Jackhammer - Estranged
As we were wrapping up the project, Marcus made some recommentations for me to check out beyond the first five. One of the things he mentioned was Initial Records number 12, the Roosevelt's Inaugural Parade 7 inch from 1995. As soon as he mentioned it, I jumped out of my chair and ran to that box of records in the back of my closet again. Yes! I owned this one too and had just tossed it aside back in the mid 90's.
This was a great one to revisit. I don't know, I just find it cool to pull a record out of the collection 30 years after you'd decided that you didn't really like it, and be proven wrong. Again, I can see why this didn't interest me back in 1995, but today this is fun to listen to.
So while this isn't technically a new record purchase for me, like the Jackhammer 7 inch, I'm considering it a new find and since I'm finally officially adding them to the collection, I'm getting them documented here as part of the project.
Yeah, this project was a blast, and I'm excited to see what other things Marcus and I tackle together and discuss.
