Learn to Have Heart

Received the Learn pre-order from Bottled Up Records. Picked up the Have Heart demo 7 inch on teal vinyl when I ordered it. Two great bands from this label. I picked up Posi Numbers pressings of this Have Heart record and the first Learn 7 inch when Rob and I were at the show last summer. That trip was so much fun, although we missed Bandit. On the ride home we came up with the idea that we should have taken pictures of a can of wasabi peas in various places along the way. Picture of the peas in a roadside bathroom...picture of the peas on the corner of the Posi Numbers stage...picture of the peas with all of our new records on the hotel bed. The wasabi peas are Bandit's signature snack and the pictures would have been a funny tribute to him. Too bad we came up with the idea too late. We had made the trip to Pennsylvania with Paul the year before for the Knife or Death Fest with Youth of Today, but last year he missed it since he had used all his vacation time when the new baby was born. This year the three of us are planning a trip to Toronto in September. The "Boys Club" road trip is becoming an annual event for us, and this year we will be traveling for a Red Sox game. While we are in Toronto, I will definitely need to hit some record stores for a vinyl fix.

Guns Up!

Guns Up! have been around for a while now, but I had never heard them. 1917 Records put up pre-orders for their new LP 'Outlive', so I figured that it was a good time to check them out. Outlive captures some pretty good hardcore. Guns Up! have a familiar sound, but I can't put my finger on who it is...maybe early Terror, I'm not sure. In any case, I like it. Pre-orders received the white with blue splatter colored vinyl, limited to 304 pressed. The colored vinyl coordinates with the album cover and looks very nice. My record arrived a little warped, but it didn't affect the sound when I listened to it.

Boston vs Connecticut

I hang my head in shame over the state of my Ten Yard Fight collection. Ten Yard Fight were one of my favorite bands from the mid-90's. They were from Boston and I would drive to see them play in New England numerous times. I knew LaCroix from his days singing for Circus Puppies. Why have I been so uncommitted to completing this collection? I don't really know why, but I have continuously passed by TYF records on eBay since starting my record collection over a year ago.

Here is the clear vinyl pressing of the Ten Yard Fight vs. Fastbreak seven inch. I'm not sure how many of this color were pressed. Picked it up on eBay for $6.05. The price was so good that I couldn't pass it up.

The Alice Cooper Drama Show

Why is it that each time I win Alice Cooper records on eBay, I run into some kind of problem. As I noted a few posts ago, the Love It To Death album that I got had some nasty water damage that I wasn't expecting. This time around, my eBay experience ends with drama. So I saw an Alice Cooper record lot up for auction, and won with a low bid of $9.99...Billion Dollar Babies, Killer, and The Alice Cooper Show. The albums looked like they were in fantastic shape, which can be difficult to find for albums from the early 70's, and they included all the original inserts. Early Alice records had the best packaging...Billion Dollar Babies had the billion dollar bill insert, and Killer had the 1972 fold-out calendar.

A few weeks went by, and I haven't received my records. I'm getting nervous, so I send a message to the seller to check on the shipment. A few days go by with no response, so I shot off another message to the seller. Again, no response. A week goes by and my package finally arrives. The records are in great shape, and the Killer album has a white promo label, which is a bonus, but I notice that the guy didn't send the records out until three days after my last message. Two messages that went with no reply, and about a month before delivery. Unnecessary, so I leave neutral feedback stating that the records were in great shape but the service sucked. That was enough to finally get the guy to respond.

Enjoy the records, thanks for the neutral. This is not Walmart, I work out of state and am gone at least 3 weeks out of a month. Thanks for your "understanding"

I will have to really think of appropriate feedback (I seriously doubt I will be leaving a positive or neutral) for you since you decided to make me look like a poor seller in spite of our overall good reputation without contacting me first...

eBay states that you are to contact your seller prior to leaving feedback if there is a problem, if you had bothered, you would have known we have a newborn also and my girlfriend is disabled so you try watching a baby and running to the post office in a wheelchair while the head of the house is busting his ass in another state to make it all work

Good day Sir

oldetoycollector (the slow shipper)

Give me a friggin break. I didn't give negative feedback, it was neutral. The feedback that I left was to let other buyers know that the guy sells quality items, just sends stuff slower than shit. Don't come at me with stories about newborns and disabled girlfriend that you send to the post office while you are out of town. Take some responsibility for not being a great seller sometimes, and don't be a douche about it.

Japanese Pressing

My first Japanese pressing. I've wanted one since I started collecting Iron Maiden vinyl. Something about Japanese pressings with that OBI strip that seems so collectible. I had actually been holding out for a Japanese pressing of Killers, but I saw this copy of 'Live!!! + One' on eBay and placed a winning bid of $19.32. The seller was from the States, which made it more enticing since that meant I wasn't paying for shipping from Japan. I received the record and the quality of this thing is amazing. It was released 26 years ago in 1980, and yet it is still in mint condition.

First Step, Second Press

Here we have the second pressing of The First Step on blue/black swirl vinyl, limited to 215. The color mix on this record looks exactly like the Go It Alone/Blue Monday split 7 inch that Rivalry Records put out. One of the best record labels around right now.

The picture below is from the First Step set in Providence when they played at the Insted reunion show. Yeah, that's me on top of the crowd. Paul and I drove down to see the show at the Living Room. The club had moved and we had some problems trying to find it...turned out it was just down the street from their old location. The two of us used to always drive to the Living Room when they were in the old building. One of my first punk/hardcore shows was at the Living Room to see DRI. We saw a lot of great hardcore and metal bands there. I remember driving down to see Overkill, and rains had flooded the club so the show was cancelled, but Bobby "Blitz" was hanging out in the parking lot and we got his autograph. That was a big deal at the time! Great memories from seeing Murphy's Law play there with Low Meato, and catching the Circle Jerks "final" tour, getting thrown out for stage diving during Gang Green...damn, those were fun times...three hour drives home popping No-Doz and drinking Jolt Cola to stay awake. Anyway, Paul and I found the new location and hung out for a while in the parking lot. Sweet Pete showed up and we hung out for a while talking to him and Karl from Earth Crisis. Good time just chillin'. The show was amazing, seeing Mental, Desperate Measures, The First Step, and finally Insted. Great time.

Wish You Were Here

Champion were amazing. They were my favorite straight edge band from the past few years...possibly my favorite band since In My Eyes broke up. Something about them was special to me. In a way they kind of got me hooked on collecting vinyl. I remember seeing Champion in Worcester for their East Coast tour when Promises Kept was released on vinyl. I bought the record at the show...blue vinyl with hand stamped labels. It had been a long time since I had bought vinyl at a show, and the feeling of getting that record was that I had something special...a piece of hardcore history. Soon after that show, Bridge Nine sent out the pre-orders and my Champion collection had begun.

Champion had their last show on May 27th, 2006. As much as I wished that I could be there, flying out to Seattle for it was not going to happen. For the show they had 400 copies of Promises Kept pressed on yellow vinyl. Thankfully, Bridge Nine held a few copies of the record and put them up for sale the week after the show. I ordered a copy for myself and one for Rob. Because of the flurry of activity that the webstore experienced as people rushed to get their order in, I got an error when I tried to check out. I tried to submit the order again and it said it was a duplicate order. I got the confirmation email from B9 so I thought that everything was okay, but as the days passed I got more nervous that my order didn't go through. I sent the mailorder guys an email, and sure enough, they hadn't received my order. A huge thanks to Matt and Jena at Bridge Nine for finding the last couple of copies and getting the order filled.

Alone in a crowd, but we're still standing strong

With X'd up fists and sing alongs

Times like these are what we live for

These days are more than we'd ever hoped for

We're still here, and we'll never forget the words we fuckin' said

Time flies by, and the promises made will stay with us through our lives

We're not finished yet, that's right

They tried to break the best of us

But still our hearts are true to promises kept

6/6/6

Okay, we are going to break a few rules with this post. This post is about an old record that I have in the collection, and this blog is supposed to be strictly about new additions to my collection. However, seeing that today is 6/6/06, I'm feeling compelled to do a Slayer entry, and break a few rules. I was also going to include the new single that Slayer released today for Cult, but for some reason I can't seem to upload anymore images, so fuck it.

Here we have the very first Slayer album that I bought, Hell Awaits. I remember buying this off of Jason Violette in High School. He had a few albums that he no longer wanted, if I remember correctly he didn't want to own it because of the satanic imagery. He was looking to unload this Slayer album, Impaler 'Rise of the Mutants', and I think Pile Driver 'Metal Inquisition'. I had never listened to these bands before, but I was starting to get interested in Speed Metal so I took the chance...plus I think he sold them to me for a few bucks a piece. I got home and Paul and I put on Hell Awaits. We get through the creepy intro to the song Hell Awaits and then the song kicks into high gear. Wow...that is the fastest shit we have ever heard. We can't help but laugh at how ridiculous it sounds. We finish off the album, joking about how over the top it is, and I head out to take care of my paper route. While I'm delivering newspapers, I can't get the song 'Kill Again' out of my head. So incredibly fast, yet the melody on that chorus was so catchy it was going over and over in my head. I get back to the house and have to listen to it again and again, falling in love with the speed and aggression (not to mention the shock value of the lyrics and satanic imagery). This is the turning point of having Metallica and Slayer take over as my favorite bands, pushing aside Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

Love It To Death

Ebay mistake. Judging from the photo on eBay, this copy of Alice Cooper 'Love it to Death' looked like it was in decent shape. I threw a bid on it for $5.00, and then after the fact I noticed that the write up mentioned water damage. It also stated that it was in Very Good or Very Good+ condition. Sounded like it might still be okay. I received the package in the mail and the guy did the worst packaging job that I have ever seen. I opened up the box and see the condition of the record. Shit. The inside gatefold and back cover have big sections where the cover has ripped away and is falling apart. I should have read the eBay description more closely before bidding. Oh well, it was just $5.00. The vinyl is in great shape, but I need the packaging to be of quality as well. Damn it, I'm going to need a better copy of this record.

This copy has the green Warner Brothers label, and the controversial "thumb" cover. The record was originally released on Frank Zappa's Straight label. The cover photo has Alice sticking his thumb through a hole in his cape. The thumb looks like a penis, and soon after Warner Brothers re-released it, the photo was airbrushed to remove the offensive thumb. Rock out with your cock out.

What We Pre-Order

I was quite relieved to receive my First Step 'What We Know' pre-order from Rivalry Records. I had ordered the package deal to get both colors of vinyl and a CD. I had been hearing from other people that they had ordered as soon as the pre-orders were available, and yet they didn't get both colors and ended up getting two blue. This record sold out fast. Thus, I was very happy to open my package and see both the red/pink vinyl as well as the blue. This record is limited to 235 on pink, and 605 on blue with the regular cover.

I have been listening to this album daily since I've received the CD. This is destined to be a classic. It has some tough competition for Album Of The Year with new records dropping this summer for Have Heart, Triple Threat, Betrayed, and Verse...but this one may take the prize.

Ceremony Ruined Hardcore

I was browsing at Newbury Comics and was surprised to see the Ceremony 'Ruined' 7 inch for sale. The vinyl selection at Newbury's has been less than impressive lately. I saw this one, and even though the price tag of $6.00 was a bit excessive, I bought it. I had previously downloaded a few songs from their demo and I remember liking what I had heard. Ceremony play some ripping hardcore...fast paced shit that does not let up. The lyrics are kind of negative in the same vein as Tear It Up with the "I Hate Everyone" mantra. Not exactly my mindset but still good for those pissed off days. The record is limited to 800 on banana yellow.

Classic Priest

I have been loving Judas Priest recently, especially the real early stuff. Funny because when I was growing up, the early stuff was not my favorite. I picked up the 'Hero, Hero' double album from eBay for $15. The album is pretty much a collection of the first two Priest records with different production. Gull Records released it in 1981 after the band was breaking it big with the release of British Steel. I'm sorry, but the portrait of the band on the inside gatefold sleeve is hysterical. With all the pastels it looks like it came right out of a New Kids On The Block CD. Ian Hill looks like a freakin' BeeGee, and Glenn Tipton looks like Rick Springfield. Hilarious.

This is one of the few bands that I have never seen live. For the Turbo tour, Priest came to Portland while I was away with my family camping and I was too young to drive back home for the show. For the Ram It Down tour, Priest was supposed to play at the Ballpark in Saco. The show got cancelled. For the Painkiller show at the Civic Center I got kicked out for slamdancing to Megadeth. Finally, the Angel Of Retribution tour comes to the State Theater in Portland, but I skip it because I am low on cash and I had plans to go to the Ghostface Killah show later that week. Priest would have been a better show.

Open Hearts Are Blue

The First Step are going to be freakin' huge once their new album drops. I can't believe that it has been four years since their last record was released. I picked up the Open Hearts and Clear Minds CD at the last Back To School fest back in 2002. Sweet Pete told me that I should check them out because they have an old school sound similar to Insted...very positive. I have liked TFS ever since then, but hearing their new album puts them on a whole other level. After recently seeing them play a show in Massachusetts, I was searching eBay and came across the Open Hearts 12 inch on blue. I had the clear vinyl pressing that I had ordered from Livewire records years ago, but I didn't know there was a blue pressing as well. I checked with Livewire board for posting info and someone replied that their were 220 of the clear vinyl for pre-orders and 220 of the blue for a tour pressing. Sounds like there is also a black pressing of 350 and then 50 that were released with a messed up cover. I got this one for $15.50.

Korean Volume

A couple of posts back I mentioned that I had been on a Black Sabbath kick, that is further proven by this purchase. I already own the Earmark Records vinyl re-issue of this album, but I couldn't resist picking up this Korean pressing of the classic Volume 4. I saw the auction on eBay...there was a couple of minutes before it ended and there were no bids. I figured that picking it up for $5.00 from some dude in New Hampshire was a deal that I couldn't pass up. The sleeve for the album is kind of cheap (paper with a plastic overlay), and the seller had indicated that Korean albums are known for their poor sound quality, but who cares?!?! This is such a great addition to my collection, with the Korean symbols on the cover and album, with the alternate back cover...damn, this is pretty cool.

Undisputed Collection

I recently got the purple vinyl for Some Kind of Hate's 'Undisputed' album. This completes the collection. It is a very solid hardcore album, but it doesn't seem to get much recognition. I've seen them play a couple of times, the last time was when I saw them open the 7 Seconds / Champion show in Massachusetts. The crowd never seems to be very into them. While the band pours all their energy into the live set, the kids in the audience just stand and stare.

I picked up the purple vinyl on eBay for $2.75. The purple is limited to 300. The spray painted cover is from their 2003 west coast tour and is limited to 150. The white vinyl is limited to 700.

Best of Sabbath

I've been on a big Black Sabbath kick lately, and this purchase is a result of that. I actually saw this record for sale at Newbury Comics about six months ago. I carried it around the store, but ended up putting it back because I really didn't have the money to spend. Took a trip back to Newbury's last week and told myself that if they still had it, then I would buy it. I love the cover of this record. The image is just so dark, so intense. Sabbath had so many great songs that it is nearly impossible to limit the best to 4 albums worth. Of course the main focus on these records is Ozzy, but Dio and Gillian get a couple of songs thrown in on the fourth record. Nice gatefold packaging with a great write up of Sabbath's history on the inside cover. I have no idea how many of these were made, but this collection is from the year 2000 and my copy is numbered 5502 from a limited pressing.

The Addiction Grows

Here is the European pressing of the Betrayed EP. Dead and Gone Records released it as a 12" for the bands European tour. Limited to 500 on black vinyl. Between the currency conversion and shipping, this record was a little expensive, but I definitely needed it for the collection. Dead and Gone ship stuff so fast, I had this within a week. Pretty cool to see the record on the 12 inch format.

In addition to the Betrayed record, I also ordered the Fifty On Red 7 inch. It is the second pressing, on green vinyl. Limited to 500. Descent Euro straight edge hardcore.

Records, Rain and Red Sox

Took the day off on Tuesday to go to Boston for a Red Sox / Yankees game. Fun road trip with Paul, Rob and Heidi. Whenever we are in the neighborhood of Fenway park, we have to stop in at Nuggets record store. Huge selection of used vinyl and cheap CD's. I typically browse the vinyl selection, but usually don't buy anything because I either can't find anything I want, or there is too much wear and tear for my liking. This trip I managed to make some very good finds...all were in the $5 or $6 range.

• GBH - Midnight Madness and Beyond : Decent punk record. Not my favorite by them, but I only had this on cassette and needed to get it on a better format.
• Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith : By coincidence, as I was hanging out at the house in the morning I was struck by a strong urge to listen to some early Priest, and brought out their first three albums. When I saw these two, and the great condition that they are in, I knew I had to buy them. I had Defenders of the Faith on cassette and needed to replace that with vinyl. Screaming for vengeance I own the CD, but it is such a classic I had to buy it on vinyl for the collection.
• Rainbow - Self titled first record : I had never heard this album. I really liked the other two Rainbow albums with Dio, plus the first record has Man on the Silver Mountain so how could I go wrong. Plus this thing was in great shape, gatefold cover, and a German pressing.
• Dokken - Tooth and Nail : Another coincidence. As Paul and I were driving down he made a joke about Dokken, and I joked that I never really could get into Breaking the Chains until we had seen them live. Then at Nuggets I found they had that album for sale. I like Tooth and Nail better so I bought that one instead.
• UFO - Strangers in the Night : I heard this band for the first time about a month ago. Jeff played me a song and I loved the guitar sound. Great 70's rock. I downloaded this live album and was glad to get the double album on vinyl.
  

The record that I was most excited about was the live Alice Cooper bootleg, One Halloween Night. Recorded in 1978, I was tenative to buy this...I wasn't sure how great the quality was and the price tag was $15. They had both the Killer and Constrictor album for sale as well, and I almost bought one of those instead. Then, for the Hell of it, I slide the live album out of it's sleeve and I saw the colored wax. I was sold. I listened to a few songs when I got home and the quality of the live recording is excellent. I'm glad I picked it up.


After Nuggets and dinner at Bertucci's we headed over the bridge to Fenway for the Red Sox / Yankees game. It had rained all day and we were nervous that the game was going to be called. We got inside the ballpark around 6:00, and the field was covered to keep the water off. It wasn't raining anymore, and we were hopeful that the game would go on as scheduled. The game was delayed and we sat and waited it out. It was cold so I went and bought a new winter hat. Then at 7:45 it started to rain. We got out our ponchos and sat in the rain. Soon it was announced that the game was postponed until August 18th for a 1:00 game. Hmmm, spending a Friday afternoon in August watching the Sox and Yankees go at it sounded perfect and suddenly it didn't really matter that the game was cancelled...plus it wasn't a wasted trip since I had a bunch of new records to keep me happy.

Think Fast!

Received the order that I placed with Think Fast! Records through MerchNow. Didn't really get what I ordered. I had originally wanted to place the order to get the latest color of the Have Heart record. Better to get it before it's gone and I'm left getting it through eBay. While I was ordering that one, I noticed that The Geeks record was available on colored vinyl as well so I figured that I'd pick it up...I've been wanting to hear that band. Lastly, I ordered the Wake Up Call record on colored vinyl. I have been really impressed with this record and listening to it daily. I received my order very quickly. I rip open the box to inspect the records. What the Hell? Have Heart is on black vinyl! Goddamn, so is The Geeks. Thankfully the Wake Up Call was the color that I ordered...especially since I already had that one on black vinyl.

Wake Up Call is green colored vinyl with purple splatter and limited to 220. Have Heart is the 5th pressing on black and limited to 330. The Geeks is the 2nd pressing on black and limited to 330.

Think I Care?

Think I Care pre-order from Bridge 9 Records. Orange with black splatter, limited to 300. World Asylum is the newest from this band. I picked up their self-titled CD a few years ago. Pretty decent hardcore with a definite Infest influence. I liked it, but I've probably listened to that CD about 5 times since I bought it. Didn't really hold my attention, even though I love Infest. Saw them at Posi-Numbers last year. Still failed to move me. The only reason why I bought their newest album was because it was on Bridge 9. I've only listened to World Asylum one time so it probably isn't fair for me to form an opinion yet, but it sounds like more of the same. There were a couple of songs that caught my attention but this may be a case of the record looking better than it sounds.

Infinite Dreams

Iron Maiden 'Infinite Dreams'. This was released back in 1989 to promote the Maiden England VHS video. I've never seen the video, but I just got the single for my Maiden collection. Pretty cool record that comes with a Maiden patch...perfect for sewing on to your denim jacket in the 80's. Crucial for any self-respecting metalhead. The b-side on this record is a live version of Killers with Bruce singing. Worth it for that rarity alone. Working on my Iron Maiden vinyl collection is pretty casual...only buying when I am so moved and the price is right. Picked up this record on eBay for $7.00.

I Want To Be Rewritten

This record looked so good that it deserved two pictures. This was another eBay purchase made to comfort the sting of missing out on a different auction. The initial record that I was waiting to snipe was the Rivalry Showcase pressing of Blue Monday's Rewritten album. I forgot to bid and it ended selling for $11.00. Damn, this is happening more and more lately. Someone else gets a great price because I forget to bid. I had the need to spend and found this version of the same album...the record release cover. I was hoping to pull a low price, similar to the one that I had missed out on. It ended up selling for $31, which I would still consider a very good price since it is limited to 50 copies. When it arrived in the mail, I was amazed at how cool this record looks. Silk screened cover...both front and back. Hand numbered out of 50, and this one is number 2.

When I first heard this record, I thought that is was pretty good, but nothing great. And while I won't love it as much as Champion, this record has recently started to really grow on me. That part of the song The Everything Fest, where he just screams out "I Want To Be Rewritten", it is so powerful...so passionate. Damn, that line alone gets stuck in my head for days.

This Is Your Wake Up Call

"Can you hear the sirens? Can you hear the alarms? This is your WAKE UP CALL."

Hardcore from the state of Maine. With the recent exception of Outbreak, I have never had any love for hardcore bands from my home state. Maine kids in the past have had this love affair with band like Tree and Sam Black Church, plus bands like Madball and Hatebreed, that are rolled into that tough guy image. Not really my cup of tea. I was hesitant to pick up this new record from Wake Up Call, but I saw it at Newbury Comics while I was picking up the new Sick Of It All CD, and took the chance. I was surprised at how good it was. Straight up rippin' hardcore. It kind of reminds me of Outbreak, but that could just be because of the Maine connection. Anyway, this is great stuff.

Black vinyl on Think Fast Records, limited to 270 pressed.

Third Time's A Charm

This is the second time that I've won this record on eBay. The first time I won it for $40 and never received it. It was the first time I got burned through eBay. After I hadn't seen the record in a month, I emailed the seller and got a reply from some girl apologizing and that they would be sending it right out. After a while I still hadn't received it so I emailed again and some guy replied saying that he had let his girlfriend take care of sending the stuff while he was out of town and she had messed it all up. He said that he would get it taken care of. Never saw that record.

Fast forward 8 months, and I saw the record up on eBay again. It was going for pretty cheap and I was planning on placing a last minute bid. My computer froze up and I missed out on the bidding. I was pissed that it sold at only $12 because I would have paid more than that.

Skip ahead a month and I see that this record is up on eBay again, and as the time was running out the bids were still pretty low so I thew in a maximum bid. To my surprise I won it for $14. The record doesn't seem to have the high price tag that it had when I originally bid on it, but I still feel like I got a good deal this time around.

So here it is, Mental 'Get An Oxygen Tank' Posi Numbers pressing. The cover is a little different from the regular pressing and the labels on the vinyl are hand stamped. This one is numbered 181 out of 250 pressed.

New Love Interest

Add another band to list of records that I want to collect. After seeing these guys for the first time a few weeks ago, and then sitting down and reading the lyrics, I knew that I needed to start the Have Heart collection. There are so many pressings of the What Counts 7 inch and the Demo 7 inch, with all the different colors and tour covers, it looks like an exciting challenge. I found some guy getting rid of a ton of Have Heart records on eBay, and with a few hours left there were still a bunch that did even have one bid yet. I knew that there would be a bunch of last second bids, but I figured that I would try to pick up a few for cheap so I threw in a maximum bid on about 7 of them. When all was said and done, I won two of them. Picked up the first pressing on pink, limited to 200 for $8.70, and I also got the Sink With Cali III tour press for $14.50, limited to 125.

Bridge Nine Bonus

Death Threat 'Live at the Showcase Theatre'. The latest in the Bridge Nine bonus 7 inch series, limited to 500 pressed. This one came with the Bridge Nine singles CD's. The 7 inch is pretty good, but not something that I'm real excited about. I saw Death Threat live a few times, once in Portland, might have been with Bane, and the highlight of their set was the cover of a Chain of Strength song. I seem to remember Paul trying to buy a CD off one of the guys in the band out behind the club, but he didn't have the exact change so the guy gave him the CD for free. Pretty good band, just not one that ever really moved me.

The First Step

Rob and I drove to Billerica on Friday night after work to catch the Have Heart / First Step show. Our first stop was at Chicago Dogs in Scarborough. The veggie dogs there are so good. After they took our order they realized that they didn't have any veggie dogs ready so I was going to have to wait a little longer. To make up for it they gave me an extra dog for free. Great start to our road trip. Fun drive down, watching out for 'punch buggies' so that I could hit before I get hit. The show was at a Masonic Temple and it was easy enough to find. The show started off with Maintain. They opened the show with a Strife cover. Pretty good hardcore. I thought about picking up their demo for a buck, but I never made it over to their table. After Maintain I bumped into Pete, and we hung out and talked for a little while. I found out that he is going in for a kidney transplant in a couple of weeks, so I wish him the very best. Fired Up played next and kicked out some great old school hardcore. I'm looking forward to their 7 inch that is coming out on Youngblood Records. Hammer Bros were up next and had their new CD available. I thought they were okay, but by the end of their set I was ready for the next band. Verse played next and impressed the shit out of me. Great stuff. For some reason they reminded me of Bane when they were a fairly new band. I have the Verse LP on vinyl and I if I had the extra money I would have picked up the CD version...I was that impressed. The First Step played next. I've seen this band a few times and it is always a fun time. This time was no different and I loved singing along and stagediving. Rob had burned me a copy of their new album a week ago and I was familiar with some of the new stuff. Have Heart played last and this was my first time seeing them live. I wish I knew their songs better so that I could have jumped in and sang along more. Such an energetic band...such a great crowd. Seriously, this show was awesome. I don't get out to see bands live much anymore, and this one was worth getting out for.

This entry is for the new First Step album that I picked up at the show. Limited to 250 pressed on blue vinyl, with the pre-release tour cover. I'm not sure how many of these records they sold at the show, but shortly after Rob and I bought ours, they were all gone. This may be the best record of 2006.

Get Another Oxygen Tank!

Another band that Sweet Pete turned me on to. He roadied for Mental for a while, and had high praise for this Boston Straight Edge band. They were opening for an Insted reunion show in Rhode Island that I was going to, so I picked up their CD. It took me a while to fully appreciate this band...the singers voice was unique and I wasn't immediately drawn in. The first song to really grab me was Growing Pains, which stands as my favorite song by them. I saw Mental at that Insted reunion show. The singer came out dressed totally in hip hop style, and the band just seemed to really have a good time up there. I was impressed and started getting into them more and more.

This entry is for their Get An Oxygen Tank 7 inch on clear purple vinyl. Limited to 300. Got it off eBay for $16. I was trying to get the Posi-Numbers pressing, but I missed out on trying to bid at the last second. I was pissed because the auction ended at $12, and I would have bid higher than that. I looked at what else the seller had out there and won this pressing on purple.

More Rivalry Pre-Order Splits

In addition to the Champion / Betrayed split 7 inch, I also pre-ordered the Go It Alone / Blue Monday split. I only ordered one copy for this record. I've been thinking that someday I'll try to collect the Rivalry Records library so I ordered one copy, hoping to get the rare pressing. I got it and, damn, look at that vinyl! It looks so sick. The Rivalry Showcase pressings look so amazing as well, and I can see that I'm going to need to get those too.

Completed...Again

Got my pre-order from Rivalry Records of the Champion / Betrayed split 7 inch. The red with orange splatter is limited to 320, and the clear vinyl is limited to 980 pressed. This pre-order sold very quickly, and I was relieved to see that I got both pressings when I opened the package from Rivalry. That splatter pressing looks so awesome. These two records complete my Betrayed record collection, once again.

Iron Age

I received my Iron Age pre-order from Youngblood records. It is on yellow vinyl with the deluxe embossed cover. Pretty slick looking. I saw them open up the Planet Mental record release show. The singer used to front Far From Breaking, and a friend told me that FFB were better, with more of straight forward 'youth crew' hardcore sound. I had never heard either band. Iron Age bored me at the show, although this album rocks a damn good hardcore style with some touches of early Metallica-type metal. I bought a Far From Breaking 7 inch at the Posi-Numbers festival, and I would agree with my friend and take FFB over Iron Age. This is still a good album though, and since I've been entertaining the thought of collecting all Youngblood releases, it made sense to get the pre-order.

Count Champion's Numbers

Counting my Champion numbers, I am up to 28. Here we have Champion 'Count Our Numbers' on white vinyl. Limited to 384 pressed. Picked it up on eBay for $20. I still have yet to get my hands on the record release pressing of this record. Every time I see it on eBay I get outbid.

I saw Champion in Bucksport, Maine with Rob and Paul. It was a long drive, but the three of us always have a good time on road trips. Since it was such a long drive we left right after Champion and missed Agnostic Front. During the show, the guitarist, Chris, noticed my Undertow t-shirt and came over to me while they were setting up. Talked about how he liked the shirt and has one like it at home. He mentioned that he was thinking about making a Champion shirt that ripped off the design. Since they are breaking up, I doubt that will happen. I wore that same shirt to the Posi-Numbers festival and bumped into Chris again. We talked for a little bit, and he seemed like a really genuine dude. I ended up trading that shirt after the Betrayed set to some guy for three new t-shirts (Have Heart, Triple Threat, and Gorilla Biscuits). I was reluctant to get rid of it since I had traded some Sandman comics to a guy in Undertow for the shirt long after they had broken up, but I figured that $30 in new t-shirts was a decent enough deal.

Reason For Collecting

This is why I collect records. I thought that I knew of every pressing of the In My Eyes records, then I saw a picture of this one posted on the Bridge Nine messageboard. I had no idea that the demo 7 inch was released with this Welcome to California tour cover. This is why I collect records. I collect so that I have some kind of documentation of music history. Looking back, I guess I've always been a collector. Collecting Star Wars trading cards when I was a kid...buying packs of those cards trying to get the entire series. Going over the checklist to see which ones that I needed. Collected smurfs for a while too. I remember going to the Hallmark store and digging through the bin of smurfs, pondering which one I would buy next. I even tried collecting stamps when I was I kid, but stamps didn't really excite me. Then, a little over a year ago, I first saw other people's record collections posted on the B9 messageboard. It all clicked. This is what I was born to collect. I collect records because this music means so much to me.

I picked up this record through eBay. Got it for only $33. I thought that it was a great price since I had seen it sell a couple weeks before, grouped with some other, less rare, IME records for over $90. This record is numbered 26 of 50 pressed.

This Is Our Time

Another version of the demo 7 inch from In My Eyes. This one has the Springsteen cover that was made for their tour. Hand numbered 67 of 400 made. Picked this one up for $25. Got it from the same guy that sold me all the Live in Philly records.

The demo has my favorite In My Eyes song...The Is Our Time. I saw IME in Portland with Right Brigade and American Nightmare for the Boston Invasion weekend. The last song that In My Eyes did was This Is Our Time. As the song breaks into the line "We'll look back on these days as the best times of our lives...", I ran up on stage and Pete handed me the microphone and I sang out the rest of the song, diving on people. Pete ended the show with "That was Mike Preston, the most Straight Edge guy in Maine.". The words to that song mean so much to me, and that memory makes it mean even more.

Courage To Care

When someone is down on their luck, and looking to get some fast money by selling some records, I'm happy to make the sacrifice and help 'em out. I had purchased records from this guy before, and when I heard that he was having money problems and was selling records from his collection, I quickly emailed him an offer. He accepted my offer for $40 for all three pressings of the In My Eyes 'Live in Philly' 7 inch. Recently I had seen the clear and white pressings going for around $20 a piece on eBay, so I thought that it was a fair offer. Even though In My Eyes remain as one of my favorite bands, I never really liked live recordings, and I avoided buying this record when it was released in 2002. Of course I needed to get it for my collection, but reading the liner notes from the guitarist, Anthony Pappalardo, made it a worth while release and made me miss this band more than I already do.

Bring Your Daughter...

There is something about Iron Maiden that is magical to me. They were my favorite band while I was growing up. Piece of Mind was one of the first Metal albums that I bought. Iron Maiden on the Powerslave tour was the second concert that I went to. As a kid, I spent so much time listening to this band, reading interviews, posting their album covers and pictures on my wall. I had a book about them that I read over and over again until the spine broke and the pages fell out. Before I had even listened to any of their songs, I remember walking through Spencer Gift's and being completely in awe of the Maiden posters and t-shirt designs. Magical. During my years in Thrash/Speed Metal and Hardcore/Punk, I lost interest in Maiden. At some point a couple of years ago I found that lost love, and once again found myself listening to all of their albums, reading the new edition of Run To The Hills, and once again being drawn into the artwork from the album covers. I had recently started collecting records and Maiden was re-releasing the single for The Number of the Beast on colored vinyl, and I thought that it would be fun to collect the albums and singles of this band.

There are a few versions of the single for Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, but this is for the 12" version (which has different artwork than the 7" pressing). I picked this one up on eBay for $5.50. I don't usually buy from overseas sellers...postage is too expensive...but for this record the price was low enough that it didn't bother me.

Going The Distance

Completing my Bridge Nine Records collection for The Distance, we have the pressing on red (limited to 150). Picked it up on eBay for an unbeatable price of $4.75. At some point, I got it in my head to collect the entire Bridge Nine library...and considering the number of limited pressings that B9 has done, that may not have been a very smart decision, but I'm into it and I'm not turning back now. While The Distance isn't necessarily a band that I like enough to really collect, B9 did release it, so I needed it.

Completely Betrayed

All 6 pressings of the Betrayed 7 inch. The blue one is a "Friends Press", limited to 60. I never thought that I would get my hands on one, but then by chance I had the opportunity to purchase one. How much did I pay? More than you probably would have. Who did I buy it from? I'm sworn to secrecy. Seriously, one of the best releases from 2005.

Rivalry Showcase

In keeping with the Champion and Betrayed theme this week, I received the Rivalry Showcase pressings of the split 7 inch. Two of the best Straight Edge Hardcore bands these days. Champion is breaking up, but Betrayed has recently been in the studio recording their full length. These two records were pressed for the Rivalry Showcase out in California, one for each band. Both are limited to 135 with the Betrayed one being on orange and brown mix, and the Champion one being on orange and red split. Of course I wasn't at the Rivalry Showcase, and got my hands on them through a "friend". $20 a piece was a little pricey since the show was the week before, but I figured that they would go for more than that when they hit eBay. Once I receive my pre-order package from Rivalry Records later this month, I should have the complete collection.

8 Down, One To Go

Let me start by saying that I LOVE this album. I bought Champion's first record when it came out and I wasn't too impressed. I wasn't collecting records at the time, so I bought the CD version. Their second 7" came out on Bridge Nine, and while I thought it was better, it still didn't do much for me. Champion played a show in Portland, and I skipped the show. Sometime after that I picked up Promises Kept, and was completely blown away from the first song to the last. Every time I listened to it, I liked it more and more. Promises Kept is just a perfect album. This copy is the grey pressing on Dead & Gone records, making that 8 copies of this record that I have in my collection. There were 300 pressed on grey vinyl, with 100 of them getting blank labels for their European tour. The Euro tour press is the only one I am missing. I won this copy through eBay for $14.68.