A Couple Pieces Of Redemption

Why does 1917 Records hate me? This is the second pre-order I've done with them for I Rise vinyl, and both times I have failed to get the most limited pressing. It happened with the Down 7 inch, and now again with the new full length, For Redemption. I ordered two copies, and got the red and green split, limited to 200, and the mint green pressing, limited to 500...but I missed out on the pink vinyl which was limited to 100.

Maybe it is me, but once again I'm feeling underwhelmed by a new release in 2008. I'm not sure what it is...maybe it is high expectations, but the three albums that I have been looking forward to the most...Have Heart, Verse, and now I Rise...just haven't floored me. Sure they are good, and with repeated listens I'm enjoying them more and more, but overall, I'm just not getting my ass kicked. Maybe it is just my mood. Please, can someone release a no-bullshit, youth crew hardcore record, and make me happy?

More Steps

I was hoping to receive one more pressing of The First Step's newest 7 inch before posting this, but it didn't arrive, so here you go. I've had the blue vinyl from Rivalry for a while now. It is the second pressing, and limited to 1,270. Both the clear vinyl, 175 pressed, and the red vinyl, 325 pressed, were released on a South American label called Waking the Dead Records. There was a guy on eBay from Chile, that was unloading a few of these. I was able to pick them up without dropping a ton of money on them.

Old is New in 2008

Metallica's new album, Death Magnetic, is an amazing return to form. Sure it doesn't come close to the brilliance of Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets, or even Kill 'Em All for that matter, but damn it, this would fit in nicely between Justice and the Black Album. I can't get over how great this album is, as it continually finds it's way into my CD player or turntable...yes, I own the CD for this as well. I wasn't willing to drop the $100 for the deluxe five album version of this, but I didn't hesitate to pick up the double LP. Fuck all the haters.

Another old metal band to release a new album is Motorhead. With Motorizer, the band releases another album, fitting nicely into the mold they cast 30 years ago. The band doesn't change up their sound too much, and that is fine with me. As long as the songs are good, I have no problem with a band sticking with their sound. Bands that "out grow" their sound, or try to experiment typically end up sucking shit. Here's to Motorhead for releasing another solid album of "more of the same".

A Cruel Seven Inch

Another one of those 7 inch singles from Bridge Nine, this time offering us a preview of Cruel Hand's new album, and nothing more. Just two songs that will be on the band's album that will be up for pre-order in the next day or so. 300 on brown and 700 on maroon colored vinyl. The coolest thing about this 7 inch, though, is the sick cover art. Shit looks awesome. The artwork looks like it was from Pushead, but I'm pretty sure that it is a rip off. Anyway, these two songs are great, and I'm looking forward to the new album. When I ordered this record from Bridge Nine, I was really feeling the pinch financially, so I had to pass on buying the new Ruiner vinyl. Maybe I'll pick that up when I pre-order the new Cruel Hand.

Pure Hell

I keep wanting to expand my pathetic Slayer vinyl collection, but it seems that whenever I search eBay for their stuff, it is always more than I am willing to spend. A couple of weeks ago I was on a HUGE Slayer kick, and once again found myself on eBay searching for their shit. I came across a double LP, gatefold sleeve, pressing of Hell Awaits from a Korean seller, and I committed myself to it. I was bound and determined to win this classic. I already own the original Metal Blade release on vinyl, but I was pretty excited to win this double vinyl re-release. Considering it was coming from Korea, I was surprised at how quickly it arrived. This thing just looks incredible. Everything in this package was dead mint...from the vinyl, to the album cover, to the poster.

Getting Fired Up

This has got to be one of the most underrated releases of 2006. Fired Up's first 7 inch, When the Lights Go Out, is one of my favorites from the past couple of years. Straight up, no frills hardcore. To top things off, the record has been released on 7 different colors of vinyl, which has been a collector's wet dream. I'm still missing the record release cover for this, plus the newest pressing on purple, so I'll have to keep my eye out for those. I've had the blue vinyl for a while now, but I'm just now getting around to adding it to my collection. Picked it up on eBay back in March for $5.00. Sweet deal since it is limited to 250 pressed. The yellow vinyl was from the third pressing of the record and is limited to 100. I picked this up from the Youngblood table at the final show for The First Step. This one has plain orange labels, and the Youngblood stamp on the dust sleeve.

Roadtrip for The First Step

Originally, we had planned to take our annual roadtrip up to northern Maine and spend the weekend four-wheeling through the mountains. Once I found out that The First Step was playing their last show at the beginning of September, the plans were changed. Rob, Paul and I piled into my car and took the eight and a half hour drive down to Pennsylvania for the weekend. We had a blast the whole weekend...shenanigans in the car, stopping at Sheetz for free sandwiches and a PB&J smoothie, walking around Harrisburg, hanging out by the river, and taking a trip to the movies to see Death Race. What a great time. The highlight of it all, of course, was the show.

We walked into the club and were greeted by Aram. So nice to catch up with him. The first couple of bands that played didn't do much for me...the only name I can remember was Warpriest. Hostage Calm and Mindset played great sets. I was hoping to pick up some vinyl from each band, but all they had was CD's, so I walked away from their merch tables empty handed. I went down to the front of the stage halfway through Mindset's set, for the Youth of Today cover, and then proceeded to have the guitarist jump straight into me. I caught him with no problem, but as you can see from the picture above, I wasn't aware that he had a serious case of "swamp ass". Get The Most were a lot of fun and played Straight on View by Unity...I felt like a dork when I wanted to sing along but couldn't remember the words. The First Step were amazing. They must have played damn near every song they wrote, and the crowd was right up front for the entire show. The set was full of sweet dives and sing alongs. What a great, positive atmosphere...no bullshit. The show was at Championship Records, so between the store and the merch tables, I walked out with a nice haul of vinyl.

I picked up the final Damage Control 7 inch. I can't remember which merch table I bought this one from. This is good melodic straight edge hardcore, and the packaging on this record is outstanding. Nice 12 page booklet that is a fitting end to this band. Great layout of pictures and a summary tribute to the band from Stephen from The First Step.

Man, I love Dead Stop. They play an angry, fast style of hardcore that is just straight out of the early 80's. This is the third pressing of their self titled 7 inch on Six Feet Under Records. Red vinyl. I have no idea how many were pressed for this color, or even if Six Feet Under was the label to originally release this.

I've always considered Cornerstone to be the band that really kicked off the Youth Crew revival in the mid-90's. I can't think of anyone else that was really doing this style when I picked up their demo in 1994. At the time I was buying too many shitty records from Ebullition, and this was a nice change of pace. Beating the Masses was released in 1995 on Lost and Found out of Europe. I can't remember when Under Estimated Records released this on vinyl with this awesome gatefold packaging. I was glad to finally grab this on vinyl from Championship.

Sean Youngblood was late to the show, but I was happy to see him finally arrive with some vinyl to sell. One of the things I bought from him was Worn Thin's Long Road Ahead record. This is the pressing from the Youngblood Showcase back in May. Black vinyl with white labels...hand stamped and numbered 47 out of 75.

Another record that I was happy to find at Championship was the Black SS album. I must have downloaded this a year ago, so it was about time that I finally bought a copy. Man, this is a fun record. Kind of a punked up early Boston Hardcore sound, and the singer really reminds me of Kill Your Idols. This is the second pressing on Reaper Records...limited to 1000 on "yellow with blue puke vinyl".

Never Hold Back

Here I am again, making a post for another record that I got some time ago, but held off on posting it because I was hoping to add more of their records to my collection. Rancor were a band from the late 90's Youth Crew revival. I've never really considered them a very well known band from that era, but their vinyl is hard to come across on eBay. I saw them one time. They played a show in Boston with Floorpunch, Fastbreak, and Ten Yard Fight. It was just as all those bands were starting to take off...I think that I had picked up the Floorpunch demo just weeks before the show. Man, everything was so exciting at that time.

This is Rancor's second 7 inch, Never Hold Back, released on Youngblood Records back in 1998. I loved the band's first record, but it was years after their second 7 inch released that I even found out that this record existed. Thank you Internet. Anyway, this one was pressed on black vinyl, and is limited to 580 pressed.

War Dogs

I've had this one for a few months, holding off on posting it, with the expectation that I would be getting another record from Night of the Vinyl Dead. There was a time when I was really hot to buy a bunch of releases from this label specializing in putting out some classic Metal albums that never got the vinyl treatment. You can't order directly from the label, and it seems like you can only find them in the Nuclear Blast Germany webstore where they rape overseas orders on shipping charges. I tracked down a few that I really wanted on eBay, and ended up paying quite a bit for them, but these pressings are pretty limited and sell out quickly, so I didn't mind paying extra. In the end though, it got to be too much of a hassle searching through eBay, and then hoping to place the winning bid, so I just stopped looking. They still have a bunch of releases that I hope to add to my collection, but for now I'm chasing my next obsessions.

So here is Saxon's Dogs of War album. Pressed on a nice "sandy" colored vinyl to match the album cover, this pressing also comes with a bonus set of stickers which is pretty cool and unique. While this is a far cry from Saxon's glory days of the early 80's, this album, released in 1995, isn't too bad...although, truth be told, I probably wouldn't own this if it hadn't been released on Night of the Vinyl Dead and pressed in such a limited amount. Hand numbered 87, out of 333 pressed.

Inspired To Have Group Sex

In the back of my mind I have always wanted to collect the Circle Jerks first album, Group Sex, on vinyl. It is an absolute classic...so much fun and just full of attitude. Frontier Records is still pressing it on vinyl, and on lots of different colors. I've wanted to start adding them to the collection, but I just kept putting off...buying other things, feeling safe that they would just always be there for me. After reading Lins87's posts on Black Flag vinyl, I was inspired to finally pick up an old school punk classic. I knew that one of the local record stores had a copy of Group Sex, and so yesterday I skipped out of work and picked it up. I have no idea how many Frontier is pressing for each color, but I ended up with yellow vinyl. At some point, I'll have to head over to their site and pick up a few more colors.

Screaming For More Vinyl

I got my Have Heart order from Bridge Nine a while ago. When I got the package, my wife had written a funny little note on the outside of the box. Jokes on her though...there is no such thing as too many records. Who's laughing now?!?! Seriously though, money is TIGHT right now, and each month I start it off by saying that I'm going to cut back and not buy as many records as I have been. By the end of the month, I'm surprised to find that I've dropped over a $100 again on new shit. The collector's motto : "Buy it now, or spend three times as much later on eBay.".

Let me start by saying that the cover for Songs to Scream at the Sun is the worst. I'm all for trying to not just have another generic hardcore album cover, but this idea sucks. Reminds me of some lame Blink 182 shit. The album on the inside however, that is a thing of beauty. While not even coming close to the brilliance that was The Things We Carry, the new album is still pretty impressive. You can tell from Pat's lyrics that his mind was on some serious personal shit. Maybe that's why it isn't grabbing me like their last album. It has taken a few listens to start to sink in, and some of the songs are really strong, but time will tell if this really grabs me.

There was some pressing plant mess with the blue vinyl, and the label found themselves with more than they had intended. They ended up shipping a bunch back, and getting 1,000 on white vinyl. This caused a bit of a delay in shipping, but I'm happy to have all three colors. Yellow vinyl is limited to 500.

Along with the album, I also got a couple of 7 inches from Bridge Nine. I'm really not sure what the point is of these records, as they have two songs that you can find on the LP. Other than just being something additional to collect, and having a much better cover than the album, this kind of record is kind of pointless. 500 pressed on black, 1,000 pressed on yellow.

Happy Birthday From A Friend

Speechless. I was completely surprised when Rob delivered two records to my desk at work for my birthday. Grateful. Friends don't come much better than this. I had spent the weekend out record shopping and had thought about buying Waste 'Em All by Municipal Waste, and Maiden's new "Best Of" album on vinyl, but I ended up putting both of them back on the shelf. Then there I was on Monday morning with a birthday surprise....it's like he was reading my mind. Thankful. We met at work over 10 years ago, and I am so thankful to have found such a friendship. I have very few close friends, and if he wasn't around, I know that I would really miss that outlet to just act like a complete retard. It has been a long 10 years, from Magic the Gathering tournaments to Unreal Tournament...from mountain biking to snowboarding...from ICP concerts to Xbox nights...from Celtics games to weekend roadtrips. None of this would have happened without him. Man, those have been the best of times, and here is to many more. Thanks for everything friend.

The One Thing That Still Holds True

Inspired by the new banner that Tyler added to his blog, I decided to try and add some personality to my layout as well. I have also been thinking of renaming this blog for a while now. I loved the Record Nerd name when I created the blog two years ago, but I wasn't aware that the name was already being used by a website to show off your record collection. I had probably heard the name at one point and stored it in my brain subconsciously. With a new banner, comes a new name, The One Thing That Still Holds True. The name, of course, comes from the band Chain of Strength. When I was running through song and album titles, trying to find something that clicked, this one just seemed perfect. Music has played such a huge part in making me who I am, and it is something that even now, after all these years, is still such a big part of my life. So there you go, Record Nerd is dead...long live this one thing that still holds true.

Happy Birthday From The Family

38 years old. Holy shit. Each year that my birthday rolls around and I'm forced to recognize how old I am, it always surprises me. When did get this old? In some ways I feel like I'm such a different person than I was at 20, but in many ways I still feel that young...like I've never really grown up. I think that a part of it is that I'm still strongly attached to the same music that I loved through my teenage years. I need music and crave it at all times. I can't drive the car without needing to throw a CD into the player. If I have 5 spare minutes at home, I'm hopping on to the computer to check out a new song that I had downloaded. When I get home with the kids, it's a race to see if I can get the stereo on before they get the TV on. On a good day, I can make my way through 9 or 10 CD's while I'm at work. I surf around on the internet, checking ebay for records that I really can't afford to buy. I live and breathe this stuff. It keeps me young. My family is so good to me, that when my birthday rolls around, they give me gift cards to either Newbury Comics or Bull Moose Music so that I can go music shopping for myself. While this year, I also got some gift cards for Home Depot to buy materials for my music shelving, I also got enough for a good shopping trip.

The first item on my shopping list was the new album from The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely. The band includes Jack White from The White Stripes, and this new album is simply an amazing rock record. I've even grown to appreciate the one song that includes some violin. The gatefold packaging for this double album is spectacular and well worth the $30. While shopping, I couldn't resist picking up the Metallica S&M triple vinyl. The album was priced at $16 with a "50% Off" sticker on it, so I grabbed it for $8. Sweet deal. The rest of the money from my birthday went towards a bunch of CD's that I wanted for my collection to replace those shitty burned CD's that I had.

We're Back!

I got back from my week long vacation today. A week on the lake with the family. No stereo...no computer...no distractions. While it was nice to get away, man, I missed the non-stop barrage of music. First thing that I did, once everything was unpacked, was hit the stack of new vinyl sitting here next to my computer.

One of my newest obsessions has been Back On Black...a new record label, like Night of the Vinyl Dead, that specializes in classic Metal vinyl. Back On Black releases look fucking amazing, and have tempted me to start collecting a number of them. My first order from CM Distro was for two bands that have made a pretty strong return to Thrash over the past couple of years. First up was Onslaught. I never heard this band back when they were releasing albums in the 80's, but after a recommendation, I did check out Killing Peace when it was released last year. I loved the album...great modern Thrash, and has made me go back and visit the bands roots as well. The other band making a comeback has been Exodus. Fuck, I loved this band as kid...I even had the album cover of Bonded By Blood as a back patch for my denim jacket. The band has a new singer now, but I am still loving the albums that they are putting out, and Shovel Headed Kill Machine from 2005 is no exception. Brutal album. Since I had downloaded both of these albums, and hadn't bought them, seeing them get the vinyl treatment from Back On Black was all I needed to pick up these two killer albums.

So, yeah, just like some classic Thrash bands, I'm back. The week on the lake was perfect. We had great weather all week long, and I spent a lot of time swimming with the kids. In addition to swimming and hanging out on the beach, I got a ton of reading done. I finished book number two for The Manly Book Club. Brent made the selection this month with Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Unlike last month, I actually finished the book before our meeting. If I didn't have this past week off and was away from the computer and music, I'm not sure if I would have finished it. However, as strange as it may seem, I really enjoyed this book. I never would have believed that I would have gotten into a book based on the battle of Thermopylae, but damn, other than my inability to keep the names of all the characters straight, I had a great time reading this one. It's my turn to pick the book for next month. I may take the easy way out and go with something that Rob mentioned that he wants to read....Hell, it looks like a good selection, so I'll probably go with that.

In addition to my Book Club reading, I also managed to also finish reading Judas Priest : Heavy Metal Painkillers by Marin Popoff. This book was more up my alley. All the pictures of the band's old singles, and discussion around each song from every album...man, I really wanted to listen to this band over the past week. A really fun read, and I just love Popoff's books.

And since I can't help but act stupid when the camera comes out, here is a picture of me hitting the books this past week. Word.

Feeling Good

I found this excerpt from a Peanuts comic strip the other day. Someone had it as their signature on a messageboard, and I thought that it was a perfect reflection of my personality. There is no better way to turn around a bad day at work than skipping out at lunch and hitting the record store. I feel pretty lucky that I've got two great stores within a 5 minute drive from my office. When things get shitty and stressful at work, I've got a perfect escape just outside the doors and around the corner. New vinyl makes all the problems go away. Ha!

I got a nice big order from Very Distro the other week. I went a little crazy...they were having a sale on Earache Records titles, and I took the opportunity to grab a few different colors of the SSS record as well as a picture disc of The Art of Partying by Municipal Waste. I've started warming up to the idea of picture discs. While past readers of this blog should be know, I've always despised picture discs....there is no packaging and the sound quality is typically shit. Then it dawned on me the other day, who cares, they are great additions to my collection! For SSS, I picked up the clear and green colored vinyl, plus the original pressing on Dead & Gone Records, which was the bands record label before they moved to Earache. They released the SSS record on about 9 different colors of vinyl....I now have 3 colors. The other album that I picked up was Symptoms of Youth by Bad Reaction. Someone from last.fm turned me on to this band, as we both liked Fields of Fire, and Ben Edge from that band now plays in Bad Reaction. Very cool style of old school punk, in the vein of The Adolescents and early Circle Jerks.

70's Priest

Man, I have completely fallen in love with early Judas Priest. Those first four albums, from '74's Rocka Rolla through '78's Stained Class, are just complete classics. While Sabbath may have "invented" Heavy Metal, Priest were one of the first bands to embrace the style and proudly attach the label to themselves. Between re-discovering these early records and starting to read Martin Popoff's book, Heavy Metal Painkillers, I have started to think more and more about starting to collect some of those early records. A few months ago, on a shopping trip with Jeff, I bought Sad Wings of Destiny and Sin After Sin to get the collection started, but this entry is for the more obscure Tyrant 12 inch on white vinyl. I really have no idea how rare this is, or if it is at all, and it seems like it might be a cash-in for Gull Records trying to squeeze some money out of the band's legacy by releasing this 12 inch single in 1984 for songs that were released in '74 and '75. Either way, I'm happy to add this to my collection.

True Colors of Vinyl

Six Feet Under Records recently posted on the Livewire Records messageboard about a new Down to Nothing 7 inch that they were releasing. I'd never heard of the label, but man, I loved the last DTN record, so I hopped on their site to place my order. While I was there, I saw that the record label had also done the U.S. pressing of the True Colors album. Tyler had turned me on to this band and man, I have been loving the Focus on the Light album lately. This album doesn't break down any musical barriers, it is just solid straight edge hardcore, played with sincerity and passion. I ordered the album on orange vinyl, which was limited to 105 pressed. I'm seriously thinking of going back and ordering the other color of vinyl for this one.

The Down to Nothing 7 inch, Hem Hem, is a little strange....I'm not really sure what to make of it. The cover photo for the record is a pretty good indication that this is coming a little bit from left field. The first song is some pretty ripping hardcore, but the lyrics are so over the top ridiculous that I'm left scratching my head. The rest of the songs are just as odd...Crucifixion of the Bunghole (???). I'm really not sure what the purpose of this record is. Maybe I'm just on the outside of an inside joke. Only pressed on black vinyl, limited to 270.

Bring It On

Goddamn it. Here we are at the end of July and this is only my third entry for the month. I keep getting vinyl in the mail, and it just keeps piling up here next to my computer. This time around we are adding new records from On to the collection...the white vinyl is limited to 250, and black is limited to 650. With Jim Hesketh as the singer, the comparisons to Champion are unavoidable. Great, solid hardcore. I'm really excited for this band, and I would love to see these guys release a full length album in the future.

One of the reasons why I have been slow to get the blog updated is because I joined a book club, and I'm trying to keep up with the reading. This ain't no ordinary book club, this is the Manly Book Club...no girls allowed...no books about travelling pants. When Rob first came to me with the idea, I thought that it sounded like a lot of fun. I used to read non-stop...always burning my way through another book. Once the kids came, and I got a "real" job that didn't allow me to sit and read for most of the day, all my reading time dried up and I've never gotten back to it. I figured this was the push that I needed to start up again. The initial idea included just Rob, Brent, and I. The two of them were avid readers, so I was excited to see what book was going to be chosen as the first recommendation. Before too long, our group had expanded to include two more members, and we were off reading American Shaolin by Matthew Polly. The book was a fascinating trip with the author, as he looks to transform himself from a 98 pound coward, into a kung-fu fighting machine. In many ways I could really relate to the authors struggles with insecurity, and was completely in awe of his trip to China to train with the Shaolin monks and create a positive change within himself. It was a really fun read. However, I failed to finish the book in time for our book club meeting at the end of the month, leaving myself open to ridicule for being the only one that didn't complete it. I was feeling a little disappointed with myself for not finishing it, and I was seriously contemplating dropping out. But, damn, when we got together to talk about the book, it was such a fun time. Just a group of guys, hanging out and laughing about parts of the book. Immediately after the meeting, I knew that I needed to finish this book and prepare myself for the next one. I went home and banged out the last 50 pages over the next couple of days. I am up for this challenge. Bring it on.

Master of Vinyl

I picked up Metallica's Master of Puppets on vinyl this week. As the band is putting the finishing touches on their new album, Death Magnetic, they have been re-releasing their earlier works on vinyl. Just like Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning, I picked up Master of Puppets in the double LP format. The gatefold packaging is absolutely stunning, while the vinyl itself is nice and thick. They have done a great job packaging these records, and having never owned these albums on vinyl, I have been jumping at the chance to add these to my collection.

Master of Puppets was the first album that got me hooked on Metallica. Paul got the cassette tape of Ride the Lightning around 1985, and man, did we hate it. The album starts of with a thrasher in Fight Fire With Fire, and it was so over the top and fast that it just seemed silly. When the band finally released Master of Puppets in 1986, I was hearing so many good things about the band that I had to give them another try. All of a sudden something clicked. I loved the new album, I went back and checked out Ride the Lightning again, and loved that one as well. A door had been opened for a style of Metal that has been a favorite of mine for the past 20 years...Thrash.

Getting Aggressive

Man, I have been slacking off on keeping this thing updated and the vinyl is starting to stack up around my computer.

Pre-order season has arrived. Tons of great new records coming out over the next few months and one of the first to arrive was the new Verse album, Aggression. I love that record labels are now starting to provide digital downloads when you buy vinyl. Save me the hassle of searching Soulseek for mp3's if I'm not buying a CD copy in addition to the vinyl, and in the case of Aggression, Rivalry Records had the digital download available as soon as the pre-orders went up, so I was able to listen to the album as soon as I bought it online. The album is really good, and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. The band had their record release show on the same day that I had tickets to go see Iron Maiden with Jeff, so I had to miss out on that show and any record release merch that the band may have had. To make up for it though, it appears that I may have received one of the rarest pieces of vinyl pressed for this record.

When I received my order from Rivalry, I was confused by the black and clear/yellow split vinyl. The website only listed a black and clear split for pre-orders. I emailed the record label and Kyle, who runs it, wrote me back saying that he had never seen one that had the yellow/orange mixed in with the clear. He said that he likes to have one of every pressing, especially those that are unique, and offered me a "really good trade or money" to take it off my hands. I politely declined, but did make him the promise that if I ever was looking to get rid of it, that I would come to him first. Holy shit, I may have a one of a kind Verse pressing! Only the true record geeks would understand how exciting that is. I tried to explain it to my wife, and she called me retarded since I didn't sell it back to Kyle. In her eyes, it made sense to dump one since I already had another copy. Apparently she hasn't seen the 8 different pressings of Promises Kept that I have in collection...yeah, she would have a field day with that one.

The other Verse records that are new to the collection include the grey and white swirl of the LP, limited to 525. I also got the two pressings of the Story of a Free Man single that Bridge Nine Records released...red vinyl was limited to 700, and the clear vinyl I'm not sure, but may be limited to 500.

Still Here After All These Fucking Years

H2O have been around forever. I remember buying their 7 inch on Equal Vision Records back in the late 90's, and falling in love with their pop induced old school hardcore sound. I've seen them a few times since then, a couple of times in Massachusetts during their earlier years, and then in Portland, Maine with Saves the Day opening up for them. The last time I saw the band live, they were opening up for Sum 41 at the State Theater in Portland. Huge pop punk crowd, barriers between the stage and crowd, and to top it off, I don't think that they played anything off the first album. It was still a fun time, but a far cry from the kind of show that I had come to expect from H20. While I still enjoyed them, I had pretty much written them off as a serious hardcore band...then, here they come, roaring back in 2008, recording a new album for Bridge Nine Records. Nothing To Prove is a huge step up from their last album, Go!. Sure there are some songs that border on too poppy for me, but the majority of the songs on the new album are just killer. If you know me at all, you could guess that Still Here is my favorite song on the album. While it doesn't pack the same punch as Betrayed's Proud to Be, the heart and meaning is the same. A great Straight Edge pride song, without being preachy or condescending. Awesome.

-Still Here-

To all the new kids, this is a way to live

It's not a passing trend, a way to fit in

I never preached shit, I just spoke my mind

To live a positive life and don't waste your time!

Nailed to the X, man, I lived this shit, I am a SEOG don't ever forget it!

All my friends did it all, but I never gave in!

Every Effort Made

When pre-orders went up for the new full length album by The Effort, I was optimistic that it was going to be a strong record. So optimistic in fact, that I ordered the package deal getting the special pre-order pressing with the silk screened cover (mine was number 42 of 75), the black vinyl pressing (limited to 225 pressed), solid blue (250 pressed), the blue/clear splatter (350 pressed), plus the CD and a t-shirt! I was just so impressed by the bands set at the Edge Day show, that I decided to drop some money on this release. Over all there are some great moments on this album. It didn't really grab me immediately, but some of the songs are starting to sink in, and I'm starting to dig this more and more. The Price Of Medication is such a killer song...and Sweet Pete from In My Eyes does guest vocals on Black Sheep. Pete's vocal delivery is very different than I ever heard from him...very raw.

While I still need to build another wall of shelving for my Music Room, this weekend I decided to move in my record collection. Since I had some available space I was also able to put about about a quarter of my CD's in a temporary home.

Record Store Day

April 19th was officially Record Store Day, and had now topped Christmas as my favorite holiday. While I unofficially celebrate the holiday a couple times a month, this day was specifically designated by the independent record store. Locally, I've got a handful of these independent record stores, and I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have so many options. I check messageboards and read about other people ordering everything online with Best Buy as their only option for record stores. That is truly sad, as there is nothing like browsing through a store and hunting for some kind of treasure. I made sure that I showed my appreciation for these local stores and Jeff and I planned on hitting them up on this holiday.

Our first stop was Enterprise Records in Portland. Before we got there, Jeff stated that he didn't really like this store because of the owner. Then while we were there, and Jeff was pulling some vinyl out of the sleeve to inspect the quality, the guy told him that there was no reason for him to check them as they only buy quality records. This certainly rubbed him the wrong way, and it got me laughing to see the guy irritate him. Anyway, this is one of the best places around to pick up some used vinyl at a decent price, and I sure walked away with my fair share.

• Anvil - Hard and Heavy : I had never heard this album from Anvil, but it was in great condition and was their first LP, so I picked it up. Pretty good Canadian metal.
• Dio - Holy Diver : No doubt about it, I love everything Ronnie James Dio has put his name on. After leaving Black Sabbath, Holy Diver was his first solo record, and man, it is damn near perfect. Another album in great condition from Enterprise.
• Rainbow - Rising : Another LP with Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals. Classic Dio and Ritchie Blackmore.
• Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny : I have been on a huge Priest kick lately, and this album is one of their best. Only the second album for the band, and for 1976 it was a huge statement for Heavy Metal. The transitions from the softer songs, like Epitaph, into the screaming guitars of Island of Domination is just mind blowing. Intense. The album cover condition on this one wasn't as good as I would have liked, but the vinyl is in mint condition.
• Judas Priest - Sin After Sin : Another one from Judas Priest. I didn't really appreciate this one when I was younger. I'm not sure why...the similarities to Sad Wings of Destiny are obvious, but as a teenager, songs like The Last Rose of Summer did not help my opinion on this album. As time has gone on, I find myself reaching for this album more and more out of the Priest library.

After our trip to Enterprise Records, we stopped in to Newbury Comics. These guys new how to celebrate the day by offering 15% off on all vinyl, and 35% off on all used CD's. Damn, how can I not show my appreciation for that! In addition to a few CD's, I also picked up the new album by The Sword. Packaged beautifully with a gatefold cover, this thing looks as great as it sounds. Only a metal band could get away with a song named Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians. After Newbury Comics, Jeff and I took a trip over to Bull Moose. While they had no sales, they did have free candy and sodas to go along with the two new CD's that I bought. Truly a great day.

Can't Wait One Minute More

I had downloaded the Attitude album some time ago, and I really liked it, so when Get Outta Town Records was releasing it on vinyl, I figured that I would pick it up. I placed my order on April 4th, 2007. Over one year later, it finally landed in my mailbox. I think this was a World Record for the longest pre-order ever. Thankfully the label's website posted updates as to all the delays, so I wasn't wondering what was going on. When I finally received the package in the mail, I fell in love with the colored vinyl for this release. Released on tuttifruiti colored vinyl and limited to 170 pressed, this thing looks amazing. Definitely worth the wait. When I placed my original order, I also ordered the Everytime We Fall from The Geeks. I wasn't expecting much from this record, but with Tyler raving about how good it was, I figured I'd give it a chance. The boy is hardly ever wrong! This album was great. The copy that I got was on what looked like a brown and yellow split, but the label's discography shows a green and yellow split that was limited to 100 copies...maybe that's the one I got.

Another thing that has been a long time coming, and is starting to come together, is my room for music storage. With Steve finishing up school this week, he finally had some time to help me out on my Music Room Project. We made some good progress today and got the shelving built for my albums. I still need to buy the materials to build another section of shelves on the opposing wall, but man, it felt like we made some real progress today. I'm really looking forward to getting this completed...my sanctuary...just locking myself away with nothing but my music collection. Dropping the needle into the groove on some vinyl, kicking back, and just getting lost in the music.

Acting Like a Maniac

There are some records that change everything. Metal was introduced to the world with Black Sabbath's debut in 1970. Iron Maiden led the charge into the '80's with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. In the early 80's, Metallica was one of those bands that decided to kick things into a higher gear, determined to play louder, faster and heavier than anyone else. Their debut, Kill 'Em All, and the follow up, Ride the Lightning are metal perfection. They made music for themselves. Total fucking attitude.

They recently re-released those first two albums, each one released as a double LP on 180 gram vinyl. They come packaged with a gatefold sleeve, and both of them are just ridiculously sweet looking. Since my local record store failed to carry the new vinyl on the day it was released, I ordered mine directly from metallica.com. Worth every penny spent.

"If you came here to see spandex, and fuckin' eye make-up and all that shit...and the words 'rock n roll baby' in every fuckin' song...this ain't the fuckin' band. We came here to bash some fuckin' heads for 50 minutes. Are you fuckin' with us?"

- James Hetfield at Castle Donnington in 1985-

Connections

I didn't think it was possible for The First Step to come close to matching the perfection of their last album, What We Know. With the Connection EP, they come pretty damn close. Four songs, clocking in around a total playing time of six and a half minutes. This 7 inch is pure hardcore...intense from start to finish. The First Step are one of my top 5 hardcore bands right now, and it is a shame that it has been so long since I've last seen them live. Damn, I think the last time I saw them was at the End of Summer Jam that Rob and I went to. When was that? A year and a half ago?!? Wow...that is too long.

I was really surprised to see Rivalry Records putting up pre-orders for the new EP. I had no idea the band was recording. The pre-orders went up at the same time as the new Paint It Black album, and while I was okay ordering just one copy of Paint It Black, I knew that I was going to need to collect all the pressings of The First Step so I ordered two copies. The two that arrived were on white (limited to 270) and red (limited to 1030). Apparently these sold out pretty quick, because shortly after the first pressings had shipped, Rivalry was doing another pressing.

Shortly after I received my order from Rivalry, I got an email from Aram. He was looking to sell off some of his records to get money for a new guitar, and since I'd helped him out in the past he wanted me to have a chance to go over the list before he posted it on some messageboards. He had a lot of stuff I would have liked to buy, but with money in short supply, I told him that I would take a couple copies of the new TFS record. He had the friends press on black vinyl, limited to 110 copies, and the pressing from the Rivalry Showcase on orange vinyl, limited to 170. I didn't hesitant and sent him an offer. Thanks again Aram, for helping me complete another collection.

Blackalicious

I got the new Paint It Black album, New Lexicon, a few weeks ago. The album is really good, but like their last album, I figure that it will take some time to really grow on me. I swear, Dan Yemin has one of the most intense voices in hardcore today. The words he screams just drip with passion and sincerity. The band is no different live. I've seen them twice, the first time was shortly after their first album was released and Paul and I saw them open up for Strike Anywhere in Boston. Dan opened up their set with the line, "In two seconds, the teacher will begin to speak.", which was a line lifted from the great hip hop artist KRS-One. One of the coolest intros that I've heard. The second time I saw them was when Rob and I drove to Posi Numbers in 2005. During the set, Dan got knocked in the nose and the guy was covered in blood. Apparently, the medication that he was on, thinned his blood and it just flowed from his nose. The guy didn't miss a beat as he ripped through their set. Like I said, intense. Unlike Tyler, who got lucky enough to get the limited friends press from Rivalry, mine was on black vinyl, which was limited to 270 for pre-orders.

Resisting A Career

Man, things have been pretty busy around here lately, and I haven't had time to get this blog updated. Between late nights watching movies and Celtics games with the wife, helping the kids with homework, to spending some time with Jeff as he works his way through a rough time in his life, to just kicking it with our friends Rob and Heidi as we managed some time away for a great dinner and a bad movie. Just loving life. Basketball has started up at work, and I'm playing as much as I can...and that means that I'm usually exhausted at night and falling asleep on the couch by 9:00. I've got so many records sitting here by my computer, that I need to start getting them cleaned up.

A while back I got some vinyl from REVHQ. I was excited to see the Resist record, We Want Our World Back, was finally released. It is always great to see Wrench from Ten Yard Fight and Stand & Fight taking the microphone for a straight edge band. You can't help but hear the similarities between Resist and Wrench's previous bands. Great straight edge hardcore. This vinyl was pressed on blue with black splatter colored vinyl.

The thing I love about Last.fm is all the great new bands that people have recommended to me. Tyler pulled through once again and sent me some mp3's from Career Suicide. The band friggin' rips, and I immediately fell in love with their Attempted Suicide album so I decided to pick it up from REVHQ as well. Sometimes I get stuck in a mood of only wanting to listen to Heavy Metal or 70's hard rock. Bands like Career Suicide bring me back to listening to only hardcore real quick. This copy is on black vinyl.

Back From The Dead

Mercyful Fate released Time in 1994. At the time of it's release, I had pretty much distanced myself from anything Metal. I was getting pretty immersed into the Ebulliton Records scene of politics and political correctness. Music was serious business for me at the time, and the theatrics of a band like Mercyful Fate were ridiculous. While I would still catch the occasional show by Strife or Mouthpiece, for the most part I was going to see shows by scruffy hardcore punk bands in an empty room behind a health food store in Alston, Massachusetts. It was a great way to distance myself from the tough-guy bullshit that was going on in the hardcore scene at the time. These shows were pretty small, roughly only 50 people at the most, and there was no dancing what so ever. Slamdancing was seriously frowned upon in the scene, and therefore we all stood there with our arms crossed, bobbing our heads to the music and watching the band. I saw a lot of really cool bands during this time...like Shotmaker, Bleed, Weston, Rye and Cable, but to be honest, the whole thing was pretty pretentious and way too serious (except for those early Weston shows which were always great fun). Over the next couple of years, the Youth Crew revival kicked in and reminded me how much fun hardcore could be with stagedives and sing alongs. What is the point of music if it can't be fun...and damn it, Metal is fun. Time was re-issued through Night of the Vinyl Dead early in 2008 on white splatter vinyl. Mine is number 309 of 500 pressed.

When I started checking out the back catalog of Night of the Vinyl Dead, I saw that they had released a couple of Sodom albums on vinyl. I hadn't heard this band since I bought Agent Orange in 1989. Code Red was released 10 years after that, and in looking into their discography I was surprised to see that they were still around and releasing albums. I downloaded the albums that the Vinyl Dead had to offer and holy shit, I had forgotten how much fun Metal could be. Sodom are great, and here they are still true to their roots and blasting out some totally ripping German thrash. Code Red just blew me away, and I started searching eBay for the vinyl. Released on red vinyl, and mine is numbered 310 of 500 pressed.