Surviving Da Ruckus

Word is born, baby. It has been a while since I really gave two shits about hip hop, as all my musical attention has been focused on three areas...hardcore, metal, and 70's rock. Growing up, I owned a few rap albums from Public Enemy and KRS-One, but it wasn't until I started hanging out with Rob that I really became interested in the style, and even then, it took some time for me to warm up to it. I remember hanging out at his house and playing Magic the Gathering while he would play all kinds of hip hop. Man, I hated it at first...completely closing my mind to songs about sippin' on 40's and smokin' blunts. Slowly, I started to get into the style...first with Beastie Boys, and rappers with a positive message like Jurassic 5 and Brother Ali, and then I became a fiend downloading hip hop albums left and right. Well, that love affair ended with my introduction to 70's rock, and I starting weeding through all those downloaded CD's, realizing that I downloaded a ton of crap...but still holding on to a few that became classics.

One of those groups that I never got into was the Wu-Tang Clan. Rob was a huge fan, and when they had a show scheduled for northern Maine on January 3rd, he wanted to go. We went to see Ghostface Killah a few years ago, and I wasn't impressed, but he offered to buy my ticket, so I figured what the hell, I'd go with him to the Wu. To my surprise the show was a ton of fun. Fights were breaking out all over the place. It was insane, but I guess that is what you can expect when you get a bunch of drunk, testosterone filled, white boys trying to prove something at a hip hop show. If this was a hardcore show, I would have been depressed at all the schism, but here at a Wu-Tang show, it was fun to watch these meatheads go at it. By the end of the show, security had stopped trying to bust up all the fights, and just let people go at it. I really didn't expect to have such a good time, but I got right up to the front and bounced to the beats...good times. A few days after the concert, I dug out the burned CD that I had for 36 Chambers, and again was surprised to find how fun this album is. A few weeks later, I got to work and found a box in my chair with the vinyl for this classic album...a thank you present from Rob for going to the show with him. My first, and possibly only, hip hop vinyl for the collection. Thanks, man.

Cruelty Free

Back when I ordered the new Ceremony album, I also placed an order with Bridge Nine for the new Cruel Hand album, Prying Eyes. To my surprise, they still had the most limited pressing of the vinyl (200 pressed on black). I consider myself lucky on this one, because this album is incredible, and should have sold out long before I got there. If I was more familiar with it when I put together my year-end review, this may have made my top 10 for 2008. Prying Eyes is a huge step up from 2007's Without A Pulse.

Once again, the Bridge Nine mailorder crew went the extra mile with my order. A while back, they really helped me out when the system didn't fully complete processing my order, and by the time we realized it, the last show pressing of Champion's Promises Kept had sold out. They didn't need to do it, but they still managed to pull out a copy for Rob and myself. This time, Matt included a vegan recipe for corn beef hash. I have yet to try it, but it sure sounds good.

• 1/2 cup cooked aduki beans
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1/2 cup diced potato
• 1/2 diced onion

Cook the diced onion in 1 tbs oil until browned and a little caramelized. Next, mash up the beans with a fork in a bowl, and pour into the onion mixture, adding the other tbs of oil. Mix in the soy sauce, tahini, and potato and cook for about 10 minutes until the entire thing is crispy and delicious.

This Is Not A Test

Last night Aram had a bunch of ebay auctions end for some test presses that he was selling. I bid hard for a couple of the Right Idea test presses, but in the end I came up short. I'm not too interested in collecting test presses, as they typically go for a lot more money than I'm able to spend, but goddamn, I was hoping to get my hands on at least one of these.

A few months ago, Aram put out a list of records that he was selling at set prices. There was so much shit that I wanted to take off his hands, but I only settled for two...The First Step's Connection EP on red with white labels (limited to 270 for the European tour), and the Core Values demo 7 inch on gold (limited to 100). These are two of the best bands in recent years, and I was excited to add these to the collection.

We are getting a major snow storm today, so with the kids out of school, I decided to work from home instead of travelling into the office. On my "lunch break" I decided to pull out my collections for both of these bands.

The gold vinyl pressing from React! completes my Get The Most collection.



While my collection for TFS is far from complete, this latest Connection 7 inch was the last one that I needed for my Rivalry pressings. I'm only missing the pre-order cover from Waking the Dead Records to really be complete...and I haven't even started collecting the demo and Open Hearts 7 inches. Either way, it makes for a nice picture.

Soul Out Of Control

Damn, I've had these records for a while now. Soul Control came up with this idea to release four one-sided 7 inches, with each cover being a piece of a larger picture when they all come together. Kind of a cool idea, but one song 7 inches seem like a bit of a waste. Still, when the band announced that the first in the series was up for pre-order, I jumped on it. The bands album, Involution, released on Rivalry, was great record...full of driving songs with a strong Burn influence. Great stuff. Shortly after the album was released, I believe the band replaced their singer, and I don't think that this new 7 inch is as nearly as strong. Still pretty good though. I kind of lost control when I was placing the order, and ordered both the pre-order pressing and the regular pressing. When I got the order, I felt like a moron for ordering both since the only difference between the two is the Triple B Records stamp and hand numbering on the pre-order press. Cool for the collector, but in hindsight, I probably could have done without the regular press, which was limited to 350.

In addition to the new Soul Control, I also picked up the new Foundation 7 inch. I had seen the band play at the Edge Day show back in '07, and I really liked the mid-90's hardcore sound they were playing...kind of like early Unbroken or Outspoken. The 7 inch was a bit of a disappointment when I first heard it, but it is slowly growing on me, and I'm liking it more with each listen. The packaging on this record is quality...great layout and artwork for the sleeve, with the vinyl pressed on a cool blue and green split. Limited to 150.

What Remains

With the Mouthpiece discography being released on Revelation this week, it seemed appropriate that I finally get this record up on the blog. I was on a big Mouthpiece kick a few weeks ago, and so I hit ebay to try and find some vinyl for my collection. I was surprised when I was able to pick up their LP for only $15, and once I received it, I saw why. This copy had no lyric sheet insert. The seller was some ebay store, so I'm sure that the guy had no idea that it was supposed to come with one, so I'm not blaming him...but how did the original owner lose the insert! I can't understand why people don't take care of their stuff, and how stuff like this can even happen. It boggles my mind. I've seen friends that keep piles of of CD's, some without a case, in the backseat of their car. I know countless people that don't keep their shit organized in any kind of fashion...just stacks of CD's in no particular order. Okay, I'll admit that I'm a little obsessive when it comes to my collection, but how these people let their records get scratched to shit, and the album covers beat to hell is beyond me.

Dreams That Move You

Okay, so when I had a dream about Ceremony's new album, Still Nothing Moves You, I figured that it was time to add the vinyl that I picked up last week to the blog. In the dream, I was a concert...not sure who was playing, but Chris Wrenn from Bridge Nine Records was there selling merch. I was the only one at the table and I noticed that he was selling the Ceremony album on clear green and coke bottle clear vinyl. I was so surprised because I had no idea that those pressings existed. I had stumbled upon something special and rare, and I was starting to ask him about them...then I woke up. You know that the obsession is taking over when it starts to infiltrate your dreams!

Anyway, when Bridge Nine put this album up for pre-order, I was feeling too broke to place an order, so I didn't jump on it. A month or so passed before I even bothered downloading the album...I don't know why, but I'm always late to the party when it comes to Ceremony. Christ, I think their last album was out for at least six months before I bothered checking it out. Just like Violence Violence, I fell in love with the album after I decided to give it a shot. I finally placed an order with B9, but they only had the second pressing of the album on olive green vinyl (limited to 1,000, I think). After I received the record in the mail, I noticed that the local record store had the first pressing on grey vinyl (limited to 900). I figured that since Bridge Nine was sold out of it, I better pick it up before I had nightmares about trying to find this color on ebay.

Welcome to Boston, Part 4 (Xmas Finale)

Christmas came around and I got the presents from my brother, Paul. Sure I helped steer him in the right direction, but he did make some great choices. He also spent more than I expected him to, so I'm grateful for that as well. Three classics.

Man, I love me some Jimi Hendrix, and this first album from 1967 is his best. This copy is some new Back to Black reissue, and the packaging on this is fantastic. Nice heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. It also includes a booklet with some reflections on the band.

Another classic reissue is the 1977 Young Loud and Snotty album from Dead Boys. I downloaded this album a couple of years ago, and love the attitude and aggression in these songs. Dead Boys was the band that originally did Sonic Reducer that has been covered numerous times, but the first time I heard it was on Overkill's first album. I've tried to check out other Dead Boys stuff, but this is the only album that grabs me.

The third, and last, classic reissue that Paul bought me was Death's 1987 album, Scream Bloody Gore. This album was re-released on Back On Black Records, not to be confused with the Back To Black Hendrix reissue. A few months ago, I was on a mission to collect a bunch of Back On Black releases, but since they are expensive imports and I can only find them at online distros, my obsession died after only obtaining two albums. Still, I hope to continue to pick up a few here and there. So I was really happy to find a copy of Death's first album at Newbury comics, and thankful that Paul picked it up for me. Great gatefold packaging, with an awesome clear with red splatter colored vinyl.

My Mom and Paul both got me the Radio Silence book, so I returned one of them and put the money towards a new USB turntable so that I can easily rip my vinyl to the computer. Thanks for everything Paul!

Welcome to Boston, Part 3 (The Raw Power of Dischord)

Shortly after our last trip to Boston, Jeff was desperate to get back to the Newbury Comics store in Harvard Square, and pick up some vinyl that he had to leave behind. With Christmas right around the corner, I wasn't too anxious to get back down, since I had no extra money to spend. I happened to be catching up with my brother, Paul, and reminiscing about the trips that we used to take down to that store. I mentioned to him that Jeff wanted to take another ride down, and Paul said that he would be interested in going, and that he could buy me a couple of Christmas presents while we were down there. Sweet! It wasn't long and we had a trip planned. While we were there, I only bought one record, the Four Seven Inches comp from Dischord on clear vinyl. I downloaded this years ago, but for some reason I never really listened to it...just burned it to CD and threw it in the pile. After reading blogs from Marcus and Lins, and seeing each of them post about S.O.A., I figured that I needed to give it another listen. Holy shit, these records are amazing. Teen Idles and S.O.A. are the better of the two, but Government Issue and Youth Brigade were really good as well. So here we are, over 25 years after their original release, and I'm finally getting into these bands. It's a shame that it took me so long to get into them. I guess that's bound to happen, when my mindset used to be to download anything and everything...some great shit gets overlooked. Thankfully, I was reminded to go back and revisit it. Classic D.C. hardcore.

Since Jeff said that it just wouldn't be right for me to leave the store with only one record, he said that he would buy me one. I had seen the Raw Power album on our first trip, but I ended up putting it back so that I could grab something else. This time I wasn't going to leave it behind. Cool Italian hardcore from 1985. It was released on Toxic Shock Records, and back when I was getting into punk and hardcore when I was in High School, I used to use Toxic Shock for all my mailorder. Apparently, Giuseppe, the guitarist died recently, and so the band reunited in his memory and did a couple of tours. Toxic Shock also decided to re-release the bands record to support the tour.

The biggest surprise was that other than what he bought me for Christmas, Paul didn't really find anything that he wanted. How do you spend an afternoon in one of the coolest record stores in the Boston area, and walk away empty handed!?!?! Blows my mind.

End Of A Year

2008 is behind us, and it's time to reflect on another year of music. The year was certainly strong for both Hardcore and Metal. For 2007, I only made top 5 lists, but with so many great releases over the past year, I could easily stretch it out to list my top 10. Even with so many great new records coming out this year, my aquisitions were down in numbers. This year I only added 279 new records and CD's to the collection....down from 362 in 2007. The number of seven inch records (38) and LPs (111) stayed reletively the same from last year to this year, but the number of CDs (55) and burned CDRs (75) took a big hit....dropping by almost 100 compared to last year.

It was a strange year for Hardcore. I expected big things from the big three, Have Heart, Verse, and I Rise, but in the end, only Verse managed to sneak into my top 10. The top 3 were easy enough, but the rest were diffictult to place. So, here you go, my top 10 hardcore records for 2008.

The year also surprised me with a bunch of strong Metal releases. Fantastic "comeback" records from Metallica and Testament top the list, rounded out with some solid new Thrash albums.

The Time Is Now

Man, things have been incredibly busy here over the past couple of weeks. The holidays and stuff just ate up all of my time. I've got some new records that I haven't even had time to listen to yet. Shit's been crazy. One of my projects has been completing the shelving in my Music Room, the walk-in closet dedicated to nothing but record and CD storage. Damn, this has been a long, drawn out project. Back in April, we finished one wall of shelving for my vinyl, and here we are eight months later, finally finishing the opposite wall for my CD's. Steve came over on Saturday and helped me figure out the design, and get all the wood cut, and then I got it all assembled over the next few days. With today off from work, I spent about 6 hours organizing the room, and getting CD's on the shelves. Now I just need to buy a table to hold my stereo, finish the flooring, and this room will be complete.

Now that I've moved all the CD's to their proper place, I have a ton of room for more records.

I can't believe that I almost filled all of the shelves on my CD wall. 2,284 CD's in all. Along with the 634 albums and 705 seven inch records, this is my obsession.

Welcome to Boston: Part 2 (Celtics vs Magic)

My second trip to Boston in two weeks...this time for our annual trip to a Boston and Orlando game. Rob, Brent and I had plans to stop at Nuggets for some record shopping, but to our dismay, the store is closed on Monday. I guess that I missed the store hours that are posted on the front door when I was there a week ago! Too bad...there was a 97a picture disc that I was planning on picking up. Oh well, with the store closed, we decided to go and kill some time at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. We were surprised to find that Newbury Comics had opened a store there since our last visit. Yes! Record shopping was back on! I head to the vinyl section and was on the verge of picking up the new Ceremony album when I found the new Toxic Holocaust album. Pretty much a one man show from Joel Grind, as he plays guitar, bass, and sings. This is some pretty raw thrash. Really fuckin' cool. Tim Junk Food posted about this record a couple months ago, so like his copy, I thought that I was going to find some yellow vinyl inside. It was kind of a cool surprise to find green wax instead...especially since we were on our way to see the Celtics. Relapse seems to press vinyl colors limited to 300, so I'm going to have to assume that is the pressing for this one.

After killing a ton of time walking around Boston, the three of us made our way to TD Banknorth Garden for the game. Following the tradition for when we go to these games, Boston wins. This was Brent's first trip to a game, and it was a lot of fun throwing up high fives as the Celtics steamrolled the Magic to end the game. Good times.

Welcome to Boston: Part 1

I already had plans at the first of December for a trip to Boston when Jeff asked if I wanted to make a trip down for some record shopping at the end of November. At first I declined. I already had plans to for a week later, I shouldn't spend the money, and the real reason was that I was afraid that my wife would kill me if I went record shopping again. In the end I said "fuck it", and took Jeff up on his offer. The guy has been through some rough shit this year, so I figured that if it was a shopping trip that he wanted, then damn it, he deserved it. Thankfully, my wife understood, and I didn't catch too much shit for it.

Our first stop was at In Your Ear Records. The store is packed, wall to wall, with used vinyl. You have to dig through a lot of shit to find any kind of treasures, but that is all part of the fun. Knowing that we had a couple of other stores to go to, I tried to not blow my entire load in the first store, and kept my purchases to a minimum.

• Deep Purple - Burn : This is an album that I would have never expected myself to get into. The main reason is that David Coverdale is the singer...yeah, the guy from Whitesnake. But seriously, this friggin' rocks. Great album, and this copy was in such great condition, I couldn't resist. $10.00.


• Dio - Mystery : A 12 inch single from Dio's Last in Line album. Nothing too special, but I have a small collection of Dio records, so I needed this one. $4.00.


• The Meatmen - War of the Superbikes : Man, The Meatmen are, for better or for worse, classics. Rude, crude and as far from PC as you can get...but I'll be damned it they don't rage. This album isn't as hardcore as We're the Meatmen and you Suck, but it is still a lot of fun. Considering how un-PC this band is, it always struck me as odd that Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker, from Minor Threat, played on this record. $15.00.

Our next stop was at Nuggets. This store was kind of a bust. There was just so much junk...like they hadn't added anything new since I was there last year. I know that the owner sells stuff on eBay, so I'm sure that all the cool shit ends up there, and unfortunately it will probably mean the death of his store. I was prepared to walk out of there empty handed when I found Nothing To Nothing by Tear It Up. I was kind of surprised to find this at Nuggets, as they don't typically carry any hardcore or punk. I already own this one on CD, but the album is so good, I figured that I'd drop the $15.00 to have it on vinyl as well.

On a whim, Jeff and I decided to check out Newbury Comics in Harvard Square. I have a lot of history with this store, as Paul and I used to make annual trips down to Newbury's back in the early 90's. Man, we would save our money for months, and just go nuts, buying stacks of albums and CDs. This was at a time when mailorder wasn't exactly reliable, and Maine didn't really have any kind of independent record store...these trips to Newbury's was all we had. Somewhere down the line, Newbury Comics opened a store in Maine, and the trips to Harvard Square stopped. How long has it been? 10 years? 15 years? I'm not exactly sure, but when Jeff and I walked into the store, it was as amazing as it was all those years ago. It wasn't anywhere near as good as Generation Records in NYC, but it kicked the ass of anything that we have around here. The two of us agreed...if we had come to this store first, we wouldn't have bothered flipping through the dust bins of the other two stores. Since I was already running short on cash, I only picked up two pieces of vinyl...oh yeah, I got a couple of CD's here as well.

• Suicidal Tendencies : I've been meaning to order this directly from Frontier Records for months now. When I saw it at Newbury's, I figured that it was as good a time as any to finally buy it. The bands classic first album, and along with Th' Inbred and Dead Kennedys, one of the first punk albums that I ever bought...of course my original copy was on cassette. This is the 25th anniversary pressing, on red and silver vinyl...which looks absolutely amazing. For this pressing, the LP jacket features a spot varnished logo, similar to what Champion did with their logo on their live album. Nice touch.
• Annihilation Time III - Tales of the Ancient Age : I have fallen in love with this band. No one can touch this band on their blend of classic rock and punk. It doesn't sound like a really appealing mix, but damn, this shit is intense. A great mash of Black Flag and Thin Lizzy. The guitar work on Bald Headed Woman is so friggin' good, and the line in Germ Freak is a complete classic..."Hey baby, you wanna dance? I just shit my pants. Fuck you.". I know it may sound retarded, but you've got to hear it to appreciate the greatness...okay, even after you hear it, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't "get it". Oh well, this album is easily in my top 5 for 2008. This pressing is on Tee Pee Records. At some point, I may need to track down the vinyl that Reflections Records released.

Losing My Head Over Dekapitator

Relapse released The Storm Before The Calm from Dekapitator last year. If I had heard this when it was released, it would have certainly made it to the top list for my top Metal albums in 2007. Man, this album thrashes from start to finish, but from dudes with names like Matt Hellfield, Dan Bulldoze, D. Attacker and Andy "Atomic" Maniac, it is exactly what you would expect. Great stuff from one of the better bands to come out of the thrash revival. This album was pressed on orange vinyl and limited to 1,000.

You Complete Me

What a surprise! On Monday, I got home at 1:00 in the morning from the Celtics game, and there next to the computer was a box from Youngblood Records. What the Hell? I know that I'm not waiting for anything from Youngblood. I open the box and inside, along with the Fired Up 7 inch on purple, and the Lights Out LP on white (limited to 202), is a note that simply says "From Marcus". A few posts back I mentioned that I was missing these two records, and Marcus helps out my endless quest, and goes ahead and contacts Sean from Youngblood and has him send them to me. Wow. Impressive in the fact that this Lights Out pressing has been sold out for a while. I haven't known Marcus that long, and then only through our blogs, so the level of generosity from this man is mind blowing. Thank you so much, man.

So with this final pressing of the Lights Out LP, my collection of Overload is complete.

Having An Ebay Powertrip

I'm still trying to get caught up, going through the pile of new records sitting here beside me at the computer. Here is the end of my September shopping spree on ebay. I could not let this one pass me by when I saw it up for auction...the record release pressing of Powertrip from Nothing Done. I love this band and on a whim I did a search to see if anything was available on ebay. Nothing Done records don't show up very often, so I was happy to find this, and even happier that it only went for $10.50. Considering this is limited to only 60 with the special record release cover, I was prepared to pay a lot more than I did. Pretty sweet find. Mine was hand numbered 42.

Buy The Best...Fuck The Rest

I'm not sure if I would classify them as Hardcore or Metal...but either way SSS fuckin' rule. I've been looking forward to the release of their new album, The Dividing Line, but I had not been able to find it in any stores. I emailed Thrashgig back and forth a few times, but I never really got a final price from them on what it would cost for me to pre-order the new album along with some other pressings of the first album. Finally, I said "fuck it", and just went to ebay. Found the album in the Earache ebay store...but not just any regular pressing...no, I found they were selling the special Splatter Set (although mine is lacking in a lot of the splatter pattern), which is limited to 100. It cost about twice as much as the regular color pressings, so I know that Earache was probably just looking to squeeze some extra cash out of the collectors, but screw it, I bought it anyway. The album is better than I had anticipated. 20 songs of kick ass thrash. Plenty of songs about skating (Skate and Destroy, Ride the Best) sure give it a genuine old school feel. The 7 inch that came with the album features some antics from Frank Sidebottom. I had no idea what a Frank Sidebottom was, so I did a search on youtube....what the fuck?!?!!? I'm not sure what to make of him...some dude in a mask singing these absurd simple songs...I don't know if it is for a children's show or what...friggin' bizarre. Anyway, Frank does some funky intros to a few of the songs on the 7 inch, and then does an interpretation of his Christmas song about SSS. "SSS is fantastic in the morning, SSS is fantastic in the evening...". Like I said, friggin' bizarre character...but on the 7 inch it comes across as pretty funny. Get this record and thrash.

Putting Me Six Feet Under

A while back, I got an email from Six Feet Under Records, saying that they only had a few copies left of the tri-color vinyl for the True Colors album. Afraid that I was going to miss the opportunity to buy this pressing, without having to search and bid through eBay, I immediately placed an order. Limited to 158 pressed for this color.

Six Feet Under also had the Perspective 7 inch from True Colors in stock as well. Since this was released through Powered Records, I was excited that I was able to pick it up through a US distributor. This is going to be another one fighting for the top spot on my best of 2008 list. What a great band...I really regret not seeing them on their US tour a couple months ago. 425 pressed on red and white wax.

I have fallen in love with this record label recently. I had never really heard of them before, until I placed my first order with them a few months ago for the retarded Down To Nothing 7 inch. I started to check out the label a bit more closely after that order and found a bunch of great records that they have released. To start things off, I ordered and introduced myself to the Loud and Clear album. I ordered the gold and silver pressing with the silk screened cover...mine was numbered 117 of 160. Holy shit, this album is awesome. Straight ahead, rippin' hardcore with the singer of Justice...and not even coming close to that weak-ass Supertouch sound. Right on.

Finally, I also grabbed the Mental demo 7 inch...limited to 350 on red and blue vinyl. I'm not sure why I sat on this record for so long and didn't pick it up. Now I wish that I had bought one of the fucked up pressings that Six Feet Under were selling a while back. This record has Growing Pains, which is one of my all time favorite Mental songs...no one took this shit for real, you fuckin' pussies changed. Ha! Awesome.

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Colored Vinyl

I've been wanting to expand my Slayer vinyl collection for a while now, so I was very excited to hear that Metal Blade was finally making the first four records available on vinyl again. I headed over to my local record store the day that they were to be released, and asked if they were planning on getting any in stock. The guy behind the counter checked the computer and said that their distributor had already sold out, and they would not be getting any in. I rushed back to work and jumped online to check Very Distro, and as luck would have it, they had some available. They were a little expensive at $24.00 a piece, but I still didn't hesitate to pick up Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits. It's a good thing too, because I just checked and they are now out of stock on both of these LPs. This is my first vinyl copy of Show No Mercy, and the vinyl looks beautiful. The red and black colors look amazing. I wish they did Hell Awaits with the similar style. Instead, the blood splattered gold vinyl is a picture disc, and not nearly as cool looking. I was hoping to pick up Haunting the Chapel and Live Undead this month, but here we are on the 11th, and I've already dropped way too much money on eBay, so I'll have to wait until another time to finish the collection of these new releases.

If It's Here When We Get Back, I'll Take One

Another record from my eBay shopping spree. This one is the final chapter for One Up...a two song 7 inch. I remember seeing this for sale when Rob and I went to Posi Numbers in 2005. It was the second day of the fest, and I had already dropped a large amount of cash on records, so I didn't pick it up. Fast forward three years, and I still hadn't heard this record yet. I love One Up, so I'm not sure why I sat on this for so long. The band had an amazing progression, and because they would cover a Turning Point song when they played live, I suppose I would use that band as a fair comparison. The band started out with some pretty raw Youth Crew hardcore, and slowly evolved into something much more polished, without losing any of the passion or urgency that made them great. This last record is a testament to that, with one fantastic original song, and a cover of If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours by Texas is the Reason. It is so good that I would prefer it over the original version. This copy of The Single is pressed on green vinyl. There is another pressing on blue, but I have no idea how many were pressed of each.

Hit The Lights

For the most part, I've been avoiding eBay for a while. I'd mostly been focusing on buying new releases, and had really started to slack off on filing in old holes in the collection. Then I stumbled upon The Endless Quest. I could immediately relate, as Marcus was using his blog, like mine, to capture all the new vinyl that he was adding to his collection. I had started my blog back in 2006 on a whim...just something to occupy my endless fascination with collecting records, and I was completely amazed to find someone else doing the exact same thing. After reading through Marcus' blog, I suddenly had the itch again to start buying some older vinyl and dove headfirst back into eBay. My wife is still giving me a hard time about our finances so I did manage some restraint and only looked to pick up some crucial stuff for relatively low prices. The first thing that caught my eye was the Overload LP from Lights Out. Man, I can't get enough of this album, and right now it is the album that I have listened to the most over the past few years...yes, I'm a complete geek and I actually keep track of that stuff. I picked up the "pre-press" of the album, with the screened cover and photocopied lyric sheet, which was limited to 325. I also got the pink colored vinyl press, which was limited to 225 as was sent out for pre-orders. I think that the only pressing that I am missing for this album is the second pressing on white vinyl.