Night Songs

Earlier this year, my friend Rob sent me a message, confiding in me that as a guilty pleasure he was currently listening to Poison. I decided to play along, and half-jokingly replied back that when it came to 80's hair bands, that I was more of a Cinderella man. Things escalated quickly from there, as he challenged me by asking if I had the vinyl for Night Songs. Not one to back down, I immediately went to eBay and started searching for the record. I placed a couple of low bids, hoping to get a copy for a steal, but I was outbid at the last second, and I walked away empty handed. Shortly after that flurry of activity, Cinderella were soon forgotten about.

I was recently at a work function downtown, and had a few hours to kill between activities. It was a pretty chill afternoon walking the streets and hitting the four record stores within a few blocks of each other. I hit pay dirt at Moody Lords, which sells a bunch of vintage clothing, and occasionally has an respectable used section for Metal vinyl. When I saw the Cinderella LP with the $8 price tag, I couldn't resist the opportunity to finally add this record to the collection.

Don't let the pink and purple hues, and the big hair fool you, this is a killer rock album. While Cinderella would get lumped in with the Poison's and the Warrant's of the 80's, they were more blues than bubblegum...lots of early Aerosmith influence.

Listening to this record today, I can believe just how much I'm loving it. You know, I've never paid any attention to the band's follow up, Long Cold Winter...I remember kind of digging the Gypsy Road single, but I never cared enough to go deeper than that. I may have to grab a sneaky download and check it out.

Sign Of The Witch

Two years ago, things got kind of crazy. I was obsessed with Orchid, and I spent a silly amount of money chasing every vinyl pressing for their entire catalog. Under normal circumstances, this might be an easily attainable goal, but since we were dealing with Nuclear Blast, it was straight up over the top. When all was said and done, I ended up with 35 pieces of vinyl...with the majority of them only released that year. The chase was fun, but in the end it burned me the fuck out. When Nuclear Blast came through with yet another pressing, I dropped out of the game. What is the point in racing to the finish line, only to find that it keeps getting further away?

That experience changed my view on record collecting, and I walked away from it a bit more jaded than I was before. Collecting always meant something to me...it was historical and important...but after the "Orchid incident" I saw that not all labels have such a pure mindset. It isn't always about the music, and at times it is about how many units they can move. To me, it corrupts the game, and I won't play that anymore. When Nuclear Blast announced the new Orchid 10 inch, Sign Of The Witch, on six different colors of vinyl, I was quite content to pick up my one piece and then bow out.

This four song 10 inch is well worth the price of admission though. While there were obvious nods to Sabbath with the occasional riff here and there over the years, when I listen to these new songs, I just hear Orchid. The band have grown into their own...although there is still the tie to Sabbath with this release through the artwork on the insert, which was also used on Sabbath's Greatest Hits album from '77.

300 pressed on red vinyl.

Sticky Bros.

This year I haven't been too tuned into what's going on in the Hardcore scene, and as I've been trapped in an 80's Metal playlist, I haven't been very excited to check out new releases. It the rare case, where a Hardcore release catches my attention, I typically just settle for one copy, and pass on throwing money at every available pressing. With Stick Together, all that went out the window.

I was a big fan of the first two Stick Together 7 inches, and was really looking forward to the band's first full length. Only in Hardcore could you call a 19 minute record an LP...any other genre and it would be considered an EP.

Man, this thing does not disappoint. I'm not a huge fan of the layout for the front cover, but I love that the band stuck a nice big X on there. Straight edge in your face!

I love the nod to Sick Of It All with the photo layout on the insert. Classic Blood, Sweat and No Tears look.

Clear vinyl was limited to 200, with 500 pressed on blue, and 800 on black.

Breaking All The House Rules

In my head, I have a list of record collections that I want to tackle. Some of them, like the Megaforce silver labels or Black Sabbath UK Vertigo pressings, are works in progress...others have started to take root with a few pieces of vinyl, like UK Vertigo pressings for Thin Lizzy, or UK Neat pressings...while others, like the green Combat labels, are just waiting to get started.

Also on the list of things that I want to focus on are the Bronze pressings for Motorhead, and UK pressings for the Budgie albums. When my friend Jeff quickly grabbed a few of the Motorhead records for himself, I felt like I needed to compete and go in a different direction, and immediately jumped to see what I could find for Budgie vinyl.

Since the first Budgie album that I ever listened to was the Bandolier LP, when I first discovered them back in 2007, it made sense to me that it be the first one that I picked up on vinyl.

I was initially hesitant to buy records through the discogs marketplace, but more and more I'm finding that is the place I check for used vinyl, and overall, the experience has been great.

This album rules so much, and I've been listening to it every other day for the past three or four months. Such an underrated classic, and Budgie is slowly climbing my list of all-time favorite bands.

Sheavy Chase

A couple months ago, I picked up my first piece of sHeavy vinyl. Having never heard The Electric Sleep before, it immediately increased my appreciation for this band. I couldn't get enough of that album, and was soon looking to check out the follow up from 2000, Celestial Hi-Fi.

While Celestial Hi-Fi didn't set the hook immediately, I've found that with repeat listens, I enjoy it more and more. God damn, this band has jumped on my radar big time this year. Such a great Sabbath/doom/stoner sound.

I've been pretty hot on this band recently, and it was very tempting to spend the extra money and buy the clear vinyl Die Hard edition direct from Rise Above. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and I saved the $60 shipping from overseas, and just bought the US pressing at a local record store. 1,000 pressed on solid purple vinyl.

Done Dying For A Test Press

A couple months ago, Marcus gave me a heads up that Workshed was selling test pressings of the upcoming Done Dying LP. I sat on this piece of news for a few days, internally debating if I wanted to spend the money or not. I'd been hit with a few big expenses this year, and with the thoughts of other home improvement projects dancing in my head, I knew that the wise move would be to walk away, and save my money. After sitting on this choice for three days, I figured that if Workshed still had the test press available, then I'd buy one. I was fairly certain that they would be gone by this point, so I was very surprised when the label emailed me back to let me know they still had some on hand. Hey...a man can only stay strong for so long, and I bought one.

If I'd seen the sleeve for this test as soon as they were available, I might not have waited so long before deciding to buy one. Great black and white design with hand written labels.

I loved the first two Done Dying 7 inches, and this LP continues down that same well worn path. Straight forward, no frills Hardcore is what Dan O and Mike Hartsfield do best.

Hand numbered out of 20 pressed. I was happy to receive number 9, which coincidentally is the same number I own for the Dress For Distress test.

Bedemon

Bedemon features Bobby Liebling plus a couple of dudes from the early Pentagram years. It was basically a project of guitarist Randy Palmer, who was in Pentagram in '74 and '75. Prior to joining the band, he wanted to record some songs that he had written. Nothing too serious...he just wanted to get them down on tape for his own enjoyment. He recruited the singer and drummer of Pentagram, plus another friend, and they laid down these tracks.

The recording for these songs is pretty rough, and sound like demo recordings...because basically, that is what they are. The fact that these songs were never expected to see the light of day, makes this a really cool find...especially for those interested is the early Doom sound. Those Sabbath riffs with the voice of Pentagram...this shit is history right here.

While this isn't the first time that these songs have been released, this Relapse pressing is the first official release, so it is cool to finally see the band get credit and compensated for this record.

Relapse did a great job with the packaging, with a giant insert/poster that details the history of the band with stories behind the recording process and each song that was written. Very cool to finally learn about this hidden gem.

I'm A Sick Boy And There's No Cure

A few months ago, I picked up a handful of punk singles. New records in the mail is always exciting, but receiving those 7 inches from G.B.H., The Exploited and Dead Kennedys gave me a bit of an extra charge. There are times when blogging about new releases can get a bit monotonous, and I'll procrastinate on writing about them because I struggle to find the words. However, with those old punk singles, there was a new spark of excitement. Even though I'd first heard those songs 30 years ago, finally owning an original vinyl pressing brought my appreciation to a new level. Suddenly, I had a new obsession.

I know that I have trouble concentrating on finishing what I've started, and I bounce from one obsession to the next without ever completing any of them. I'm trying to lock shit down better this year, and after a few months of "window shopping" for G.B.H. singles, I finally found a couple in the States, and pulled the trigger.

There are two different pressings for the Sick Boy 7 inch from G.B.H.. One with the black an read cover, and one with the blue and orange cover. I assume that the black an red cover is the original pressing, and blue and orange is a later press...but really, I have no idea. Either way, I'd never seen the blue and orange cover until I started digging into the G.B.H. vinyl options, so that was the one that I decided to grab first. Of course I'm going to need the black and red cover at some point as well.

Sick Boy is classic G.B.H., but the two other songs on here, Am I Dead Yet and Slit Your Own Throat, are a couple of my favorite songs from them.

The Do What You Do 7 inch was a bit more difficult to come by. Sure the 12 inch version, with the two extra songs, seemed to be easy enough to get my hands on, but I really wanted the original 7 inch pressing. There will be time for the 12 inch later down the road...maybe I'll have to do another Sick Boy/Do What You Do post with the variations that I didn't pick up this time around.

Goddamn. I can't listen to G.B.H. these days without thinking about all those roadtrips to Boston and Providence for shows around 1990/1991. G.B.H. was mandatory for the car ride back home at midnight...pop a couple No-Doz, crack open a Jolt Cola, and turn up the stereo for the two to three hour drive back. The best of times.

Permanent Death

It probably comes as no surprise that I was late to the party for Red Death. I'm not doing a great job at keeping up with new Hardcore bands this year, and I'm going to really need someone to be working the hype machine overtime if I'm going to pay it the slightest bit of attention.

I'd heard the Red Death name thrown around a bit when their album was released. Chris over at Unwavering Spirit posted about it, and then Sandwell started giving it some praise, comparing it to early Corrosion Of Conformity, I figured that I'd grab a quick download, and see if it was worth the Crossover hype I was hearing.

At the time, I was giving the last Iron Age record repeat listens, and following that album up with the new Red Death was a perfect combination. Those raw and raging guitar riffs! After giving it a few spins, I knew it was time to finally grab the vinyl.

Because I slept on this one for so long, the limited red vinyl was long sold out. 851 pressed on black vinyl.

Straight Edge Razor

In case you can't get enough Brendan Radigan bands...XfilesX, Rival Mob, Battle Ruins, Magic Circle, Stone Dagger...React! Records gives us one more with Straight Razor.

Back in February, I was pretty excited to grab a test press for this 7 inch. It was a cool experience to own a record that wasn't yet available to even order at the time.

Straight Razor were a straight edge band, but honestly, I was hoping this was going to be a bit over the top with its edge-ness. I expected this to be right up in your face, with lyrics in the vein of Slapshot. Radigan has an over the top personality with his bands, and I expected this one to follow suit. Basically we just get more Rival Mob style lyrics...still good, but not what I was hoping for.

150 on gold vinyl, and 350 on black.

Gloves Of Metal

The progress I've been making with my Megaforce collection has been slow going this year. Despite the snails pace, I've managed to knock one heavy hitter from the Want List with Metallica's Kill 'Em All LP. For Megaforce silver label pressings, most people may consider that album, or even Ride The Lightning, as the label's holy grail. I'm here to challenge that theory, and present you with what I believe to be the biggest catch from the silver label pressings.

If you do a quick search for Kill 'Em All on eBay, you'll find that without fail, someone is always looking to unload a first press copy with the silver Megaforce label. Now check for Manowar's Into Glory Ride, and chances are you will come up empty. Sure there are plenty of options to pick up the black label pressing with the red Manowar logo, and some of them may even be listed as a "first pressing", but make no mistakes...the silver label is the real deal for an original pressing. I have no idea what the pressing numbers are for this record, nor when Megaforce switched to the black labels, all I know is that they are harder than fuck to find...hell, popsike only shows two copies ever sold...and one of them is the one I grabbed. It shows up so infrequently, that there were times that I doubted that it even existed...like it was myth...the legend of the great white whale. When I finally saw one available on eBay, I pounced. The cost wasn't a concern, I finally had one in my sights, and I wasn't going to miss.

The funny thing about this quest is that, at the time, I wasn't really sold on this Manowar album. Sure, I've been a fan of everything from Hail To England through Kings Of Metal, but for Into Glory Ride and Battle Hymns...I just never bothered. Thanks to my obsession with those early Megaforce pressings, I finally checked out Into Glory Ride, and I'm glad for the push. This is classic Manowar, and I can't believe I've ignored this album for so long.

Got to love those simple silver labels. This record puts my collection at 10 out of 19, and knocks the first three Megaforce releases off the Want List.

Mos Limited Generator

You know how some bands only release new music once every five years (Iron Maiden, I'm looking at you)? Mos Generator are not that kind of band. Seems like every time I turn around, Tony Reed and company are releasing something new.

The band had a new piece of vinyl ready to go for Record Store Day this year, but apparently they weren't happy with the pressing quality, so they scrapped the whole thing. They had 25 of them pressed, which I assume was a test pressing. The band sold a few to close friends and fans, and then put up the last 10 in their webstore. I jumped on it as soon as I saw the announcement, and managed to grab a copy of the most limited pressing Mos Generator has done.

The signed sleeve is a nice touch.

On this record we get one new song, Wicked Willow, and an acoustic reworking of Electric Mountain Majesty. Man, that new song is great...hell, the whole thing sounds great. I'm not sure why the band didn't release a regular pressing of this record.

Mos Generator love their splits. After their split with Isaac earlier this year, they give us this fun little split with Daily Thompson.

Mos Generator cover a song from a band out of Washington state called Golden Pig Electric Blues Band. Apparently the band was around in the mid-90's, and were a big influence on drawing Tony Reed back to playing that Sabbath influenced, heavy rock sound from his teenage years. This is a cool little tribute.

Like most splits, there is really only one side that I'll be spending a lot of time with. While the Daily Thompson side isn't bad, I just don't see myself being draw to listen to it like I will be for the Mos Generator side.

Only 50 pressed on metallic gold vinyl.

High Spirits 7 Inch

I was slow to appreciate High Spirits. It took a lot of prodding from Doug and Sandwell, but I finally saw the light, and got into the band in a big way with their two full length releases.

Last month, I received a message from Doug, giving me a heads up that Electric Assault had a High Spirits 7 inch available in their store. In my excitement, I made the assumption that this was a new release from Electric Assault, and I quickly grabbed one.

When the package arrived in the mail, I was surprised it was actually the Hells Headbangers 7 inch release from last year...and even though I didn't own a copy of this, I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't new High Spirits material.

250 pressed on clear vinyl.

Colored Vinyl In Our Time

Back in the late 90's/early 00's, I absolutely loved Good Riddance. In fact, at that time, I may have even considered them my favorite band. I even went as far as bleaching my hair, and then coloring it red, so that it would look like the style Russ was sporting on the inside photos of the Ballads From The Revolution album. Yeah, I may have been man-crushing...you got a problem with that?

By the time that My Republic was released in 2006, I was barely paying attention, and while the band broke up in 2007, it took me over three years after the release date to finally pick up that "last" Good Riddance record.

Earlier this year, I heard that Good Riddance were back together and were putting out a new album. More shocking than this bit of news, was the fact that I was actually interested in checking out what the band had to offer in 2015. I was surprised at how much I liked that last Only Crime record, and I figured at the very least, a new Good Riddance album would be able to top that.

I thought about ordering the record direct from Fat Wreck Chords, but it wasn't really clear if I was ordering the colored vinyl option or not...and I didn't want to get stuck with black vinyl that was going to be available in every record store. Fat Wreck colored vinyl seems to draw some attention with collectors, and if I was going to buy a copy, I wanted to do it right.

Since it seemed like a gamble ordering direct from the label, I took the easy way out and just paid more than I probably needed to, and grabbed a copy off eBay.

Colored vinyl came with a bonus 7 inch, with an etched b-side. I love how the 7 inch is incorporated right into the front album design with it's own coordinated cover and plastic sleeve that is attached right to the cover.

I'm really impressed with this record. Feels like it is 2001 all over again.

Rock You Like A Hurricane

A bit of an "Odds and Ends" post, really. This is basically just some cheap records that I've picked up over time, and I'm sick of seeing them laying around, so I'm bundling them all in this post, so that I can finally file them away properly.

I bought the Scorpions Love At First Sting album last summer. My original plan was to pick up a couple more Scorpions records, and then bundle them with this one for a single post. Christ...here we are, almost a year later, and that plan hasn't come to fruition. Oh well. I guess that when I finally get around to picking up that German pressing of In Trance, it will warrant it's own post.

I've enjoyed the early Scorpions albums for a while, but my cut off had always been Blackout, and I stayed away from anything after that 1982 release. Love At First Sting had some monster hits, and because of this, I've stayed away from it, and wrote it off as "too commercial". When I saw it in the used record bin last year, I figured that maybe I should give it a chance. I'm glad I did, because this album is a blast to listen to. Over 30 years past it's release date, and I'm finally appreciating this classic.

As much as a tool that Ted Nugent is these days, I still can't help but enjoy his 70's albums. I'm not terribly familiar with the Weekend Warriors album, so when my friend Jeff offered me a copy on vinyl, I didn't hesitate to add it to my collection. It's not as good as the first three Ted Nugent classics, but it is still a good 70's rock spin.

I spent a lot of my teenage years hating Aerosmith, but as my appreciation for 70's rock has grown over the years, so has my appreciation for this band. 70's bands loved their double live albums, and Aerosmith was no exception. This live "bootleg" is cobbled together from a bunch of live shows through '77 and '78, and is a pretty cool listen.

Saint Vitus Dance

In issue #13 of Iron Fist magazine, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1984, they compiled a list of their Top 20 albums from that year. Who doesn't love a good "Best Of" list, and the opportunity to scrutinize it? What? Scorpions 'Love At First Sting' made their list, but Dio 'The Last In Line' didn't?!?! Heresy!

While I was reviewing the list, there were only two albums that I wasn't familiar with. I'd never heard the number one pick, Bathory, and in my ignorance, I wasn't even aware that the first Saint Vitus was a self titled release from 1984...I'd always assumed that Hallow's Victim was their first.

When it comes to Saint Vitus, I prefer the Scott Reagers albums, over the Wino releases, so when I learned about this debut, I quickly downloaded a copy.

After I'd listened to that album everyday for about two weeks, I figured that I should probably buy a copy. With that black album cover, I expected it to be a complete nightmare to try and find a copy. I needed this shit to be in great condition, and I expected to have to wade through all kinds of ringwear and banged up covers to find one that was good enough for my high standards.

Soon after starting my search, however, I found a still sealed copy on eBay. I have no idea what pressing this is. It has the embossed logo, and is in great shape, so I was sold.

I love that metallic silver embossed logo on the front cover. So damn cool.

Man, what a great and heavy album. I'll take issue with Iron Fist rating the superior Trouble LP below the Saint Vitus debut, but really both records are absolute beasts.

Iron Magus

Back in December, Rise Above reissued the first four Grand Magus albums on vinyl. I was late to the party, and considered myself extremely lucky that the most limited pressings on clear vinyl were still available when I finally stepped up to place my order a couple months later. I grabbed the Wolf's Return LP at the time, and imagined that by the time I got back to their store to place another order, both Iron Will and Monument would long be sold out of the clear vinyl.

When I placed my order for the Sheavy vinyl in April, I couldn't have been more shocked to find the Grand Magus albums were still available.

Sandwell introduced me to Grand Magus through his blog with his post for the Iron Will LP back in 2008. Seven years later, here I am picking up my own copy of the album on clear vinyl. Man, what a solid slab of metal.

Clear vinyl for this pressing is limited to 100.

I wonder if my luck will hold out long enough to grab Monument on clear vinyl in the near future.

Awakened From The Electric Sleep

It blows me away that I'm still able to find hidden treasures. I've been around the block a few times on this musical ride, and I like to think that I've got things locked down on all the good bands from the past 45 years or so...and then, along comes Rise Above Records and Sheavy to prove that there are still some surprises out there.

Sheavy are a stoner/doom band out of Canada. To best describe them, all you need to know is that the original band name, Green Machine, was taken from a Kyuss song, and the singer, at times, sounds like a dead ringer for early 80's-era Ozzy. I'd heard of the band throughout the years, and had given a couple of their albums casual listens from time to time, but I was not prepared for the greatness of The Electric Sleep.

This album was originally released on CD by Rise Above back in 1998, and this year the label decided it was time to give it a proper release on vinyl (and throw in a couple of bonus songs for good measure). Not one to turn my back on a Rise Above release, it seemed like it was a good time for me to finally check out this album. Holy shit. I had no idea what I'd been missing out on. Before I decided to make a purchase, I gave the the title track, The Electric Sleep, a quick listen. The song immediately had it's hooks in me, and I quickly grabbed the clear vinyl direct from Rise Above...high shipping prices be damned.

After finding a quick download of the album, it quickly became a permanent fixture in my daily playlists. After a month or so of listening to The Electric Sleep, my jaw still drops when I hear it. This may be one of my favorite records that I've heard this year.