Here's Your Warning

A few weeks ago, I saw that Tyler had a band called Government Warning on his weekly last.fm charts. I had never heard of the band before, but the kid typically had good taste so I checked them out. I found their myspace page and checked out a few songs. They had a great early 80's hardcore sound with some early D.R.I. thrown in for good measure. Every distro that I usually use was sold out of this album, and I was afraid that I had slept on it too long and that it was out of print. I finally found their No Moderation LP in the webstore on the No Way Records site. I had no idea how reliable this label was...for all I knew the label had already folded up and no one was minding the webstore, but I took a chance and sent over a paypal payment for $10.00. Less than a week later, I had my copy!

I've Made My Choice. Six.Six.Six.

I've long thought about collecting Slayer vinyl, but have never gotten around to adding much to my collection. All I had was Hell Awaits, which I bought back in High School (1985) when I was starting to get into Metal that was more extreme than the Iron Maiden and Judas Priest that I was listening to at the time, and South of Heaven, which I bought off of Jeff last month. The collection was not really getting anywhere because I was spending my money on other records and CD's on eBay. I was at Newbury Comics the other day, looking through their small assortment of vinyl and was surprised to see the newest record, Christ Illusion, in there. Here it was in my hands, and I didn't have to bid on it on ebay, and pay for shipping...damn...I didn't hesitate to drop the $16.00 for it. Warning : Nerd Alert! This record comes in a gatefold sleeve, and the packaging looked so sweet wrapped up in plastic. There was something about it that was just so perfect, so incredible, that it took me a full five days before I dared break the plastic seal to reveal the red colored vinyl. Sorry, you were warned, and I totally geeked out on this record. All hail the mighty Slayer.

Histories and Soul Control

I received the Go It Alone and Soul Control preorders a couple of weeks ago. Unlike some people that I know, I wasn't lucky enough to get the red pressing of the Go It Alone record. I got it on black, which is limited to 210, and on white, limited to 720. This band has really grown on me lately. I've bought all their records since the Vancouver Gold 7 inch, but nothing has really grabbed my attention, but a few months ago I really sat down with The Only Blood Between Us and I'm starting to appreciate this band more.

I don't know much about Soul Control other than they are from Rhode Island and someone from Verse is in the band. Their style is very similar to Lion of Judah, or for the old school reference, Burn. The first song really pulls you in with it's intensity and I can see kids going nuts, and singing along to this song live. This 7 inch is limited to 210 on green with yellow swirl and 720 on green.

Getting The Most

A while back, I saw a posting on the Livewire messageboard that Crucial Response Records was offering free shipping for a limited time. I had been wanting the green vinyl pressing of the Get The Most 7 inch, so I figured that it was a good time to place an order. I used to get all the Crucial Response releases, up until around they released the Rectify stuff. That was when I started to lose interest...plus I stopped buying records through Ebullition Distro, so I didn't really have a means to readily buy their stuff. Anyway, I got the green vinyl of Get The Most, limited to 300, plus I picked up the One Track Mind compilation. The comp is full of cool European hardcore bands...a couple of them I knew, like Damage Control, Dead Stop, and Black Friday '29, some of them I was anxious to check out, like Know Your Enemy and No Denial, and a bunch of bands that I had never heard before. The whole thing is well done, with a great representation of Euro hardcore from 2003. I got the limited Raw Data cover...only 90 of them were made. The Raw Data series is an exclusive pressing that Crucial Response is doing, where the records come in a silkscreened sleeve. This series is only available through CRR mailorder. Very cool idea, and after getting the One Track Mind comp, I'm thinking of ordering more from the series.

First Verse

I recently won the first Verse record, simply titled Four Songs, on eBay. It's the first pressing on black vinyl and limited to 500. I saw that it was up for auction with no bids and a starting price of $2.75. I figured that I might be able to pick it up for cheap, and won as the only bidder. I remember buying this on CD when it was first released in 2003. At the time I was listening to a lot of punk rock like Good Riddance, Dillinger 4 and Anti-Flag...still good stuff, but I had pretty much lost touch with what was going on in the underground hardcore scene. I remember stumbling across the How's Your Edge messageboard, and reconnecting with a friend from the old Boston scene. Anyway, a lot of people were talking about this band, What Feeds The Fire, that had recently broken up and a couple of members were in this new band called Verse. They were talking about bringing back the early 90's style of straight edge hardcore, and mentioned Outspoken as an influence. Being such a fan of Outspoken, I was excited to check out this new band and try to reclaim that excitement in hardcore. I bought the CD and while it was good, it didn't really grab me the way that I'd hoped. It wasn't until Verse released the Rebuild album and seeing them play with The First Step that I really started to fall in love with this band. So kind of like Champion, the first output from Verse seems kind of mediocre, but seeing where the band is, and how they have grown, and can appreciate this first seven inch for the raw, sincere hardcore that it is.

Stay Cruel

Another pre-order has arrived! Last week the mailman delivered Cruel Hand's new LP, Without A Pulse. The vinyl is on orange with blue splatter, and limited to 300. The singer of the band used to play guitar in Outbreak, and while the band plays some pretty thrashing hardcore, there isn't much similarities between the two bands, with Outbreak winning the contest hands down. First saw the band when Rob and I went to the End of Summer Jam last summer, and while I thought they were just okay at that show, I had some high hopes for the album. All in all, it is a pretty average outing.

Speaking of cruel hand...my Boston Celtics were dealt one last night with the NBA lottery. They had one of the better chances to draw a top two pick and they ended up getting the number five pick. The team had some serious issues last season, and when Paul Pierce went down with an injury, it was damn near impossible for them to pull out a win. I had high hopes for this lottery and when their name was pulled from the envelope at number five, my heart sank. I'm imagining that the team will look very different at the start of the season. Either the pick, and some young players (maybe Gerald Green) will be traded away to provide Paul Pierce some veteran help, or Pierce will be traded and the team will be starting from scratch and building around Big Al Jefferson. Either way, I'm nervous that next season will bring more of the same disappointing loses as last year.

Nothing Done and Knife Fight

As soon as I got the mailorder update from Revelation that listed the new Nothing Done album, Everybody Knows, I immediately placed an order. Their last album was so much fun, I did not want to miss the first pressing of the new record. It does not disappoint. Amazing thrashy hardcore. 10 songs in 13 minutes. Limited to 500 on baby blue vinyl.

While I was shopping on REVHQ, I saw the new Knife Fight album, Crisis. I had never heard the band before, but from checking various messageboards, there was certainly a buzz about them, so I took a chance and ordered the album. The chance didn't really payoff. There is certainly some potential in the songs, they are ripping fast, and there are some catchy choruses, but a lot of it is lost is the muddy production...kind of disappointing.

Second Outbreak

I got the second pressing of the Outbreak album the other week. It's red vinyl with some slight yellow streaks in it...limited to 1,000. One of the surprises for 2006, this album is so much fun. The band is from my home state of Maine, so it is pretty sad that I have only seen the band live 3 or 4 times, but then again, I don't get out to shows very much anymore. Modern Life is War played down the road from my house last week, and it was too much trouble for me to get out and see them. Fuck, I'm getting old.

Fired Up and Getting Warmer

I got more records from Youngblood last week. I got the new Justice album, Escapades. The packaging of this record looks amazing. The white and blue vinyl, limited to 225 pressed, looks incredible. The album cover looks fantastic, and the photos on the inner sleeve really capture the the good times of a band on tour, and how great they can be live. Pictures of the band on stage, X'd up, with kids screaming along to their songs. I put the album on the turntable and the music on the record didn't really have that sound that was portrayed in those pictures. I listened to it once, and was really put off by the bands sound. I've never been a fan of Supertouch, and this had Supertouch stink all over it. The record ended and I was glad it was done. Later that afternoon, I decided to give it another chance. Yup, Supertouch...and every once in a while I can hear a little Underdog in there as well. I love Underdog, but this Justice record still blew. A few days later I've got the record cataloged in the database program I have on my computer, and I'm ready to file the vinyl away in my record collection, and I figure that I'll give it one more shot. I drop it on the turntable, and pull out the lyric sheet to fully immerse myself into the record. Hey wait a minute, this first song has a pretty good groove to it and the lyrics are pretty tight. Alright, this record is starting to grow on me, and I'll continue to give it a chance.

The other records I got were a few pressings of the Fired Up 7 inch. Youngblood had just pressed the second pressing on red (limited to 300) and on green for the labels 10 year anniversary (hand stamped and numbered 40 of 200). While I was at it, I figured that I would pick up the first pressing on black (limited to 400). As you can tell, I am loving this new record. I plug in my headphones at work a couple times a week and spin this CD. The opening riff to the title track, When The Lights Go Out, is so great. Straight forward, "generic" hardcore. Awesome.

Pre-Order Season Begins

I have spent a lot of money over the past couple of months on pre-orders. Must be that time of the year, because all of a sudden every one seems to be releasing records. One of the first to arrive was from Rivalry Records. The new Go It Alone 7 inch is the single for the upcoming new album (also up for pre-order at Rivalry). In the same vein as the last album, the single contains three songs of some pretty heavy hardcore. The purple vinyl is limited to 155, and 875 on black.

I had never heard of the band Red Handed before, but the mp3 that Rivalry had posted sounded pretty cool, so I figured I'd give them chance. The 7 inch has a pretty good sound to it, and I'm looking forward to checking it more. This one had 214 pressed on red, and 715 pressed on white.

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure

I got a message from Jeff the other week...he had decided to clean out his record collection, getting rid of doubles and stuff that he no longer wanted. He was planning on putting a large number of records up for sale on eBay, but he offered to give me first crack at them. I wasn't sure what I would find, but he gave me a $2.00 price tag on everything, so I was looking forward to a little shopping.

Jeff ended up having lots of Metal up for sale, and I found more records than I was expecting.

• Anthrax : One of the first things I picked out of the pile were these three Anthrax albums...the Armed and Dangerous EP, Spreading the Disease, and Among the Living. I was around 15 years old, and Spreading the Disease was one of the first albums that introduced me to thrash and speed metal. The following year, I specifically remember going to the Mall to buy Among the Living with my friend Bill...sitting outside studying the packaging of the cassette tape, looking at every detail, while we waited for his father to pick us up.
• Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell : I didn't have Heaven and Hell on vinyl for my Sabbath collection, so I picked it up. Sabbath is currently touring, with Ronnie James Dio back singing for them. Unfortunately the band is unable to use the Sabbath name without Ozzy, so they are using the name Heaven and Hell. Jeff and I are going to Massachusetts in May to catch them live.

  

  Some stuff I picked up because it was in such mint condition, and some stuff I took a chance on.

  • Heathen - Breaking the Silence : I bought this on tape as a teenager. Cassette tapes are a complete waste of space, and this album was in such great condition that I bought it. Listening to this again, I was surprised at how good some of their songs were.
  • Flotsam & Jetsam - Doomsday for the Deceiver : The band that had Jason Newsted as the bassist before he went on to play in Metallica. This album is the bands best. An album that I hadn't really heard for a while, and hearing it again I was reminded just how much fun it is. Great speed metal.
  • Rage - Reign of Fear : I had never heard this album before, but it was one of the early releases on Noise records (which released records from bands like Celtic Frost, Grave Digger, Kreator, etc). The record is alright, at times reminding me of Metal Church...not great, but still entertaining.
  • E-X-E - Stricken by Might : I pulled this out of the pile because of the "Thrash With Class" sticker on the cover. Flipping the album cover over reveals photos of the band members, with the one of the bass player looking "evil" covered in blood...yeah, that must be the class they were advertising. I would have bought it for that alone. The music on the album is a direct attempt at the early Slayer sound. It works for me.

    

    Then there were the records that I was especially thrilled to get. A steal at $2.00 a piece.

    • Danzig : The first and the best. Complete with mint condition gatefold album cover, and gold promo stamp...it doesn't get any more collectible than that. I put the album on Jeff's turn table, and when the needle hit the first note of Twist of Cain, the power of those chords as they roared out of the speakers was so insanely heavy.
    • D.R.I. - Dealing With It : I first owned a copy of this on cassette tape. These days I despise this format, but as a teenager, before the introduction of CDs, I preferred cassettes because they were so convenient. Sure the artwork and liner notes were so small to non-existent, or that they were so fragile that few of my cassettes lasted through my teenage years. I kick myself for wasting my money on tapes, instead of buying vinyl. Anyway, first I owned this on tape, and then bought the CD...now I have the vinyl. Everyone should own at least one copy of this classic.
    • Slayer - South of Heaven : I had seen this Slayer album in Jeff's collection before. I was surprised, because this isn't typically his style of music. I was hoping it was going to be in the pile that he was selling, but it wasn't. I asked him about it and he didn't even know that he owned it. I found it in his collection and he just kind of shrugged his shoulders and sold it to me for $2.00. When this album first came out, I didn't like it too much since it was such a departure from Reign in Blood. Over time, I came to really appreciate this record, and now I would say this is one of my favorites from the band.

      

      Other than the Slayer record, there was one other record that I was hoping Jeff would have up for sale.

      • The Metal Massacre Limited Edition Picture Disc Box Set : I don't expect anyone else to grasp how f'n cool this thing is. Hand stamped as number 90 out of 1000. This box set contains picture discs of the first five Metal Massacre complications on Metal Blade Records. The record label left me in awe as a kid, as I would drool over their ads in Metal magazines...hoping that the local record store would carry some of their stuff. From Metallica and Slayer to Armored Saint and Lizzy Borden to Voivod and Hallows Eve. One of the coolest Heavy Metal record labels from the 80's. This one was all mine for $15.

      There were so many other records that Jeff was selling that I wanted, but at $37 for the lot, I had already spent more than I was planning on. He still had a section of Metal that he had yet to sort through, so I am looking forward to going back and taking more cool shit off his hands.

Youth Crew

When I had kids, one of the biggest things that I looked forward to was sharing my love of music with them. I hated the typical kids music, and instead chose to introduce mine to Black Flag and The Misfits. By the time Sam turned 5, he really was getting interested in music, mostly early Heavy Metal and Hard Rock from my collection. The first band that he really latched onto was AC/DC, and his favorite songs were If You Want Blood, TNT, and Jailbreak. He would listen to those songs over and over again. Slowly he found interest in a few other songs, like Black Sabbath's Iron Man and Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water. I love that Sam is so interested in music...good music. Every once in a while he will want to go through my CD's and albums, pulling out the ones that he knows, and studying the album covers that he thinks are cool.

Since I had this picture of Sam looking at my vinyl collection, I needed to find one of Julia that I could post as well. I was digging around and found this picture from 2002. I had an Impact (later to change their name to Stand & Fight) sticker that I put on the front of her shirt, X'd up her hands, and we had a good time screaming into her toy microphone.

Heartfelt Punks

I finally got my package in the mail from Rold! I had sent the money to him back at the beginning of February, and by the time April rolled around, I thought for sure it had been sucked into the postal black hole as it crossed the Atlantic. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to receive what he had sent. I was so happy to find the package in my mailbox this week. He sent me two Heartfelt CD's, Take It Or Leave It (which is new on Shield Recordings), Explosive (which I think is their first one), plus a few pins and an assortment of stickers. I really like this band. Musically they kind of remind me of Betrayed, and Rold has a vocal style that really reminds me of Eric Ozenne from Redemption 87 (pre-Nerve Agents). Great stuff. Thanks Rold, now you need to get Take It Or Leave It pressed on vinyl!

In The Beginning...

It was one of those days where I was just surfing through ebay...just looking for some cheap vinyl. I came across this Mercyful Fate album, The Beginning, for $9.99. Shipping was only a few bucks, so I picked it up. I always loved this band as a kid...the cartoonish satanism, complete with King Diamond's face paint with an upside down cross on his forehead. Awesome.

The Magic of the Celtics

Took a day off from work last week for our annual trip for a Celtics vs. Magic game. Paul, Rob and I headed down to Boston after lunch to get in some record shopping before the game. As always, it was a fun trip, but for some reason this one was one of the best...complete hyjinx from start to finish. Our first stop was supposed to be Re-Generation Records. This was a great punk/hardcore record store in Boston, but when we got there we found out that it had been turned into Re-Generation Tattoo Shop...no records. It was disappointing, but the guy gave us directions to In Your Ear Records.

In Your Ear was a cool little dive of a shop. They did have a punk section, but I felt that the prices were a little too high. Still, I found a few cool records.

• Indestructible Noise Command - Razorback and The Visitor : I loved I.N.C. when I was a kid...I remember Paul had both of these on cassette. They play that great style of generic speed metal from '87/'88. These two records were in mint condition and for $6.00 a piece, I quickly picked them up.
• Alice Cooper - Special Forces : Another one of Alice's weaker records, that doesn't rock as hard as he had in years past. Still, there is some fun songs on this album. This was in great condition, plus it had the gold promo stamp on the front...and for only $3.00, how could I not buy it?

After our trip to In Your Ear, we stopped at Nuggets. Again, I found some cool stuff, and maybe I was just feeling cheap that day, but I felt like some of it was over priced as well. Still, I walked out of there dropping over $50.

• Led Zeppelin - Presence : This was my first Zeppelin vinyl. Quite fitting actually, since this album was the first one that Jeff played for me that got me into the band. It was also the first Zeppelin CD that I bought (complete with packaging that replicates the original vinyl version). I grew up hating this band, and when I first heard the rumblings of Achilles Last Stand to start this album, I realized what I had been missing.
• Deep Purple - The House of Blue Light : Come on, it's Deep Purple with Ian Gillian singing. I haven't listened to this one yet, but Gillian has such an amazing voice I'm sure I'll like this record. Plus it was only $4.99, so what the hell.
• Tokyo Blade - Warrior of the Rising Sun : Back in 1985 this band had a song called Lightning Strikes on a compilation called Banzai Axe. The comp had songs from the likes of Slayer, Metallica, Venom and Raven. I always liked the Tokyo Blade song, but never had the chance to hear anything else by them. About a year ago, I downloaded the Warrior of the Rising Sun album, and I really liked it. Found the double vinyl at Nuggets for $12.99.
• In My Eyes - The Difference Between : One of my favorite bands of all time. I have all their records on colored vinyl. This one was on black vinyl and only $7.99. Now I only need the Nothing to Hide LP on black vinyl and the collection will be complete.
• The Nerve Agents - The Butterfly Collection : Another great hardcore record. The Nerve Agents were so good. I never got to see them live, but their recorded stuff...intense, ripping hardcore.

After our record shopping we headed over to the Garden. Took a trip over to Faneuil Hall before the game and Rob and I got a couple of big-ass M & M cookies. The game was an emotional rollercoaster. I'm ready for them to tank the season for a top draft pick, but Rob is a big Magic fan, and if Orlando won he'd love throwing it back in my face. It was a double overtime thriller, and even though it seemed like Boston was trying to throw the game, the refs kept making calls against the Magic. Seriously, Orlando had this game wrapped up, until the refs made a call with about 3 seconds left on the clock giving the ball to Boston, and then Pierce hit a huge basket to tie the game and force overtime. Boston wins and makes it a sweep for every time we've made a trip to a Celtics / Magic game. It was a fun game, and hey, Boston still has a good shot at a top 2 draft pick.

Nothing Done

Nothing Done just released a new album on Not Just Words Records called Everybody Knows. The pre-order was limited to 100 and came with a different album sleeve. I had never heard that band before, but when you site bands like Black Flag, Negative Approach and Circle Jerks as influences then you have my attention. I checked out a couple of mp3's and liked what I heard, however I wasn't really prepared to pay the price for a record overseas...I think it would have cost me around $20. I checked the Revelation mailorder and they had a copy of Nothing Done's first LP, Powertrip, so I picked that up instead. It was a second pressing on blue vinyl and limited to 525. The record is amazing. It is so much fun. They definitely have that early 80's hardcore sound...fast and aggressive. I love it. When RevHQ carries the new album, I will have to pick it up.

So Here's To Fucked Up Youth

Ceremony play a style of hardcore that is harsh as fuck, brutally ripping through songs that barely clock in at a minute long. Heavily influenced by Infest, with lyrics that are spit with rage, this record is an intense 13 minutes. I had Ceremony's first 7 inch, and thought it was okay, but I never really had the chance to listen to it much. I picked up their newest record on a whim through Revelation, and I am blown away. As a bonus, the packaging of this record is sweet. Gatefold sleeve, with a red, white and grey splattered clear vinyl. I can't stop listening to this. Amazing shit for when you hate the world.

Living Hell

Fuck

So here's to fucked up youth

Here's to burning lies

Here's to each fucking day that just passed me by

Fuck

Higher Learning

Another piece of my order from Revelation Records...Down To Nothing, the Higher Learning 7 inch. This one is the second press on green vinyl. I'm not sure how many were pressed. This one was out for a while before I finally bought the record, and now I'm wishing that I bought it earlier. These three songs are so good, with one of them being a great Four Walls Falling cover. It took me a long time before I finally checked this band out. They were on Thorp Records, and I kind of had that label pegged as a tough guy, metalcore record label, and so I avoided them. I think the thing that pushed me to check them out was when Rob and I went to Posi Numbers 05. They were on the bill, and I downloaded Save It For The Birds to prepare for the show. The album was really good, but didn't really stick with me. They had a good set, and did a great cover of No Spiritual Surrender. I caught them in Maine with Have Heart on the Fourth of July last year, and realized that they were a straight edge band when I saw them all X'd up. Okay, call me biased, or close minded or whatever, but once I saw they were straight edge I became more interested in the band. I bought the Splitting Headache CD at the show but it didn't really do much for me. Save It For The Birds, however, really grew on me, and if this new 7 inch is any indication of how their new album is going to be, I'm looking forward to it.

Get The Most

It has been a number of years since I've bought anything on Crucial Response Records. In the mid-90's, this record label was one of my favorites...I could always count on them to release some great positive straight edge hardcore. At some point I got away from what they were doing, but Get The Most was the band that got me interested again. They play that straight up, generic youth crew style of hardcore that still gets me Xing up my fists and fighting to get up front to sing along and stagedive. Damn, they are named after an Insted song, so how can you go wrong? I really owe it to Tyler for bringing this band to my attention.

I got this record through RevHQ. Black vinyl limited to 700 pressed. I'd love to get my hands on the green vinyl pressing or the record release cover at some point. Great stuff.

Lace And Whiskey

I recently picked up this copy of Alice Cooper's Lace and Whiskey. This is generally not known as one of Alice's better records, but I still enjoy it. Even though Alice had split with the original band years before...the band that helped create the truly classic albums...there is still some solid hard rock songs here. There are also a few radio friendly songs...I guess you could call them ballads. In most cases, I would probably not be interested in that style of song, but there is just something about his voice that allows him to pull it off.

I got this record through ebay for $10. It is a promo, as noted by the giant pink sticker on the front of the album cover, making it more of a collectors item. This copy still had the order form to join the Fan Club.