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.

The Most Unbreakable Record Release

Over the past year, Down To Nothing has become one of my favorite bands from today's scene of straight edge hardcore, and The Most was easily one of my favorite albums from 2007. I had two different pressings of the album and I was happy to pick up my third copy when Revelation Records released it again, this time on purple and orange colored vinyl (limited to 525 pressed). Shortly after the second pressing of The Most, Revelation also released Unbreakable. This new record is just a compilation of the albums that Thorp Records had released, Save It For The Birds and Splitting Headache (which itself was a compilation of 7 inch recordings). My copy is on white vinyl and limited to 330 copies.

The other Down To Nothing vinyl that I picked up recently was a copy of The Most, from the bands record release show. I had resigned myself to not buying any new records for a while, when Rob sent me an email with a link to an ebay auction on a Have Heart record. It was a copy of the Have Heart 7 inch that the two of us had bought at the Posi Numbers show in 2005, and he was wondering how much it would go for. I had noticed some records going for ridiculous amounts of money recently and I started looking around ebay to check prices on stuff. I have absolutely no interest in selling anything from my collection...ever, but sometimes I surf around checking to gauge where prices are. To my surprise I came across this Down To Nothing album from their record release show and the tempation was just too strong. The record was limited to only 50 made (this one was number 13), and suddenly I needed to own it. If I didn't, I was afraid that I may never see one available again and would regret not buying one when I had the chance...just part of my collector paranoia. So I was very happy to win it, and at a pretty decent price for such a rare item.

Save The Whales

When I bought the Generations comp that Revelation Records put out a couple of years ago, I was most impressed with a band called Robot Whales. I had never heard of them before and they were unlike any other band on the compilation. The song was just straight forward, driving hardcore....I don't know, maybe similar to the first Quicksand 7 inch, or maybe some of those early 90's emo hardcore bands like Navio Forge or Admiral. I was instantly hooked on that song. I was afraid that the band might just have the one trick, and the style may fall flat when played out over a full length album, so when Vehicle was released, I downloaded it. Man, this entire album is rock solid....just great songs that overflow with incredible passion and emotion. I bought the LP though Revelation but I can't find anything other than a sparse myspace page on the record label the released it. Therefore, I have no idea how many were pressed or if there is anything other than the yellow vinyl that I got.

My Heart Still Beats

Have Heart are one of my favorite hardcore bands of all time, so I was excited to see that some new colored vinyl was being pressed again. Seriously, they could press The Things We Carry every six months and I'd probably buy it. The band will be releasing their new album this summer, and I'm expecting for it to match the intensity of their last record. Can't wait until it drops.

This time around we have new colored vinyl for The Things We Carry from Bridge Nine Records. This is the first pressing that does not come with the cool looking gatefold cover. The white, green and yellow colored vinyl is pretty ugly looking. It is limited to 1,000. I have no idea what the pressing info is for the 2003 Demo 7 inches. Bottled Up Records doesn't really have the pressing info anywhere on line, so I'm at a loss on the numbers pressed for each color. It's too bad, because I really like to keep track of that information. Anyway, the newest colors were clear blue and an opaque yellow. My Have Heart collection is now up to 23 pieces of vinyl.

*Update* I sent a message through myspace to Jeff from Bottled Up Records, asking for the pressing info and he directed me to his trade page on howsyouredge.com. The clear blue vinyl is limited to 121, and the yellow with black labels is limited to 300.

I Love The Dead

I've recently become very interested in a record label out of Italy called Night of the Vinyl Dead. The mission of the record label is to re-issue Metal records that never got a proper vinyl release. Each record is released in limited quantities, and is hand numbered. I remember when they released their first record, the War is My Shepard 12 inch single from Exodus, back in 2006. A friend of mine had told me about the label, but at the time wasn't really into collecting Metal records, and since the price was around $35 for the single I quickly passed on buying it. A year and a half later, and here I am looking to expand my Heavy Metal collection. I checked out the Night of the Vinyl Dead site, and was surprised at how many awesome pieces of vinyl the label had released while I wasn't paying attention. All of a sudden I had a desperate need to own something from this label. I hit ebay and started to search. I was able to pick up two of their newer releases, both of them from overseas ebay sellers. Shipping cost was a bitch, but I did not want to miss out on getting these two records.

Both of these records were new to me, as they were both originally released when I was totally immersed in hardcore and had no interest in the Metal scene. Mercyful Fate, Into the Unknown, is a really cool record. Sure it is a step or two removed from the classics of Melissa and Don't Break the Oath, but it is still some great Fate. The vinyl is pressed on "sunset" vinyl, and just looks sick...matching the album cover nicely. My copy was numbered 367 out of 500. The King Diamond record is a "Collectors Edition" EP. Originally released on CD in 1999, it features songs off of a couple of King's latter day records. I'm really having a good time discovering these albums that I missed the first time around. Fun stuff. The King Diamond record is pressed on white vinyl and comes in a cool PVC cover. Mine is numbered 271 out of 500 made. I can't wait to get more from the Night of the Vinyl Dead catalog.

Thinking Straight

I recently sold one of my records, and made a very nice chunk of change in the process. I really hate parting with anything from my collection, and it's why I make a terrible record trader. I really can't part with anything, because I fear that I'll regret it at some point down the road. Therefore, I hold on to everything. This one record however, the price was very high, and it was one that I really never cared about, so I made the jump and sold it on eBay. Once I had the $350 in my paypal account, I was ready to go on a shopping spree. My initial reaction was to use the money for a nice rare Hardcore record. I made an attempt to get a first pressing of Youth of Today's Can't Close My Eyes. I lost the auction as the record ended up selling well past my maximum bid of $65. I really wanted an original pressing of a Youth of Today record, but at the end of the day I figured that the smartest move was to really put the money towards the new addition we are doing on the house, and buy some shelving for my music room.

However, I was not going to just walk away without buying something! I was watching another auction for Youth of Today's Break Down the Walls. It had the original cover, and looked like it was in mint condition, so I was surprised when I won it for only $5. When I recieved the record, and slid the vinyl out of the sleeve, I noticed the label on the record had Ray decked out in some Krishna gear. I thought it was odd for the Break Down the Walls album, since I didn't think that Ray got into the Krishna thing that early. Upon further investigation it appeared that the vinyl was from the 1992 reissue the Revelation Records did, and not the original pressing. I had heard that Rev had thrown some new vinyl in with the old covers that they had lying around, and it appears that was what I got. I was kind of disappointed, but hey, at $5.00, I'm not going to cry too loudly. So here I sit, still without an original Youth of Today pressing.

As a side note, the one and only time that I saw Youth of Today was at one of their reunion shows. Paul, Rob and I took a drive down to Pennsylvania for the Knife or Death fest in 2004. A ton of great bands played, but I was really looking forward to seeing Mouthpiece and Youth of Today play. The place were the show was held decided that they didn't want the bands swearing on stage and there was NO STAGEDIVING. I was really disappointed, but still had a lot of fun getting up front and screaming along. Unintentionally, this trip kind of kicked off our annual tradition for the Guys Roadtrip.

Bring It On

My recent obsession with metal continues to grow more and more. I find that I keep going back to listen to the classic thrash from my youth, digging out CD's from bands like Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom. I had heard a lot of good things about a new thrash band called Warbringer, and when someone tipped me off that their new album, War Without End, was available for pre-order, I took a chance on it. This album is really good. At times I'm reminded of the first Testament album, and on occasion I expect the band to start doing a cover of Over the Wall. This band recently played at Mark's Showplace in New Hampshire with Exodus, and now I'm kind of regretting that I didn't go. The new Exodus is really starting to grow on me, and now I feel like I should have seen them and Warbringer when I had the opportunity. Anyway, this album is pressed on red vinyl, and I believe it was limited to 1,000 pressed. When the record arrived in the mail, there was also a poster enclosed. Sam thought that the album cover was so cool, that he stole the poster from me to put up on his bedroom door. That boy knows how to make his father proud...I get a little choked up just thinking about it.

Looking For Gold

Man, I was really hoping for the gold pressing of the new Get The Most record. This is the bands demo, finally pressed to vinyl and it was released on React Records, which is Aram's new label. In true collector-geek fashion, it was pressed in very limited numbers for the three different colors. By the time that I saw that the vinyl was available for pre-order, the gold pressing was sold out. I had spoken to Aram at the Edge Day show and he had let me know that he would hook me up when the record was released, so even though the gold vinyl was sold out when I placed my order, I still had a little hope that I may find it when I received the package in the mail. Oh well, it didn't happen, so my next mission is to continually search eBay, waiting or one to show up for bid. Still, I feel good about the two that I did get, limited to 150 on red and 250 on black.

Die By The Sword

Okay, so I may have a problem. I was going to be headed to Jeff's over the weekend, and I wanted to show up with the 12 inch split of The Sword and Witchcraft. I had seen it at Newbury Comics a month ago, and since then they have been selling for around $25 on eBay. All online stores were listing it as sold out, and sure enough, it was gone at Newbury's as well. I took a trip over to Bull Moose Music and found that they had a copy of Age of Winters by The Sword. I already owned this on CD, but I picked it up anyway. First reason was that I really had my heart set on buying some vinyl, and my addiction was not going to let me walk out of the store without buying something. Second, slight paranoia crept in that I was going to regret not buying this for $11 when I saw it....just like I got burned with the split 12 inch. Yeah, I may need a serious detox program.

Two Years Too Late

Lights Out released their Overload album in 2005, yet it took me until the middle of 2007 to finally appreciate how great this record is. I don't know what took me so long. Maybe with all the music I had coming in, I never really took the time to give it the attention that it deserved. Just listening to it here and there, until one day it just clicked and I was blown away. I saw this band twice. Once in Maine with Stand & Fight, Blue Monday and Desperate Measures, and then again at the Planet Metal record release show. Both times I didn't know one song that they played. Man, I missed out.

Tyler dropped me a line that Youngblood apparently found 10 copies of the Overload album in the YBHQ basement, and had them up in the store. I immediately checked online and ordered myself a copy. Black vinyl, 525 pressed. While I was shopping I also picked up the third pressing of the Far From Breaking 7 inch, which is limited to 350 copies on gold colored vinyl. For the 10 year anniversary, Youngblood made 200 hockey pucks. As this record label continues to impress me, I picked one of those up as well.

Flying Solo At Nuggets

Things were a little different for our annual trip to Boston for the Celtics / Magic game. The game was on December 23rd, and due to Rob's Christmas travelling plans he would be driving back from Rhode Island on that day, so we would be meeting in Boston just before the game. That meant no NBA 2K8 on the Xbox 360 before driving down, no stop at Chicago Dogs for their awesome veggie dogs, and that I would be stopping at Nuggets by myself. This trip I was actually a litte disappointed with what Nuggets had to offer. I wasn't left holding a stack of vinyl after browsing, and having to make a decision on what I needed to put back to stay within my budget. Instead, I only found three records that were worth buying, and then one of those I bought just because it was in great shape, and had a $3.00 price tag. I also bought a Mercyful Fate CD at Nuggets. When I got out to the car, I noticed that it had a saw cut in the spine of the jewel case. Fuck, I hate cut-outs.

• Raven - Rock Until You Drop : Raven's first and classic record. I was really excited to find it. It was an Italian pressing and in really great shape. Later I realized that it didn't come with a lyric sheet, and I was left wondering if one was missing, or if the Italian press didn't come with one. Now I'll need to find and original pressing and make sure I get the insert.


• New Model Army - Thunder and Consolation : I love this record. New Model Army play a great style of Rock with a slight punk twist and a political slant. This album is the high point of their career. These songs are full of anger and passion...such emotion is put in to them that at times it gives me chills.


• Ratt - Out of the Cellar : This was the one that I bought because it was cheap. I remember buying the original copy when it was released. I had spent the night at my Aunt's house, who lived intown Portland at the time. We took a walk around the city, had lunch and she gave me the opportunity to stop at one of the music stores, and she would buy me something. This was a big deal for me! At that age, all my record shopping was limited to the Mall, and never made it into Portland to shop at the "good" record stores. I was still kind of young and too new to buying music to really grasp the opportunity that was presented to me. I often wonder what other records were available at this store while I was there...back when vinyl was the dominant medium for music. In any event, I walked away with a cassette of this Ratt album. I loved it. We went back to her apartment and I popped the tape into my Walkman, put my headphones on, and just tuned everything out. Great memories.

After my disappointing trip to Nuggets, I took off for the Garden to meet up with Rob. He caught me as I was pulling into the parking lot, and we took off for our traditional trip to Hooters for supper. We were both shocked to find that it had closed up. First Krispy Kreme's and now Hooters? Is nothing sacred?!? We walked up to Fanuel Hall and ate at Bertucci's instead. Damn, I love broccoli calzones. For the game, the Celtics did not disappoint and keeping with tradition beat Orlando in Boston, thus avenging their first loss of the season. I really love our annual trip down to Boston to watch them take on the Magic, but with Rob as a big Orlando fan, I'm forever grateful that Boston wins each year. I have a feeling that if Orlando wins, he'd be reminding me of that sting for the entire ride home.

2007 Recap

I love statistics for my music. Last.fm tracks what I'm listening to online, and the OrangeCD database helps keep my music collection cataloged with all kinds of data at my fingertips. With OrangeCD, I can sort my albums by year, compare the number of CD's I've bought to the number that I've downloaded...all kinds of geeky shit. I was thinking of putting together a "Best of 2007" list like Tyler does, but it just seemed to overwhelming to go into such detail, so I scrapped the idea. However, 2007 was such a big year for me musically, that I felt the need to put some kind of recap together, and I decided it would be more numbers based.

In looking through OrangeCD, and sorting some data, I found that I had added around 362 new records/CDs to my collection! That's almost a new album each day of the year. The problem with liking so much music, is that I really never get the time to sit and really spend a lot of time with new albums. I worked to remedy that at the end of the year, and my resolution for 2008 is to really get familiar with new music before filing it away deep into the collection. So, anyway, here is the breakdown of what was added to my collection for 2007.

35 - 7 inches
6 - 12 inch singles

90 - LPs

1 - LP box set
109 - new CDs
119 - burned CDs
2 - CD box sets

While 2006 saw the release of some of the best hardcore records with Have Heart, Verse, The First Step, Betrayed, and Outbreak, 2007 managed to drop a few gems on us as well.

Best Hardcore of 2007

1. Get the Most : Moment in Time E.P.
2. Nothing Done : Everybody Knows
3. Down to Nothing : The Most
4. I Rise : Down
5. True Colors : Focus On The Light

• Notable mention : Said and Done - Everyday, Go It Alone - Histories, Red Handed - Wounds Remain, Soul Control - Involution

2007 was also a great year for Metal, as I went from revisiting my youth and falling in love with the classics again to really digging into what the Metal world had to offer today. There has been a huge revival of Thrash, and David (Genocide_Junkie) was really a big help in keeping me in touch with the new music.

Best Metal of 2007

1. Fueled By Fire : Spread the Fire
2. Municipal Waste : The Art of Partying
3. Onslaught : Killing Peace
4. Evile : Enter the Grave
5. Overkill : Imortallis

• Notable mention : 3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up the Blades, Exodus - The Atrocity Exhibition, Dublin Death Patrol - DDP 4 Life

Of course I would be remiss in not mentioning the incredible album that the White Stripes released this past year. Icky Thump was one of their best, and I have yet to get tired of listening to it. And finally, there was only one Hip Hop album in all of 2007 that really interested me, and that was Brother Ali's amazing The Undisputed Truth. Hardcore and Metal really pushed Hip Hop out of the picture for me this year, but this one album was too good to ignore.