Violence At Midnight

I fell in love with Midnight when Sandwell introduced me to their Satanic Royalty album 5 years ago. Their blend of Venom/Motorhead inspired Metal hooked me quick, and while nothing has had the same impact that their first album did, I still rush to buy anything they release.

If anything, Midnight stay consistent. You know exactly what you are going to get with them, and Shox Of Violence continues that full on Metal assault. With songs like Who Gives A Fuck? and Groin Gripper, you know that Midnight are still as rough and nasty as ever.

Oddly enough, the CD version of this EP contains 25 tracks...the four included on this EP, plus a bunch of covers and compilation tracks. Probably not something that I'll pick up, but I'm intrigued to hear their Girlschool and Quiet Riot covers.

I love the look of the splatter vinyl with the cover images.

Department Of Youth Services

Let me just say that the new year has been extremely lucrative for my record collecting game. January started off with a big win with the Accused LP, and has just continued to rain nothing but gold in the weeks that followed that score. Record release and tour pressings, new discoveries of old bands, and a nice slab of pink vinyl have caused 2017 to come roaring out of the gate.

Seriously, the eleven remaining months in 2017 were going to struggle to keep up with how great January was...and now that we are throwing an XClaim pressing in the mix...February through December might as well pack it in and go home. There isn't any way to top this month now.

When you are just starting to get serious about record collecting, you resign yourself to the fact that there are some classic records that you are probably just never going to be able to get your hands on. Some records, no matter how great they are, just seem out of your reach.

For me that impossibility seemed to be an XClaim collection. I thought that I'd be able to pick up a few of them here and there, but the harsh reality was that some of these are serious business in the collecting game. They ain't going to come cheap.

I surprised myself by picking up Get It Away a few years ago (Holy shit, that was six years ago!), but at the time I'd figured that I'd picked up the one and only XClaim record that I could actually afford.

Collecting the Black Sabbath UK Vertigo pressings really opened my mind to the possibility of knocking off some of those big time Hardcore players. If I could get things done with Sabbath, maybe things weren't so bleak for some of those other records that I thought were out of my reach. I keep a list of my Top Ten Wants for the year in the sidebar of this blog, and last year I grew a pair, and added the DYS 'Brotherhood' album to it. I didn't really expect to make a move on it, but I wanted it there as constant reminder to keep my sights set on bigger and better things.

I don't have many notifications set with eBay, but one of them is to alert me when there is a new auction for the Brotherhood album from DYS. I've had this set for years, but I've never acted on it...in fact, most times I just delete the alert without checking the auction. This month, however, when I saw the email alert, I decided to at least look at it. Of course the auction had a high starting bid amount, so the only people that were going to be interested were bound to be serious buyers...and in the end it was just me and one other guy slugging it out for the chance at this one. I was flying high on some other recent wins, and was feeling invincible, so I went "all in", determined to finally own a copy of this classic.

When buying Xclaim records, the insert is a must. If it doesn't include one, keep walking.

About four years ago...you know, back when buying 17 copies of the same record gave me fits of excitement, I picked up the latest colored vinyl reissue that TAANG! did for the Brotherhood record. I was afraid that by buying the reissue it was going to somehow smother the flame of desire to own the original XClaim pressing, so I refused to play it...refused to blog about it...refused to officially add it to my collection. It was just a ghost. Now that I've got the original pressing, I can open Capone's vault and finally acknowledge the existence of the Brotherhood LP on red vinyl. It might pale in comparison to the original, but that vinyl sure looks good.

S.O.A. D.E.M.O.

While I was picking up the new pressing for the Red Hare 7 inch, it was recommended that I grab the new colored vinyl for the S.O.A. demo as well. Since I'm sometimes easily influenced, and have an inexplicable aversion to buying a single record when purchasing from an online store, I took the bait.

I'm generally not interested in multiple recordings of the same songs...so if a band's demo songs end up on their first album, I'm generally not going to spend much time with that demo. Over the past few years, Dischord has released a number of old demos on vinyl, and I've ignored them all. If I hadn't been in their webstore for the Red Hare record, I probably would have passed by the S.O.A. demo as well. On a whim, and because I wanted to beef up my cart, I grabbed a copy.

This S.O.A. demo is damn good. Great packaging, and killer songs. I'm glad I picked this up, and while the yellow vinyl probably looks best with the cover, now I'm kind of interested in the red and blue vinyl pressings of this. It also peaks my interest to possibly check out the string of Dischord demos that I've ignored to this point.

Gold Hare

The bad thing about social media is that you get to see the shitty politics of your friends and family, as they use it as a platform to spew their veiled racism and bullshit. Then you have the awesomeness of moments when someone posts a picture of a record that you didn't know existed because sometimes you just can't keep up with everything in the record collecting universe.

When Nico from Do Not Consider Yourself Free posted a picture to Instagram of the gold vinyl pressing of the newest Red Hare 7 inch I was like "Wait. What? Where did this come from?".

While I'm definitely cutting back on needless multiple copies of a lot of new records, Red Hare makes the cut and I didn't hesitate to order the second pressing. Come on, that second full length album can't come soon enough.

Make America Hate Again

Donald Trump was inaugurated as the President Of The United States. It is still unbelievable, and I can't wrap my head around how this happened. I've spent most of the day listening to early 80's Hardcore and trying to restrain myself from just flooding social media with a barrage of middle fingers. When the mailman delivered a new record to my door, it was the small bright spot in a dark and dismal day. When I opened the package, it couldn't have been anymore fitting.

A few days ago, I was bouncing around on Discogs, and I can't remember how I got there, but I stumbled upon the new 7 inch for Dead Ending, and quickly checked out the video for Ivanka Wants Her Orange Back. Being a huge fan of Articles Of Faith, I loved it as soon as I heard Vic Bondi snarling behind the microphone. Great, biting Hardcore Punk. Fuck Trump forever.

I swung by the Alternative Tentacles site, and it looked like there was a limited amount that were pressed on blue vinyl...and they were sold out. This problem was quickly resolved as a Discogs seller had a copy for sale. 100 pressed on blue vinyl, so I was happy to get my hands on this one.

Toxic Yellow Boombox

When I grabbed the new Angel Du$t record last year, I fully expected it to only get a few spins, and then collect dust on the shelf. I never thought that it would slowly climb my Best Of 2016 list and land in the top ten.

Seriously, this thing is catchy as fuck. For a couple of weeks, it was the first thing that I'd queue up for my drive into work. Great way to start the day.

Chris over at Unwavering Spirit ended up with a few copies of the new record with the tour cover when he caught them live recently, and instead of being douchy and flipping them to make money, he offered it to like-mined record nerds like myself. While I wasn't going to get caught up in chasing multiple pressings of this record, I couldn't turn away from the opportunity to grab this special tour cover. Unlike the Turnstile record release, this cover looks pretty damn cool.

Interestingly enough, the copy that Chris kept for himself and posted was on blue vinyl, and numbered out of 100. The copy that he sent me was a part of the second pressing on yellow, and numbered out of 200.

I Need That Super Motion

Back when I picked up the newest Turnstile 7 inch, I mentioned that one copy was enough for me. I was done pouring money into the Turnstile record collecting machine. I got in, grabbed a copy for myself, and got out. It was easy for me to say at the time, since I didn't expect to get the offer to pick up a special record release cover.

Turnstile seem to have a consistent theme of terrible looking record covers, and the one that was designed for their record release show is no exception. Man, that thing is terrible...it is so ugly, that I kind of wanted a copy.

I obviously wasn't going to be making it to Turnstile's record release show, but thankfully, Chris over at Unwavering Spirit saved the day and hooked me up.

So even though I was content with my yellow vinyl pressing, I'm kind of happy to have another color with this one on purple. Record release cover limited to 125 and hand numbered.

Days Of The Pink Owl

There are some records that a reissue just won't cut it. Anything else just feels like a pale imitation. It's got to be the real deal.

Eric Ozenne's previous bands, Unit Pride and Redemption '87, were solid gold, and he didn't disappoint with The Nerve Agents. In the early 2000's, The Nerve Agents were one of my favorites...hell, they are probably my favorite Eric O band ever. Since I was late to the record collecting game, I missed out on the original pressing for their albums on REV.

I grabbed the Record Store Day pressing that REV did for Days Of The White Owl back in 2013 because it was convenient. I knew that the original pressing on pink was the way to go, but the reissue was just too easy, so I grabbed it. It was just a place holder to get the vinyl on the shelf.

At the end of 2016, my self control slipped a little, and I found myself unable to stop from clicking "Add To Cart" on Discogs with no regard for anything or anyone. "Okay, I need to calm down on my record spending...oh shit, it would be great to own this one...hey, there is a US seller that has one available...fuck, I've bought another one.". No regrets on buying this pink vinyl copy of Days Of The White Owl though, because that shit looks great.

Good look with the pink and white. 338 pressed on pink, and 774 pressed on white. Now I'm just missing the blue vinyl. If REV promises not to follow up with five more pressings, I might have to get that one as well.

Souls Of Gold

As I was wrapping up 2016, I was putting some thought to my Top 10 list, and was spinning all the new releases from the past year. As I was working my way through all those new albums, I found myself really enjoying the latest Bouncing Souls record, Simplicity.

Listening to that new album got me thinking about how thin my Bouncing Souls record collection was. Well, not that I'm really looking to collect them, per say, but I'd still like to have their full album discography on my record shelves.

Band is so much fun to listen to, so I jumped over to their Discogs page to have a look at all their records, and just have a casual glace at what was available in the marketplace. Five minutes later, my lack of self control struck again, and I'd bought a copy of their self titled album from '97.

I was tempted to buy the original first pressing which was only on black vinyl, but when I saw how great the gold vinyl pressing looked, I couldn't resist. Second pressing from 2014, and limited to 500.

Never Surrender

I always kind of lumped Man Will Surrender in with those "too cool for Hardcore" Doghouse rock bands. I ignored them back in the mid-90's, as I had no interest in that weak ass style. Well, as time goes on, sometimes you find your stance relax a little, and you open your eyes up to those bands that you fought against back when you were young and more closed minded.

When I was neck deep into my 1996 obsession, I saw that Man Will Surrender had released an EP on Equal Vision that year. I was feeling adventurous, so I loaded up to the songs to check them out. They kind of blew in and out...initially not leaving much of an impression. Still, I stuck with it, giving the songs an occasional spin here and there. I found that with repeated listens, I started to enjoy it more an more, and before too long, I knew that I was going to need the vinyl.

There was a copy on blue vinyl available through Discogs for a while, and I had my eye on it. A copy had never sold on Discogs, so I figured that I might be able to wait it out, and see if a cheaper copy would come along there or on eBay. My resolve lasted about a month before I broke down. I just wanted the record, damn it, and with my need for instant gratification, I could only be expected to wait so long. Price be damned, I was buying it.

This Year's Savior

When I was a kid, one of the first distros that I would order from regularly was the Toxic Shock/Westworld mailorder. Through some awesome cosmic power of the universe, one of the Toxic Shock catalogs ended up in our hands. As a couple of kids stuck in Maine, it felt like we didn't have many options when it came to buying music...if it wasn't at the mall, we were out of luck. This catalog was like a gift from a punk god. We would pour over each catalog that we received, reading the entry and description for each album, and using a highlighter to mark the ones that sounded interesting. Man, I wish that I still had some of those old catalogs.

A lot of those bands on Toxic Shock Records just seemed odd. Since I absolutely loved the record from Th' Inbred, I was always interested to check out other releases on the Toxic Shock roster...but they seemed so strange, that I never took the chance on them. Almost 30 years later, and with big thanks to the internet, I'm finally checking out some of those records that I never quite had the stones to gamble my hard earned money on back in the late 80's.

I can't remember what caused the name Jesus Chrysler to pop into my head recently, but soon I was hunting down youtube videos, interested to finally hear them after all these years. I found a few and as soon as I heard Kick It Down, I was sold. It had a quirky catchy punk rock sound that hooked me instantly. I couldn't stop singing the chorus, so I figured that it was a good sign to just grab the whole album.

Such a great, fun record out of '88.

Subcore Splatterhead

Five years ago, Sandwell posted about a vinyl reissue that he picked up for the Return Of Martha Splatterhead LP. I'd owned the Combat cassette for this as a kid, but to be honest, with the tape buried in the back of my closet for the past 20+ years, I'd completely forgotten all about the band. Seeing Sandwell's post was the spark. I quickly downloaded the album, and then proceeded to obsess about it for the next year and a half.

This album blew me way...it was raw, frantic, and packed with a ton of attitude...and I loved it ten times more now than when I first heard it in the late 80's. I couldn't believe how much I liked it, and I knew I needed to get my hands on a vinyl copy.

Return Of Martha Splatterhead has seen a number of different pressings over the years, and three different versions of cover art. While Sandwell's reissue looked pretty cool, I convinced myself that only an original Subcore Records pressing would satisfy me...partly because until I'd started researching the history of this record, I'd never seen the artwork used for the first pressing. The original art just seemed to fit the album the best...and while I like the artwork used on the Combat Records reissue, it just seems too slick for the rough and crude sound contained within.

As fate would have it, here we are, five years to the day of seeing Sandwell's post, and I've finally added a Subcore pressing to the collection.

2016 And Nothing Less

2016 is on it's way out, and while many people are going to remember it for the shitty year that it was, I'm giving it a gold star in regards to its impact to my record collection.

I know that I've talked a lot in the past years about focusing my attention, and concentrating more on records that I consider classics. While buying 12 copies of the new Orchid album in 2013 was a lot of fun, a few years down the line, it feels like a waste when I'm still missing hundreds of records in the collection. Looking back at the list of records I bought this past year, I feel really good about the direction that my buying habits took me...a fine balance between hunting down old records, and checking out some new releases.

Somehow my post count is up from last year, but my total number of records hit an all time low at 179. Damn! I was so shocked, I had to check and double check those numbers. Compared to previous years, the numbers just don't seem possible...like I've missed a month or something in my calculations. Nope. I guess that is just the end result of no longer trying to keep up with every new pressing from every Hardcore band.

The numbers continue to drop, but 2016 was more about quality, and not quantity. Even though I purchased less records this past year, when I compare dollar totals, I find that I didn't really spend that much less. So I'm buying less records...but they are more expensive. When the end result is that I have original pressings from Agnostic Front, Negative FX, Sex Pistols and The Heartbreakers, I can live with buying less records each year.

Okay...that brings us to the top 5 records that I bought this past year.

I'm going to pat myself on the back here, and say that I bought a lot of great fucking records in 2016. I try to be humble, but we all know that these purchases make me better than you on some level. Suck on these, ya losers.

1. Black Sabbath 'Black Sabbath' Vertigo pressing - The debut Black Sabbath record was the final Vertigo pressing that I needed for the collection. It took me months of wringing my hands and trying to find the perfect copy to buy, and in the end it was a great feeling to cross it off the list.

2. Agnostic Front 'Victim In Pain' Ratcage pressing - When I reorganized my record collection this year, and I saw the three Bridge Nine pressings for Victim In Pain one the shelves, I felt like a chump for still not owning an original pressing. While they were great for what they were, those reissues weren't cutting it for me anymore.

3. Mindset 'Nothing Less' RSD pressing - Mindset's swan song...with a special cover for Record Store Day...from a good dude that picked up a copy for me, so that I didn't have to spend crazy money to get one into my collection. Chris from over at Unwavering Spirit is one of the best.

4. UK Subs 'Another Kind Of Blue' original UK press on blue vinyl - I'd never heard the UK Subs prior to this year, and once I'd heard their debut album from '79, I was hooked. Once I found that there was an original pressing on blue vinyl, I knew that I needed a copy. They aren't very rare, but it still felt great to add one to the collection.

5. The Adverts 'Crossing The Red Sea' UK press on red vinyl - The Adverts were another early Punk band that I'd never heard before this year. I had a fever, and the only prescription was more late 70's Punk on colored vinyl. The tone was set with the UK Subs record, and even though the UK pressing on red vinyl for The Adverts was considerably more rare, and therefore expensive, I couldn't allow myself to go cheap.

Yikes. I didn't buy many new Hardcore/Punk releases...I only picked up around 15 or so, but the ones that I did buy were great. Every once in a while, I'd feel guilty for neglecting some new Hardcore bands, and I'd check them out...but for the most part they failed to move me. What the hell did I miss this year?

As we worked our way through the year, I felt kind of underwhelmed with Metal's newest offering. There were a few albums that I really liked, but overall, it seemed that things just didn't hold my attention. As I started blasting through the Metal playlist for 2016 to close out the year, and pulling records from the shelves to get the end of year money shot photo, things started clicking with me. Damn...I didn't even see it coming, but there some really good records that were released.

So there it is...my 2016 year end recap. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the end result. I've been doing this blog thing for nearly 11 years, so if you are still hanging around and digging the music, thanks for sticking around. If this is some kind of stand off, I guarantee that I've got more stamina for this nonsense than you do. Let's see if you've got another year in you.

Getting A Little Stiff

Okay...I'm going to try and blast out one more post before we get to the year end recap. This puts me at 18 posts for the month, which is a pretty solid number. Typically I'm scrambling at the end of the year because I've allowed my backlog of records to get out of control. This year, however, I'm hitting record highs on posts because, well, I've just bought a ton of records lately. I figured I might as well close out 2016 with a bang.

While the Stiff Little Fingers album, Nobody's Heroes, was released in 1980, I'm still going to lump it in with my late 70's punk obsession. While it seemed like that early Punk sound was dead by the end of the 70's, this album still carries forth that same kind of spirit. Nobody's Heroes may very well be the big kiss goodnight from 70's punk. It seems like once we rolled into the 80's, Punk and Metal got a lot more volume, and that 70's sounds faded away or got lame with New Wave.

Unlike some of my recent late 70's discoveries, I was already familiar with the first couple of Stiff Little Fingers albums...I just only owned them on CD. During a recent Discogs binge, I was buying a couple records from a UK seller, and figured that I might as well add Nobody's Heroes to the order as well.

Motorhead Of Spades

For the past couple of years, I've been toying with the idea of starting a collection for the UK Bronze pressings of the early Motorhead records. I've already spread myself pretty thin trying to chase UK pressings for Thin Lizzy and Budgie, plus I still have work to do on those silver label Megaforce pressings that I'd started a few years ago...and don't get me started on the daydreams that I have for UK Neat, green label Combat records, and Aussie pressings of AC/DC. My mental Want List is always growing and shifting in priorities.

One year ago today, Lemmy passed away. As he was approaching 70 years in age, Lemmy was still on the road and touring with Motorhead. It almost seemed as though he was immortal...destined to keep playing Rock N Roll until after the rest of us succumbed to death. The realities of Nature meant that this could never happen, and on the 28th of December, 2015, we lost Lemmy.

With Lemmy's passing, I figured that my dreams of owning those early UK Bronze pressings were dashed. I was certain that prices of those classic records were going to skyrocket, and I would be kicking myself for not making a move sooner. Since I was already picking up something from a UK seller on Discogs, I checked what else they had for sale...and given the opportunity to pick up an original pressing of Ace Of Spades at a reasonable price, it was happy to also add it to my cart.

Man, you drop the needle on this vinyl, and the songs just hit you. I don't know if this UK Bronze pressing has a better sound or not, but I can say this piece of vinyl sounds amazing. Every song on here is a winner.

Blue Dickies

As we close in on the end of the year, I find myself suddenly scrambling to pick up the vinyl for some older records that I had just discovered in 2016...albums that I'd downloaded and enjoyed the hell out of, but haven't had the chance to buy yet.

I really dove into late 70's Punk during this past year, and I discovered a ton of cool albums that I'd never heard before. I literally downloaded around 15 punk records that were released during the span of 1977 through 1979, and I was blown away by how great some of them were. I'd seriously been missing out on some great shit.

One of the bands that I'd discovered during this late 70's punk obsession was The Dickies. I've never bothered with the band, and even though I'd never really listened to them, I always considered them kind of a goofy joke. Sometimes I struggle with that kind of thing, so I always steered clear of them.

In a moment of desperation to check out something "new" from those early days of Punk, I finally made the move and downloaded the Dawn Of The Dickies album. It definitely had that frantic energy I was looking for, and while it was still kind of silly, it eventually won me over because it was so damn infectious.

These days you can't buy a new record without being inundated with colored vinyl options...but back in the 70's and 80's, colored vinyl didn't show up very often. You took your black vinyl, and you were happy with it. So when I was looking to pick up a copy of the second album from The Dickies, and I saw that part of the initial '79 UK pressing was on blue vinyl, the choice was obvious.

Dixie Wrench

During the Summer and Fall of this year, I was balls deep into my 1996 playlist. I couldn't get enough of those records, and I was spinning them continuously. '96 was the year that Avail released their 4 AM Friday album. While I'd occasionally pulled it from the shelf, and given it a small handful of passing listens over the past ten years, submerging myself back into 1996, it reminded me how great this album really is. I'd forgotten how much it had ruled my CD player back in the day, but hearing it again, it all came back to me...and once again I was listening to it over and over again. This was a nice reminder of how great Avail were.

Oddly enough, when I finally made a move for some Avail vinyl, neither one that I walked away with was named 4 AM Friday.

Dixie was where it all came together for Avail. The Satiate record was good, and the Attempt To Regress 7 inch showed some real signs of potential, but with Dixie, Avail nailed it. They truly found their sound. Their shows were always the best...everyone loved Avail.

Nothing but black vinyl for the original pressing of Dixie. Sure Jade Tree did a color vinyl reissue back in 2006, and while it is tempting to chase those as well, for now, I'm happy with my original Lookout pressing.

From 1992 through 2002, Avail consistently released an album every two years. I remember being surprised when Fat Wreck released One Wrench in 2000. At that point it felt like the band had been around forever, and I wondered if they were able to continue with that same level of consistency. I kind of considered them to be a 90's band, and as we were moving into a new decade, I wondered if they would still hold up. Very quickly, any question of doubt was squashed. The band could still get me bouncing around like a fool.

Look, I know that vinyl was considered a dead format when One Wrench was released back in 2000, but I was still surprised to find that Fat Wreck Chords only pressed this on black vinyl. No colored vinyl here...and because of this, I was able to pick up a copy rather cheaply.

Metal Savior

I'd never heard Iron Savior before, but I'd been riding a high with Power Metal this year, and somewhere along the way, their name came across my radar. Seems as though they put out a few albums in the late 90's, which was right at the time that I was pretty much ignoring all Metal at the time, so it was no surprise that it took me so long to check them out. With a new album on the horizon, I headed over to youtube to check out their video their first single off Titancraft, Way Of The Blade. The song hooked me instantly...even though the video was cheesy as hell...and I grabbed a free download to check out the whole album once it was available.

I didn't really spend much time with new 2016 releases this year. Even the stuff that I bought, only got a few listens before getting filed away on the shelf, as I focused on records that were much older. As we approached the end of the year, and I started thinking about End Of The Year posts, and Top Ten lists, I had to scramble in a desperate attempt to try and get my thoughts in line to recap this shit. As I was queuing up and listening to newer albums, trying to rank them, I came across the often ignored download of the new Iron Savior album.

I approached it with a "hot or not" approach. If it didn't hold my attention, I would dump it...but as I settled in and listened to the entire album front to back a few times, I found that I quite enjoyed it. With so much Black and Death Metal around, I found Titancraft to be a refreshing dose of straight up traditional Metal. It isn't making my Top Ten, but I'm still happy to pick up this Metal record.

500 pressed on clear vinyl.

Vice Of Black Friday

In addition to the Iron Maiden record that was being released on Black Friday, Anthrax also pushed out a 7 inch single for the song A Monster At The End, from their newest album, For All Kings.

After slagging the new Anthrax album for a couple of months, I had a change of heart when I really sat down and gave it an honest listen. It grew on me, and really surprised me with how strong it actually was. By the years end, I may be rating it higher than the new Metallica...which is a total shocker.

Had I not already been in the record store for the new Iron Maiden vinyl, I probably wouldn't have given the Anthrax single much of a thought, but I figured "Hell, I'm already here, so I might as well grab it as well". The b-side, Vice Of The People, was an bonus song for the Japanese pressing of For All Kings CD, and it is good to see it released for the rest of the world on this single. Great song.

1,500 pressed for Black Friday Record Store Day.

Brave New Black Friday

When Iron Maiden reunited with Bruce Dickinson back in 1999, I don't think that I was even aware that Dickinson had even left the band. That's how out of touch I had become with Metal. Around that same time, I was starting to get the itch to see what was happening in Metal again, and started checking out all kinds of modern heavy bands. I don't think a single one of them stuck with me, but it did trigger me to go back and dust off some of those old Metal CDs that I grew up with and it kind of rekindled that spark. Soon, I was hitting whatever fileshare program was popular at the time, and downloading those albums that I'd missed during my 10 year Metal hibernation. Inevitably, I downloaded the newest Iron Maiden album, Brave New World.

At the time, I was content with my free download, but over time, I figured that I liked the album enough that I could spend the $10 to pick up the actual CD. For years I was content with this, but as a couple of years passed, and I started to get deeper and deeper into record collecting, I found that I wanted Brave New World on vinyl as well. The going rate for this album in 2005/2006 was around $60, and that price was way too steep for me at the time, and I walked away. At that time, I found the price to be ridiculously high, and there was no way I was paying that. Of course, over the following years, the price continued to climb, and I wanted it more and more. Things came to a head a couple months ago, and even though the vinyl was fetching closer to a $150 to $200 price tag, I couldn't wait any longer. I needed a copy in my collection now.

I mentioned to Doug how I was getting ready to pull the trigger on this record, and he told me not to cheap out by going for the Black Friday Record Store Day pressing that was coming out. Wait. What? I had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently I was one of the few that was uninformed, because suddenly, Discogs was flooded with original pressings of Brave New World, as sellers were looking to cash in out of fear that the reissue would drive down the price of their records. With sellers still looking to cash in, I decided to save a few dollars, and get the black vinyl pressing on Black Friday.

While as a general rule, I avoid Black Friday Record Store Day, I was going to have to make an exception in this case. With the record store only 5 minutes from my house, I was out the door at 7:45 the morning after Thanksgiving, so that I could be there when the records hit the floor at 8:00.

I still kind of what the picture disc first pressing, but you know, for now, I'm satisfied. Who knows, maybe that pricing will drop to a more reasonable price and I can pounce then.