Monday 28 December 2015

Minor threat-s/t 7" first press

 
The odd thing about grabbing this first press minor threat 7" is that I originally had no intention of ever owning it, in fact if it hadn't had been part of a package deal involving one of my absolute all time wants (that post is coming soon) then I more than likely would have never bothered to hunt one down as I'm not really a dischord collector and I already have a fourth press (with the blue sleeve). Saying that, when it showed up I was glad that I did make the purchase as it's a really nice item in superb condition (as well as an all time classic record).
 What makes this even cooler is a personalised note on the back of the lyric sheet by a certain Mr Rollins who used to work at the label before he moved out of DC to join Black flag. He was a go lucky happy chap even back then.
Pretty damn happy with this. I'm trying not to get pulled into the Dischord collecting game but I feel that I need to chase after a copy of 'In my eyes' on red vinyl. Maybe one for 2016?

Friday 25 December 2015

Shelter 7"s

Recently purchased a couple of huge items and the dude kindly threw some extras in. Amongst these were the first two shelter 7"s on equal vision. I had both of these back in the day on just black vinyl but I did fancy getting them again only on colour so this inclusion to the deal was more than welcome. Both are lovely looking items and listening to them after all this time I'd forgotten that they're really good records. 'Freewill' from the 'No compromise' 7" is easily my favourite Shelter track ever.
 Of course I can't get into the lyrics. Religion is just a load of nonsense in all forms but damn I'm glad to have these.


Saturday 12 December 2015

No Tolerance-You walk alone

There's not many perks to living in the UK but one of them is definitely having Quality control records. They've put out killer and exclusive records out by violent reaction, Rival mob and of course No tolerance. Speaking of which, they've handled the European pressing of the last awaited debut album from the Boston powerhouse.
 What a record!! Never mind hardcore release of the year, it's one of the best this decade. Absolutely pulverising from start to finish. I got lucky with the limited blue vinyl (of 200). They went fast. I'm hoping to strike gold with the red vinyl from painkiller records. I won't know until it turns up though.

Friday 11 December 2015

New York City hardcore together 7" Yellow

Well, another huge item to the collection and another one I seriously never imagined actually owning the Together comp on yellow.
 
Okay most people know that this is usually stamped out of 100 on the dust sleeve and the B-side label but as you can see below that this one isn't. After a bit of enquiring it turns out that a small handful were given to bands unstamped and the others were numbered for mailorder which begs the question how may really exist? It's tough to answer especially with it being an early Rev release because as the webmaster dude informed me no real records of  pressing information were kept back in the day. A lot of the info on the site has been painstakingly compiled by employees' vague recollections and receipts from the pressing plants or by rabid collectors. I know this actually belonged to a member of warzone at one time. Whatever the deal is I'm super stoked to own this.
 

 Hard to believe that under four years ago I didn't own a single copy of this record despite being after it forever. When I finally got the black vinyl I was over the moon but now having every colour? Chuffed doesn't cover it. Here's a group pic of the boys. What's next, a test press perhaps?

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Bitter end-Illusions of dominance LP

I'm not really a fan of a lot of this kind of stuff these days because it reminds me that most people at hardcore shows dance like morons with that stupid windmilling  and kickboxing shit. It looks like they're fighting invisible people apart from hitting innocent bystanders. Anyhow I've been with Bitter end since the beginning and I'm partial to a bit of solo moshing around my front room (who's the idiot now?) and these boys provide the perfect soundtrack.
Deathwish are one of those labels that release too much different colour vinyl of one record where it doesn't actually bother me which one I get now. This is probably the most common colour. Who cares?
 This is the band's best release yet in my opinion and I'd say definitely one of my favourite hardcore records of this year. It may be a bit too metallic for the purists but it reminds me of a lot of the stuff that got me into this shit in the first place and great lyrics too.

Monday 23 November 2015

Kiss it goodbye-She loves me, she loves me not LP

Here's one that's been on my wants list nearly forever. This album came out in 1997 via Revelation records. I knew I was going to love this straight away as it feature ex-members of Deadguy and Rorscach. Two bands I fucking loved. Despite owning a promo CD that I got sent to review for an old zine and grabbing the white vinyl repress from a few years back, I still needed this first pressing on clear wax (of just 317 copies pressed). Finding one on eBay from a UK seller made me more happy as I didn't have to pay insane postage costs. Fuck USPS!!!!

Saturday 14 November 2015

Horisont-Oddesey LP


I Haven't bothered much with Rise above records properly for a while. At one time I would pretty much buy anything on that label but ridiculous postage rates and the boring prog/folk stuff they started churning out soured me off. I'm only really interested in the crushing doom metal and balls out rock they used to specialise in putting out and thankfully this ticks the later box. I didn't bother with the clear vinyl die hard release when orders went up (kinda regret that now). I figured I would end up with either the black or blue vinyl (limited to 1000 each) when I saw bought a copy from the Manchester show with the shrine and Kadavar last weekend but was pretty happy to get this red version instead. No idea on the pressing details-they weren't sold via the store and there's no info as yet on Discogs. Time will tell no doubt.
 As for the music-well it's fucking awesome. It appears to be a concept albums with a 10 minute first track but there's enough rockers on here. Great songs, great riffs, great moustaches

Saturday 10 October 2015

Beware-Won't get the best of me 7"

I remember Marcus going on about this last year when I saw him at the Judge show in London. I downloaded a copy and instantly liked it. Proper good old school style straight edge hardcore which reminds me a bit of Chain of strength. Back to back records released this in the states but all their stuff sells out quickly and I couldn't be assed paying over the odds on discogs for a colour copy. As luck would have it the dude from control records was at the burn show last weekend selling the Euro pressing on red vinyl. Limited to and numbered out of  100 and mine is 99. That's pretty damn sweet.

Saturday 3 October 2015

Slayer-Repentless


I was as sceptical about this as anyone before I heard it. Face it Slayer will never reach the heights of 'Reign in blood', 'south of heaven' and 'seasons in the abyss' again. Those days are long gone. Also without Jeff or Dave it isn't really a proper Slayer record in my opinion but still this is pretty darn good. Whether it will still holds up in a few years time remains to be seen but for now I'm digging it. At one time I may have attempted to go for all the million different colours or something stupid like that but these days I can live with just one copy so I opted for the yellow vinyl, limited to 300.

Sunday 13 September 2015

Samhain-November coming fire LP Orange vinyl

I've always been a Misfits/Samhain/Danzig fan but I've never gone crazy and tried to go after the rare/limited stuff. I've always made do with the regular versions or represses but when I realised to my utter shame recently that I didn't even own a copy of November coming fire on vinyl anymore I knew that I was going to have to hunt one down. As luck or fate would have it an opportunity to get hold of an orange vinyl came up and I decided to take the hit. I'm glad I did-this thing isn't easy to get. There are 500 of these but you hardly ever see it for sale. Also since I bought it non-ebay or discogs then I managed to get it at a decent price. A bit cheaper than if I had used one of those sites. Also it looks fucking rad. That's the main reason we obsessive collectors go mad for stuff like this. The only problem is that it's sparked a desire to get the other Samhain records on colour. Here we go again.....

Friday 11 September 2015

Obstruct-Loss of blood LP

Another killer slab of UKHC or NWOBHC (New wave of British Hardcore) as it's being dubbed and another band featuring Tom Pimlot (Violent reaction, the flex etc). This time he's on guitar. Raging shit that doesn't let up from start to finish. On Carry the weight records. White vinyl is limited to 100 and along with the great sleeve artwork it looks fucking great.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Mike Judge & Old smoke-sights LP

I actually only heard this album for the first time a few years back. I was shocked that I actually liked it. Of course when it came out I would have hated it but that's getting older for you. Since I finally bagged a CK this year it's only fitting that I close my Judge colour vinyl collection with this one-and yes it counts.

Sunday 16 August 2015

Iron maiden-Twilight zone 7"

Fresh pick up from a trip to the flea market this morning. I'm not a huge Maiden collector anymore. I've said it before but I deeply regret getting rid of my maiden stuff in the 80's when I got into hardcore but I do have a thing for the early stuff so I still grab the odd thing here and there. I always loved this track but it was never released on any album and it was out of print not long after it came out . It was reissued briefly in the early 90's but it many ways it's still very much a long forgotten and even lost track. Another gem from the Di'anno era.

I would have liked to have snagged a colour copy but I can live with a plain black vinyl version. It's that cover that I find really striking. All the sleeve artwork from this era was the best and we get to see Charlotte (the harlot) in her beauty.

Thursday 30 July 2015

Chain rank-Up against the wall LP



If you weren’t too impressed with the last Boston strangler album, here’s a new record that might suit your fix of Boston hardcore. Featuring Ryan Abbot (No tolerance, social circkle, blank stare etc.) this is full on no frills and in your face HC. Released by Side two records. 300 on clear.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Violent reaction-s/t 7" test press

Scored this test pressing last week of the first violent reaction 7” on Static shock/Quality control. Nothing too fancy to look at but there are only 10 of these in existence. It marks my seventh version so far of this record and definitely the rarest of the bunch. If for some stupid reason you haven’t heard this band yet then go and buy all their records NOW. You’ll thank me for it.

Friday 22 May 2015

Underdog-True blue 7" Blue vinyl

Here’s another record that I never thought I would own-an original new beginnings records pressing of the underdog 7” on blue vinyl. I got a black vinyl version from Marcus in 1998 in a trade and I remember being super stoked at the time as it had been a big want of mine from that period. For a long time I was content with owning just that copy. I knew the blue vinyl existed but I also knew it was rare as rocking horse shit and didn't even think about chasing it.
When Marcus bagged one a couple or so years ago and posted pictures up I realised how awesome it looked. For some reason I’d bought the Bridge nine reissues on colour but the blue vinyl was really the only one that truly mattered.
 Skip forward to this year and thanks to discogs I got a notification that one was available. I didn’t fuck around. Five minutes later I had checked out and the thing was mine.
I’m super happy to have this one. I love everything about it. The Sean Taggart artwork is amazing, the blue vinyl looks rad and the music isn’t too bad either. Another one crossed off the list
 


Thursday 14 May 2015

Red death-Permanent exile LP

Even though I've been aiming for mainly big items I'm still trying to keep up with awesome new bands and these guys are one of the best ones around at the moment. If you dig crossover stuff like early COC, septic death etc then I can heartily recommend checking out this album. The US release was put out by Grave mistake records and the limited red vinyl sold out fast. In fact by the time I'd looked on the site they'd long gone. Feeling a bit miffed I felt I had some consolation when I got the hardware records Euro press on clear red vinyl. Just limited to 100. They just did a US tour with The flex. Check them out if you haven't already.

Sunday 10 May 2015

Judge-Chung king can suck it LP

As I’ve said I’ve been going for big items this year and they don’t come much bigger than this, not price wise anyway. Every owner of this gem has their own story to tell so here’s mine. I first heard this via bootleg in the early 90’s and hated it. As you all know this was the original recording of what would end up as the classic album ‘Bringin’ it down’. The band were unhappy with the result and insisted on re-recording it in a  different studio (which in hindsight turned out to be the best choice). These songs sound less metallic than they do on ‘Bringin’ it down’ and a lot more rawer. Back in the day I could have probably grabbed one of these if I had been so inclined to own it then and for a fraction of the price it now commands. Skip forward many years later and the idea of owning one started appealing more to me even though I didn’t even like the damn recording. Oh there was the price that seemed to be sky rocketing. When I dug out the Judge discography a bit ago and listened to the chung king recordings and decided they sounded great. I instantly started telling myself I had to own one.
 After months of umm-ing and arr-ing I decided to put a post up on the rev collectors board and instead of waiting months or years like some people previously have I was directed to one for sale straight away. Five days later I had one in my hands. Only in the internet age...
 As you can see this is number 25. This actually travelled with Marcus's copy around 1996 and was previously owned by Vique Martin who sold it to someone in Italy where I got it from.
 So after getting the holy grail of hardcore records I could probably knock this record collecting malarkey on the head and retire. That will never happen but I won't be paying this sort of money for a single record again that's for sure.



Saturday 9 May 2015

New York city hardcore-together 7" Orange



I’ve not posted for ages. I haven’t had a camera apart from the one on my phone which looks crap but I’ve just borrowed my dad’s until I get round to buying a new one. This year so far has been the best year ever for huge scores but alas it’s been a pricey one. I’ve been rooting through stuff that I’ve decided that I can live without and sticking it on Discogs to fund some of my bigger purchases. One of these was an orange vinyl pressing of the classic revelation compilation 7” ‘Together’. I’m ashamed to admit that until about three years ago I’d never owned a copy but I finally sorted that by splashing out on a regular black vinyl. The orange version has been on my wants list for a very long time and when someone offered me one via private sale (ie no Discogs or Ebay) I decided to jump on it. I love everything about this record from  the packaging and colour of vinyl and of course the obvious awesome music on the wax itself . This is a genuine classic slice of NYHC. Limited to just 400 copies. I’d love a yellow/gold one but I’m not holding my breath anytime soon.
 
 

Thursday 5 February 2015

Earth crisis-All out war 7" Green

There’s only three Earth crisis records in my opinion that are essential and this is one of them. It was originally released by conviction records in 1992 and then later repressed by Victory after the band got bigger. Someone gave me a first pressing about 20 years ago but I’d never bothered with going after a colour one until one turned up recently for sale. I’m glad I pulled the trigger on this one as it’s a really nice package. 300 pressed on green. Revisiting it again after many years it sounds very much of its time. This was before they went a lot more metal with ‘Firestorm ‘ (still their greatest moment) so it really does sound like a lot of hardcore from that period. In fact if it wasn’t for the lyrical content then it wouldn’t have been out of place on a label like ebullition. This record pissed a lot of people off at the time but I can get behind a lot of their lyrics and it rips musically so I’m proud to have it (as a third copy) in my collection.

Friday 23 January 2015

Integrity-Hooked....LP Test

I don't like posting stuff that fellow bloggers have just acquired as they usually do a better and more interesting job than me and Marcus posted this Integrity test pressing up before Xmas but sod it, it's my first Integ record pick up this year so here goes. As Marcus pointed out this was only previously out on picture disc thanks to those dubious fellows at Lost & found records. It's a compilation and not essential to the casual fan but if you're a record collector geek then that's a different tale. Boring and plain dust jacket with a stamp but it's an Integrity test pressing and that will do.

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Project X-7"

Okay my first post in an age. Let's start the new year off with something big. How about an original Project X 7"? I actually got offered one of these back in 1989 by Walter when I interviewed him on the Gorilla biscuits tour which only saw light in a zine seven years later. Anyway stupidly I never followed him up and here I am a quarter of a century later paying a lot more. Everyone knows the drill with this. Super group side project featuring members of Gorilla biscuits, YOT etc, 500 only pressed by schism records, blah, blah. I've had a silver label bootleg for about 20 years now and then Bridge nine reissued it but nothing beats an original. I'm going to try and pull the trigger this year on some of my bigger wants items. This is a good one to begin with...