Green At Last

Anyone who is a long time reader of this thing (and has a great memory) may well remember that I picked up a 'New York Hardcore The Way It Is' green vinyl test press back in February 2013. At the time, it was pretty much a fantasy record for me, i.e. one that I never thought I would ever own. But after getting hold of one, it instantly became my favourite record in my entire collection.

Well, forward 6 years and I have added another similar item to the collection, which I am equally as stoked about.

This is another green vinyl test press on Revelation Records, being for Youth Of Today's 'Break Down The Walls' LP. I'm not sure exactly when this was made, but it was somewhere in between 1988 and 1992. I don't know for sure, but I think that this was made at the same time as the other two green test pressings (the 'NYHC The Way It Is' LP, and the Bold 'Speak Out' test press). There were only 10 copies of each made, and all three are on the exact same colour of vinyl. Here's the info from the Rev discography:

It's funny, but even though I've known about this thing existing for many years, I honestly don't think that I realised until today that this particular test press was actually rejected. So now I'm curious as to why.

Just like the other two tests, this one is pressed on a pretty unique green vinyl. It's slightly transparent, and has slight whisps of white running through it. Aside from these green vinyl test pressings, there is only one other record I have ever seen on this same colour (the last repress of the Up Front 'Spirit' LP).

As you can see from the pictures, one label is hand written, whilst the one on the reverse is blank. I'm not sure which I like the most. But I can have hours of fun flipping it around trying to decide.

What seems interesting about this one is that, of the three green vinyl test pressings, the Youth Of Today one used to be the one that seemed the most elusive. I'd seen a few people with one of the other two over the years, but only a couple of people seemed to have the Youth Of Today one. Last year, between instagram and a visit to RevHQ, I managed to figure out where every single copy of the ten was. So when there seemed a slight chance that one may be available, I made a move, knowing that if I didn't then I would most likely never get a chance to own it as everyone else who owns one has no plan to ever let it go. Fortunately it worked out ok in the end, and I became the first owner of one of these who resides outside of the US.

And whilst once I could only dream of owning one of these things, I now have two.

I remember one time saying that if I ever picked up the set of three then I would give up collecting. All of a sudden that doesn't seem quite so impossible as it once did. I know it's unlikely, but IT'S MY POSITIVE OUTLOOK!.