RORSCHACH 2 x LP

The funny thing about getting older & time passing is some of the things you remember. Or things you don't remember. I remember talking to Hallam from Above All and him telling me that he had seen Rorschach play in a pub in London. I also remember seeing Stalingrad play at a festival at the 1in12 Club in about 1994 and somehow knowing that they sounded kinda like Rorschach, even though at that point I had never actually heard Rorschach. I also remember buying Rob Holden's spare Rorschach 'Needlepack' 7" for £2, and wondering why he had two copies of the record in the first place. And I remember getting the 'Protestant' LP in the mail and staring at the purple sky on the cover for ages thinking it didn't really look like a 'hardcore' record at all. However, the thing I have no memory of is how I became aware of Rorschach in the first place. A lot of bands I remember friends pointing me toward, or hearing songs at people's houses, or reading about them. But I have no idea on how I picked up on Rorschach. All I know is that I suddenly had a strong urge to buy their second LP, and after doing so I knew I had made a wise choice.

Despite breaking up many years ago, Rorschach got back together recently to play a couple of shows. I'm not sure how or why this came about to be honest. But anyway, they played a few shows at the end of September 2009. You can see some footage on youtube if you wish. A couple of weeks ago I found out that they made a record for this little reunion tour. So obviously I had to grab one. The record is a double LP, with each disc containing one of their two albums.

There were 5 different colours of vinyl, and 150 copies of each colour, with a different one being sold at each show. I wasn't about to buy all five, so picked the red vinyl, which is from the New York show:

All copies were numbered. I think mine is number 4. Although it my also be number 48. Not sure.

As with every record that comes out these days, this has a gatefold sleeve:

... with all the lyrics printed inside:

Overall I'm not so into this package. It kinda feels like pressing this double LP was a bit of a late decision and it was done in a bit of a rush. The artwork just looks a bit bare and too far removed from the original LPs. So visually a bit of a let down really.

The best thing about this package, though, was the download code, which gave all the songs in 320kbps mp3 format. I used to own the discography cd, but the mastering was so bad that it was next to useless. I had the songs in itunes ripped from the cd, but never listened to it because the volume was stupidly low. It kinda sounded like it had been recorded by someone using a tape recorded whilst their friend played the records to them down the phone. SO I haven't really listened to Rorschach in a while. But listening to these songs with a bit of volume makes them so much better and reminds me why I got into this band in the first place.