Staring Into The Sun

Today's record is all about second chances.

Uniform Choice 'Staring Into The Sun'. This album was released in 1988, only two years after 'Screaming For Change', although it feels more like it should have been longer, such was the change in both the band's sound and style. They moved on from being shaved head straight edge hardcore band, to long haired rock outfit. The music slowed down and the vocals were more sang than screamed. I heard it once years ago, struggled to get through it and dismissed it as an awful record, never to be listened to again.

About three months ago, fellow Vinyl Noize blogger Antonio featured a black vinyl copy of 'Staring Into The Sun' (see HERE) on VN and wrote about how it never gets enough love. I don't know what it was exactly about what he wrote, but it made me want to try it again. So I downloaded it, and found it the same as before. I struggled to get through it without turning it off. But then a day or two later, I tried again. It still sounded awful. I then spent a couple of days painting my kitchen, listening to five albums that I had downloaded, of which this was one. Well, somewhere around the fifth or sixth play, one of the songs got stuck in my head, and I started to enjoy it. And then the same with the song after it. Eventually I was getting used to the record and starting to enjoy it for what it was. I guess I started to look beyond the fact that it was Uniform Choice, and just listened to the songs. To cut to the chase - I started to like it and then realised I needed a red vinyl copy in my collection, and Discogs was there to help me out.

I never thought too much about the front cover. I mean, it's slightly weird, but it's not THAT bad. The inside of the gatefold, however, IS worth mentioning. I mean, this is one hell of a posed and well considered photo. I think this photo pretty much sums up why people hate this record. To me, this could be Bon Jovi. I think Pat Dubar is the dude on the far left in this photo. That hair is a long way from the shaved head on the front of 'Screaming For Change'. Is it even possible to grow your hair that long from a skinhead in two years?

The back cover is also a little odd. A rose on a plain white background next to a photo of a fence wrapped in barbed wire. It doesn't really fit in my opinion. However, it does remind me of the cover of the Unity 'Blood Days' LP, so in that context doesn't seem too weird.

Whilst I would never go as far as to say that this record is as good as 'Screaming For Change', I would be so brave as to say that it's not as bad as most people say. Heck, I should know - I used to be one of those people. But all in all I'm glad I gave this a second chance.