I Walk Alone

So this will be the final 2015 release to make the blog, and just about in time for the end of year cut-off. I was leaving this one as late as possible for two main reasons; firstly, because I couldn't get good photos, due to light issues, and secondly because I wanted some time to listen to it properly.

There was a lot of anticipation and excitement over the debut No Tolerance full length, 'You Walk Alone', especially amongst record collectors as it was being released simultaneously by two record labels. This here is the UK / European pressing, released by Quality Control HQ.

This is the limited blue vinyl pressing, of which there are 200 copies. I knew these would sell out fast, and I knew I wanted one, so on the day it was going up for pre-order I had reminders set in my phone and, on top of that, I made sure to leave work early to ensure that I was at home in time for the launch. I didn't want to waste valuble sedonds trying to transact on my phone, with its stupid keyboard, where I manage to misspell pretty much every single word. Anyway, being dedicated (aka sad) probably helped, as I had orders placed with both labels inside of three minutes. But I'm guessing that there must have been a lot of people playing the game in a similar way, because the blue vinyl copies were gone within an hour.

So what's this like? Well, it's good, but at the same time it feels slightly disappointing. I guess the problem is that my expectations were sky high, so it invariably fails to meet them. On the first listen it didn't blow me away, and even though I have now listened to it over ten times, I'm still not left feeling overly impressed. I'm not sure what the problem is exactly, but truth is that I'm just not feeling floored by this record. Is it a good hardcore record? Undoubtedly yes. But is it up there with their last 7"? Well, no. Not yet anyway. Perhaps it just needs a few more plays...

I also managed to obtain this rare orange vinyl copy of the Arms Race 7". This band features Ola, who runs Quality Control HQ, on guitar. She kindly let me have one of these even though they are super limited copies for friends & family only. I missed out on the blue vinyl copies when this went up for sale originally, but I'm more than happy with this copy as the orange looks very nice, especially as it goes so nicely with the sleeve.