Tragic

The last year or so saw two different Orange 9mm records repressed or reissused. Revelation repressed the first 12" on grey vinyl, and Music On Vinyl reissued the first full length on orange vinyl. It felt like perhaps this was building towards a reunion, but I guess that if it was then it got stopped by the global pandemic. Still, continuing on the same trend, a German label (Thirty Something Records) announced that they would be releasing the band's second full length, 'Tragic', on vinyl for the first time. There were several different colour vinyl options announced, most of which sounded pretty ugly, so I grabbed the one that sounded most acceptable.

The clear vinyl is the most limited colour, out of 150 copies, and is exclusive to the label's webstore.

This album was originally released by a major label (Atlantic) back in 1996. For whatever reason, at the time I had no interest in this, even though it only came out a year or so after the first full length, and two years after their debut. I guess back then I was young and life moved slower, and a lot changed in those two years. I was probably reading HeartattaCk zine and was wary of anything on a major label, although no doubt the fact that it was CD only didn't help its cause. Plus I had a hell of a lot of other music I was busy discovering, so I couldn't buy or listen to everything. So I didn't actually get around to listening to this at all until probably about ten years ago when I went through a phase of downloading a bunch of stuff from the past that never came on vinyl. I have to say, in the modern era this sounds pretty good, especially the song 'Failure' which is the absolute stand out.

This thing also came in a bright red paper inner sleeve. As silly as it sounds, I don't think I have seen a red paper sleeve on a 12" before. It caught my eye and instantly impressed me. Simple mind, simple pleasures huh?

It'll be interesting to see whether anybody steps up to the plate to reissue either of the other two Orange 9mm records, 'Ultraman vs Godilla' and 'Pretend I'm Human'. Both were CD only, and when I downloaded them I think I just about made it through each once. I was not impressed. But I'm willing to give them another chance, especially if someone puts them to vinyl. We shall see...