So Equal Vision went ahead and pressed up a second press of Bane's 'Don't Wait Up' LP from last year on two different colours of vinyl. The first press came on blue vinyl and yellow vinyl, and the second press comes on blue vinyl and yellow vinyl. The second time around, however, the vinyl is clear rather than solid.
Picking these up also reminded me that I never got around to picking up the black vinyl copy of the European pressing on End Hits Records. This one was, I believe, the third press, although it was not very well advertised and hasn't been seen too much, making me think that the numbers made must be lower than previous pressings, although that is of course just speculation.
These three add to my previous nine, meaning that I now have 12 copies of this record. And guess what. I just saw a picture of a green one yesterday on instagram!
Even though I collect Integrity records, and have well over 100 of the things, I'm still missing loads. Looking at it positively, there are lots for me to chase! Until a couple of months ago I didn't have any of the reissue splits with Mayday. Then I realised that I needed to try to pick them up. There are three colours that are pretty easy to get (yellow, red, white), of which I only have one, but I did manage to find this rarer blueish grey copy for not much money, so I figured I'd cross that off the list first.
No idea what the crack is with this. But I'm happy to have it as it seems by far the least common colour of this 7" out there. Unless of course there are colours I don't even know about, which is always possible.
Here's another long lost and forgotten 90's hardcore 7" that I won a test press of recently. Everlast 'Drown The Self' 7" on Chapter Records. I saw this on eBay and won it for $11. It comes in a plain white paper sleeve with the band name, record title and song titles written in black ink. Looks kinda boring huh?
I dug out my regular copy in order to snap the test next to the actual cover. There's a lot of blue going on here.
I used to like this 7" back in the mid 90s. The band's best song was not on this 7" at all, but on a 7" compilation called 'The Cold War' (I have a test of that as well). This 7" sounds pretty typical of the early to mid 90s. If I didn't have my collection in alphabetical order then I'd file it next to Green Rage, Canon and Soulstice... if that means anything to you.
Now and again I get caught up in the hype. When it was announced that Jawbreaker's 1994 LP '24 Hour Revenge Therapy' as being repressed, with the first 300 copies on red vinyl, a virtual shitstorm ensued. It wasn't possible to select either a red or black vinyl option on the site. You just had to buy a copy and hope you got a colour one. People started posting what their order number was, assuming that an order number less than 300 meant that they had scored a red copy. And of course, when I read all of this stuff going on, I started to panic thinking I would miss out. So I placed an order. And in the end I got lucky.
I remember this coming out, and I remember seeing the band play live when they toured the record in 1994. It was the only time I ever saw them play.
The funny thing is that I have been trying to avoid buying reissues for the last couple of years. But this one fully sucked me in.
So on a slightly related note, there is one Jawbreaker record that has been on my wants list for years, and I have never had a single shot at owning it. It's the first Jawbreaker 7" on grey vinyl.
This was released by Very Small Records back in 1989. The first press was 500 copies on grey vinyl. The remaining 3000 copies came in a different colour sleeve and were on black vinyl.
I've had this on my wants list for a long time. I decided that I needed to cross it off, so spent a little more to get one.
And around the time that I picked this up, I also spotted a green vinyl copy of the Jawbreaker / Jawbox split 7", so figured I would grab that too.
And finally... I found the complete show that I attended in 1994 on youtube. The venue name is wrong, but it's undoubtedly the show I went to. Pretty cool that I can relive this 20 years on. Ah, the internet.
There is, quite simply, too much music out there. You pick and choose based on various factors. But you can't listen to it all. Recently I noticed a couple of people post pictures of the cover of the first Life of Agony album. I had never heard the record or the band, but based on the number of times I was seeing this album cover pop up, I decided to give it a listen. I went to youtube and played it and within seconds I was really into it. So I downloaded the album and then found myself listening to it non-stop for three weeks straight. I played it about three times a day and had no time for anything else. So when I got chance to buy the record this past weekend, I jumped on it.
The funny thing is that this record came out in 1993, and I had seriously never heard the band even once (that I was aware of) in the twenty two years since. I had heard of the band and seen the record over the years, but in my head the band's name, the record label and the cover art made me think that this was some kind of lame nu metal album... despite nu metal not really being a thing until a few years later. Not that I know anything about that stuff, of course.
Anyway, it's funny to think that this is the best record I have heard this year and it came out when I was 18. Kinda makes me think that I am an idiot for prejudging some things based on band name or cover art or some other nonsense. But then again, as I said, there's too much music out there. You can't listen to anything, so you make choices. Sometimes, however, you probably get it wrong.
Ride are one of those bands that I never was interested in. I had friends who loved them at school, but to me back then they sounded like the soundtrack to wet weekend, i.e. boring. Last summer, for some unknown reason, I got inspired to check out their 1990 LP 'Nowhere' and found myself really enjoying it. So I added it to my mental want list and started looking out for a good condition original copy. Well, a year later and I'm still searching for one, but last week I spotted a test press for sale on eBay, which I ended up being the only bidder on and winning for £15. I guess it's only really hardcore kids who are interested in test pressings. The average indie / shoegaze fan, it would seem, is less fussed.
It comes in a cool Creation Records 'disco' sleeve. Looks much cooler than a plain white sleeve, for sure.
The reverse of the sleeve tells us that this is a 'promotional copy only'. Not sure why they needed to add the word 'only'. Quite clearly it is a promotional copy, but whether it is 'only' a promotional copy could be debated. I mean, it could also be a frisbee, a placemat or a thing to scrape the ice from your car window.
Kinda funny to only own a test press of a record and not a regular copy. But I hope to rectify that situation soon by picking up an original first press with embossed sleeve and sticker. Shouldn't be too tough to find one as they are relatively common, although finding one in top condition will no doubt prove quite tough. We shall see...
It's funny, because I have had some things on my wants list for YEARS without really ever seriously chasing them. I guess I use my wants list more of a reminder list of things to look out for, although if I'm honest half of the things on there I'm pretty much indifferent about. Plus I'm old and don't really spend time actively chasing things that I want. Instead, I adopt a patient approach. I just wait for a copy to be come available at the right price, and sometimes this takes a long time to happen. As a result, some stuff stays on my want list for a long time. And here's a prime example...
Harvest released their 'Living With A God Complex' LP way back in 1997. I didn't manage to get a colour vinyl copy back then and have only now, 18 years later, managed to get around to picking one up for the first time. Pretty much the dictionary definition of 'patience' I'm sure you will agree.
There were two colours of this thing. As you can see, I managed to get the more common colour, which is clear orange.
This copy here is in particularly great shape, and includes the giant fold out poster, which has a very 90s feel about it.
The other colour that exists is grey vinyl, with hand numbered labels out of 50 copies. Assuming it takes the same amount of time for me to find one as it did this copy, I should have one in time for my 58th birthday. Now there's a sobering thought...
It barely seems like a year ago that Violent Reaction appeared on the scene and started grabbing the world's attention. They still feel like a 'new' band to me. Yet it was almost three years ago that their debut 7" was released (and somewhere round a year previous that their demo came out). Anyhow, the point is that this 'new' band has now been about for the best part of four years, and throughout have been gaining more and more attention. What started out as a one man project has grown to one of the biggest hardcore bands in the world, and after an LP two years ago on Painkiller Records, we now have a second full length, this time on Revelation.
The first press had two colours of vinyl. Clear vinyl was out of 315 copies:
And gold vinyl was out of a whopping 1,243 copies:
It's great to see Revelation releasing more new music by new bands and, even better, to finally see them release a record by a UK band. I never thought I would actually see the day.
So just like everyone else out there, I was suckered by Revelation's repress of 'Start Today' on glow in the dark vinyl. But unlike everyone else, I've only just received mine. Not much to say about this one really, other than how awesome it is. But you already know that. So here are a couple of pictures, which no doubt everyone has seen before many times elsewhere.
Of course, as Rev reissued the record on this new colour, Super 7 decided to make another GB toy using the same glow in the dark technology. And even though I thought I wouldn't get sucked in, on the day it launched I couldn't help checking out what the fuss was about, which inevitably led to me buying one.
So the only thing left to do at this point was to put the two things together and take a couple more photos. One with the lights on:
And one with the lights off:
It sounds stupid, but I am seriously impressed with how brightly these things glow in the dark. I mean, shit glowing in the dark has been something that has existed since I was young, but it always used to be a pretty poor glow. These two things glow seriously brightly. The photo doesnt do it justice really, but in real life these things glow super bright. Love it.
I bought a bunch of stuff from Dan at Second Nature Records. It was quite funny because the transaction started about 3 years ago. He posted a list of stuff for sale, I replied, we agreed prices, and then I didn't reply back. I'm not sure what happened, but I recall it was a pretty busy time, and my email builds up pretty quickly, so I guess within a few days the email chain was way down my inbox and then I forgot. And then three years went by. Tidying my email a couple of months ago I emailed Dan to see if he still had the records, expecting them to be sold, but most of them were still available. A few days later they were in the mail.
I'm gonna deal with the things over a few posts. I'm starting with a couple more versions of the classic Coalesce 'Functioning On Impatience' 12". The fourth press was only 100 copies on purple vinyl:
And the sixth press was an even fewer 48 copies on orange vinyl:
I thought that these two copies had completed my colour vinyl collection for this record, but then I realised I was missing one. I still need a third press orange/black marble copy. Don't think I have ever even seen one. So whilst I have crossed these off of my want list, I now need to put another one on there. Damnit.
So you may or may not know that Supertouch released a limited cover version of their 'Lost My Way' 7" for Record Store Day 2012. There were 70 copies on black vinyl that came in a numbered sleeve which featured an elephant on the front. It was sold exclusively at Generation Records in NYC, where the band played a special in store show on the day. Well, it's taken three years, but I finally managed to snag one for a reasonable price.
I actually managed to get this from the store who were selling on eBay. Makes me wonder how many copies remained unsold, or they held back.
This is the fifth copy of this 7" that I own. The one I am missing is the one with the limited Vinyl Noize cover. Pretty funny that I used to write for Vinyl Noize and this is now the only one I need... all because I didn't want to have to pay for a t-shirt that it came bundled with back when it came out. In the unlikely event that anyone has one with the Vinyl Noize cover and could live without it, you know where to find me...
I picked up the new Title Fight LP 'Hyperview'. There were a few different pressings of this one (and Nico has just about all of them!), but I didn't want to try to collect them all. I decided that I would be happy with one copy. The only question was which one to try to get. As I am generally a fan of vinyl colours matching artwork, I decided to go after a white copy.
This LP is quite different to their previous releases. Their sound has mellowed a lot and they now sound like an early 90s British shoegaze band. I've actually been really enjoying this record the last couple of weeks. Shame I missed the band on tour, but the only show near me was sold out. I saw some footage of them playing live last week and I was surprised to see a non-stop line of kids stage diving. I mean, seriously, how is this music to dive to?
As I am sure you know, most test pressings are made in pretty small runs. Typically, there are 3-15 copies of most tests made. But sometimes labels make much larger quantities, and here's an example. This Fastbreak 'Don't Stop Trying' 7" test press is numbered out of 55 copies (with this one being #3).
The sleeve that this copy comes in is a very DIY affair. It's basically just a folded piece of red card, with a print of the regular cover art glued on the front.
I'm not sure whether this is the real cover or one that the previous owner made. The reason I say that is because Kyle also owns (or rather owned) a copy of this test which came in a regular record cover (check it HERE). Given that his was number 5, which was only two after this one, it would seem odd that they would have different sleeves.
Still looking for a first press blue vinyl copy of this one, and I think there may be a solid yellow vinyl later press too which I also don't have. Anyone?
Back in the last 90s I picked up a 7" by a band called Pushed Too Far. I liked how they appeared to be named after a SOIA song, I liked the tunes they banged out, and I liked the aesthetics of their record - it came in a blue sleeve and pretty much all copies were on a matching blue vinyl. It felt like a nice, clean design. Back then I heard rumours that there was a second, more limited 'dark' blue colour vinyl, but I never saw one. Fast forward to early 2015 and one popped up on ebay. In the 16 or so years before this, I don't think I had ever actually seen one. So I figured I would throw down a cheeky bid, and wouldn't you know it, I bagged it. So here it is:
The dust sleeve is stamped with a number 32, although I have no idea how many copies this is number thirty two of.
I always loved the band photo on the back of the sleeve. I used to love dude's Chain t-shirt and I liked the idea that if you lived wherever these dudes lived, you might just bump into them hanging out around town.
Finally, I fished out my other copy - the one I've had since the late 90s - to compare the two. It's the one on the right here. As you can see, the its colour is a much closer match to the sleeve than my newest copy.
I haven't listened to this in a while, and it doesn't seem to have aged too well compared to other records of the same era. Regardless, however, there's another variant out there on black vinyl in a limited sleeve and I quite want it now. Kinda silly huh?
Here's another variant of an early 00's era 7". The Right Brigade / A Poor Excuse split 7" was Bridge Nine's sixth release, which is now 15 years old! How the hell did that happen? I picked up one copy back when this came out, and then about nine years later picked up a second copy. Then a couple of years later a couple more. It seems that I manage to pick up another one on average once every 2.5 years. Since I haven't managed to add one since March 2013, I figured it was about time to seek out another one. So here's my sixth copy... the one with the infamous 'Fuck Off' cover.
The story on this one is basically that the printers took a long-ass time to print the covers. So B9 were sitting on the records for ages without covers, meaning they couldn't sell them... so to get around the probem they made up some covers of their own.
The label's account of what happened is detailed on the back of the sleeve:
According to the B9 discography, there were 100 of these covers made. Mine is stamped with a number 97, leading me to believe that I own number ninety seven of the hundred.
Despite having 6 versions of this one now, I still need 4 more to complete the set. At my current rate this means that I am set to have achieved that goal by 2025. Please stick around and watch the story unfold... very slowly...
So I finally got the second Boston Strangler LP, and boy, what a let down. As is often the case with these things, this second LP seemed to draw far less attention than the first. I guess it's difficult to keep that level of hype going for too long. Or perhaps the world was expecting the attention and excitement this time around, so the label pressed a lot more copies, meaning that (shock, horror) the record was freely available for anyone who wants one.
Whatever the reason, it seems that this thing didn't manage to send the world, eBay and Discogs crazy. It seems easy to get, but I'm not sure if that's because there are lots of copies out there, or just because it's not overly exciting. At least the first one kinda sounded new and exciting. This just sounds like the same record again. Sorry to say I feel no interest for this at all. Perhaps the title is a suggestion of where I should chuck it?
Right at the end of last year I posted up the debut full length from Give, 'Electric Flower Circus', pressed on a European label called Adagio 830 Records. The US pressing had completely sold out at pre-order stage, leaving me the option of either eBay or Discogs to pick up the US colour vinyl that I so badly wanted. Or so I thought... but then once again, a kind soul reached out and helped me. Some guy commented on here to let me know that the US green vinyl copies were for sale in the Deathwish Inc. online store, so I quickly grabbed a couple of copies before other fools could block me.
Green vinyl was the mailorder colour out of 300 copies. Initially this was supposed to be the record release colour, with pink vinyl being the mailorder colour, but the colours got pressed the wrong way round, with pink then being used as the record release version.
Black vinyl was out of 600 copies.
I love the artwork for this thing. It shows the band members all painted head to toe in green with flowers on top. Talk about dedication to your art...
I struggled to get into this record at first. Not sure if it just takes more time to get into than their previous releases, or whether I was just getting bored of listening to Give, but I wasn't digging it. Then a couple of week ago I was playing it whilst painting the walls, and it suddenly clicked. Right now I'm loving it. I don't think I have even seen a picture of a pink copy, but damnit, I badly need to find one. If anyone can give me a lead on one it would be greatly appreciated.
