D.R.I. - Dirty Rotten LP

Last weekend a couple guys in my band and I were sharing old DRI stories after practice. I don't know how it came up, but everyone seemed to have one and some were downright hilarious. Mike and I had one to share.

True story.

I was playing in a band with Mike sometime in the mid 1990's and we had a show at the University of Calgary. It was just a small local show in one of the lounges at the student center.

We were getting ready to set up and we got word from the guy putting on the show that DRI were there. What the fuck?
I looked out the side window beside the stage and saw the biggest tour bus I had ever seen in my life. It was like the size of the one in the Journey "Faithfully" video.

A buzz went through the room that this "big", slightly irrelevant (Definition era), hardcore punk band would be playing a show everyone had only paid $4 for.

I thought for sure we were going to get bumped from the show as DRI would probably play a long set.
It turned out that they were passing through town and didn't actually want to play. They just wanted to set up a merch table during our show to sell their 5000 different t-shirts, cds, hats, and coffee mugs.

None of the guys from DRI came in to watch, they stayed in their cruise ship sized bus and had FOUR merch guys set up their stuff on three tables.

We didn't sell a god damn thing that night.

Shit like that never really bothered me, and never changed my perception of the band at the time either. As much as I had personally checked out of DRI by that time, I still had the early stuff to enjoy.

Like this record, the Dirty Rotten LP.

We all know the story on this one. DRI released the Dirty Rotten ep on 7" back in 1983. The sound was not so great due to the fact they tried to jam 22 songs on it. The next year they teamed up with MDC's R Radical Records and repressed it on a 12". It was supposed to improve the sound. Yeah, I'm not so sure about that.

First press on the band's own Dirty Rotten Records and R Radical Records. All on black vinyl.

As you can see, they didn't change the art from the 7" much for the new cover. You can faintly see the two lines they blacked out from the "E" in EP to change to LP. They were also pretty faithful to the original back cover of the 7" too, only adding R Radical Records to the back.

The album also comes with a one sided, black and white lyric sheet. If you have ever heard this album and wanted to sing along, you'll know why a lyric sheet is needed.

A few years later in 1988, Roadrunner Records, the European heavy metal label, re-released the Dirty Rotten LP and included the Violent Pacification ep.

DRI were close to the height of their popularity at the time. The original 7" and 12" were largely unknown to the new crop of metal fans the band had made. Even if these headbangers wanted the Dirty Rotten record, it wasn't like they were going to find it in the mall.

Plus, the new artwork was bad ass. As a teenager, I thought it was amazing. Big fan.

The Roadrunner version was also only released on black vinyl. I am going to say there were thousands pressed, along with cassettes, as I remember seeing them everywhere - including the mall.

As with most larger labels in the late 80's, they used a glossy two sided printed inner sleeve. I do like that they used the artwork from the Violent Pacification 7" on the one side.

I originally had a hard time getting into this record. The songs were just so spastically fast. The band was so young, sloppy and raw, and the recording so muddy that it took me years to finally appreciate it. Something just clicked.
I think it was around the time I was getting into Cryptic Slaughter. That would make sense. If you can get into "Convicted", you can get into anything.

Youth Of Today - We're Not In This Alone

"We're Back!"

Well, I'm back.
A couple days ago I realized I haven't posted in over a month. My bad. I haven't had much come in that was blog-worthy and I am running out of tricks to pull out of my bag.
I think the record collecting blog world is in pretty good shape. A lot of people are posting what they got in the mail, pressing info and a quick review. It is sharing information with a hardcore collecting community that have common likes and interests. That's pretty awesome.
I always tried to differentiate myself from that formula by pulling records out of my collection I thought people would want to see, either because they are rare or have been forgotten with time. I also wanted to share records that meant something to me as I was growing up and helped shape who I am today.
After two years of We Will Bury You, I might be running out of gas. I don't just want to be a consumer.

Ok. Enough reflective shit. Let's get to it.
One thing I have done over the last few months is obsess over Youth Of Today. Ever since seeing them at Chaos In Tejas, I can't get that band out of my head. I was so pleasantly surprised at how well they played and how the show made me feel. Youth Crew at 42!
Side note: I was convinced they would open with Flame Still Burns. Nope. It was the second song.
Between listening every day and studying Dobek's and Kyle's collections, I got it in my head that however much Youth Of Today vinyl I had, I could do so much better.
So, I hit up my new favorite web store, Discogs. I was able to pick up a ton of Youth of Today German pressings without having to go the ebay route with waiting, sniping, paypal fees, etc. I was able to get everything I ordered delivered to my door within a week. Must be a German efficiency thing.

Thanks to Discogs I was able to finish off my favorite Youth Of Today album, "We're Not In This Alone". I know I'm not alone in thinking it, but I believe top to bottom this album destroys Break Down The Walls.

It was a pretty awesome feeling to finally finish off all of the WNITA pressings and colors after chasing this record down for 22 years.

First Press. Caroline Records. Black vinyl. Millions pressed (not really). Hands down the best album cover ever made. Represents an aesthetic, look and ideal that I still hold today.

Comes with a large foldout black and white insert/lyric sheet.

Second Press. Caroline Records. Same cover and insert as the first press. The album had been remixed (and not for the better, IMO)

The only way to know if you had a second press was the large remix sticker on the shrink wrap and "Mix #2" on the B side matrix. I got super lucky and bought one with the sticker and shink wrap attached from Dobek.

Now on to the European pressings . First up is by We Bite Records. All on black vinyl. No idea how many pressed.

I personally love the color scheme with the blue and orange. The labels were awesome for the We Bite press as well.

I also think the back cover is better than the Caroline version!

Second European pressing. Funhouse Records. Terrible cover. What the hell?

Yellow vinyl. Unknown number pressed. Not a stretch to say less than the black vinyl.

Black vinyl.

Color printed dust sleeve with lyrics.

The printed lyrics inner sleeve also had an ad on the reverse side for current and future Funhouse releases. One of them was for Break Down the Walls. I wonder why it wasn't done? Then again I'm not sure why there was a second European pressing in the first place.

Revelation Records. 1997 reissue. Remixed (again), remastered, new cover, insert and label art.

First press Red Vinyl out of 100. All the Youth of Today reissues in 1997 has a rare color pressing and huge black vinyl pressing. This one was half of the BDTW and CCME color pressings.

First press black vinyl out of 1518. I think it has been repressed a lot. I can still find it here in town and can't find anything here in town.

Second press. Purple vinyl out of 112. They tried to match the red from the first pressing to make up for the shortfall of the first press. It definitely ended up different.


I know with my pictures they all look like black vinyl. You kind of have to see them in person or hold them to the light to see the difference. It is there.

The album came with a two sided black and white glossy insert/lyric sheet.

A lot of people hated the Revelation pressing, mainly for the changed cover art, but a whole generation of kids just don't know any different. I'm just cool with the fact that people get to hear what is one of the best hardcore albums of all time and a record that changed my life.
Rant over.

Ruiner - I Heard These Dudes Are Assholes : Record Release & Euro Tour

Three years is a long time.

Back in 2008, I read that Runier would be releasing a discography of sorts through Bridge Nine. The discography album,"I Heard These Dudes Are Assholes", would span their What Could Possibly Go Right 7", the "Still Smiling" demo and also their split 7" with Day Of The Dead.
It made sense, Firestarter wasn't repressing the 7" anymore, so it was a great way for people to hear some of the best hardcore EVER recorded if they missed out the first time.
Seriously, Paint Peals, Getting Over The Years, Out Go The Candles, A Bridge Too Many and Six By Six are untouchable.

Personally, I wanted this record just to get the demo songs. I already had a few copies of the 7" and split. I also understood that the songs would be remastered, so I figured it was a no brainer.

Almost immediately after I ordered the record from Bridge Nine, I started reading about a record release/ Euro tour version with a special cover that would be out of 200. Knowing I wouldn't be able to get this version first hand, I just put it on my want list. I figured they would start popping up sooner than later.

Well over three years later I was FINALLY able to find one, bid on it and win it for just over $30. It took fucking long enough. Hell, I've had a second kid who is now going to pre-school in the time it took me to get this record. What ever happened to instant gratification through the internet?

As you can see the big hook of the special cover is that it is a recreation of the first Ramones album cover.

What I didn't know was that the special cover is just a foldover sleeve on top of the regular cover. For whatever reason I thought it was a glued, open on the right cover. Of course it isn't. It is really nice though.

The back is hand numbered out of 200. I got #78.

They used the more common 1st press white vinyl out of 1000 for this version. Black vinyl was the "rare" color from the 1st press out of 500.

The record release / tour package also came with the cd and its thick as hell book. I think the book is the best part of the whole deal, other than the fact it only came with the cd. Pictures, lyrics and awesome write ups by each of the band members about each song.
I forgot to take pictures of it. Just imagine a really thick cd booklet.

Glad I could cross this one my want list. It bugs me when I need something from one of my favorite bands. I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love Ruiner.

Crumbsuckers - Life Of Dreams

Hey remember a while back when I said the Crumbsuckers album, Beast On My Back was just as good as their first album?

Yeah, forget what I said. B.O.M.B. pretty much sucks.

Life Of Dreams on the other hand is amazing.

I'm on day 4 of my non-stop Crumbsuckers bender. There are very few albums where I can say I love every song, let alone an album that has 16 songs. This record has it all. Amazing riffs, speed, aggression, the best vocals in hardcore and really good production too.

To me crossover is at its best when it leans a little towards hardcore over metal. This album does that. It's pretty much accepted that this was one of the best albums of the entire genre. I totally agree.

As far as the vinyl itself goes, there isn't really much to say. As far as I know all the different label versions were on black vinyl. No idea how many pressed. Let's say lots and lots!

In the USA, it was released on Combat Records. Here in Canada, we didn't get Combat unless you went to the import section of the independant record store.
I found my copy at good old A&A Records, or maybe it was Sam The Record Man. I can't remember which defunct Canadian record chain it was.
As it was a domestic release, I got this weird Canadian licensed version by Cobra Core Records.

I don't pretend to understand licensing arrangements or why Combat couldn't be sold in Canada. All I know is that it resulted in a lot of extra writing on the back cover and label.
Relativity, Maze, Cobra Core, Combat, Important.
Maybe it was an 80's thing.

Free Spirit - Free Yourself 7"

Trust your gut, not your head.

A while back I decided to be a little more responsible with my money. I wanted to be more selective when buying music and following bands. You can't buy everything every good label puts out. I also wanted to start checking out bands online to hear how they sounded instead of ordering sight unseen just because it was released on a certain label or had members in the band from other bands I liked. Like I said, be responsible.

I remember like it was yesterday. Staring at the computer monitor looking at the Free Spirit - Be Yourself 7" order page on Triple B Records' web store.
Either an email or post on a message board went up about it and I went over to check it out. I knew there was a lot of buzz around the band due to their demo. I hadn't heard it myself, mainly because I have a hard enough time keeping up with new bands and I also live 4000 km away from Boston. Pretty tough to pick up a cassette.

I had two copies of the 7" in my shopping cart and at the last second, I decided to pass. You know, be responsible.

Well fast forward a few months, and I get the chance to see the band live. Well, I think it was the band. Free Spirit were one of the Boston hardcore bands playing at Chaos in Tejas along with Mind Eraser, Rampage, Rival Mob and Step Forward. It was like musical chairs on stage with guys swapping instruments and calling it a new band. I swear I saw the same guy on stage play guitar or bass for every one of these bands! I'm only kind of exaggerating.

Anyway, I see them live. I like them. I want to buy their record.

Of course by this point, it's sold out at BBB and every other distro. I am forced to go the ebay route, overpay due to the number of bidders trying to snipe each other at the last minute, and spend more on postage alone than if I would have just bought the records in the first place when I had the chance. Like I said, gut - head.

The record itself was joint released on BBB and Lockin' Out. It came on two colors.

Clear vinyl out of 300.

Red vinyl out of 700.

The record also comes with a pretty big glossy black and white insert/lyric sheet.

Music wise, Free Spirit aren't really reinventing the wheel. Very competently played, fast posi-hardcore with a kind of fuzzed out guitar sound and gruff aggressive vocals. Plenty of breakdowns and mosh parts. Seven songs in under seven minutes. That should give you an idea of what's up.

It's a really good record. I'm glad I have it now. I just wish I would stop screwing up to get here.

Give Up The Ghost - Year One reissue

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me.

When the pre-orders for Bridge Nine's reissue of American Nightmare's (Give Up The Ghost) Year One compilation came up, I really tried to hold off. I didn't need it.
I mean I have no less that eight copies of the first 7", and seven copies of "The Sun Isn't Getting Any Brighter" 7". Hell, I even have the Year One double 7" AND a couple copies of the Reflections "Year One" album.
I really didn't need this. Leave it to people who weren't around the first time.

I held off for a grand total of 10 minutes.

Bridge Nine offered some three packs for the three different "colors" available.
Red, white and blue color schemes as in the past with American Nightmare releases.

I'm not sure about the pressing numbers yet as they aren't up on the B9 discography, but the red ones sold out first. It didn't take long.

The album also came with a huge color foldout insert lyric sheet/poster.

American Nightmare - why can't I quit you?