REV25: Chicago

Sometimes you get lucky, or maybe I have a problem.
My wife may be on to something when she says I spend too much time on the computer/iphone. It seems that I have always had good fortune when it comes to getting the head's up for pre-orders, rare sales and things like that. A couple weeks ago I just happened to be reading a book with my daughter (and checking twitter at the same time) when the message from Rev came in that a limited number of leftover 7" sets of the Rev25 Chicago were available. I politely excused myself from story time to run upstairs and place an order. I'm not going to win father of the year anytime soon.
The order went through no problem. I emailed my brothers from another mother Mike and Marcus to give them a heads up, posted on the Rev Collectors board and not 15 minutes later, it was over. Sold out. Word was another round would be available "in the morning". Well at around 2:00 AM MST another round were put up and promptly sold out in 5 minutes. Damn.
It's kind of nuts that it played out this way. The impression online was that these didn't sell very well at the Chicago show, plus the label held back 100 sets for online sales. There should have been plenty to go around much like the 25th Anniversary California and New York lps.
I guess not.
To be fair, there were a lot fewer of these pressed than the compilation lps. Plus, there was some word of people selling individual copies at the shows which would of course lower the total amount of sets available after the fact. In the end, it is what it is. They sold out and a good number of collectors are still on the lookout for them.

There really isn't that much to say about these other than they are absolutely fucking beautiful. The clear vinyl, the special labels, the covers...all top end. No wonder collectors are kind of going bat shit over these.
I will just run down each of the four in catalog order.

REV004: Gorilla Biscuits - s/t 7".

REV017: Youth of Today - Disengage 7".

REV042: Into Another - Poison Fingers 7".

REV047: Texas Is The Reason - s/t 7".

Everything about the layout is awesome. The REV25 Chicago is a great touch as is the B side label showing the Chicago downtown skyline.

Each also came with the regular current inserts (except Into Another). I didn't include pictures because - well you have them already and they don't really add anything to the overall aesthetic. The TITR insert is downright shocking when compared to the new layout.

Now I just have to figure out if I store these together with the compilations or file them individually with the regular copies of each release. OCD is kicking in...

The Rival Mob - Mob Justice

Well I have been waiting for this one for a long damn time! Ever since the promo cassette came out, I have been anticipating the release of Rival Mob's Mob Justice. It's only February and I already know what my album of the year is going to be.
The buzz for this album was off the charts and the pre-order was as crazy as the last few Converge ones.
I was at a fancy Christmas dinner party at a neighbor's house when I received the tweet from Revelation that the album was up for pre-sale. I politely excused myself from the table and took my iphone to the bathroom. I HATE using the internet on the phone, but I diligently made my way through the pre-order process and was able to score all three colors. I got lucky, a lot of my friends didn't.
Back to the story. I had a few people ask if I was ok, as I was in the bathroom for quite a while. I had to come up with a surgery recovery story and was able to deflect any curiosity or questioning.
The things I do for record collecting.

Well the package from RevHq finally rolled up yesterday along with a couple copies of the Texas Is The Reason Complete collection. It was a big box. Luckily all the records came in perfect condition. Not one corner ding!

I was going to take pictures of all the colors, but in the end people really only care about one. Seafoam Green vinyl. There were only 400 of these pressed and they were sold out within a couple hours of the pre-order going live. I can say it was worth dinner getting cold.

The lyric sheet is two sided, glossy and in full color. It looks like no expense was spared.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Revelation included a download code/merch sheet with the album. This really calls me back to the early Rev days and just feels like the label is "back". So cool. I blurred out the download code on purpose. No one rides for free!

Of course I had to pick up a cassette tape as well. I collect Rev tapes so if I am going to have an Iceburn - Hephaestus, I sure as hell better have The Rival Mob.

Beware - Won't Get The Best Of Me

I am fully aware that anyone who reads this blog has had this record in their collection forever, or have posted about it themselves months ago. Well, this isn't so much a late pass as my OCD kicking into overdrive.
Beware's "Won't Get The Best Of Me" was easily in my top 5 hardcore 7"s last year. I think what really hooked me were the vocals having a classic 80's, unique feel to them. Aggressive without the cookie monster growl, if you know what I mean. Let's not forget that musically this is top notch youth crew style hardcore. Like I said, one of the best of the year.
As with any record that I take a great liking to, I have to have all the versions. This one just took a little longer to complete as you people all seem to like the band too. I have never lost out on so many auctions in my life.
So through a combination of web stores, labels and ebay, I was able to cobble this sucker together.

First up is the pre-press version. HYE? swap users have listed that this was made up for either United Blood or This Is Hardcore. I don't know, I wasn't at either. Regardless, there were only 100 of these on blank white labels and hand numbered photocopy sleeves. I got #81. That number signifies absolutely nothing.

Next up is the first press on Back To Back Records. Anyone who collects B2B records knows that shit disappears in about 5 minutes after pre-orders go up.

The pre-order color was purple. This was limited to 100 copies. Needless to say, I got this off ebay.
I should also mention how much I like the color scheme of the vinyl matching the cover. We will see more of that in a bit.

 The first pressing also had black vinyl. I'm not sure how many were pressed. There are some pretty big differences of opinion on the number from people's trade lists. Leave a comment if you know.

Since the first press sold out really, really fast, a second pressing was done once again on Back To Back. This time they changed the color scheme on the cover and offered another limited color to match.
Here is green out of 100.

 Black vinyl was also pressed. There were 350 pressed on black.

A very cool trend right now is for labels to license their stuff out to like minded labels in Europe. Case in point Control Records. Control did an amazing job with the Beware 7". This time around we get red vinyl and cover. Oh, different labels too.
The red vinyl was also limited to 100 and were numbered on the dust sleeve with a cool sticker.

 Finally, Control also had black vinyl available. This was limited to 300 copies. I think you can still get it from their webstore.

 Control also threw in some sweet looking stickers. The Schism rip is bad ass. I wish I wasn't so anal and actually use them, but instead I will just put them back in the record to keep things "complete".

Unbroken - Life. Love. Regret.

I seem to be having some good luck this month knocking off blue vinyl big ticket items from my want list. This time around is one that eluded me for years and years - Unbroken's Life. Love. Regret. 

Two things helped me finally track this down. One, using a snipe program. I never used them before December of last year. I have no idea why not. It's pretty damn easy, doesn't cost anything, and I don't have to be there when the auction ends trying to guess what amount will win it.

Two, finally having the resolve to make a big move. I had to get it through my thick skull that this wasn't going to come cheap. Just man the fuck up and do it.

Well I thought I had the perfect auction to win this. The seller didn't mention blue vinyl in the title or show the vinyl in the picture. You had to go into the description to find it. Perfect. If there was any time to try and win one, this would be it. Maybe people wouldn't bother to open the description since it looked kind of regular. Not that black vinyl of this record sells for cheap either, but still.

I held off posting the record on Vinyl Noize and pleaded with Marcus to do the same (I knew he had one already). I bided my time, kept an eye on the bids (or lack thereof) made a bold snipe final price and won it. 

The only thing was it sold for lot of money. Like third highest final price of all time according to popsike and Collectors Frenzy! So much for flying under the radar.

Still, I have no regrets. This is one of my favorite records not just from the 90's but of all time. The blue vinyl looks awesome. It's hard to believe that there are 500 of these out there when you consider the cost and how infrequently they show up. Well here is one that isn't going anywhere. Done.

The inserts are the same from the first and second press. I like the separate lyric sheet and tri-fold color insert. It just screams the 90's, doesn't it?

 I wish I looked this cool back then. I didn't. At all.

Unity - You Are One

This month I was able to cross another record off my "Don't Even Bother Want List". For years and years, that list remained dormant as it appeared with the upward trend in prices and overall interest, it would be harder and harder to ever win one. Inevitably, I would drift away from those records completely as I grow older and my perspective would inevitably lead to selling over acquiring.
Lucky for me I'm super immature and somewhat selfish, so the list remains.

So, here is one more I was able to check off the want list. Unity You Are One 7" on blue vinyl. Of course I have had the standard black versions both from Wishingwell (2nd press with "color" labels) and the Indecision Records repress for years, but there is nothing like pining over the one version you never think you will ever get.

Unity's You Are One 7" doesn't get the adulation or hype like the Uniform Choice Screaming For Change lp does and I totally get that. However for me, it all blends together as the two bands were so intertwined by time, sound and band members. Hell, even both band's later material gets lumped together as 90's alt rock crap (even though Staring Into The Sun and Blood Days were both released within a year of each other in the late 80's).

I think I got really lucky with this one. I had this record as a saved search item where I would get an email from ebay whenever it would show up. One day it did and I started tracking the progress. I just assumed the price would start rising after a few days. The weird thing was it didn't. I got curious and did a regular search for it through the normal category/front page method.  For whatever reason, when I did that, it wouldn't show up. I refined the method a couple times and still nothing.

So I let this sucker play out, set a snipe bid and won it relatively easy. The price wasn't so much an issue as I feel I didn't have to compete with as many people. Plus this record doesn't pop up that often as they are fairly rare.

I don't think anyone knows how many were pressed on blue. I have read on other blogs and lists that there may be as little as 70 pressed. That doesn't make sense, but even if it was 100, that is still pretty damn rare.

The first press copies on both black and blue vinyl came with black and white labels.

Unlike Marcus's copy he picked up not too long ago, this one only came with the one insert.

Now with this out of the way, it's time to focus on tougher targets like the Abused Loud and Clear and The Misfits Cough/Cool. No sweat huh?

Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown

It looks like the year is off to a nice start as I was able to knock off one more MAJOR record from my "don't even bother" KBD want list. The original first pressing of Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown has been the one record that I couldn't just let it lie or settle for a later press.

I think it has to be the radically different cover along with the hot pink labels that just makes this one irreplaceable. I feel I was actually pretty lucky to score one in this great of condition. You start heading into the late 1970's for punk and hardcore records, finding one not beat to hell or played out is pretty tough. It wasn't like kids were playing it once and filing it away upright in a poly sleeve.

This copy just has one ever so slight crease on the bottom left corner, but other than that looks and plays great. (The sleeve is not yellowing - that's my lighting situation here in this Canadian winter.)

Comparing it to the only other copy of Nervous Breakdown I own, you can see how different the layout is along with the complete redesign of the labels as well.

Now that I finally have this one in my collection, I am psyched to have all the original pressings of the Black Flag 7"s including Six Pack with the original red labels, Louie Louie on Posh Boy, TV Party with color SST/Unicorn sleeve, Jealous Again with the HEAVY brown cardboard sleeve and red labels and the Keep It In The Family promo.

I guess that is one cool aspect of record collecting. There's something for everyone - even within the genre or group! Marcus posted an amazing article last week on all the different colored Black Flag albums that took him years to complete. While I admire and salute his tenacity and dedication, it is nothing I would even attempt because I dig original first press shit above all else. He may think this collection is BORING. You know what? It's all good. We love this stuff.