Live At The Hollywood Bowl

When a bunch of record collectors hang out together, obviously they will go to the local record store sooner or later. Well, that‘s exactly what we did and we all walked out of the store with a few more records each. Mission accomplished.

I might have been influenced by the two Beatles records I had already received on that trip, so picking up another one just felt right. I‘ve stated before that I really like live records and this is a great one! Actually it’s not a live records of once concert, rather songs were taken from two or three different concerts. Opinions on this vary. Be that as it may, the song selection reflects the time period of the band quite well. This album came out way later in 1977, so seven years after the band The Beatles had disbanded and a good 12 to 13 years after the songs were recorded. People often complain about the audio quality of live recordings, but the songs on here sound really, really good. It must have been quite the effort to find a balance between the band and the about 19,000 (most female) people screaming at the top of their lungs to make the audio experience as enjoyable as it is. That‘s actually one of the reasons why I like this album so much, even though most of my favorite Beatles songs aren‘t even on there - because the recordings manage to show what Beatlesmania was like: C-R-A-Z-Y! 

The best moment on the record for me occurs during Help!, which is one of my favorite Bealtes‘ songs. At one point during the song, John Lennon‘s voice cracks and he has to suppress a slight laughter because he seems to be in disbelief / in awe of what‘s happening around him. I mean, he was only 24/25 at the time the song was recorded and he was playing in the biggest band in the world, so playing in front of thousands of people in the US must have still felt like a dream at this point. 

Another thing I really like about this record is that they played a bunch of covers. You could argue that playing five covers out of thirteen songs total might be a bit much, but I like bands paying homage to their heroes. Plus, some of the songs they played live back then had also been released on Beatles LPs. 

Last, but not least I got this record because of the leaflet it came with advertising a book for Beatles fans. I‘m just a sucker for stuff like this. The book title translates to “The Beatles - Their Career, Their Music, Their Successes“. The book not only gives info on the band history and the members, but also on the pressing info on the various Beatles records, so basically it‘s like  the Flex! Discography, just for Beatles records, at least that‘s how I picture it in my head. Makes me wonder if there was a scene of Beatles collectors around back then. I already checked and you can get a decent used copy for under 10€ and I‘m really intrigued to get one of these at one point. The leaflet still contains the original postcard you could use to order the book back then, but I doubt that will still work, haha. Even though I‘m tempted to try it. Sleeve, record and all the extra gimmicks are in pristine condition and considering what I paid for the record, this might end up on my list of favorite pick ups this year in the category Value for Money.

A Collection of Oldies

A Collection of Oldies, not only an apt name for this record, but also if anyone wanted to refer to three older guys hanging out talking about music, amirite?

This record was another gift I received from my friend who gave me the Beatles 7“ I wrote about in the previous post. To give you some context: my friend collects Japanese pressings of Beatles records. I love how people buying records come up with all of these unique micro collections and I must say, those Japanese pressings are pretty awesome. The lyric sheets are pretty interesting with Japanese and English on them, and all of the records come on this really amazing dark shade of clear red vinyl. The details on these Japanese pressings are pretty neat. For example, they all have this red dot on the spine, which is usually white, so you get a Japanese flag to make them easily recognizable. A bunch of these next to each other on a shelf look pretty sweet. Usually they come with an OBI strip as well, but this copy doesn‘t have one unfortunately. 

I really like the songs on this collection, too. Judging by the cover art, which is sort of trippy, you‘d probably think this is a collection of later era Beatles songs, but they‘re all songs from the early days of their carrer since this compilation was originally released in 1966. I‘ve heard all of them a million times, but not in this particular order, so this is still a fun listen.

While this is not an original, this repress from 1970 still is one of the oldest records I own. Considering it‘s a 55 year old record, this is in pristine condition. I‘m very grateful for this cool record and even more so for having such good friends. 

1970 Repress on Clear Dark Red on Apple /???

Edit: Forgot to include the close up of the lyric sheet in my original post. The song titles are listed in English and Japanese, the lyrics are English only. This is printed on quality paper as well and has a really nice feel to it. 

Now And Then

Happy new year, everyone. I spent the beginning of the new year with a good friend and his family. People I love and don‘t nearly get to see as often I‘d like to. We did the same thing two years ago and I wrote similar words and they are still true. But such is life. Having said that, the five days we spent together were an absolute bliss. Not only did my family and I get to see them, another person we‘re friends with was travelling Europe, so we all got to hang out for almost a week despite living in three different countries spread over to continents. 

Daytime was for food, sightseeing and family activities, night-time was for sports and music talks. We always pick up stuff for each other we think the others might like, but this time we got exchange records personally instead of receiving parcels, which was pretty cool. We all have different tastes in music in some regards, but we also have some bands we all can agree on. One of these is The Beatles. I was graciously given a copy of Now And Then, which just came out in 2023 and is the final single by The Beatles. Originally it was recorded as a demo by John Lennon in 1977, but the other three members of The Beatles all worked on the song after John Lennon‘s death, albeit to varying degrees. It‘s a good enough song, but not as good as their biggest hits. On the b-side you get Love Me Do, an absolute classic from the early days of the band. It says it‘s a 2023 remix, but I also found info on Discogs that this is 1962 singles version. Since I don‘t own one of these, I can‘t really attest to that. 

The artwork is whatever, but at least the vinyl colour is pretty cool. A really cool shade of baby blue with some white marble. 

I really hope we can make this New Year‘s hang out a biannual thing, so I can make a similar post in two years. 

2023 Press on Baby Blue w/ White Marble on Apple/Parlopahone /???

2024

I must confess that I‘m not that well versed in the current hardcore scene. Nowadays it feels like I‘m always at least two steps behind, which is fine because hardcore should always be primarily a young people‘s game. However, I don‘t want to become one of those old guys living only in the past, so I‘m trying my best to keep up to date, but with every passing year this seems to be getting harder. 
Having said that, there was a bunch of releases this year that I really enjoyed. The first row are probably my top 3 records of the year, the rest could follow in any given order, depending on the day you ask me. 

I‘m particularly happy that there are so many awesome bands from Germany right now. I‘ve been more excited about German hardcore these last two or three years than in a long time before. And there are so many bands for me to check out that I only know by name as of now. I feel like things are looking pretty good for 2025, music that is. 

Desire Line - Life‘s Between Us
Prim - Move Too Slow
Wonderful World - Universal Tension (+ Demo 2023)
Karate - Make It Fit
One Step Closer - All You Embrace
Force Of Denial - Times Of Strife
Echo Chamber - s.t. 
Spiral - You‘re Not In This Alone
Praise - Coming Up For Air
Face The Pain - Demo 2024

I didn‘t pick up a that many collectibles this year. The only real heavy hitter I managed to acquire was 7 Seconds’ The Crew on blue vinyl, but what a gem that one is. Probably one of my top 5 records to own. I‘m also really happy with the progress I made with my I Against I collection. Getting three colored versions was pretty cool. And the Punk Note edition on the band‘s own label made a nice addition as well. I’d been after this version of the second Blacklisted LP for a long time, so finally getting one - and in a trade with a friend nonetheless - was great. 

Yes, the flood of represses can be annoying, but if there‘s one band I‘ll make an exception for my own rules it is Bane. Not only did I get to see them a bunch of times again, they also had a special tour version of Don‘t Wait Up. More bands need to do this again. Special vinyl or a special cover, I don‘t care. Just do something for a tour. Of course, you need a test press for a repress and I was lucky enough to be able to add one of these to my collection. That was not the only repress Bane did this year. The remixed version of their debut LP, It All Comes Down To This, sounds so awesome and at least one version I have so far also looks great. 

The Underdog Demos LP, the Toots & The Maytals album, the Stop And Think tape and the Adventures / Pity Sex split may not be actual collectibles, but I was really happy to be able to get a copy of those and enjoyed the hell out of them in 2024. I could have included those in the next picture as well. 

Bad Brains - I Against I - Punk Note Edition (Coke Bottle Clear) + Various Colored Versions (ca. 1990)
Underdog - The Demos - Black 
7 Seconds - The Crew - Clear Blue
Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God - Clear w/ Black Haze
Toots & Maytals - Funky Kingston - Black 
Bane - Don‘t Wait Up (2024 Repress) - Tour Version + Test Press on End Hits
Bane - It All Comes Down To This (2024 Repress) - Pink
Stop And Think - Demo Tape
Adventures / Pity Sex - Split - Orange / White Marble 

Last, but certainly not least, I listened to a bunch of older stuff as well in 2024 of course. Some of these bands/records are pretty old, some are relatively new, some I‘ve known for decades, some I only got to know this year. But (re)discovering old bands and records is part of the fun. The Wugazi record is one of the best things I‘ve ever heard and is the record I listened to the most this year. 

Spiritual Cramp - s.t.
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Merauders
Karate - In Place Of Real Insight
Sunstroke - Bloom At Night
Blondie - Parallel Lines
Wugazi - 13 Chambers
The Movielife - This Time Next Year
Adventures - Supersonic Home
One Last Wish - 1986
Bad Brains - I Against I
Planet On A Chain - Boxed In (plus their second LP)
The Beatles - Abbey Road (bunch of their LPs)

So, that’s another year wrapped up. Thanks everyone for checking out my blog and interacting in some way or the other. I‘ve really enjoyed my first full year of doing this blog again. 

2025, let’s go!

XXX

Ralf

Youth Crew 2024

While taking the pictures for my year end post, I realized that I haven‘t made a post about one of my favorite demos/7“s this year yet. Look at the name, look at the artwork, and you will come to the conclusion that this can only be a youth crew band. It follows the youth crew formula to a dot, but it‘s done really really well. The people in Face The Pain have been in plenty of bands before, so they know what they’re doing. Seeing them live would make one fun show I‘d guess. If you like Mindset and the like, this is for you. 

Pressing a demo on a 7“ and making 500 copies in total (200 on clear, which I missed out on, and 300 on black) is a pretty balsy move in this day‘s hardcore economy, but good for the label and the band if they can actually move that amount of records. 

1st Press on Black on Rebirth /300

Crucial lyric sheet with all the crucial bands to listen to. Doing it old school style. 

Prison Of Hope

Prison of Hope is a relatively new band from Stuttgart aka Stu York. As you might have guessed from the band name, the people in the band are huge fans of 90s hardcore. Besides taking inspiration for the name from Chokehold, you also get a Strain cover on the B-side. The band released a demo in 2022 and has seen an interesting line up change: the original singer became the new drummer and the new singer is female. Totally works for me though, as the singer's vocals are awesome! As is the whole 7". I had forgotten I had pre-ordered this record sometime in spring this year, so when I got an e-mail telling me the record was about to be shipped finally, I was happily surprised. 

Also fitting with the 90s theme is the fact that this was released as an actual 7"! According to my spread sheet I picked up seven 7"s released this year (kind of poetic, don't you think), including this one. I know why labels prefer doing one-sided 12"s these days, but 7" is still the best format for hardcore and I wish there were more 7"s released. 

1st Press on Solid Red on Final War & Drastic Actions /100

For the nerds: there are also 100 copies on white vinyl. 

The Quest

A Tribe Called Quest has become one of my favorite hip hop bands over the last lets say one and a half years. I didn’t realise how many of their songs I had already known from movies, skateboard videos or video games. So one of the tasks I set for myself for 2024 was to get as many of their LPs as possible. Beats, Rhymes and Life is their fourth album, originally released in 1996. I was really looking forward to listening to ‘new‘ material of theirs, but the pressing of this album is horrible. In a recent post I wrote that I don‘t really care about audio quality, so for me to complain about that means something. I checked my equipment, the needle, the speakers, I listened to other records on that record player, I listened to this record on my other records player - to no avail. So I might have to start looking for another pressing because the songs I heard I really liked. 

202X Repress on Black on Jive 

Prim(e)

Prim is a band I knew absolutely nothing about just a few weeks ago. I was browsing for records on various distro websites when the cover of their LP caught my eye. I read the promo text for Move Too Slow and really liked what I read: indie, alternative rock and Dinosaur Jr. The fact that Sunday Drive released this LP helped to seal the deal, because the label has released a bunch of great records over the last few years. The preview of the vinyl color looked pretty nice as well, so I added the LP to my shopping basket. 

When I got the record, I immediately put it on and it didn‘t leave my record player for quite a while. It came to a point where I listened to the record in my office, stopped because I had to run a few errands, but continued listening to the record in the car because I just couldn‘t get enough of the record. Same thing on the way home and back to the office. The songs are just so catchy. I love it. 

1st Press on Green in Green Swirl on Sunday Drive /200

Bane Bane Bane

As glowing as my post about the reissue of Bane‘s debut LP It All Comes Down To This was, this post couldn‘t be any more matter of fact. This is also 100% proof that record collectors are sometimes just stupid because I don‘t like a single color variant posted here to be honest. Ok, the maroon with pink splatter is alright, but it‘s not a beauty. However, to keep the collection as complete as possible, I bought them anyway. I had to. Right? Right???

Speaking of complete collections, until the repress I did have a complete collection, including a test press. I‘m now missing two regular versions of the repress plus a test press for the repress. Now, I don‘t know for sure if Equal Vision made new test presses for this repress, but I‘m fairly certain they had to make new tests after 25 years. So I went from having a complete collection back to probably never having a complete collection ever again because the label is known to be very stingy when it comes to making test presses available. Such are the woes of record collecting. 

1st Press on Maroon w/Pink Splatter on Equal Vision /500

1st Press on Clear w/ Green and Red Splatter on Equal Vision /500

1st Press on Yellow w/ Black Splatter on Equal Vision /300 (Rev Exclusive)

Make It Fit

Sometime last year I stumbled across the band Karate and quickly fell in love with their sound. Over the last few months I managed to pick up all their LPs and their records have been on constant rotation for all of 2024. 

I hadn‘t really been aware of the fact that the band was going to release a brand new record this year until Marcus made a post about Make It Fit on his blog. I eventually managed to find a mailorder carrying the new LP at a reasonable price and ordered a copy. This is a great listen. Perfect for quiet winter evenings for sitting on the couch and reading a book or getting some work done in the office. One of my favorites this year. 

1st Press on Crystal Clear (aka Bleach The Scene) on Numero Group /???

In Trust We Trust

SSD is probably one of the most legendary hardcore bands and arguably the first real straight edge band. Their The Kids Will Have Their Say LP is an absolute classic, but their 1983 EP Get It Away has probably their most famous song on it, Glue. At least, that’s the song covered the most by other bands. Both of these records are incredibly hard to come by. You either have to shell out a lot of money for the originals on X-Claim or you have to resort to buying a bootleg. I‘ve had a bootleg of The Kids Will Have Their Say for a long time, but I never owned a copy of Get It Away until now. 

Whenever Trust Records released a reissue of a certified classic, they made sure that the packaging is always top notch. Of course there are a million different variants, most of which are rather ugly. But this solid blue vinyl works so well with the cover and the inner sleeve. I mean, just look at the whole thing. It‘s  just done so beautifully. And getting  stencil on topf of that? Sure, the records are a little bit more expensive, but you definitely get something for your money‘s worth. 

2024 Repress on Solid Blue on Trust /???

Wonderful World

Wonderful World is a relatively new band from Cologne, Germany. They released a demo in 2023, which I loved, and an EP on cassette (I can actually hear Marcus wince, haha) this year, which I sadly missed out on. So, when the band’s label announced there‘d be a vinyl pressing of the demo and the Universal Tension EP, I ordered my copy right away. One of my favorite releases this year. 

Musically they remind me of Dangers. Well, a much heavier version of Dangers, but there‘s that weirdness that both bands share, at least to my ears. 

1st Press on Blue w/ Black Marble on Side 2 Side /300

The label put a lot of effort into the packaging. Not only did it spring for a gatefold sleeve, the gatefold sleeve slides into this other cover. Pretty cool if you ask me. 

No Escape

No Escape has always been one of those bands I was aware of, but usually didn’t pay too much attention to. They did a split 7“ with Turning Point, which is probably their biggest claim to fame. Other than that, they were never really on my radar. Then again, there was never that much material to go on to start with.

When I saw this discography pop up on mailorder websites and in my Instagram feed, I listened to the Turning Point split again and decided to give No Escape a chance. After listening to this LP a few times, this was definitely a good decision. The songs on here are really good. I got stuck with the army green version, which doesn‘t really show in the picture and I might have to take another one. Blue would have been nice, coke bottle clear would have been awesome, but army green? Who would choose that color to begin with? At least the music is really good. 

1st Press on Army Green on Revelation /250 (Indie Store Exclusive)

It All Comes Down To Represses

After not jumping on the repress wagon right away with the Give Blood represses, I decided not to repeat the same mistake when I saw that It All Comes Down To This was about to repressed. I‘ve known for a long time that the band was really unhappy with the way their debut album sounded. I never got that because I don‘t have an ear for that to be honest (ask any of my bandmates) and I don’t care if songs were recorded on a second-hand four-track in a basement in an abandoned building in New York in 1983 as long as they‘re good songs. As a matter of fact, if a record doesn‘t sound all that great that can actually add to the charm of a record for me. 

Anyway, I listened to an episode of  podcast with Aaron Dalbec of Bane and Brian McTernan of Battery/Be Well/Salad Day Studios, who did all the recordings for Bane except for It All Comes Down To This. However, he was in charge of remixing and remastering this LP and both of them were really excited when talking about the finished product, which in turn made me really excited.

Like I said before, I really don‘t have an ear for what‘s a good or bad production, but goddamn, Brian McTernan did an excellent job with this remix. It‘s like a completely different record! This version does sound so much better compared to the original, it‘s hard to fathom. If you want to get all the details about the process of remixing the record, you should really listen to the Where It Went episode, it‘s a really interesting listen. 

I picked up this version first because it‘s the best looking one by a mile. Can‘t go wrong with (clear) pink vinyl. The cover was also tweaked a little bit and it looks as fantastic as the record sounds. The gold and red foil or whatever that is in combination with the metallic colors used for the sleeve are great details. The only thing I‘m not a fan of is that the labels were redone as well. I actually like ones on the OG pressing better. Still, I‘m really, really stoked on this repress. 

2024 Repress on Clear Pink on Equal Vision (Newbury Exclusive /300)

I have a framed promo poster for the original release of It All Comes Down To This hanging in my office, so this felt like a good time to take it off the wall for a picture. As you can see the picture on the promo poster is the same as the one used on the inner sleeve of the record. 

Guided

The new High Vis album was high on my list of records I wanted to check out. Sadly, this has been kind of a let down. It‘s not a bad album at all, but I haven‘t found any hits yet. On their previous records there were also a bunch of songs that stuck out, but Guided Tour just sort of trods along. 

1st Press on Oriole (?) on Dais /2000