Music On Vinyl

Give Me Crap If You Must… or… Temple Of The Dog – Eponymous

/ ds barrett / Leave a comment

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Right now… as I’m writing this, I’m feeling an epic moment of personal nostalgia. Looking over at a recently purchased purple piece of vinyl spinning on my turntable I can’t help but reflect back nearly twenty-five years. Usually when someone says that an album changed their life it is pure hyperbole. It is something said by someone to say they connected in a deep way to a certain record. In my case it literally shaped my entire university experience and the lifelong friends I made.

Let me explain. In the summer of 1991 I found myself really getting into an album that almost no one had heard of – Temple Of The Dog. Remember, this was before Soundgarden released Badmotorfinger; before Pearl Jam had released Ten and even predates Nirvana’s Nevermind. Hell, Soundgarden’s most commercial song to this point was probably “Big Dumb Sex” which had Chris Cornell screaming fuck enough to get the old “explicit lyrics” sticker on the front of Louder Than Love.

As school resumed in September I had started taking a film course and was regaling a new acquaintance on the perfection that was Temple Of The Dog. After a few moments, he interjected with… “Why don’t you review it for me?” I must admit, I was more than a little dumbfounded and probably had that “um, yeah, um, ok” look in my eyes until he explained that he was the entertainment editor at the campus paper. The next day I showed up with a hand written review and from that point on, I became an arts critic during a very interesting time in the musical universe.

Little more than a month after that conversation Pearl Jam was playing an industry gig at the Rivoli in Toronto. Trust me when I say this… the Rivoli is small, very frickin’ small. Ten had been released, but no one was caught up in it yet, and I retold the story again to my friend trying to sell him on the idea of an interview. Mike, who has a bit of a poker face, didn’t seem to think it would be a problem. It would be the first time I would stick a microphone in front of a band, so I was a little nervous and started checking my schedule the next day. My memory at this point gets a bit fuzzy on certain details, but what I remember with absolute clarity is this – I had an exam the morning after the interview. So I returned to Mike and let him know I wouldn’t be able to do it. Casually… between two friends, I cancelled an audience with Pearl Jam before they were “PEARL JAM.”

It wouldn’t be until the next summer I’d do my first interview with The Skydiggers, and from there I did have chats with a lot of great bands. Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Cracker and the Lemonheads all come to mind. However… um…, what can I say? I did well on the exam.

Now many years later I found myself searching for a vinyl copy and apparently it is a very hot commodity. Discogs has selling the original 1991 LP for $1000 USD with the average of past sales coming up at over $200 and a recent sale over $500. The same record made in Europe goes for a much more reasonable $80.

That same year a limited edition picture disc was released but I couldn’t find any for sale to fix a price point.

In 1992, with the success of both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, the album was given a huge push behind the release of the single “Hunger Strike.” Several European editions were released on red vinyl and all seem to go between $50 and $100.

Eight years later, a vinyl reissue hit the market on clear vinyl that has a history of selling under $50.

Jump to 2013 and Music on Vinyl did a complete remaster of the record on 2 pieces of black 180 gram vinyl with an etched side 4. Simultaneously, they also released a limited edition hand numbered purple LP set. A&M also reissued the record on a single red platter.

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Finally, last year, Music on Vinyl reissued 1200 copies of the purple set on 180 gram vinyl to be sold through Newbury Comics. The two, while described as purple, are differing shades, making it slightly cooler than the last batch. However… it seems to have already sold out. You can find copies through Discogs or e-bay for under $50 USD, or just grab the regular black vinyl which is still widely available at the usual retailers.

In A World Of Neon Spaceships! Or Electric Light Orchestra – Out Of The Blue

/ ds barrett / Leave a comment

elooutofblue

There was a point in the 1970’s when you couldn’t put on the radio for five minutes without hearing Jeff Lynne and co. pumping out crappy speakers with their latest single. Funny, but Electric Light Orchestra still sounded good through the crackle of a transistor radio.  ELO at their best took on Beatles inspired tunes mixed with classical music and prog productions and boiled them down into three minute hit singles. Whether the songs were anthems, ballads or straight up rockers there was an atmospheric quality that loaned itself easily to emotional resonance; in other words you either loved or hated them. Arguably, they’re greatest record was 1977’s double album Out Of The Blue, with songs “Turn To Stone”, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” and “Mr. Blue Sky” leading the charge.

So what’s the vinyl story?

Well… being a massive band back in 1977, there was a pre-order of 4 million records in anticipation of their huge following. It wasn’t just released on the standard vinyl, cassette and 8- track, but also on reel to reel. Some special limited edition vinyl was released in the UK and US on blue translucent vinyl which can still be found at both ridiculously low ($10.00) to outrageously high prices ($400).

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The first batch of reissues started arriving in 86-87 with the release of the CD. As was popular at the time, it was just thrown out on the market without a proper remastering job.

In 1999, the first remaster resulted in a UK reissue on 180 gram vinyl. They can still be found on the reseller market for about $60 and up.

The biggest remaster was in 2007 for the 30th anniversary of Out Of The Blue. Released by Music On Vinyl on 180 gram vinyl the first 1000 copies were issued on blue translucent vinyl and all after were on black vinyl.

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Sound quality is reputed to be outstanding on the release with the blue vinyl fetching over $100.00 for unopened copies. The black vinyl will run you a minimum of $35 (it is a double album) but likely more in North America as it is an import.

Anyway, it’s great fun, and all you Muse fans should see what over the top production really means by giving this a spin. How can you go wrong in a world made of neon spaceships and classical influenced rock? I would love to get my hands on one of those original blue ’77 copies.

Dreams of RSD past (FOUND!) and future: Social Distortion – Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes and eponymous

/ ds barrett / 1 Comment

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Occasionally, as you walk through your local record store, and you try to put together a coherent thought, you just see it, a record you wanted badly, but never thought you would get, just sitting waiting to live a new life on your turntable. That is how I found a copy of the 2012 Record Store Day edition of Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes by Social Distortion.

Since its release in 2011, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes have had four different editions put out all in limited quantities. The pre-orders from their web site were yellow and limited to 1000. The next 2500 to hit store shelves were red, and the last 5000 were black.

The following April, Social Distortion released 2000 RSD editions in green and included with it a “machine gun blues” poster. The great thing is that besides being an awesome record, it still seems to be readily available at decent prices. Discogs have it listed at $37.75, but I picked mine up for less than thirty a few weeks back.

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I doubt highly that this will be the case after this Record Store Day 2015 when their eponymous record is reissued. This is the classic 1990 record (that actually hit the Billboard 200) that contains the stellar “Story Of My Life.” While it was recently (2012) reissued on 180 gram vinyl by Music on Vinyl over in Europe, it is only available here as an import. That is until Record Store Day, when 1500 split colour blue and white copies hit the shelves.

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It is definitely on my wish list and circled in red for high bloody priority find. I will be a disappointed record collector next Saturday if I don’t find it.

Life is just Cooler with a little Matthew Sweet – On The Path To Vinyl Glory

/ ds barrett / Leave a comment

Originally I was going to do a music memories take on Matthew Sweet and his always fantastic Girlfriend… I still might, but other things have popped up to make this a bit more informational for music fans in general.

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First Girlfriend was released on vinyl back in November with a slightly altered track listing. While the CD version contains 15 songs, the vinyl is cut down to 12 for space reasons. It seems that rather than picking and choosing someone’s ridiculous idea of weaker songs, they just dropped the last three tunes from the original 1991 Zoo release. (“Does She Talk?”, “Holy War” and “Nothing Lasts.”) It’s unfortunate really, it may have been a better idea to split the record onto two vinyl discs and add a couple ‘bonus’ tracks rather than remove anything… but whatcha gonna do.

Now I couldn’t find out if this Plain Recordings vinyl was remastered for vinyl or if it is taken from the CD master, but the sound quality is outstanding regardless. Having it burst from turntable to speakers gave me the same energized feel I got back in ’91 when it blasted out of my Walkman on my way to class.

The next two pieces of info are a little bit ahead of the curve this time so, if you are a fan, this is great news.

Last June, Sweet’s Facebook page announced a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new record. By mid July he had reached his goal and a new record should be showing up around April of this year. It was a pretty good campaign that included rewards such as downloads CD’s coloured vinyl and original artwork by Sweet himself.

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Also, Blue Sky On Mars (1997) has been released on vinyl in Europe (by Music On Vinyl), and has just landed here. Amazon has it on a 3 – 5 week delivery, but one of my favorite retailers, Northern Volume, has it in stock now. It’s on 180 gram audiophile vinyl and has a gatefold cover with insert.

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http://www.northernvolume.com/matthew-sweet-blue-sky-on-mars-180g-audiophile-vinyl-lp-record-from-music-on-vinyl/

If you are unfamiliar with Blue Sky On Mars, it is the last in a string of four records (Girlfriend, Altered Beast, 100% Fun & BSOM) Sweet put out on Zoo, and remain arguably his most well known. On this record he adds elements of the 70’s Todd Rundgren produced Cars to his usual Big Star inspired power-pop for what I’ll call a bit more of a carnival ride atmosphere. It swings in such a way that during the albums heavier moments it reminds you of the blasting rhythms you hear playing from the classic “Polar Express” ride at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition). Sure, as always, critics have complained that Sweet’s music comes off a little too ‘syrupy’ to make for a lasting impression, but honestly, I’ve always found those complaints to be a bit short sighted. To my ears, he has always had one foot in the guitar driven tunes of the 70’s while the other is standing in the premier pop of Burt Bacharach and Harry Nillson. If anything, as demonstrated by his cover records with Susanna Hoffs, Sweet has a soft spot for the well produced and hooky in all genres.

Anyway, I’ll likely own the vinyl within the week and I highly encourage you to give it a listen.