Can't close my 12" eyes

I saved todays best for last

Youth Of Today - can't close my eyes 12" - 1988 Schism, Caroline Records CAROL 1353

I have to admit not being the biggest YOT fan. I like everything they did but I never understood the kind of love some people feel for them.
Having said this it might not be hard for you to believe that I heard these songs for the first time when I put the needle to this record. Now I can understand a little better why people are into Youth Of Today the way they are. Before this I most appreciated them for the fact that they are the originators of the Youth Crew style and were very important for Hardcore in general.

As most of you will know Can't Close My Eyes was originally issued as a 7" on Positive Force Records with I don't know how many variations and different pressings. Ultimately Schism decided to also do a 12" repress and what you see here is the 2nd pressing on that format.
Still looking for a first press of this for my Schism collection. Maybe that one actually has the track We Just Might from the Another Shot For Bracken compilation on it. This one doesn't although it's listed on the backcover.

More verbal assault(s)

I'm going to put two different records in this post because I bought them for one and the same reason. They feature a Verbal Assault song.

V/A - another shot for bracken LP - 1986 Positive Force Records No. 9

A one and only pressing compilation on the legendary Positive Force Records run by Kevin Seconds out of Reno Nevada is what we have here. Too bad none of the songs really stand out. Quite a few big names chipped in. Still I listened to it once and then filed it. If it wasn't for the Verbal Assault track and the feeling that the collection will not be complete with out this LP I would probably never have picked up a copy.

V/A - It's your choice...
      unreleased live material from the Your Choice Live series 2x10" - Your Choice Records YC-LS 013

This record should never have been released. No wonder these songs were left off the original releases of the series. Probably the record least likely to ever be played again. Yet I needed it for my Verbal Assault collection.

More blood days

Unity - blood days LP - 2014 Kidnap Music 048

When I first got wind of this Re-Issue it was already for sale online so I panicked a bit. This is one of my all time favorite hardcore records. Naturally I had get a 2nd copy It was originally only pressed once on black.
I really like the poster but I have to say the patch is a little too much. The liner notes are not as weird as those of the Brotherhood repress but not that interesting either. As an insert they should have used a regular 12" sized lyricsheet though. Everything that's on the inside would fit on one side and the flyers and pictures on the back, which are a nice touch, would come out a lot better being printed on the other side of a bigger sheet.

I can not at all understand why this is such an underrated record but in this case it was good it is. Otherwise I might not have been able to pick up the limited version out of 150 with the patch. The label thinks the vinyl looks turquoise to me though it looks more blue with only a slight hint of green or is this some kind of transition / shade? Would be nice to compare my copy to those of others. Unfortunately no one I know also bought this.
There are another 150 on this color that come with the poster but not the patch and 700 on black vinyl   that come with neither as far as I know.

Slowed down Punch

Today's posts should be more up most peoples alley again.

Punch - they don't have to believe LP - 2014 Deathwish Inc. DW165

Fastcore, Thrashcore, Powerviolence and the such were never really my kind of thing. Follow up question to that statement: Why did I buy a Punch record then? Well, a friend of mine is in that band and he played me their new recordings way before the album was released. Of course that wasn't the reason for buying it. But if it wouldn't have been for him I would have never given this slab of vinyl a chance since I didn't like any of their previous material. It just isn't my kinda stuff. This one though is really good. Too bad they're caught in a jam right now with their singer having left. Rumor has it they broke up but that is not quite the case just yet.

As with the Cold World LP this is also the least collectible version out of the 4 pressings that were made. However it is not the one working best with the rest of the layout. Good thing though, the others colors out there, coke bottle clear, clear gold with opaque light blue, gold/blue mix, probably don't fit any better. Does anyone else feel these choices are odd? Why didn't they use black and white vinyl? Or maybe a green, blue, black tri-color pressing? Well, whatever. It is what it is.

Country Nancy

Last one for tonight.
The next posts will get Back To The Known.

Nancy Sinatra - country my way LP - 1967 Reprise Records RS-6251

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood recorded some mighty fine songs together. Prior to picking up this full length all I was able to score are three 7"es of hers. One an awesome duet with her father and on the other two she's accompanied by Lee.
I was totally stoked to finally come across one of her albums in the wild and the title suggested good things. Unfortunately my expectations were a little too high. I expected to hear dark and moody Country influenced tunes instead of pure Country Music. I have yet to go back and really listen to pass judgement but I'm pretty positive that I will love it once I get over it being something else than I thought it would be.

I'm totally stoked that this one turned out to be an original US first press from 1967.
47 years old and still in better shape than your Daddy.
That's a whopping 10 years older than I am btw.
Stoked!!

Next stop Vauxhall

Morrissey - Vauxhall and I LP - Parlophone PCSDR 148, Parlophone 825646299485

When Mozz got on the Re-Issue train I really didn't like it. Largely because of the altered covers which didn't look too good and because I was already getting fed up with all the RSD hype but also because it was easy as I already had copies of those albums.
And then Your Arsenal was announced to be made publicly available again. That record as well as this one is a 90s classic of his that is a little harder to come by and demands pockets that are a bit deeper. I never felt like spending enough to get those so these pressings make sense to me. And they are even really good looking.
Viva Hate and Kill Uncle regularly pop up in stores and on flea markets everywhere so I couldn't see the point in those new treatments. Now I do though because it looks like he decided to do that for all his studio recordings of which quite a few, just like Your Arsenal and Vauxhall And I, are rather expensive.
Can't wait for Southpaw Grammar to drop.

Popular surprise

While record shopping during our holidays in Stockholm last September I was in for a surprise.

Leonard Cohen - popular problems LP - 2014 Columbia 88875014291

Old Ideas from 2012 was his first new studio album since the release of Dear Heather in 2004. And now only 2 more years down the road here we have yet another full length with all new material whose release somehow totally passed me by. Of course I bought it even though I hadn't heard any of the new songs. Because it's Leonard Cohen! He didn't release a bad record ever.

Gentleman Jim

Trifecta

Jim Reeves - girls i have known LP - ??? RCA Camden CDS 6006 (e)
Jim Reeves - songs to warm the heart LP - 1972 RCA Camden CDS 1099, Camden CDS 1099
Jim Reeves - my friend LP - 1972 RCA Victor LSP-4646

As far as I know this guy released his first single in the late '40s and although categorised as Country did not record the kind one would usually associate with that era. He is actually more of a Crooner.
I have to admit though that I am not the biggest fan. A lot of his records just pass you by with nothing sticking out to latch on to you to drag you along. Still I do have 10 to 15 of his LPs now and will most likely keep buying more.

Girls I Have Known is a repress of the 1958 original that nobody seems to remember when it was made.
Songs To Warm The Heart is a 1972 repress of the 1959 original.
My Friend is an original 1972 US pressing with the only other version of that record having been released the same year in Australia.

42 years old. At least two of them. The music of two of those dates back to almost 60 years ago. And still there are people who enjoy this. I don't think this will be the case with todays popular Artists.