The Scrounger's Report

Jun. 09, 1999

Dumpster diving AGAIN?

Well, Monday I went and hit one of my usual "haunts"
for CD scrounging (I think I have a "route" of 3-4
towns and 15-20 stores that I try to make every 2 months
or so.) Between Used-CD stores and pawn shops, I'm
beginning to think one could do this full-time...oh yeah,
there's this whole "money" thing....how annoying. :)

I just hit one particular store, and as usual spent
about an hour of the 4 hours I spent there winnowing
down the stack of stuff I wanted...damned budgets!

Anyhow, here's what I walked away with (all sorts of
musical genres are here...DEAL WITH IT! :).

Yes - 9012 Live The Solos. 1985. ATCO (Japan). $7
   I already mentioned this one in an earlier post.
   while it didn't contain the track I was specifically
   looking for, it's still a worthwhile find for any
   Yes fan...imagine my surprise that it still had the
   OBI strip intact..especially for that price!

The Escape Club - Wild Wild West. 1988. Atlantic. $3
   Well yeah, I like '80s pop....so sue me! :)

Max Q - Max Q. 1989. Atlantic. $3
   More pop. I didn't have a chance to listen to this 
   one first, so I gambled based on the artwork. It's
   "ok", nothing splendiferous.

Asia - Alpha. 1983. Geffen. $4
   Ever the completist, IMHO, the Wetton-era Asia is
   SOOOOOO much better than the later material.

Journey - Greatest Hits Live. 1998. Columbia. $4
   Is it just me, or is "Captured" actually better than
   this one?

Journey - Raised on Radio (Remastered). 1986 (1996).
   Columbia. $5
   Essential AOR, IMO....even if it was one of their
   less successful endeavors.

Queen - The Works (Reissue). 1984 (1991). Hollywood. $4
   I *really* love the 1980s Queen stuff (which isn't
   to say I don't like the better-known 1970s-era material),
   but there's just something about this album and
   "A Kind of Magic" (being a "Highlander" fan might
   have something to do with it), that I really "grab
   on to"...

King Diamond - Voodoo. 1998. Metal Blade. $4
   Musically I love his stuff, but man, his vocals have
   that "a little goes a LOOOOONG way" quality...:)

Kix - Cool Kids. 1983. Atlantic. $4
   Ever the completist, I had to snag this. I *still*
   think that "Midnight Dynamite" is their best album.

Deliverance - A Decade Of... 1995. Intense. $8
   Quintessential CCM thrash metal. Being a collector
   of CCM hard rock and heavy metal, this one immediately
   jumped out at me...

Meliah Rage - Kill to Survive. 1986. Epic. $6
   For some reason I like this one a lot better than
   some of the other Meliah Rage I've heard. Maybe I'm
   misremembering, but I could have sword Meliah Rage
   was MUCH more thrashy than this; this stuff is more
   straight-ahead mid-80s heavy metal.

707 - 707/The Second Album. 1980/1981 (1998). Renaissance. $12
   Although he doesn't sing on this CD, Keven Chalfant
   eventually fronted this band, which is what triggered
   my picking this up. Fairly good "paint by numbers" AOR.

Slade - Slayed. 1972 (1991). Polydor (U.K.). $16
   I *do* want to eventually complete a CD discography of
   this band...IT'S A SHAME THAT VIRTUALLY NONE OF THEIR
   ALBUMS WERE RELEASED IN THIS STUPID COUNTRY ON CD!!!
   *ahem*, sorry about that...Slade, IMO, is one of *THE*
   most underrated rock bands of the last 30 years. While
   the U.S. masses were briefly exposed to them via their
   MTV hit "Run Runaway" from "Keep Your Hands Off My Power
   Supply" in the mid-1980s, they have done SOOOOO much
   wonderful material that no one here has ever heard...

Great White - Hooked. 1991. Capitol (Japan). $13
   I recently traded away my 2-CD set of Hooked + Live
   in New York, so I wanted to replace my copy of Hooked...
   with one small catch: I wanted the uncensored cover art.
   Imagine my surprise when I found this one...

and lastly,

Andy Scott's Sweet - "A". 1992. SPV (Germany). $10
   I wasn't sure if this was the same band as "The Sweet"
   which I knew of from "Fox on the Run" fame. Evidently
   Andy Scott *is* one of the original members. This album
   has a much more "hard rock" flavor than any of The
   Sweet's material. I like it! I'm interested in tracking
   down other CDs from this incarnation of the band, assuming
   they have the same type of sound: "The Answer", "Hannover
   Sessions" (originals only).

Anyhow, that's all for now. The budget is shot and so am I.

-Dan