The Scrounger's Report

Feb. 17, 2001

The Scrounger's Report - Special Edition

There's an annoying little gnat on one of the lists I post to
that has taken umbrage at my (and others) posting their recent
lists of CD finds. This dwip needs to lighten up and learn 2 things:
(1) There's a "delete" key on the keyboard - use it, and (2)
despite his pronouncements to the contrary, his CD collection
isn't really all that.

So I says to myself "SELF!", what could I do
to annoy this nitwit further? Answer: post another report right on
the heels of the first!!

Since I hadn't spent as much as I anticipated on Wednesday, I left
work early and headed east this time to the burnt-out, run-down
"metropolis" (yeah, right!) of Danville, IL. There are a couple
of pawn shops in the downtown area that never let me down (discs
run $1-3.50 each, so some gambles are in order), and then there's
"Chart Records", which is an indie CD store. Not cheap by any
means, but there's still a lot of CDs still in long boxes and
blister paks, as well as a lot of VHS music videos still sealed
from 1985-1992; unfortunately they're priced from $12-25 each,
so I haven't partaken as of yet. I keep hoping they'll put some
of them on sale, since there are quite a few I wouldn't mind
owning...

First, a couple of discs that I received in the mail:

Treat - Muscle in Motion. 2001. Metal Rendezvous.
   I haven't listened yet, but it seems fairly well done from
   a packaging standpoint. One disappointment though: the
   artwork is ripped off straight from "Dream Hunter". WTF?
   Now I've I've got 2 Treat discs that look exactly the 
   same. A little more effort could have been done in this regard.

   [Kinda like the Moving Pictures "Ultimate Collection" which
   uses the same artwork as their album "Days of Innocence".
   Stupid!]

Edguy - Vain Glory Opera. 1998. YBM (Korea).
   Excellent power metal. I haven't listened to it long enough
   to determine where it ranks in their discography.

Avalon - Eurasia. 2000. Omega (Germany).
   Prog rock ala Dream Theater. I think this may be softer
   than their first 3 discs. There's a lot of chants and
   "native" sounds used throughout. Don't get me wrong though,
   it's definitely worthwhile, and the cover of Mr. Mister's
   "Kyrie" is worth it alone.

Ok, on to the discs I picked up in Danville. As I'd mentioned,
some were gambles, and this time I would up with a pair that
are worthless (IMO).:

Steve Taylor - I Want to Ba a Clone! 1983. Sparrow Records.
   I knew the name as being that of a Christian artist (not to
   mention the label being a dead giveaway), but hadn't been
   sure of what musical genre it falls into. It's "new wave"
   pop, similar to Devo, but not nearly as good.

12th Tribe - Knowledge is the Tree of Life. 1991. Frontline.
   Another Christian artist that I didn't know anything about.
   Reading through the liner notes and trying to guess the
   genre, I read "Guitars by Vengeance Rising, Mortification,
   Tourniquet, Deliverance. Special Guest Appearances:
   Lanny Cordola... Jimmy P. Brown II... Scott Blackwell..."
   So I mistakenly assumed it was some sort of hard rock or
   heavy metal project. NOT! It's a fucking rap album. *spit*

The ones I think I'll keep:

Jay Aaron - Inside Out. 1990. Warner Brothers.
   I had this once before, traded it away. For $2, I figured
   I'd give it another try. Mediocre (at best) AOR/rock.

Roxy Music - Avalon. 1982. Reprise Records.
Roxy Music - Manifesto. 1979. Reprise Records.
   With the release of all the remasters, people have been
   dumping their original pressings, so I figured I find
   out what the group is all about. Answer: BORING.

Nicki French - Secrets. 1995. Critique Records.
   I snagged it for the Bonnie Tyler cover. Overall it's
   not bad. At times having AOR hooks, but then veering
   off into ultrapoppy land.

Now the surprises and/or ineteresting or noteworthy finds:

Allegiance - Hazardous. 1992. Messenger Records.
   A local Christian band, very AORish in nature. Definitely
   a self-produced indie effort, but surprisingly good.

Sanctuary - Into the Mirror Black. 1990. Epic Records.
   I'd heard that Sanctuary was pre-Nevermore, so I've
   been wanting to check it out, but it seems that whenever
   I've found this disc anywhere, it had been played into
   oblivion or run over by a car, so the condition never
   warranted purchase. This time it was new still sealed
   (of course it came at an $11.99 price tag). All I can
   say is that if you like Nevermore you'll like Sanctuary.
   'Nuff said. How does the first Sanctuary disc compare
   to this?

Last Adam - Tools for the Harvest. 1990. Regency Records.
   Whoah!! Where the hell did this come from???
   Christian hard rock with a very lush sound. I'd never
   heard of them at all. Reminds me of Petra/Stryper.

The following 2 were gambles based strictly on the cover
art. They were still sealed and $13.99 each, but they
looked extremely dated and possibly out of print, not to
mention that some of the personnel was recognizeable:
Cozy Powell, Tony Martin.

Forcefield - S/T. 1987. President Records (United Kingdom).
Forcefield - II (The Talisman). 1988. President Records.
   The former appears to be all covers. The albums have
   a very Rainbow/Deep Purple-esque sound. If anyone has
   the 3rd album with Graham Bonnet on vox, I'm interested
   in obtaining it.

Well, that's all for today. Although be forewarned, I'm
expecting a number of discs in the mail from purchases, trades,
and Ebay auctions:

Babys - On the Edge, Union Jacks, Head First
Vicious Rumors - Sadistic Symphony
XYZ - Take What You Want Live
After Hours - One More Night
Wizards - S/T, Sounds of Life
Red Dawn - Never Say Surrender
Pretty Maids - Stripped
Praying Mantis - To the Power of Ten
Praying Mantis - A Cry for the New World
Bad Habit - Adult Orientation
Dr. Rock and the Wild Bunch - Stark Raving Mad
Dr. Rock and the Wild Bunch - Eye od the Hurricane

Until next time,

-Dan