The Scrounger's Report

July 1, 2005

The F*CK YOU, Opec! Scrounger's Report

Took 2 days off from work to make the long weekend a LONG weekend. So I'm sitting here bored out of my gourd, wanting desperately to avoid doing the work here at home that I should be doing. Gas is $2.34 a gallon for the cheapest grade, so long trips are kinda out of the question. Well.... shit... what to do.

$30 in gas later, I was out on the road, heading south to the twin cities (uhh... right... "twin villages" maybe) of Charleston & Mattoon, IL, roughly a 40 minute drive. I hadn't been there in over a year, since the pickings were slim the last time out. The trip was NOT off to an auspicious start when I found that the first pawn shop I usually hit had gone out of business.

I hit 3 pawn shops, 1 mall, and 2 CD stores, and found another pawn shop going out of business. Yay. Not a huge hoard of treasures this time out, and a few definite clunkers.

Broken Glass - A Fast Mean Game. 1990. Chrysalis Records. What the [CENSORED] was I thinking? I used to own this CD. I knew it was a clunker soundwise, but for some reason I had it in my mind that it was scarce. To quote Hertz, "not exactly." Trashy bar rawk with virtually no redeeming qualities... destined to languish for eons on my trade list. F*ck.

Skew Siskin - S/T. 2005. Giant Records. Eh, it was dirt cheap. Solid heavy hard rock though; the female lead vox give it a very glammy vocal sound.

Devonsquare - Bye Bye Route 66. 1991. Atlantic Records. This was strictly a gamble, based on the appearance. Think of Tom Petty meets Fleetwood Mac, with a split personality. Some of the tracks have a male lead singer with raspy off-key vocals like Tom Petty, and some of the tracks are poppier with female lead vocals. Destined for the trade/sale pile.

WWIII - When God Turned Away. 2003. Reality Entertainment. This was an intentional clunker. I knew full well what, in all likelihood, I would be receiving. This disc exceeded my expectations... it sucks even harder than I thought it might (think Britney Spears at a biker rally). No melody to speak of, just a lot of pounding drums and bass. I had thought that in the intervening decade between the S/T and this offal, that Mandy Lion might have either had surgery on his vocal cords, or barring that, at least had them cauterized in order to spare humanity from his presence. No such luck. If Emperor or Mayhem ever need a lead singer, look no further... The final injustice on this hunk of putrefaction is their cover of Warrior's "Fighting for the Earth." Oh the humanity!!!!!....

Rick Springfield - Karma. 1999. Platinum Entertainment. Still sealed; an intentional pickup for the trade pile.

Dream Theater - Train of Thought. 2003. Elektra Records. I pretty much stopped listening to Dream Theater after the "Change of Seasons" EP. I just couldn't get into them any more. Well, for a buck I figured "How can I go wrong?" So I'll sit down at some point and hear if their recent material is worth my time again...

Night Ranger - Dawn Patrol. 1982. MCA Records. Rare? Nope. Just the Night Ranger I remember from my high school years. Forget "Midnight Madness." THIS was real Night Ranger; I don't care what the charts said...

Yes - An Evening of Yes Music Plus. 1994. Caroline Records. Two CDs of classic YES for a buck? You betcha. Someone was dumb enough to drop $15 on this and then turn around ans sell it to the pawn shop for fifty cents (either that or someone's car got broken into). Tangent: Does anyone else think that Yes's finest moment was one of their mose underachieving, yet most AOR-like albums: Big Generator. I love that CD (90125, while excellent, just got overexposed beyond compare).

Solitude Aeturnus - Through the Darkest Hour. 1994. Pavement Music. Quintessential doom metal album; the finest of their efforts. Track #5, "Pain" is so powerful it hurts. An absolute must-have for anyone who digs epic doom.

Soundtrack - Jewel of the Nile. 1985. Jive/Arista Records. Another addition to my soundtrack collection. This particular disc is cool because it is an original pressing, still in an old-style jewel case (jewel cases manufactured prior to 1987 did not have ridges along the tops and bottoms; they were smooth).

Soundtrack - The Secret of My Success. 1987. MCA Records. I already have this one; I picked it up for the trade/sale pile. It usually goes for $15-20. This one is in mint condition. Tracks of note: Night Ranger, Pat Benatar, Bananarama, Roger Daltrey, Restless Heart, and Taxxi.

Phil Cristian - No Prisoner. 1988. Voss Records. I owned this one before, and when I saw it today, I pounced on it again. Excellent indy AOR that has become tougher to find in the last 3-4 years.

Restless Heart - S/T. 1985. RCA Records. I don't listen to very much country music, but this band is one that I love. The hooks and choruses have an extremely AOR feel to them. The cover art to this debut really does look straight out of 1985. This is an extra copy for trade/sale.

Airkraft - In the Red. 1990. Premiere Records. I had seen this particular CD in the same store for the last 2 years, and something about it always bothered me for some reason. Even though I had the CD before, this particular one seemed "different" so I picked it up today. I never realized that there were TWO different CD releases of this album. Before I sold off my collection, I had the one that most people have (bottom artwork) released on Curb Records in 1991. This one is from a year ealier, on "Premiere Records", conceivably an independent release prior to the major label deal. Not only is the indy version a darker, richer red, but the drawn faces on the cover are more apparent, and the band logo itself is different. I actually prefer the original artwork to the redone artwork on Curb Records. Ya learn something new every day...

Ma Kelley - Banned in America. 1993. Self-Released. Semi-local band (Indiana) that I remember seeing live back in the day. Their 3 CDs are getting almost impossible to find any more... good crunchy hard rock.

Freelight - Wave of Great Change. 1995. San Fransisco Sounds. Weird one. I gambled for a buck. No clue when it was recorded; I'm guessing the early 1970s. Sound quality is excellent. From the tray card: This album features the founding member of two supergroups: The Moody Blues and The Eagles. "Wave Of Great Change" was produced by Michael Pinder of The Moody Blues and features Bernie Leadon and also Don Felder of The Eagles. The sound can easily be described as Michael Pinder's missing 9th Symphony. In the mystically woven style of The Moody Blues' "Seven Sojourns", Wave Of Great Change is a concept album. But, Stephen Freelight is a n American artist with American music taste. Wave Of Great Change has a positive message. We are confident that you will enjoy the journey. We are very proud to introduce Stephen Freelight, the mysterious conduit between English rocker Michael Pinder and Country rock er Bernie Leadon.

Animator - Gallery. 1990. Rotamina Records. Local (like within blocks) melodic prog band. This was their only CD, and is impossible to find now. Even living in the band's home town, I've found only 3 copies in all the years I've been hunting. This is a sealed copy and is available for sale or trade; make offers.

And lastly...

Dirty Looks - Slave to the Machine. 1996. BH Records. Not sure what to do with this one. By all accounts, this is possibly their worst CD... and also their rarest. This one is brand spanking new, still sealed in its original poly-wrap. Not sure it's smart for me to crack it open only to possibly be disappointed by the music; I think I'll leave it to a diehard Dirty Looks collector to decide what to do with it. Make an offer.

That's all for now...

-Dan