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The Scrounger's Report
Aug. 01, 1999
A Journey Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Well, early Thursday morning Marko and I headed up to Milwaukee
for RiverFest to see free concerts by Eddie Money and Rick
Springfield. Of course it was also a CD-hunting trip, to test
the scrounging grounds of the "Land O' Cheese".
I knew it was going to be hot, but CHRIST ON A CRUTCH! As luck
would have it, the air conditioning was broken at the place we
were staying, which made things interesting. Of course this would
have to be the hottest 2-day period of the last 5 years (that I
remember, anyway). Even though it was a good 4 hours north of
where I live, it was 95-102 both days. Talk about cooking in your
own gravy...
We must have hit 15-20 CD stores over the 3-day trip... and there
was plenty to be had. I'm glad I didn't bring my "real" credit
card with me; I would have spent myself into oblivion. As it was,
I spent about $450 on CDs. OUCH! My most expensive CD excursion to
date..but some things you just *gotta* do.
We hit 4 locations of the "Disc-Go-Round" chain of used-CD stores.
If you have any of these in your area, I wholeheartedly recommend
checking them out; all sorts of little obscure gems lurking there.
The highlights of the trip storewise (for me) were Exclusive CD
in Greenfield, WI and Impulse Music in Roselle, IL. Both stores
sell primarily new CDs, and both carry a phenomenal selection of
import hard rock and heavy metal CDs. Exclusive CD carries all genres,
both domestics and imports, while Impulse sticks exclusively with
hard rock and heavy metal, predominantly imports. Both stores are
deadly on the wallet or credit card, especially Impulse Music.
I had a *VERY* tough time narrowing my purchases at Impulse, because
we hit this coming back from WI, and I only had about $125 of room
left on the credit card. I could have spent $500+ there without
even thinking hard...the selection is *that* good. The proprietor
was very pleasant and helpful, willing to play selections from non-sealed
discs, and a good source of information about the various albums.
I intend to do some ordering from their web site (as soon as I pay off
this trip, which may take months!).
At any rate, on to the CDs I got on the trip...
[Note, I have *NOT* had time to listen to, let alone come to a conclusion
about, many of these CDs. Heck, some of them are still sealed. Oy.]
[Scorpions - White Dove and Refugee - Burning From the Inside Out are
duplicates available for trade/sale. Read down the list]
Midas Touch - Presage of Disaster. 1989. Noise Records.
This was a gamble that didn't pay off all that well. It's heavy
metal, but not very melodic.
World on Edge - S/T. 1990. Charisma.
Poppy AOR; haven't given a real listen.
JAG - The Only World In Town. 1991. Benson Records.
Lite CCM AOR.
Total Eclipse - 1992. Tabu Records.
Haven't listened to it yet...
Tattoo - Blood Red. 1988. Metal Blade Records.
Straight ahead heavy metal. Not bad.
Foolish Pleasure - S/T. 1993. RIP Records.
Foolish Pleasure - End of Time. 1993. RIP Records.
Well this is fucked up. These are both the exact same CD,
but with different artwork. *thppt*
Michael Brewer & Tom Shipley - Shangai. 1993. TOK.
This had that "look", but turned out to be *much* lighter than
I was expecting...almost country music.
The James Byrd Group - The Apocalypse Chime. 1996. Shrapnel Records.
I listened to 15 seconds of this before deciding that it was
MINE. Sounds like it's going to be melodic prog metal.
Bite the Bullet - S/T. 1989. Jet Records.
Good melodic AOR; I only listened to 1 track before purchase...
Jean Michel Jarre - In Concert/Houston-Lyon. 1987. Dreyfus (Germany)
I love Jarre's New Age music, and am trying to get a complete
collection.
Urgent - Thinking Out Loud. 1987. Manhattan Records.
The Tower Music NE of Roselle had a *bunch* of these in their
cutout bin for $2.99 each....had to snag one. Haven't even opened
it yet.
DeGarmo & Key Band - Straight On. 1979 (1989). ForeFront Records.
A bit more '70s than I care for, but gotta get for completist
purposes.
DeGarmo & Key - D&K. 1987. ForeFront Records.
Ditto.
Jack Wagner - Don't Give Up Your Day Job. 1987. Qwest Records.
Gotta slowly start picking up the stuff from this guy.
Kerry Livgren - Time Line. 1984 (1996). New Renaissance.
Classic stuff! I need to complete this discography.
Kerry Livgren - Seeds of Change. 1980 (1996).
Haven't listened to this yet, but Steve Walsh and Ronnie James
Dio both do lead vocals on the album...
Cubic Feet - Passenger in Time. ???. Meteor Records.
Bought based on the artwork. Lite AOR.
Saga - Behaviour. 1985. Portrait Records.
Hadn't seen it before, so I figured I'd snag it. Haven't listened
yet.
No Sweat - S/T. 1990. London Records.
Good stuff! Excellent hard rock
Thunder - Backstreet Symphony. 1990. EMI (United Kingdom).
Yes, I know it's sacrilege that I've never picked it up before now,
but I've always been wanting one with the original artwork, rather
than the U.S. artwork. Well, I now have it. :)
Gringos Locos - Punch Drunk. 1989. Atlantic.
Good bar-rock stuff very reminiscent of vintage DLR.
Phantom Blue - S/T. 1989. Shrapnel Records.
Babe-fronted hard rock.
Greenway - Serious Business. 1988. Atlantic.
This is good shit, Maynard! Brian Greenway from April Wine.
Bonus: keyboards done by Aldo Nova.
New Frontier - S/T. 1988. Polydor.
Interesting project produced by Richie Zito (he also contributes
guitarwork). Appearances by: Martin Page, Timothy B. Schmit,
and Tommy Funderburk.
REZ - Between Heaven 'n Hell. 1985. Sparrow Records.
Has "Out of Print" screaming all over it...
The Sweet - Water's Edge. 1980 (1992). Repertoire Records.
I've become a real fan of the 1980s Sweet material (post-
Conolly), so when I spied this I pounced...
Uriah Heep - Fallen Angel. 1997 (1978). Castle (United Kingdom).
Uriah Heep - Innocent Victim. 1997 (1977). Castle (United Kingdom).
In 1997 the entire Uriah Heep catalog was reissued remastered
and with bonus tracks. I tend to prefer the later material.
Uriah Heep - Sonic Origami. 1998. Eagle Records (United Kingdom).
Damned fine stuff! This one goes on my must-recommend list.
Legend Seven - Beyond Faith. 1993. Word Records.
*Extremely* good CCM hard rock!
XYZ - S/T. 1991. Capitol Records.
This one is getting tougher to find. I traded my copy away a couple
of months back, so I was glad to find this.
Artension - Forces of Nature. 1999. Shrapnel Records.
Haven't listened to it yet; we'll see how it compares to the
first 2 CDs.
Jethro Tull - To Old to Rock 'n Roll. 1976. Chrysalis.
For some reason I thought this was out of print, and it has that
"look" about it, however I guess it's been reissued. Oh well,
I'm still glad I got it...
Y&T - Endangered Species. 1997. Bareknuckle (Japan).
I'd delayed picking this up, but when I saw the Japanese import
(with extra bonus track) still sealed for $12.99, I pounced.
Haven't listened yet.
White Wolf - Endangered Species. 1996 (????). BMG (Japan).
Excellent hard rock!!
White Wolf - Standing Alone. 1996 (????). BMG (Japan).
Still sealed, haven't listened yet...
Terra Nova - Eye to Eye. 1999. Frontiers (United Kingdom).
Not sure how this is going to fare caompared to the other 2.
Lizzy Borden - Love You to Pieces. 1985. Metal Blade.
I'd never seen this in the store, and as I intend to eventually
get everything they ever put out, I bit. Haven't listened
to it yet...
Gotthard - Dial Hard. 1993. BMG/Ariola (Germany).
Haven't listened yet.
Guild of Ages - Vox Dominatas. 1999. MTM Records.
Haven't listened yet.
Casanova - Heroes. 1999. Bareknuckle (Japan).
Haven't given a serious listen yet.
Tony MacAlpine - Eyes of the World. 1990. Squawk Records.
I've seen 0 copies of this, and on this trip we saw no
less than 5 copies of the damned thing. Go figure...
Hybrid Ice - No Rules. 1987. Pilot Records.
The copy I'd originally obtained had a color-zeroxed
booklet. I saw this one in a $3 bin and it has real
artwork, so I nearly gave myself a hernia getting to it.
Scorpions - White Dove. 1994. Mercury (Germany).
This is a spare copy I picked up for trade. The 2 non-english tracks
"Ave Maria No Morro" and "Kami O Shin Jiru" are must-haves.
Refugee - Burning From the Inside Out. 1987. Polydor.
This CD is a TOUGH find, but is mandatory for any classic AOR
fan. This is an extra copy available for trade or sale. I may
end up putting it on Ebay. Weird thing is I've seen 3 copies
on CD in my life, and *all* 3 have been at Disc-Go-Round stores.
Bee Gees - ESP. 1987. Warner Brothers.
I pounced when I found this. I'm trying to find all the 1980s
Bee Gees stuff. Anyone have an extra original of "Living Eyes"
they wanna trade? :)
Charade - S/T. 1998. Bareknuckle (Japan).
WOW! Michael Bormann (Jaded Heart) and Angel Schleifer (Bonfire).
This CD kicks MAJOR ASS. It cost me $29, but it's damned well
worth it. Why haven't I heard anyone talking about this????
Bad Habit - After Hours. 1989. Virgin Records (Holland).
Damned fine melodic AOR!!!!
Wild Boyz - Unleashed! 1991. Polaris Records
Good hard rock; quite good considering it's a minor label
effort...
Steeplechase - S/T. 1997. High Vaultage Records (Germany).
Good 1970s AOR/pomp.
Lake - So What. 1986. Polydor (Germany).
I'd seen CDs by this band, but had always ignored them as I thought
it was '70s proggish stuff. Well, those may have been, but this
definitely is not. I find nothing about this album on the internet;
maybe someone can give me some info. It's West Coast AOR, kinda
like a blend of Peter Cetera and Starship. The players:
James Hopkins Harrison: lead vocals
Achim Oppermann: keyboards, guitar, vocals
Thomas Bauer: keyboards, saxophones, vocals
Bernd Gartig: lead guitar, keyboards, vocals
Benjamin Hullenkremer: bass, vocals
Udo Dahmen: drums percussion
It's really quite a good CD!
Icehouse - The Singles (A Sides and Selected B Sides). 1995. Diva
Records (Australia).
This is interesting, a 3-CD boxed set. For $12 I couldn't refuse.
Well that's all for now, time to do some listening!
-Dan
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