The Scrounger's ReportApr. 10, 2000There are bootlegs and then there are BOOTLEGS!!Well, over the last 4-6 weeks I've come to be the proud owner of several bootlegs masquerading as official releases. The quality is quite iffy on some of these, making it seem like they were just rushed through the production process; no booklets, just front plates. All are pressed; no CDRs. Shortcuts notwithstanding, some of these are cool to have available on CD. Starting at the bottom: Xcursion - Ready to Roll. Old Metal Records. pre-Slaughter Mark Slaughter. Very dated sounding, horrendous production. No booklet. Nice for those Slaughter completists but that's about it. Sorcery - 2. Old Metal Records. pre-Giuffria David Glenn Eisley. Again, poor production. 4-page 1-color booklet. GTR - Nerotrend. Element of Crime Records. Demos for unreleased 2nd album. No booklet; just a front plate. Tape hiss throughout and a fairly low recording level, but the music is incredibly good. Pantera - Power Metal/Villain - S/T. No label. Pantera - I Am the Night/Projects in the Jungle. Reborn Classics. Decent sound quality, but no booklets (just front plates). Must-have's for any Pantera completist and fans of hard-rock-era Pantera. Heavy Pettin' - S/T. Heatsink Records. Pretty good sound quality. No booklet. Along the lines of "Rock Ain't Dead" musically. Now, 2 bootlegs that I received today that absolutely blow these others away, not only from a sound quality perspective, but the packaging is the most polished I've ever seen for bootlegs, putting many official releases to shame. Waysted - Save Your Prayers. 1996. Amazing Rediscoveries (New Zealand). To the unsuspecting, there is no indication at all that this is a bootleg. 16-page color booklet, full-color inside and outside tray card. Excellent sound quality. Axe - Offering. 1997. Axepertise, Inc. (New Zealand). ($5 says it's the same outfit as above :). I remember bitching up a storm about a year-and-a-half ago when seeing these offered at what I thought was a ridiculous price. While I still think that paying $25+ for bootlegs is inane, the quality of this series of bootlegs (S/T, Living on the Edge, Offering, Nemesis) is second to none. These albums were never officially released on CD. Clearly, whoever produced these had access to the original master tapes, as the sound quality is unparalleled. All four discs in this series have bonus tracks in abundance (live tracks from the '80s, tracks from Bobby Barth's solo album). Someone put considerable time, effort, and money into releasing these last 2. So, not all boots are lousy, but it's definitely a crapshoot. Now if only I can track down the other 3 Axe discs... :) -Dan |
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