The Scrounger's Report

Nov. 18, 2000

It's a Constitutional Crisis!!!... I Think I'll Go CD Shopping.

As if I ever needed a reason to go CD scrounging. I cast my ballot,
and it came up "Go buy CDs". This morning I was sitting here in
front of the computer, and something justs didn't feel right. It
felt somehow "wrong". And then I realized, "Holy Shit! It's a
Saturday, and I'm not out rummaging through CD bargain bins!"
I obviously needed to remedy this. And so I did. I toyed with the
concept of  driving the 45 miles to Casa de Inbred in Decatur,
and figured that as long as I was going to make a trek out of it,
I might as well drive the additional 35 miles and hit Springfield,
Illinois.

I knew that people in Springfield were "slow", but I passed several
lines of senior citizens still in line to vote. I didn't have the
heart to tell them that Illinois had long been called for Satan, err,
umm, Al Gore, but I figure they might get a little testy if I spoiled
their fun.  When I reached "Springfield Furniture Company/Recycled
Records" and I was walking past the orange and green plaid sofas,
the olive green refrigerators, the mauve leatherette loungers,
and the proprietors' grandmother wheezed "Hello" to me, I was struck
by the remarkable thought that "Why yes, there evidently *is* a
town more provincial than Decatur."... and all of a sudden Casa
de Inbred looked like a Mensa convention by comparison.

I worked my way past the acne-infested adolescents drooling over
the stacks of 15-year-old Penthouse magazines, nearly knocked over
a stack of 1988-era "Emerson" VCRs (all bargain priced at $139
no less), and worked my way up the 3 flights of rickety wooden
stairs to the room O' CDs.

Lately I've been concentrating on picking up CD singles for my
collection. For some reason I've just wanted to work on that area
of my collection (yeah, I know I'm weird, there's no need to
belabor the point). I've set up the mechanism to display my
CD single collection at my collection site (http://cdsniper.com),

but just haven't gotten off my fat ass to work on it. I'm always
looking for hard rock/AOR/heavy metal CD singles from the '80s and
early '90s (if you're no longer enamored with yours, feel free to
send them my way :) :).

Most of what I picked up today, were, in fact CD singles. Casa de
Inbred had a number of import CD singles (usually go for $9.99-12.99
in stores), that were marked at $7.99, and when I asked Cousin
Toothie, he said he could give 'em to me for $4.99. Suchadeal.

First, a disc I picked up for the trade/sale pile:

Platinum Blonde - Alien Shores. 1985. CBS/Epic Records.
   A fairly tough disc, it's on the poppier side of AOR.
   Both disc and artwork are pristine.

Now the CD singles:

Backstreet Boys - For the Fans (CD 1). 2000. Zomba Records
Backstreet Boys - For the Fans (CD 2). 2000. Zomba Records
Backstreet Boys - For the Fans (CD 3). 2000. Zomba Records
   I probably paid too much for these ($12 for the set), but I
   hadn't seen these around (I don't hit the mall CD stores).
   They look like a giveaway, or one of those Burger King
   purchases. Each CD has 6 audio tracks plus multimedia stuff.
   The 3 CDs have the same last 3 tracks, but the first 3
   on each CD are different live tracks...

   Yes. I like the Backstreet Boys. So bite me.

Meat Loaf - I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth). 1995.
MCA Records.
   4 different edits/versions of the title track, ranging
   from 4:21 to 6:37. Promo.

Blackeyed Susan - Satisfaction. 1991. Mercury.
   1-track promo.

Blackeyed Susan - None of It Matters. 1991. Mercury.
   2-track promo; LP version and radio edit.

Hurricane - Livin' Over the Edge. 1988. Enigma.
   2-track promo; LP version and radio edit.

Kingdom Come - You're Not the Only... I Know. 1991. Polydor.
   1-track promo.

Vince Neil - You're Invited. 1992. Hollywood Records.
   album version, radio edit, plus a track by Steve Vai,
   and one from T-Ride.

Motley Crue - Hooligan's Holiday. 1994. WEA (Germany).
   "Brown Nose edit", album version, demo version
   of "Hypnotized"

Heart - Will You Be There in the Morning. 1993. EMI (Holland).
   title track, Risin' Suspicion, Love Hurts (live),
   These Dreams (live)

KISS - Hide Your Heart. 1989. Polygram.
   title track, Betrayed, Boomerang.

Guns 'n Roses - Ain't It Fun. 1993. Geffen (United Kingdom)
   title track, Down on the Farm, Attitude.

Guns 'n Roses - Knockin' on Heaven's Door. 1992. Geffen (U.K.)
   LP version, live version recorded at Freddie Mercury
   tribute concert.

Guns 'n Roses - Live and Let Die. 1991. Geffen (Germany).
   LP version, live version, Shadow of Your Love (live)

Def Leppard - Make Love Like a Man. 1992. Bludgeon (U.K.)
   title track, Miss You in a Heartbeat, Action (Sweet cover),
   Two Steps Behind (acoustic version)

Queensryche - Another Rainy Night. 1991. EMI (Holland).
   title track, Last Time in Paris, Suite Sister Mary (live),
   Eyes of a Stranger (live)

Queensryche - Eyes of a Stranger. 1988. EMI Records.
   title track, Walk in the Shadows, Take Hold of the Flame,
   Queen of the Reich


Hey, whaddaya know, I bought some full-length discs too:

Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth. 1998. Century Media.
   One of my favorite metal albums of all time, I'd been
   making due with a CDR all this time. Last week I was
   consciously considering picking it up at Best Buy, but
   opted for a different disc. Now I'm glad I passed,
   finding this one for a whopping $4.

REO Speedwagon - Nine Lives. 1979. Epic/CBS.
   I never see this one or "Good Trouble" when I'm out
   scrounging. Evidently they're both still in print;
   I just never see them, either new or used.

Mortification - Post Momentary Affliction. 1993. Intense Records.
   Quite possibly the longest lasting CCM death metal band
   out there. I've got their newer efforts, so now I'm
   working my way back...

Budgie - If I Were Brittania, I'd Waive the Rules. 1976. 
   Repertoire (Germany).
   Cool cover art; somewhat mediocre music.

and lastly, a gem that I nearly skipped over. I'm glad I didn't.
For all you metalheads:

Wicked Maraya - Circles. 1995. Mausoleum/BMG Records.
   Good shit! Old school heavy metal, at times somewhat
   reminiscent of older Iced Earth. I listened to the whole disc
   twice through on the way back home. A couple of questions:
   1) Was this actually recorded in 1995?? It sounds older/more
   traditional than that, and I know Mausoleum's propensity
   to release older material on CD. 2) What other discs 
   have they released, and why hasn't someone sent them to
   me yet? :) :)

That's all from the wilderness of central Illinois,

-Dan