The Scrounger's Report

So it's the day after Christmas. I suppose I could spend the day at the "Oh My God It's The Day After Christmas And You've NEVER SEEN PRICES THIS LOW!!!!!!" sales... being surrounded by soccer moms and screaming kids... NOT! I'd rather be castrated with a rusty butter knife. Time to avoid civilization entirely. How about a couple hour drive with the tunes cranked up LOUD en route to an afternoon of CD scrounging? Works for me.

Hit a grand total of 2 stores that I hand't been to in almost 6 months; the pickings were pretty decent:

Bullet LaVolta - Gimme Danger EP. 1990. Metal Blade Records
Is it metal? Is it hard rock? Is it punk? Answer: yes. Some of their stuff is decent, and some of it well, bites. This 5-track EP contains 2 studio cuts and 3 live tracks.

V/A - 20th Anniversary Box Set Sampler. 2002. Metal Blade records
Well, I already have the 10-disc boxed set, so I might as well pick up the promo-only sampler to go with it (sometimes box set samplers end up being fairly collectible; see the Journey Time3 sampler and the Metallica Live Sh*t sampler).

Eternity X - Zodiac + 1. 1998 (1994). Angular/SPV
Eternity X - Mind Games + 2. 1998 (1995). Angular/SPV
Some rather excellent power/prog metal. Well-produced and quite melodic.

Memento Mori - Songs for the Apocalypse Vol. IV. 1997. Black Mark
So, what's Messiah Marcolin been doing since he left Candlemass? Apparently doing some well-executed prog/thrash metal. I was surprised; this is better than I was anticipating. I may have to scrounge up their other CDs...

Joe Jackson - Night and Day. 1982. Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs
Any time I see a MFSL gold disc for less than $15 or so, I pounce... pretty much regardless of who it is.

Wrathchild - Delerium. 2002 (1989). Heavy Metal Records
I already have an original pressing of "The Biz Sucks...", so I passed on that one. The store was sold out of the reissue of "Trash Queens", so this was the only one of the reissues I snagged. Quite impressive for the price point ($12.99). Slipcase, full liner notes. Must haves for any self-repecting glam fan. There are some bootleg sellers on Ebay that have gotta be pissed...

Paul Shortino's The Cutt - Sacred Place. 2002. MusicWorks
Well, I popped this into the player at the store, listened to the first track, and went *BLAARF*. Luckily I listened past the first track. Why he chose to lead off the album with the title cut is beyond me; it has a VERY modern vibe to it, light years away from the music that "Rough Cutt" brings to mind. After track one the disc settles into the type of music one would expect (although I have not listened all the way through, so more "surprises" may be in store...)

Anacrusis - Reason. 1990. Metal Blade Records
Prog thrash? I have one or two other discs by Anacrusis lying around; decent stuff.

Jynx - Heads or Tails. 1996. Self-released
Quasi-local hard rock straying into crunchy heavy metal. Some fairly melodic choruses throughout.

Outlaws - Diablo Canyon. 1994. Blues Bureau International
I'm always looking to pick up more material from these southern rockers. RELATED NOTE: Either some bootleggers are in business or "Soldiers of Fortune" (the perennial $150+ Outlaws disc) has been reissued. A whole bunch are turning up on Ebay in the $40 range. Hard to tell from the scans how professional the release is, but someone's busy...

V/A - Warning: Minds of Raging Empires (tribute to Queensryche). 2000. Adrenaline Records (Italy)
I already have 2 tribute albums on this label: an Iron Maiden tribute, and a Dream Theater tribute. The bands tend to be primarily prog bands, the packaging is always top-notch from a design perspective. Normally they are 2-disc sets, with the first disc being the tribute disc, and the second being original songs by the same bands in the same order as on the first disc (I really like this idea; I wish more labels would take a note from this). This tribute, however, is only a single disc. Tracks:

1. Karma - I Am I
2. Mystic Force - Child of Fire
3. Mayadome - Neue Regel
4. Forte - Prophecy
5. Moon of Steel - Anybody Listening?
6. Etheria - Eyes of a Stranger
7. Mind's Eye - I Will Remember
8. Talamasca - The Whisper
9. Cyrcle IX - I Don't Believe in Love
10. Power of Omens - Screaming in Digital
11. Nightmares End - The Lady Wore Black
12. Black Symphony - Deliverance
13. Factor Five - Nightrider
14. Swan Christy - Someone Else?

V/A - The Attack of the Dragons (a tribute to Queen). 2000? Adrenaline Records (Italy)
This is one of the 2-CD sets that I refer to above. These ought to be pretty interesting; a more diverse selection of bands than on the Queensryche tribute. Tracks on disc 1:

1. Seasons of the Wolf - We Will Rock You
2. Evil Wings - Killer Queen
3. Avalanch - Save Me
4. Jesse Jones Project - Now I'm Here
5. Aztec Jade - The Show Must Go On
6. Marci Geller - You're My Best Friend
7. Hotrod Otis - Another One Bites the Dust
8. Vighilia - Innuendo
9. Graffiti Circus - Dragon Attack
10. The Last Band on Earth - Fat Bottomed Girls
11. Spread Mind - One Vision
12. Maybebop - Bohemian Rhapsody

V/A - Metal 1. 1994. Victor Records (Japan)
V/A - Metal 1, Vol. 2. 1995. Victor Records (Japan)
I like oddball compilations, especially when they're cheap :). If someone can hook me up with volumes 3 and 4 without charging an arm and 3 legs, please contact me offlist. Track listings:

Volume 1

1. Helloween - Where the Rain Grows
2. Dokken - Long Way Home
3. Manic Eden - Can You Feel It
4. Gamma Ray - No Return
5. Angra - Carry On
6. Blind Guardian - Theatre of Pain
7. Accept - Guns 'R Us
8. Stratovarius - The Hands of Time
9. Rage - Refuge
10. Gary Moore - Nuclear Attack
11. Motorhead - Ace of Spades
12. Paul Rodgers - The Hunter
13. Metal Church - Losers in the Game
14. Impellitteri - Victim of the System
15. Viper - Moonlight

Volume 2

1. Blue Murder - We All Fall Down
2. Blind Guardian - The Script for My Requiem
3. Stratovarius - Against the Wind
4. W.A.S.P. - Black Forever
5. Helloween - Kids of the Century
6. Dokken - Nothing Left to Say
7. Pride & Glory - Horse Called War
8. Slaughter - Searchin'
9. Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
10. Impellitteri - Power of Love
11. Gamma Ray - Lust for Life
12. Elegy - Clean Up Your Act
13. Conception - Some Wounds
14. Yes - The Calling
15. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - From the Beginning

Aliotta-Haynes-Jeremiah - S/T. 19??. Quicksilver Records
Holy lack-of-information city, Batman! No booklet, just a front plate. No year given. No credits, players, etc. One hit wonder with the song "Lake Shore Drive" back in 1978; real big in the Chicago area (because of the street of the same name), not sure how much national airplay it got. Great tune! Glad I found this one. It's a shame that it's so obviously taken from vinyl (snap, crackle, pop, hiss). Does anyone know if a real mastered CD exists of their material? Wow, I'm listening to the other tracks on this, it is DAMNED good stuff! Like Harry Chapin but with boatloads of vocal harmonies.

The 2 biggest "finds" of the day turned out to be discs I already own, so these are available for sale/trade; contact me offlist if interested:

Circus of Power - S/T. 1988. BMG/RCA Records
Fuck me. I spent years looking for this darned thing, never found one, and finally shelled out $$ on Ebay to get one. This is now the 3rd copy I've found in the year since that happened. The first 2 I sold for $40 each; I imagine this one will be similar...

.38 Special - Special Delivery. 1987 (1978). A&M Records
The holy grail of .38 Special CDs, produced by Dan Hartman. The S/T is semi-tough; this one is several times more difficult. Released once on CD in 1987, and never again since. This is only the second one I've ever seen (the first being in my collection).

All in all, a fun and worthwhile day. Until next time...