Fat Freddy

Yesterday's mail:

Bruce Dickinson, The Mandrake Project

Rage, Afterlifelines (2CD)

Woot! Bring it on!

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield ("Target Exclusive" version w/3 bonus tracks)

Saxon - Solid Ball of Rock

Motorhead - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith

Iron Maiden - The Beat Sessions: Bremen, Germany, 1981 (bootleg)

Anthrax - Thrash in Texas: Dallas Broadcast 1987 (bootleg)

Met up with an old friend this afternoon for some used-CD store scrounging and a few beers at an Irish pub afterwards.

Came home with these:

Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It!
(budget line live compilation of tracks re-purposed from 1995's Live at Hammersmith 2CD)
Great White - Psycho City 
Skid Row - Subhuman Race 
L.A. Guns - Hollywood Vampires

...plus Caddyshack on DVD. 

All for under twenty bucks. Woohoo!

I dunno what it is about this guy, but I just can't take him seriously for some reason.

It seems like his heart is in the right place n' all, but I'll pass. 

I'm an Accept fanboy so I'm down. Bring it fellas. 

New albums by Accept, Judas Priest, and Bruce Dickinson are due in the next couple of months. Works for me. 

Took a much needed "I gotta get the fuck outta the house" trip to the second hand shop today, came away with a couple of nuggets:

Death Angel - Act III

Judas Priest - Priest ... Live! 

They look like the "KISS Avatars"

Bloodgood - Dangerously Close (2019 Girder Records reissue w/1 bonus track and trading card!)

Bloodgood - s/t (Retroactive Records "Legends Remastered" reissue, 2019)

Funny that they made this announcement yesterday, cuz my Facebook memories reminded me that on the same date in 1989, I'd seen Sepultura for the first time at L'amour in Brooklyn. Now THAT was a classic gig! 

Honestly, though... I haven't given a damn about them since Roots. They jumped in the nu-metal pool with both feet on that one and I was like "Uhhh, check please."

I became mildly curious again when Derrick came on board, so I gave Against a try and was like "mmm...nah." Too hardcore for me, not enough metal.

About ten years later they released A-Lex, which was a concept album based around A Clockwork Orange, and that sounded promising... but again, when I checked it out, I was like "Mmm... nah." That was the last time I paid any attention to 'em.

They've had a pretty damn good run though!

From DeepDiscount:

Dokken - Heaven Comes Down

U.D.O. - Animal House ("Anniversary Edition" with bonus tracks)

From Discogs:

Machine Men - Elegies and Circus Of Fools 

On 11/25/2023 at 9:20 PM, auslander said:

What do you think of Pure Instinct? Apart from Wild Child, I don't really like it much. I think it is my 2nd least favourite Scorpions cd, behind Eye II Eye.

(shrug) Ehhh... it's OK. Wild Child is a cool opener, but it kinda writes a check that the rest of the album can't cash. 

As long as I'm here, it was a rainy Sunday which was a perfect excuse to make another record store run... found these two goodies:

Aerosmith - Live in Brussels 1993 (bootleg)

Circle Jerks - Golden Shower of Hits 

Mental-health trip to the record store after work today, scored a Scorpions CD I was missing and a few more vintage bootlegs in minty shape, all super cheap!

Scorpions -Pure Instinct
Aerosmith - Chain Reaction (bootleg comp of non-album tracks & live rarities)
Aerosmith - The Other Side (2CD, live in Savannah GA. 1990)
KISS -Fuego En Buenos Aires (2CD, live in Argentina 1994)

Joey Ramone - Christmas Spirit ... In My House (5 track EP)

A few second hand CD finds this afternoon:

Alice Cooper -School's Out and Welcome To My Nightmare
Aerosmith -  One Way Street  (live bootleg, Detroit 1974)
Black Sabbath -Past Lives (2CD)
Scorpions - Animal Magnetism

Trixter were never much more than an "adequate band" at best...

I had some time to myself after work this afternoon (which rarely happens nowadays) so I took a mental-health trip to, where else, the record store... and BOY am I glad I did, cuz I knocked one of the longest standing "wants" off of my want list...

AC/DC - Bonfire (4 CD box set)
FINALLY! I have wanted this damned thing ever since it came out in the mid 90s but at the time the price tag (which ran between $40-$50 new, if memory serves) was a bit steep for my broke 20-something ass. When I saw it sitting there today for only $20, though, I went weak in the knees and snapped it up immediately. Best of all, the box and all the contents are in absolutely minty shape and all the extra goodies (poster, booklet, sticker, AC/DC temporary tattoo, guitar pick and AC/DC keychain/bottle opener) were included. I can finally declare my AC/DC collection complete!!

Also: 
Judas Priest - Rocka Rolla/Sin After Sin Russian "2-on-1" bootleg. I have both of those albums on CD already of course, but I couldn't pass this up cuz I can't resist weird shit (haha). Besides, the Rocka Rolla cover art on the front is the old school soda-pop bottle cap cover, not the winged armored warrior cover that's on the CD I already have, so that was enough to justify the purchase.

Bullet Lavolta - Gimme Danger EP - I'm not really familiar with this band aside from a cover of "Detroit Rock City" that I have on a KISS tribute, but that was good enough to make it worth taking a punt. Time will tell if I chose wisely.

It's about friggin time!

Bruce's last three solo albums (Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding, and Tyranny of Souls) are better than any of the albums Maiden has done since he re-joined. Yup. 

Oh my. Yes, please!! 

Black Sabbath - Headless In Osaka (bootleg; Japan 1989 w/Tony Martin)

Ramones - The Cretin Hop (bootleg, Michigan 1979) 

Bloodgood - Out Of The Darkness (2023 "Metal Icon Series" reissue, ltd. to 300 copies)

Bloodgood - Rock In A Hard Place

(2023 Retroactive Recs. "Metal Icon Series" remaster; ltd. to 300 copies)

Way to go, Lizzy. Jumping on a bandwagon that disappeared over the horizon a looooong time ago.