The Listening Booth & New Records

Hoo-boy, what a lot of music around here. I still haven't gotten to all of the records I found at the May garage sale, and have only given my little haul of cheap-o CDs a cursory listen so far. I grabbed some super deals at the nearby Value Village (a Goodwill/Salvation Army sort of shop), and also nabbed a handful of nice oldies for a song on the Discogs website. So I'm set for a little while.

To begin, I located a  CD copy of In Trance, by Scorpions. Though it's excellent 70's hard rock/metal that sounds fine on disc, I would have preferred it on vinyl, but the record commands high prices on the used market... the CD wasn't so cheap either. But I sort of lucked out with this new (still sealed) Japanese import from a third-party seller through Walmart online. Not cheap for a CD, but reasonable given it's rarity and value elsewhere. A seriously rockin' album, pretty much every song a winner. Favourites are Dark Lady, In Trance, Robot Man, and Longing For Fire.

The vinyl LPs I discovered at the Value Village for only a buck apiece:

Rollin', by Bay City Rollers (I owned this on 8-track tape when I was a kid in the mid-70's; it's practically a greatest hits package, with all their catchiest songs on there. My current fave is Jenny Gotta Dance.)

Gold, by Marty Robbins (a cool compilation of the country storyteller's best... my first country LP, and I really like it. Kicks off with the ultra-cool El Paso.)

From the Heart, by Marty Robbins (another comp, packed with even more great tunes)


My vinyl score from a Discogs.com seller, again extremely affordable and terrific music:

The Age of Plastic, by The Buggles (never heard this before, besides the massive 80's hit Video Killed the Radio Star... very cool... perfect late night synth-pop music)

Bad Habits, by The Monks (had this briefly in the 80's... a tape-to-tape dub. The LP is a big improvement in sound. Punk-pop at its freshest here... like the snarling Johnny B Rotten.)

Love Crimes, by Harlequin (a really clean studio album by a band I once saw perform at my high school. Radio-friendly AOR (album-oriented rock) that still sounds great)

It'll Shine When It Shines, by Ozark Mountain Daredevils (contains a fave old song "Jackie Blue", though I need to give the whole thing a closer listen soon. Country rock sort of in the same vein as the Eagles).


When I wasn't busy spinning records or CDs, I tried out some tunes both old and new-ish. I put on my long-neglected Caress of Steel CD, by Rush, but was extremely underwhelmed. The only track that still grabbed me was No One At the Bridge, which I long ago learned to play nearly note-for-note on guitar. But the rest of the album... kind of dull to my ears now. I am no longer the rabid Rush fanboy I once was, and am very particular about the Rush music I now listen to. I may revisit their second album, Fly By Night, one of these days.

Over on Youtube, I tried out some Magoth, and their Anti Terrestrial Black Metal album. Just like the title says, this is black metal and man, it's insane. A thick wall of guitar mastery, heavy chilling music composed of alien chord progressions and interstellar soloing. Intense yet very easy to listen to... again and again and again. Check out these modern purveyors of the metal that is black on Youtube here.

I also checked out for the first time Exodus, who emerged on the California thrash scene back in the late 70's and rocked the scene during the 80's. How did I miss these guys back when I was knee-deep in Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth? Incredibly melodic guitar work overlays crushing rhythms - I'm thinking of Funeral Hymn here. Most of what I watched of these guys was filmed live at the Wacken Open Air metal festival in 2008. 

Kreator is another thrash band that evaded me back in the day, but I am making that right by investigating them now. There is talent there, as you can hear on Gods of Violence... the live version at Bloodstock in 2017, again on Youtube. Ringing guitar licks and leads pop over the super-heavy chordage. These guys, too, have been hammering away since the early 80's, though their German heritage seems to inject a certain distinguishing quality to their music. 

Now... back to the Rollers... Shang-A-Lang... "hey, hey rockin' to the music"!