The weather cooperated, so I set out with my record bag and a modest budget in mind. I immediately set aside the first record that caught my eye (after a quick visual quality check of LP and sleeve condition), then hemmed and hawed over a couple of others. In the end, I put back the Van Halen II (which I now kinda wish I'd grabbed) and paid for my original pressing - in very, very good condition - of Breakfast in America by Supertramp. Oh, and along with that, I picked up a super-cheap upgrade of the 1978 self-titled Journey album. My current copy plays nicely but the cover is heavily worn, so this "upgrade", though still worn, will be a fine replacement when I swap it out with the old one. The vinyl of this newly-acquired Journey LP is rather scratched, but I don't care... I have my original clean one, and the damaged copy was only three bucks, so I can chuck it if I want to, with no regrets.
Anyway, back to the Supertramp. Breakfast in America is an album that I owned on vinyl as a teenager (bought it upon its '79 release), and I loved it and played it endlessly. Even though I re-bought that on cassette tape and then CD back in the 80's and 90's, respectively, I almost never revisited it. So I sort of forgot just how good the album was. Therefore, I knew this would be a wise purchase on LP.... it would almost be like a new discovery all over again. Except I found I still knew all the lyrics and hooks on this supreme example of classic pop/rock. More pop than rock, I'd say. From opener Gone Hollywood to closer Child of Vision, this is a fantastic set of catchy, melodic tunes - all buoyed by terrific vocal harmonies and lots of sax and piano. Not a bad song in the bunch. I know I'll spin Breakfast in America a lot in coming days and weeks.
So, that was the extent of my purchases today... even though I waded through many more bins of records. The odd one grabbed my attention momentarily, but once I examined the Kiss - Destroyer and the Who - Tommy LPs, I was disappointed in the condition of both. I deliberated heavy over getting a really nice copy of an original issue of Ozzy's second solo album, Diary of a Madman. But in the end, the $25 price tag scared me off. And I sort of wondered just how much I'd even play such a thing. Great music, yes, but Ozzy's music hasn't exactly been an interest for a long, long time. I went through that "phase" back in the 80's and early 90's. Oh, well, I'm happy with my one excellent choice today.
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Now on to stuff I've listened to lately. I tried out a modern metal-ish band called Earthless recently and was sort of interested. Not enough to buy any of it, but kind of cool to hear the early Sabbath meets Hendrix psychedelic sound. An often entirely instrumental, jam vibe. Black Heaven was one of the tracks that stood out. Thanks, Youtube.
I plunked on Megadeth's Dystopia CD after a very long break from it. Great to hear how the album stands up so well, with some amazing songs and several more strong, if not stellar, tracks. Some faves are The Threat is Real, Fatal Illusion, Post American World, Poisonous Shadows, Lying in State... okay, this is far better than I'd remembered. Can't wait for the forthcoming Megadeth album (in 2020?), which promises to be even heavier than Dystopia, which did lean more toward bright, technical thrash. Button up your battle jackets for this one!
I also watched, on Youtube, a concert video of Megadeth at the 2017 Bloodstock festival in the UK. The show opened with the killer Hangar 18, and sped through Mega-numbers like Wake Up Dead, In My Darkest Hour, Mechanix, and Symphony of Destruction. A very cool performance that demonstrates just how tight this new line-up is, especially with guitarist Kiko Loureiro tearing up the fretboard on both oldies and new material.
Oversense just popped up in my Youtube recommendations, and though there are some unique ideas here and there, they are too light and almost poppy (sort of hard-ish rock) for me... at least at this point in time.
Oh, and I also stumbled upon some 80's metal band called Femme Fatale, who I vaguely recalled from that decade of decadence. The lead singer did her best to emulate Pat Benatar or Lee Aaron (or Lita Ford?), but just came across as cheesy, as did her backup band of big-hair mooks. Benatar's music still holds up, but this? Nope... just weak and silly.
That's it for this week, kids.... catcha on the flip-side!
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