Hit a local flea market, which I expected to be in and out of pretty quickly. Instead, I spent a couple hours there, because one booth had stacks upon stacks of boxes filled with CDs, and once I started finding stuff, I obviously had to go through everything meticulously. When I was finally finished digging, I had a nice stack of old metal in my possession, but it ended up being a somewhat bittersweet haul...
The discs themselves were generally in good condition, but nearly everything had some sort of issue with the inserts. As I picked up more and more discs, I noticed weird color gradations on many of the spines, and realized a large number of the discs had extreme fading on the spines (probably sunlight hitting them in store racks, since the spines were half discolored). I do occasionally come across light-faded inserts when CD hunting, but this was a very high concentration with some of the worst cases of it I've seen. Any red print in an exposed area was completely bleached out. Even non-faded titles had issues, and there were holepunched inserts aplenty.
I already had a lot of the CDs already, so the condition was less of an concern for ones I'd just be trading away anyway. Still, it's a shame--if everything had been in better condition, this would have been one of my greatest single hauls ever.
$1.99 each:
American Angel - American Angel
Faded spine. Ugh. Picked this up as a tradeable. I actually bought this CD 15-20 years ago, but I got rid of that copy so fast, I don't even remember if I actually bothered to listen to the music. '80s melodic hard rock here. They certainly have a harder edge than the softer and poppier hair band stuff, but I think calling them melodic metal as some people do is too far of a stretch. Not my thing at all.
Armored Saint - Symbol of Salvation
Already had this (and I got my OG copy for only a buck, so even the $2 price didn't generate much excitement), and this was overshadowed by nearly everything else in the haul. This will begin a recurring theme of discs I was less excited about having no fading (the inserts were holepunched, so it wasn't completely unscathed). I felt a little better after I got it home, because I hadn't realized the version I already owned was from 1994, and this was an original 1991 press. That said, there are no big layout differences other than the Metal Blade logo and contact address, so I don't see myself keeping both.
Listening to this again, parts are better than I remember, but I think it's a very overrated album that delves too much into hard rock at times for my taste. I'd pick any of the preceding albums as being superior even though I'm not a particularly huge fan of any of them. "Last Train Home" is alright for what it is, and it makes sense why it was the video track. The disc really doesn't pick up for me until the end--the midpaced "Hanging Judge" and the thrashy "Spineless" resemble different aspects of the band's previous material. "Burning Question" is pretty good too.
Artillery - Terror Squad/Fear of Tomorrow
This was the very first CD I found a couple minutes into browsing (before I noticed the spine issues), so I was put into a very optimistic mood almost immediately. Unfortunately there was an old price sticker stuck directly to the booklet, and while I was able to get it off without damaging the paper, it left some fading and discoloration to the artwork. A bit of a shame, but since I already had a copy of the disc, not a terrible loss. I remember getting my original copy at a Wherehouse that was quite out of the way, and may have only visited the one time. You descended a small flight of steps into the main store, but I never got that far. The Artillery 2-on-1 was in a rack in the front showcasing normal price used CDs, and since buying it used up all my pocket money (and I wasn't leaving without that disc), I just bought it and left, which would be unthinkable for me today.
It goes without saying that the omission of two Fear of Tomorrow tracks due to time constraints really hurts this disc's desirability nowadays. But in the early-mid '90s, there was no other option for Artillery on CD--the Axe Killer reissues wouldn't arrive until 1998. I love both albums, and even for an opinionated '80s thrash maniac like myself, it's nearly impossible to pick between them. So I'll just say I generally think of Terror Squad as the stronger album overall, but the debut has individual tracks ("The Almighty," "Into the Universe," "The Eternal War") that I immediately gravitate to.
And of course, the burning question: what about that cover art? Is it really any better than the infamous Terror Squad artwork? Frankly, I don't know. The mutant dog is definitely an improvement over the giant rat, but the new doctor administering the injection looks like he doesn't want to be there, and I can't blame him, since the crazed grin of his earlier needle-bearing counterpart is the single best thing about the original cover. The state of law enforcement seems to have improved, as the yelling cop has lost a lot of weight yet still retains his severely oversized index finger. The sunglasses cop looks a lot more menacing with the revolver, although I'm unsure why he was given a Kim Kelly claw hand. I'm conflicted about the main riot police/storm trooper guy, as even without a gun, he looks less comical, but I have no idea what's going on with the anatomy of his waist or with his face shield. Ultimately, the new art is certainly better on a technical level, and manages to include a lot of the insanity from the original cover while adding some of its own. Both have their charms.
Bad News - Bad News (Rampage 1989)
This was the disc I debated about the most. I've never, ever seen Bad News in the used bins, though their CDs aren't particularly rare or valuable. Unfortunately, one of the bottom corners of the back insert/spine looked like it was torn off. On closer inspection there was a drillhole through the case spine and a scrape mark that lined up with the damage, so it looks like when the CD was drillholed, it ripped and mangled the paper. I went ahead and bought it since I was getting so much other stuff anyway.
Listening to the entire CD is tedious. There are far too many comedy skits to wade through, and they're sequenced poorly (it's over 10 minutes before you get to one of the actual songs). Bad News was pretty funny on TV, but the band banter here is much less effective without the visual element. Despite that, totally worth it just to get "Cashing in on Christmas," "Warriors of Ghengis Khan," and their take on "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Barren Cross - Rock for the King (Medusa 1990)
Fading and holepunched booklet. Ugh. Years ago, I briefly owned the original CD with the LP cover art, but sold it (which I now somewhat regret). I always found it funny how the original cover photo made them look like a dorky early/mid-'80s band, but then the reissue photo only made them look like a dorky late-'80s band. I actually prefer the original cover--at least they look like they have the potential to play real heavy metal--but on the plus side, this remixed reissue adds a bunch of live bonus tracks.
I have mixed feelings about the album itself--the heavier tracks are solid and make for a nice listen, but there's far too much rockin' and sappiness overall for my taste, especially in some of the choruses. The live bonustracks are OK, but they feel somewhat out of place since all but one of them are from Atomic Arena, which was generally a much heavier and faster album than the debut. I appreciate the extra music nonetheless. Mike Lee sounds even more reminiscent of Bruce Dickinson on the studio tracks, if that's possible.
Bitter End - Harsh Realities
I freaked out about this one quite a bit because it was the first pure thrash CD I found that day that I didn't already have. And yes, there was spine fading, but it wasn't as obvious as some of the others. Vocals here remind me a lot of a less snarly and aggressive version of Dave Mustaine, and the music even has a lot of parts that remind me greatly of the more speed metally stuff from Killing Is My Business..., though overall they have more of a Bay Area sound. Pretty good except for "Just Say Yes," which is a funky throwaway track with faux rap vocals.
Blitzspeer - Live
Figures that one of the most common and musically undesirable CDs was one of the discs in the best condition (still had a punched UPC, though). I always think of the band name fitting a crossover band better, so it's always a little bit disappointing to hear their actual music, which isn't that intense at all and not even terribly metallic a lot of the time. I was so disinterested in their Saves album I had to double-check my collection to confirm that I owned it (I do). This live debut is rawer and marginally better but suffers from the same fundamental issue--at heart they're a hard rock band foraying into thrashy and punky stuff at times. Yet for all the genre mixing and straddling they do, it still feels meh. There a bits that have some surface appeal ("Laughter" has a thrashy pre-solo break, and "Sky High Again" is pretty heavy) but nothing really that memorable.
Cold Sweat - Break Out
One of the earlier discs I found, picked up as a tradable. Threw it on just to check it out, and was pleasantly surprised that the speedy opener "Four on the Floor" is actually more like melodic metal (keep in mind both a Keel guitarist and the Xcursion drummer play on this, so the presence of a little heavier material isn't too surprising). The rest is mostly just late '80s/early '90s hard rock tropes--you have the straight ahead hard rockers, there are a couple of sleazier hair band type tracks, and there's some more balladish material. I was mostly reminded of Firehouse and/or Sweet F.A. To the trade pile it goes.
Deliverance - What a Joke
Faded spine. Ugh. Since I already had a copy of this (which was also from a bargain bin), this was another find that wasn't a particularly big deal to me, despite being a good album. Although this is a much less serious album than their earlier material, the sillier tracks and little interludes are short enough to be tolerable. Most of the "regular" tracks are decent speed/thrashers, and there are even re-recordings of the older tracks "J.I.G." and "Attack" at the end. The title track is an unfortunate exception--it's a lot groovier and less thrashier than the rest, and hints at some of their future material.
While I'm not the biggest fan of the original, the cover of Sabbath's "After Forever" is quite good--I did like that they replace the entire solo section with part of "Symptom of the Universe," which I personally would have preferred to hear in its entirety. The "Silent Night" cover is likewise decent, although I wish they had done it completely seriously. I don't think the songs here are as strong as the debut and I don't find it as classy as Weapons of Our Warfare, but still not bad at all. Can't say the same for some of the stuff to come after this though...
Devastation - Idolatry
Another disc that was very cool to find, but that I already had. Unfortunately faded and punchholed. I remember getting my used OG copy the first time I went to a more, shall we say, urban location of a local record store chain. It was far from being in the actual ghetto, but since it wasn't in a nice suburban strip mall, after that initial visit, my mother refused to take me there after dark. Anyway, along with Idolatry, I remember picking up Sanctuary's Refuge Denied. The store also had the original CD pressing of Hellhammer's Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D. with the marbled aged-paper-colored inserts, but I can't remember why I didn't choose it over one of the other discs. It was probably more expensive.
Haven't listened to this album in a very long time, and it's better than I remember it. They've added more technical elements and it's not as consistently furious and ferocious as Signs of Life--it reminds me a little of Beneath the Remains, but with some of the technicality from the Rinehart Dark Angel albums. The vocals aren't drastically different from Signs of Life but seem a lot less hardcorish, like maybe there was some slight processing done on them? This is the Devastation album where the vocals fit the music the best, although the "singing" on the first album is so uniquely bad I wouldn't change it.
Dio - Lock Up the Wolves
The speedy energy of "Wild One" and "Walk on Water" makes them stand out a little positively compared to the rest. Not awful and arguably slightly better than the two preceding albums, but everything good here just seems derivative of better Dio songs (the first two albums, obviously).
Fear of God - Within the Veil
This was the second metal CD I found that day, and didn't notice anything wrong with it at first. I re-checked the spines of all the discs in my stack when I started to notice the spine fading, and while this didn't have any, small bits of spine print had flaked off and stuck to the jewel case. Inspecting it when I got home confirmed that half of the back insert had mild staining and waviness from water damage, and unfortunately it wasn't the only one. Kind of a bummer since this was one of the discs I didn't already have.
Unique album where a lot of different influences converge. It's much thrashier than I was expecting overall, although the less overtly heavy stuff reminds me of either gothic rock or of the rockier material from the first two Danzig albums/The Black Album. The drums (which I think are either triggered or a really great sounding electronic set) occasionally give the proceedings a slight industrial feel. The vocals (often laden with echo) contain all sorts of moanings, wailings, and whisperings that reinforce the gothic and industrial influences. Dawn Crosby's heavier Détente-styled vox are here too, which always greatly reminded me of a less husky Wendy O. Williams, although a few times the vocals here actually reminded me of Courtney Love a bit.
There are darker moods here, but as someone used to Voivod, Celtic Frost, and Coroner, it's not nearly as strange or as avant-garde as I was expecting. For thrashiness, I'd rather just listen to Détente, who I'm not super into in the first place. Interesting, but not something I see myself revisiting much.
Harter Attack - Human Hell
Finally! This is a CD I've been after for three decades. Because of the band name, kinda cheap looking cover (almost looks more like a punk album), and relative obscurity (despite the album deal and their Nuclear Assault connections, I NEVER heard them mentioned in discussions of good east coast thrash), I always assumed this was just another generic thrash album, and never prioritized getting it. I would occasionally see this in the normal used bins back in the day, but at that point, I was scoring so much cheap thrash, I was holding out for it to show up in the bargain bin. It never did, and by the time I would have been willing to pay a normal price just to have it, it disappeared from local stores. It was quite frustrating, since it didn't seem to be a particularly scarce disc. A few years later I thought I had finally scored a copy online for $3, but I was sent an Atomic Aggressor bootleg CD instead, of all things (had I not already had it, I would have been quite pleased with the substitution)!
This was my very last find of the day. Although most of my enthusiasm was used up from the Bitter End and Heir Apparent discs, I was pretty elated when I spotted the cover art. Then I almost immediately realized that with the red layout, any spine fading was going to be quite bad. Sure enough, one half of the spine was sun-bleached to an ivory color. Booklet corner clip too. Ugh.
I also made the mistake of putting off listening to this, when musically it's easily the second best score from the entire haul, right after Artillery. No lightweight stuff here--while it's not quite the cutting edge of viciousness or brutality for '89, this is still some mean, mean thrash. I was expecting the crossover/HC-influences to manifest as playful mosh riff stuff, but they really contribute to the aggression here without being overpowering. The vocals also contribute to more of a slight HC-feel here. On the first few songs they pretty much amount to NJ-accented shouting, which sounds plain and unappealing on paper, but works well with the music. Later tracks have a bit more variety with some hoarse screams thrown in.
I want to be careful not to exaggerate the extremity of this album, but stretches of "Message from God" really reminded me of The Return-era Bathory due to the prominent bass drumming coupled with nasty guitars. Certain spots also remind me of Hell Awaits for similar reasons, although I must stress that while Human Hell is certainly an aggressive album and specific parts prompt those mental associations, it doesn't feel particularly evil overall. If anything, I'd say as a whole there's more of a general Reign in Blood influence. Never expected this to be as good as it is. Hopefully it doesn't take me another 30 years to upgrade to a copy without a two-tone spine...
Heir Apparent - One Small Voice (1989 Metal Blade/Capitol press)
Orignal press, with faded spine of course. Ugh. Found this pretty early on, and until I came across the Bitter End disc, this was the CD I was most excited about, at least from a completist standpoint. Honestly, I find this album to be a huge disappointment compared to Graceful Inheritance due to all the ballads and the AOR friendly keyboards. The music feels much lighter. On the plus side, the vocals are tremendous--Steve Benito just about reaches a Geoff Tate/Michael Kiske level here. Plus, I'd gladly pay two bucks just for "Crossing the Border" and "Young Forever" alone.
Iced Earth - Iced Earth (1991 falling angel cover)
No fading, so of course it was another disc I already had. Gene Adam receives a lot of flak for his vocal performance on this record, and while he's never going to make my list of favorite singers, I think his vocals fit the album quite well--I actually like his shrieks. Years ago I likely would have said that Night of the Stormrider was my favorite Iced Earth album, but I wouldn't hesitate to pick the debut nowadays. Although they obviously beefed it up with some thrashiness, there's a strong classic USPM undercurrent on this album that was lost on subsequent albums as they shifted to having more '90s power metal aspects. This showcases more traditional metal sensibilities than most power/thrash bands at the time, which I find very appealing.
I'm not the biggest fan of the angel cover (the facial expression is silly), but I think it fits the mood of the album more, even though the original European cover is technically better artwork.
Ironchrist - Getting the Most Out of Your Extinction
Another one I've already had for ages. I remember the first time I saw the weird cover and band name, I thought it was some sort of industrial music--the thanks list is the only thing about the layout that really points to this being metal.
Thrash with very strong crossover tendencies, especially with the short song lengths and semi-yelled vocals. It's something I wouldn't mind throwing on once in a long while for some variety, but since I already had it and it's not as musically interesting as some of the other stuff in the haul, hard to get super excited about it. On the plus side, while there is spine fading, the booklet is in better shape than on my original copy, so I may swap them out.
Judas Priest - Demolition
Didn't notice anything wrong with this one at the market, and since it was released a decade later than most of the other discs from this haul, I figured it was from a different batch of CDs. Then under better lighting at home, I noticed the pale yellow lettering on the spines had faded to white on one side. Ugh.
This was my first time hearing the album, and I feel neutral about it--don't particularly dislike it, but not impressed either. I know some people argue in defense of the contemporary sound and slight industrial/electronic influences, saying that some Halford-era Priest hads its share of experimentation. Unfortunately, this lacks a lot of the very elements I typically listen to Priest for. For what it is, it does seem a little more cohesive, whereas Jugulator has more extreme highs and lows.
Mortal Sin - Face of Despair
Not only do I already have this disc, I've come across additional copies in bargain bins before, so not that impressive as a find. This album has a far more Americanized sound than Mayhemic Destruction, but that said, while they're not on the particularly extreme side for a thrash band here, this is harder hitting than what most of the major US thrash acts (which I presume were some of their main influences here) were doing in 1989. Even though I prefer the overall variety and more underground feel of the debut, essential album for "I Am Immortal" alone, and there are plenty of additional highlights like "Voyage of the Disturbed" and "Innocent Execution."
Nemesis - The Day of Retribution (Metal Blade 1990)
No fading here, but unfortunately there was a rip in the front cover. I already have two copies of this pressing, and I even found the second in a pawn shop liquidation sale for just 10¢. Of course I wasn't going to leave it there, but it was less exciting to find than some of the other discs. I'll probably end up trading it.
Just as doomy '80s metal this is pleasant enough, but Leif Edling's vocals are definitely a weak link here. And while not bad, there's lots of Swedish '80s HM I'd pick over this, including the early Mercy material. The bonus Candlemass demo tracks make the Nemesis songwriting feel very underwhelming--the early version of "Blackstone Wielder" emphasizes that much better things were to come with Candlemass.
Phantom Blue - Phantom Blue
This one had pretty bad water damage, with a stuck-together booklet and staining to the inserts (looks like someone didn't like the female fronted stuff?). I was initially hesitant to get it, but I didn't realize how rare it was until later, so I'm glad I did. For an album with a group of teased '80s hair chicks on the cover, I suppose it's better than it looks, but that's not saying much. Opener "Going Mad" is the heaviest track; I would have found the album quite enjoyable if more songs were in a similar vein, but nothing comes close to it. The vocals are fairly reminiscent of Leather Leone, and given that it's a
Shrapnel release and very guitar-oriented, the heavier sections do have some similarity to Chastain. Unfortunately, most of the songs here are far more commercial sounding. The vocals and guitarwork are wasted on generic hard rock songwriting they can't save, and there are lots of glammy, sugary choruses.
The Barren Cross and Heir Apparent CDs still had vintage price tags on the cases, so I took pictures of them for posterity:
These generic orange price stickers weren't interesting aside from the 30+ year old date codes, but peeling them off revealed:
