5 posts tagged “the smiths”
1. Iron Maiden - Everything from 1980-1988 - It's just easier than writing them all out, every album from that era kills!
2. Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction - still a classic, I wore this tape out in Grade 7.
3. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks - is there anyone who doesn't own this?
4. Nirvana - Nevermind - It's hard to listen to this one without all the hype and crap getting in the way, but even so many years later you can see why it was such a big deal. It's just one of the greatest albums ever, but I'm tired of hearing about it.
5. CKY - Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild - I listened to this disc for a year straight, unfortunately, I don't think they'll ever match this one again.
6. The Living End - Roll On - Ditto.
7. Weezer - The Blue Album - Nearly Perfect. Still holds up.
8. KISS - Destroyer - the one KISS album that actually lives up to the hype. How did they do that? Simultaneously their greatest triumph and the impossible standard they would forever be held to.
9. NOFX - White Trash... - This was one of those 'revelation' albums for me, where you realize that everything else that's going on besides this sucks.
10. Van Halen - 1984 - They finally reached their peak, only to lose it all right away when Dave left. It was just never the same after that. They got too sappy.
11.The Smiths - The Queen is Dead - After careful deliberation I decided to move this one out of the Honourable Mentions. It's just too good!
Honourable Mentions:
Green Day - Dookie - yes, we're all sick of this one, but all the songs are good!
Metallica - ...And Justice for all - My first Metallica album, a window into a bigger world.
Priestess - Hello Master - Deadly.
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill - Some of the lyrics on this one are a
little embarrassing now, but I still have this whole disc imprinted on
my brain.
Faith No More - The Real Thing - this list will forever be a work in progress...
Pinback - Blue Screen Life - I can't believe I forgot about this one!
In trying to describe yesterday's record show, I can only say that it was like Christmas and your birthday all rolled into one. It was pretty much the exact opposite of getting kicked in the nuts. The fun thing isn't so much finding great records, it's finding great records for CHEAP.
Basically I came home with a whole bunch of killer stuff, for not that much money. The secret is when finding something you really want you must remain calm, especially if it is unpriced. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good poker face. If a dealer sees any excitement, you will pay more.
But, that being said, they're there to get rid of stuff, and they're happy you're willing to give them a few bucks for the privilege of carting it away.
When first entering, you kinda wanna cruise around for a bit and not get stuck at any particular place. I had to be really careful with my time since the show started at 11 and I had to work at 1. (Luckily I booked off until then, I was originally supposed to start at 12)
My first buy was an old book on the Smiths for only $3! A good start!
Just around the corner I found the Motley Crue "Helter Skelter" Picture disc I've been looking for. I've never seen it under $35 so I was glad the guy accepted my offer of $10.
After that I saw the Ramones "Road to Ruin" for $3. I almost bought it, but I already have that record and I knew I would regret buying something I had, especially since I don't really have anyone to trade stuff with.
At the very next table I saw Iron Maiden "Powerslave" peeking out of a box. I already have that one, but I figured it was a good sign. A guy was leafing through that box, so I started with the one next to him and wow, was I ever glad that I did. I was flipping through when I saw a Smiths record that I had never seen before. I was overcome with excitement, what the hell was this thing?
Needless to say, I quickly shoved it under my arm and kept flipping. I found some more OK stuff, but decided to go with just the aforementioned Smiths album. I got it for $5. I didn't even know what the hell it was yet, but I just threw it into my bag and continued on. I figured I couldn't waste time figuring it out now, I was on a schedule and I had to keep my game face on!
After that I came across a Morrissey single for $6 but since the guy couldn't break my $20, I got it for my pocket change, which amounted to $4.56. Yay!
Almost immediately after, I saw an Iron Maiden die cast car for $5. Not really what I came there to find, but still kind of neat. It was right by the exit so I figured, "If I still have $5 when I'm leaving, I'll grab it.
I managed to snag one more Smiths record, the US 12" of "How Soon is Now?" which features the band on the cover. (Well, 3/4 of them, poor Mike Joyce ended up on the back, but oh well) As far as I know, this is the only official Smiths release to feature the band on the cover, since they figured the original European cover was too risque or something. If you're interested you can get more info here.
I also happened upon some cheap records I couldn't pass up: AC/DC - If you want Blood..., Violent Femmes, Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry, the Soundtrack to Decline of Western Civilization II (one of the greatest LA metal documentaries ever... if not the only one... definitely worth seeing) and Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk. Now I know I said I hated these guys, but I have a soft spot for that disc.
Of course I had trouble leaving with so many boxes of records unlooked at, but I had spent my entire budget (except for the $5, so I ended up with the IM car after all) and gotten some impressive stuff so I figured it was as good a time as any to quit.
So I had to run all the way to the train station, and then all the way to work, but I made it just in time! I also found out that the mysterious Smiths record was the demo version of their first album, not an easy find, especially for $5! So all in all, it was a pretty kick-ass day, check out the pix below!
Wow, I got three Smiths records this week! That's huge! The one on the left is the UK First Pressing of "This Charming Man" from way back in 1983! (You can tell because there's no logo on the front) It cost me a lot of records on trade in, but it was worth it, it has a song on it I'd never heard before, "Wonderful Woman." The Middle one is "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" with four live songs on the B-Side, and The one on the right is the elusive "The World Won't Listen", the record that slipped through my fingers just a short while ago, in a heartbreaking tale which you may have read about here. Does anyone care? probably not, but so what, it's my blog!
Well, not really, it just seemed that way...
I collect Smiths records and they can be hard to come by, so when you find one, you pretty much have to grab it and buy it and run home and not stop until it's safely on your record shelf.
So last week I came across a copy of "Louder than Bombs" in a record store that I was in, so of course I grabbed it and headed up to the counter. At the counter the owner of the store was talking to a girl who then said to me, "hey are you sure you want to buy that Smiths record? Well, I tried to be nice about it, but basically I said, "sorry, but I don't have this one, I am going to buy it."
I was considering letting her have it for a second, but then I just figured, no I can't let this be the one that got away.
So then the owner says to her, "hey, have you seen this one?" and pulls out a copy of "The World won't Listen" and proceeds to tell her, "I get "Louder than Bombs" in here once a month, but this one I haven't ever had in before."
crap.
So needless to say, she got the super-rare UK only release, and I got the fairly common North American one. It's funny, because ordinarily I just would've been pumped to get a new Smiths record, but this day was a hollow victory at best.
So should I have given up the original record, or would I then have walked away with nothing while she claimed both?
Who knows?
It's funny, you'll go for months without seeing something, then all of a sudden you can't get away from it. Case in point, Smiths records have in my experience been pretty hard to come by. (Reasonably priced ones, anyway)
I'd been lucky enough to find "Meat is Murder" (did Morrissey coin that phrase?) at Value Village for $1.50 about a year and a half ago. Then I happened upon "Rank" and "the Queen is Dead" shortly thereafter.
Then nothing.
I saw a few singles sure, but at $25 a pop, I said "no, thanks!"
Until a couple weeks ago when I walked into a record store and saw Morrissey's first single "Suedehead"(not pictured, it made things uneven, sorry!) for only $4!
After a bit more digging I unearthed "Hatful of Hollow" and "Strangeways, Here we Come". Wow, that was pretty
A few days later, same store, but this time I found the 12" single "the Boy with the Thorn in his Side". Dang, I was having a good week, I thought. Then just a day or two later, I found a 7" single, "This Charming Man" in a thrift store of all places! Holy Crap!
I nearly passed out when I pulled it out from between a Diana Ross picture disc and a Police 45.
Well, after that I figured my run must have ended, but lo, fate had a few more surprises in store, as I found out yesterday when I went to trade in some CD's and found another 12", "William, it was really nothing". I quickly scoped it out of the "New Additions" bin and headed over to the "S" section to see if my roll was still holding, and there it was, the Interview picture disc pictured above on the bottom left.
And luckily, I was able to trade it all straight across for CD's, yay! Man, you haven't lived until you've heard Morrissey whining at 45 rpm, he sounds like a chipmunk with severe depression!
So, hopefully this isn't the end of my current Smiths finds, but unfortunately, now I'm getting weirdly superstitious about it, I'm hoping it'll pass...
