Faith No More — Introduce Yourself

• Artist: Faith No More
• Title: Introduce Yourself
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy / Mary
• Acquired: 1987 – We each got copies from the record stores where we “worked.”
• Keeper: Yes

I definitely like “Introduce Yourself” better than their first record “We Care a Lot.” The title track from “We Care a Lot” appears on both records, and I’m not sure why. Wikipedia has a little info about it. I love that song, but I also love the title track of “Introduce Yourself.” In general this record seems more rocked out and the synth less prominent. “Also available on cassette.”

Echo and The Bunnymen — The Sound of Echo EP

• Artist: Echo and The Bunnymen
• Title: The Sound of Echo EP
• Year: 1983
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: She’s not around to tell me right now…
• Keeper: Yes

I am distraught, people. Dih-straught. When I went looking for the third Echo and The Bunnymen album “Porcupine” it was nowhere to be found. How could this happen?! I would usually blame this kinda thing on my little brother, but we’re getting too old for that. So, I have no idea what happened to it. In its place tonight we have an oddball EP. There is no title anywhere on the record, but I have found sites that refer to it as “The Sound of Echo.” The five songs here are from different albums.

“Never Stop” – Songs to Learn and Sing (Which came out later)
“Rescue” – Crocodiles
“The Cutter” – Porcupine
“Back of Love” – Porcupine
“Do It Clean (Live)” – Originally released on Crocodiles

There isn’t even a proper release year on the disk or packaging. I’ve read it was 1984. Maybe it was put out to hype the band, generate buzz, etc. before “Ocean Rain” was released later that year. Anyhow, it’s all good. It seems rare-ish. I’m still crushed that “Porcupine” is missing though.

Dag Nasty — Wig Out at Denkos

• Artist: Dag Nasty
• Title: Wig Out at Denkos
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Probably bought it when I was working at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: No

When these Dag Nasty records came out I remember most everyone I hung with liking them. I guess I did too, then, but now they just bore me. “Wig Out at Denkos” is less enjoyable than their first record, “Can I Say.” It sounds like the death of hardcore, or maybe hardcore dying, painfully, as it moves on to an afterlife filled with guitar solos and even an acoustic ballad. If you can’t really sing, stick to screaming.

Dischord No. 26.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds — Your Funeral… My Trial

• Artist: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
• Title: Your Funeral… My Trial
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1986 – I have to go with Plan 9 Records and Tapes (tapes, hee hee) based on the release year. I always buy Nick Cave music ASAP.
• Keeper: Yes

Yesterday when Tracy was playing this LP he let the word “boring” slip from his lips. I knew then that he was not up to the task of blogging Nick Cave. I am not as talented a writer as Tracy, but I own all the Bad Seeds LPs (and CDs). So, I’ll practice on these.

This is not the first Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album after the break up of The Birthday Party. Three EPs preceed “Your Funeral… My Trial” and they are all a bit louder. With this double EP the music calms down, but it isn’t boring. “The Carney” is surely the most memorable. It reminds me of a gory movie scene I would watch with one eye peeking between my fingers. I don’t want to see it, but I can’t stop watching it. I’m not the only one who can’t let that song go, “The Carney” reappears on “The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds” CD. “Stranger Than Kindness” is another song I’ll be humming the next few days and also makes the cut on the “Best Of” CD. I also really like the title track and “She Fell Away.” Well, I really like the entire double ep. And a double ep? Why not just one album? But the packaging is clever! It’s always two things playing off one another. Your funeral / my trial, eyes closed on the front cover / open on the back, right side up / upside down, and virgin / whore illustrations on the two liners.

Rating this is hard. When I compare it to all the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds material, it’s a 9. However, if there is ever a fire in the Sigler house, the entire Nick Cave discography will be saved right after the dog.

Read more about Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at Wikipedia and check out the offical band site.

ABC — Vanity Kills

• Artist: ABC
• Title: Vanity Kills
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1986 – Bought it when she was working at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

I like to say that ABC was the greatest pop band ever. But this isn’t the greatest 12 inch remix ever. Side 1 has “Vanity Kills (U.S.A. Remix)” and side 2 “ABC Megamix.” The song “Vanity Kills” is solid, if not my favorite ABC track, and the mix is decent. The flipside is less interesting, and not very “mega.”

Various — No Age – A Compilation of SST Instrumental Music

Various -- No Age - A Compilation of SST Instrumental Music

• Artist: Various
• Title: No Age – A Compilation of SST Instrumental Music
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought it when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

This SST compilation of challenging instrumental music is full of big names, cult names, and just names. Check out the list below and decide for yourself which artists belong in which categories. I have records by many of these folks and I’ve also seen a number of them live. I don’t know if I’ll ever play this double album again. Some tracks were fantastic, but some were just annoying post-prog-rock-for-nerds. Again, decide for yourself who belongs where.

• Black Flag
• Blind Idiot God
• Henry Kaiser
• Elliott Sharp
• Lee Ranaldo
• Lawndale
• Glenn Phillips
• Pell Mell
• Paper Bag
• Scott Colby
• Lawndale
• Paper Bag
• Universal Congress Of
• Steve Fisk
• Gone
• Alter-Natives
• Elliott Sharp
• Fred Frith & Henry Kaiser

Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction — Back-Seat Education

Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction -- Back-Seat Education

• Artist: Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction
• Title: Back-Seat Education
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – I probably got it when I was working at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

With titles like “Back-Seat Education”, “Whore of Babylon”, “Lager Woman from Hell”, and “Messin’ With My Best Friend’s Girl” if you can’t guess that this is another Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction record then you’ve probably never heard of the band. On this 12 inch single these kings of sleaze rock stay true to form, lyrically and otherwise. The main track, “Back-Seat Education”, is by far the slickest with big time production and even a horn section. It’s full of the usual Zodiac hard rock hooks. The other three, for the most part, sound like the silly dashed off ditties destined for B-sides that they are.

What’s probably most interesting is the packaging. If you look closely at the picture you’ll see that the cover is a heavy vinyl material with ridges, like you might find in the back seat of an older car

X — Ain’t Love Grand

X -- Ain't Love Grand

• Artist: X
• Title: Ain’t Love Grand
• Year: 1985
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1985 – Maybe Tracks Records in Norfolk, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

When this record came out I remember that I really loved the first (only?) single and video, “Burning House of Love.” This wasn’t quite the end for X, but in hindsight it seems that they had peaked earlier. There’s something flat about the production, or maybe it’s an overuse of keyboards that kinda takes the teeth out of some of the songs. There are also a couple songs I think they could’ve cut. Nowadays, my favorite song on “Ain’t Love Grand” is probably “My Goodness.” It’s a slow and slinky number sung by Exene that’s sounds more like classic lounge than classic punk, or roots rock.

I should’ve kept up with the band and its members over the last decade plus. I’m probably missing out on something special. So much music. So many artists. It can be hard to maintain hundreds of “relationships.” Which is the main reason I’m going through the entire record collection, one disk at a time.

Read all about X at “the official website.”

War — Platinum Jazz

War -- Platinum Jazz

• Artist: War
• Title: Platinum Jazz
• Year: 1977
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: Bought it used somewhere a long time ago.
• Keeper: Yes

I should probably rate War’s “Platinum Jazz” a 10 just for the opening track alone. “War is Coming! War is Coming!” is stupid good and despite being over seven minutes long I wish it would just keep going. This record is a compilation of some of their longer jams and instrumental pieces. Some people might find much of it a bit too spacey, but I like the whole trippy funking thing.

Check out the all too short clip of “War is Coming” and read more about “Platinum Jazz.”

Van Halen — Van Halen II

Van Halen -- Van Halen II

• Artist: Van Halen
• Title: Van Halen II
• Year: 1979
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: ? Bought it used…
• Keeper: Yes

Oh man, the unpacking continues. But tonight I got my priorities straight and finally set up the stereo. And what was the first record to rock the house? That’s right, “Van Halen II.” Considering that we bought this house from a woman in her 80s who lived here since the 1960s I think it’s safe to say tonight is the first time Van Halen shook these walls. My daughter Paris came downstairs and said: “Mom, stop dancing. And can you guys turn it down some?” We couldn’t help rockin’ out.

As I mentioned before, Van Halen is one of a very few popular rock groups to have the guts to perform covers on their proper albums. This time they open the record with one, “(Baby) You’re No Good” by Clint Ballard, Jr. This song was popularized by Linda Ronstadt a few years earlier. My mother likes to tell a story about how my brother as a child heard Linda’s version in the car one day and started crying because that lady was saying mean things to a “baby.” Sorry G, had to tell that.

Other hits include “Dance the Night Away” and the most awesome “Beautiful Girls.” My favorites include “Somebody Get Me a Doctor” and acoustic solo “Spanish Fly.” Tonight when “D.O.A.” started with Eddie’s chunk-chunk-chunk guitar riff Mary said “that’s sooo rock ‘n’ roll.” Yes it is.

This site about Van Halen has the scoop about every song on this record.