March’s buying brought in a nice mix of new releases and gap-fillers. The majority was bought in retail shops with very little online shopping done and, for the first time in a Buying Round-Up, we have some CDs bought in Germany! And also some relatively NSFW images…
Pantera – Far Beyond Driven (20th Anniversary 2CD) (£18 Fopp Glasgow)
Pantera – Planet Caravan (2 Part CD Single) (£7 Discogs Marketplace)
The Far Beyond Driven reissue was the must-buy of the month and, while it was a little bit on the pricey side, I’m glad I bought it. Great remaster, the Donington show on the bonus disc is stirring and, in case you’re wondering, the original bum cover is used for the booklet design. And I ended up enjoying this so much I took John Sturm’s excellent advice and tracked down the two Planet Caravan singles from the era. I was pleased to find them so cheap on Discogs, and in Mint condition too. Alongside the Poison Idea cover The Badge, which has appeared on other releases, these singles feature four live tracks from a Brixton Academy show that don’t seem to have appeared elsewhere and are electrifying, especially the guitar-riffic Domination/Hollow. Phil Anselmo sounds fairly delighted at the end of that performance… and with good reason. Thanks for the tip John!
Manowar – The Lord of Steel Live (£8 Dussmans Berlin)
Please correct me if I’m wrong but it turned out that Berlin wasn’t that hot for Metal-carrying music shops. But I did find Dussmans, a big Borders-style affair and managed to come away with this Manowar live EP that I’ve been meaning to buy for a while now. It’s fairly unexciting if I’m honest. There are some decent moments (the bass/guitar solo in El Gringo is rousing) but for the most part it’s disappointingly limp.
Danzig – Deth Red Sabaoth (£17 Dussmans Berlin)
Danzig – Live on the Black Hand Side (2CD) (£7 Discogs Marketplace)
Given the hefty price they were charging I had no reason to pick up Danzig’s latest album in Dussmans but I had Euros to use up and I liked the idea of my trip being blessed by the Evil Elvis! I’m thoroughly impressed with Deth Red Sabaoth, it’s vintage old-school Danzig: brilliant songs and atmosphere. It set me off on a Danzig kick so I ordered this live album from Discogs. It features sets from three different eras, including more songs from the show that featured on the Thrall: Demonsweatlive release. Well worth hunting down if you’re a fan of the classic Danzig lineup.
Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance – Ooh La La: An Island Harvest (2CD) (£10 HMV Glasgow)
EvaOverload and I were pretty enchanted by this one, in particular the instrumental Harvest Home which is just beautiful. This is really warm, soulful stuff and the BBC session on disc two is an excellent bonus. I wish I’d looked into Ronnie’s stuff earlier, a lot of it is hard to get a hold of now and this has definitely put me in the mood for more. Rhino have done a good job on this one.
Deep Purple – The Battle Rages On/Come Hell or High Water (2CD) (£7 Love Music Glasgow)
Deep Purple – Slaves and Masters (£10 HMV Glasgow)
I bought The Battle Rages On reissue (courtesy of the Hear No Evil label) at Love Music after trading in a couple of unwanted CDs to get a fiver off the price. I’ve only had one listen to the main album (it comes paired with the Come Hell or High Water live album) and I found it a lot more enjoyable than I expected. Buoyed by the experience, I decided to finally finish off my Deep Purple studio collection by also buying the dreaded Slaves and Masters, featuring Joe Lynn Turner and also reissued by the same label with some bonus tracks. Turns out I enjoyed it more than I expected too! Neither are high points of the Purps catalogue but I’m glad to own both at last and I’m going to enjoy getting to know them better.
Y & T – Earthquake: The A & M Years 1981 – 1985 (4CD) (£7.50 HMV Glasgow)
Just when I thought I’d pored through the HMV sales bins enough, I found this little beauty for just £7.50. That’s £7.50 for 4CDs of Y&T folks! Five studio albums and two live albums. Bargain. These should satisfy my hunger for hard, hard, Rock.
*****
And that’s the lot. Not a bad month. And I know I’ve probably said this before but… I’m definitely feeling the need to scale back my buying for a while so I can catch up on listening. I’m hoping the return of the Noise-some Notes will have me concentrating on my listening more for a while and focusing on that rather than the endless stockpiling of new music! Join me in a month for April’s Buying Round-Up to see how that works out. Happy hunting!
