#756: Japanese Attack!

Anybody who has spent 10 seconds glancing at this site knows one thing:  I love Japanese imports!

Every music collector has his or her own priorities.  Today, many fans prioritise vinyl, be it original pressings, reissues or both.  Some like elaborate packaging; the bigger and bolder the better!  My needs are pretty simple.  I want all the songs, and I’ll buy however many physical editions it takes to get them all.  That means that, over the years, I have purchased hundreds of Japanese CDs.  They almost always have bonus tracks, and some of those bonus tracks never see the light of day again on any other releases.  Those are the best kind!

There are two great sources for Japanese imports.

  1. CD Japan, my main store for new releases.  I have Whitesnake incoming!
  2. Discogs.

It is Discogs that is responsible for today’s content.  If you’re a music collector unfamiliar with Discogs, you need to change that right away.

A few weeks ago, one of my favourite lesser known metal bands called Leatherwolf was celebrating the 30th anniversary of their third album, 1989’s Street Ready.  (Probably their best album, but that’s unimportant.)  Someone on social media was showing off their most prized Leatherwolf collectible:  A Japanese import CD of Street Ready, with a bonus track unreleased anywhere else!  Out of print for almost 30 years, that’s a rarity if I ever saw one.  Plus it has that feature that is like catnip to me:  an unreleased bonus track.  In this case, it was a track called “Alone in the Night”, and I wanted it.  It’s rare that I go 30 years without even knowing about a song.

After a few weeks of researching, I decided to pull the trigger.  A Discogs seller had a copy in excellent condition for about $50, which I realized was about the cheapest it gets in the condition I want.  Its only flaw was a missing obi strip (the little piece of paper along the spine) which you sometimes have to accept you’ll never get.  The main thing was that bonus track.  I was happy with the seller’s 100% rating so I put it in my cart.

That’s when Discogs showed its evil side.

A message popped up, telling me that just in case I wanted to combine shipping, this seller had 81 other items from my wishlist.

81 items.  All Japanese CDs.

Click.

I spent the next few minutes frantically adding items to my cart, deleting them, adding them again, and then finally deciding on dollar amount I was willing to splurge.  I even gave it another few days to clear my head before I clicked “buy”.  This is what I ended up with.

LEATHERWOLF – Street Ready.  Bonus track: “Alone in the Night”.

Now some lucky soul can be gifted my original US compact disc, because this is my new treasure.  I loved this album as a teenager, and I still like it today.  There is some well written metal here, and now I have 11 tracks instead of 10.  I still can’t believe I didn’t know about “Alone in the Night” all this time.  If I knew that back in 1989, this CD would have been on my holy grail list long ago.

EXTREME – “Hip Today” CD single.  Bonus track “Kid Ego” (live).

I screwed up.  I already had a UK single for “Hip Today”; one of those “part one of a two disc set sold separately” deals.  However, for whatever reason, I never ripped it to my computer. I never even played it!  When I did a quick search, I couldn’t find “Kid Ego” in my files so I assumed I needed it.  I do not, but that’s OK.  This CD was only $11 because the seller listed it with no obi strip.  Turns out the obi strip is tucked inside, so that’s a win.

TENACIOUS D – The Pick of Destiny.  Bonus tracks “Kong”, “Training Medley”.

Two extra songs to be found here.  This album had more bonus tracks elsewhere, on non-physical (download only) versions.  Now I have all the physical tracks, at least.  “Training Medley” was already in the collection on a CD single for “P.O.D.”, but “Kong” was completely unknown until now.  Even our resident Tenacious D expert, Uncle Meat, has never heard it before.  (For the record, the other two bonus tracks are “Rock Your Socks” from the iTunes pre-order, and “It’s Late” which you can download if you buy the vinyl.  Vinyl wishlisted.)  Tenacious D collectables are usually very expensive.  Their single “Jazz” (which I am missing) goes for roughly $100.  I paid $26 for The Pick of Destiny.

QUIET RIOT – Alive and Well.  Bonus track:  “The Wait”.

20 years ago, the classic Metal Health lineup of Quiet Riot reunited for a new album.  Alive and Well was a mix of new songs and re-recordings, but they could have just released a 10 song CD instead, had they included “The Wait”.  It’s puzzling how songs are chosen to be obscure bonus tracks on rare editions.  “The Wait” is a ballad, very much like old Quiet Riot, and a frickin’ great one too.  Had it been included, Alive and Well could have been a well balanced 10 song album, and “The Wait” might have been the best one.  At one point Amazon were asking $100 for this CD.  I was delighted to score it for just $22.  Perhaps it was cheap because it was listed as missing the obi strip.  It’s there and looks great!   Now my Quiet Riot collection is one song closer to being complete.

THE SWORD – Apocryphon.  Bonus tracks:  the same five from the deluxe edition, plus “Hammer of Heaven”.

This album has been frustrating for me.  There are two versions, one with 10 tracks and one with 15.  Because there’s no track listing on the back cover, I’ve never taken a chance on it.  I didn’t want to bring it home only to find it’s the 10 track version.  I’ve wanted this album ever since “Cloak of Feathers” made it to number 15 on the 2017 Sausagefest countdown.  The only thing better than a confirmed 15 track edition?  A CD with 16 tracks!  Japan received “Hammer of Heaven”, which was a standalone single in 2012.  It’s a boogie as heavy as plutonium!  This would be its only CD release!  Obi is intact, for just $25.  (I’m still going to want the single for “Hammer of Heaven” since it had a live B-side of “Ebethron” not included here.)

Not a bad little spending spree.  Most of these Japanese imports were pretty affordable.  It seems like I spent a lot of money for just a handful of songs, but such is the quest.

 

41 comments

  1. That Leatherwolf song “Alone in the Night” was in the movie “Return of the Living Dead II”. I never saw that movie, but the first “Return of the Living Dead” is a nice slice of ’80s zombie punk horror done right. Nothing exceptional, but a good 90 minute viewing if the mood strikes.

    I actually don’t own any Leatherwolf. I should be ashamed. No reason I don’t have any, I just haven’t gotten to them.

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    1. WOW, well you are the first guy to tell me where this song came from! Crazy. Since it’s a soundtrack tune, that explains why it feels out of sync with the album.

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      1. Now you have to get the soundtrack, right? Check it out! There’s even different track-listings for the different countries, with Japan getting two Robert Palmer songs and the UK getting Monster Mash. Perfect for this post.

        Both have rare Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction, so it’s has to be worth the dive.

        https://www.discogs.com/Various-Return-Of-The-Living-Dead-Part-II-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/release/2892461

        https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Return-of-the-Living-Dead-Part-2/release/9924180

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  2. Man, you did your homework on this stuff Mikey!
    Some of these I have never seen like the Extreme and QR added track.
    Thats cool. Look forward to the rest of your stuff popping out throughout your site.
    Leatherwolf had no idea you were such a fan. I recall seeing the adds for that debut back in the magazines but never heard them as 1989 like the years before it and after it was so much music to listen to and buy you could only be spread so thin!

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        2. I wish! That’s kind of cool!

          Speaking of “LeBrain” I saw the man who is responsible for that name at a mutual friend’s wedding recently. It was nice catching up a little bit.

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        6. It’s funny with Craig. He is all about the politics. Loves PC. Then Trump Jr.(Ford) comes in and cuts all funding that could help his son.
          Talk about being in a difficult situation.

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        7. It’s getting more personal for me as well. My sister is talking about moving back west because Ford cut the funding for her department. It’s likely that Dr. Kathryn won’t have a job. So yeah. This didn’t work out very well for us. I will still stick up for them as people with good intentions, but it’s a train wreck for our family.

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        8. But I know you were talking about his work. Steve is a douche, but we have all worked for idiots like that before. You either suck it up or quit, but he has a lot of mouths to feed.

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        9. I had a post, written and scheduled, for June 22 called “Broken Radio”. It would be the one year point since I stopped listening. But I deleted it, I’m letting it go, nobody cares.

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        10. As for your sister that sucks big time.
          My sister in law works for KW Symphony. They are always on hot seat. Plus she is the one that works with management over wages.
          Often times the symphony will hire outside contractors to perform certain shows to.save a few bucks. Stuff like that.
          I’m sure Ford is.not helping anyone in the arts.
          Sorry about your sister. :(

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        11. Thanks man.

          She’ll survive, she always does. Unlike her brother she’s good at controlling her impulse spending. It would suck if she moved out of province again. She wants to go to Alberta but I do not think that is wise either.

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        12. I do care. I almost stopped listening too, but figured there were not many other options.

          Speaking of Ford and radio, I read that with the new plan in which university students can opt out of paying for fees, that will be the end.of college radio because there will be no money to run it.

          :(

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        13. Another one bites the dust. I don’t want to get overly political, but this mess is maybe worth writing about.

          My wife listens regularly and that’s cool. I’m not one of “those” guys who tells their spouse what to do! I told her “this doesn’t effect you at all, you do whatever you want!”

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        14. It’s funny. I always considered Alberta to be a redneck province and the arts would not be something they would spend.money on.

          Now because of Ford, we’re the rednecks of Canada.

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        15. I get so mad when I see all the MPPs doing coordinated videos from corner stores across the province about how it’s “not fair they couldn’t sell beer”. Your taxes are paying for those videos. Somebody is holding the camera, so it’s not free!

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        17. Thanks! I had second thoughts about it after I wrote it. No need to throw it in their faces, because one of them would read it, probably D-Law, and that’s not what I want. Steve can fuck off, but he won’t read it, so it would be me farting in the wind.

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  4. Great find! Congrats! Did you already review that Harem Scarem set? I have not checked Leatherwolf out in all these years even though I have read many reviews on them over the years. On going a bit mental on shopping I just ordered a mystery box full of t-shirts from my local record store. The order was done by shirt size so I have no idea what I’ll be getting. Obviously they are offloading their storage so maybe I’ll get 10 Celine Dion shirts that no one ever wanted in the first place. No idea. Hey on the music side of things did u know that
    Belzebubs : Pantheon of the Nightside Gods is out and the book is out too. check them out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=SkdkZN1rduo

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    1. I have not finished the Harem Scarem box set yet. Still plowing through it! I’m into less familiar territory now. Everything from Weight of the World on onwards is rarely played here so it’s nice to hear them again.

      I would love 10 Celine Dion shirts.

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  5. Nice score, man. Discogs knows how to reel you in… and you’ve found a seller that has a trove of stuff you’re after!

    How’s Apocryphon? I’ve never heard or seen that.

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  8. Cool scores. Sometimes other countries have bonus tracks but Japan seems to have the most.

    As for being a completist. I do my best, but if I bought all I want/need I eventually would be booted out of my home and there wouldn’t be enough room for my collection out behind the KFC dumpster.

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    1. I actually find it harder to get non-Japanese bonus tracks. Finding something only released in Germany, or in Mexico, or what you have is often way harder! Probably because music/CDs are a bigger deal in Japan.

      Yes I do my best too.

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      1. I find I am the worst at.a concert. If a band I like, and sometimes even one I don’t know shows up, and I can save shipping I buy it all.
        Sometimes it makes for an expensive night, but if I can get the stuff signed and complete the discography it’s a double bonus.

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        1. Sometimes you can get stuff at concerts you can get nowhere else. Sean Kelly’s band Trapper did a cassette release for sale at shows. Try finding one now. Impossible. Those are often the best buys, the stuff you get at shows! I got some Helix ones at a Helix show I just couldn’t get anywhere else.

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        2. Yup. I get limited tour editions all the time. Usually coloured vinyl. But yes cassettes. Silkscreened stuff.
          Even other, non Japanese are doing obi editions now.

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      1. But you have The First Ten Years, so you have it already. I’ve seen the pictures. And you have the whole thing on Vinyl as well

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