OZZY OSBOURNE – “Flying High Again” (2011 Record Store Day exclusive)
Here’s something of an underappreciated item. Everybody knows that Ozzy and Sharon re-recorded the drums and bass on Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman back in 2002. In retrospect this was a shrewd move despite the fan backlash. In Lucas-esque fashion, it enabled them to restore the original versions for much-hyped reissues in 2011. To usher in these new/old releases, Record Store Day shoppers were able to buy a replica original “Flying High Again” single.
Both the reissue and the original 1981 single featured the B-side, “I Don’t Know”, recorded live at an unspecified gig. Like Diary of a Madman itself, this B-side had its bass and drums re-recorded in 2002. It is difficult to hear the differences, but listen to the bass tracks right around the 2:10 minute mark. Where Bob Daisley plays lots of interesting harmonics, the re-recorded version has Rob Trujillo hitting the lows. The bass parts are very different.
The credits on the 2002 edition of Diary indicate all tracks, “live” one included, were remixed with new bass and drums.
When Diary was reissued in 2011, it did not include this B-side, but instead an entire (different) concert on a bonus CD. Therefore the original version of the “I Don’t Know” B-side remains a vinyl exclusive. Cool. I am not sure why this was not advertised on the single sleeve or in the media. In fact, I’ve owned this single for two years without putting 2 + 2 together. The “Flying High Again” vinyl single is the only place you can get the original, untampered “I Don’t Know” live B-side!
For that reason alone:
5/5 stars
But is this worth $12 as per the price tag? That’s one thing that bugs me about these singles today. I understand that manufacturing costs have changed and it’s a niche item, but still! $12 for one song. One song, because they were going to sell us all “Flying High Again” itself on the Diary reissue, as advertised on the front.
A while ago I talked about the rarities/remix compilation album, The Randy Rhoads Years. I recommended that album, but I am also lucky enough to own CD copies of the first two Quiet Riot albums. Over 13 months ago (!) I promised you that we would take a closer look at Quiet Riot I and Quiet Riot II. That day has come! LeBrain never breaks a promise to his readers.
In a 1993 Guitar for the Practicing Musician interview, Kevin DuBrow complained that producers Derek Lawrence and Warren Entner “didn’t know from guitars”. Quiet Riot I is ample evidence for that. Randy’s guitar is but a shadow of what it would later become under the wing of Ozzy Osbourne. Where later on, Randy would fill songs out with catchy, intricate licks, on QRI he tends to stick to riff-solo-riff song structures.
And this is one awful sounding album. The vocals of Kevin DuBrow are shaky, and the recording is muddy. There are very few standouts among its 12 tracks. Even the Small Faces cover “Tin Soldier” is rendered lackluster. You can hear Randy doing some neat tricks on the guitar, but it’s buried in the mix.
Lyrically, “Mama’s Little Angels” is beyond awful:
“As soon as mommy’s at work, Out come the paint cans, We start to spray it on the wall. That’s getting boring, Go get the bats! Gonna have us some indoor ball! …Well Randy’s up to bat, gonna hit me a home run! Sorry ’bout that, outside! Ball one!”
Whooboy.
“Look In Any Window” is better on the Randy Rhoads Years CD. Here, DuBrow is singing a completely different, annoying vocal melody. Shame, because this is QR’s slant on Alice Cooper, very much up the alley of “I’m Eighteen”. I’ll stick with the remixed/re-recorded version, thanks.
The best song on Quiet Riot I is easily the Dave Clark Five classic, “Glad All Over”. I remember growing up, Bob had a Randy Rhoads guitar book. It was loaded with transcriptions of his Ozzy classics, as well as “Glad All Over”. We had never heard of “Glad All Over”. To this day I don’t know why that seldom-heard song was included in a Randy Rhoads guitar book! Kevin’s vocalizing here is hilariously screamy. I love it. Randy’s solo is Nuge-tastic, with a little intricate lick at the end. Great stuff.
So that’s QRI. Quiet Riot II is marginally better in the songwriting department. The band wisely included only nine tracks on the second album. A few of these are standouts: “Slick Black Cadillac” would be re-recorded effectively by another lineup on the Metal Health album. To hear that song played by Randy Rhoads, the guy who co-wrote it, is cool. His take on the guitar is different from Carlos Cavaso’s, although Carlos obviously did copy some parts. If only it were better recorded, this version could easily supplant the hit Metal Health version.
Another familiar song is “Afterglow (Of Your Love)”, also originally by Small Faces. This song was rendered in an acoustic form on The Randy Rhoads Years. On QRII, it is full-on electric. I prefer the electric version, I just wish it sounded better. There are other decent songs on QRII, such as the melodic “Eye For An Eye”, “Trouble”, and “We’ve Got the Magic”. By the second album, Quiet Riot had gotten better at writing melodies. They had work to do on stitching catchy melodies together into complete songs. Most songs on Quiet Riot II have some really good parts, but are not necessarily great all the way through. The dead production does not help the situation.
Even though Rudy Sarzo (Tateryche) is pictured on the sleeve and credited, he did not play bass on Quiet Riot II. Kelly Garni played bass, as he did on the first LP. To this day, I don’t know if the CD copies I have are promos or bootlegs. While I don’t know of any promotional CD test pressings, these are definitely high quality for bootlegs. They even have the hilarious mis-transcribed lyric sheets that usually accompany real Japanese CDs. So, I really don’t know!
OZZY OZBOURNE – iTunes Festival 2010 (iTunes exclusive EP)
Jesus Murphy! How much live product does Ozzy need? Remember back in the 80’s when he used to moan and moan about record companies who wanted to release live stuff with his hits and Sabbath tunes? Well, for a guy who complained about it, he sure didn’t break the cycle.
This is Ozzy’s third live EP (after Live E.P. and Just Say Ozzy). For those keeping score, Ozzy also has four full length or double live albums, a live bonus disc to the Diary of a Madman album, and several live bonus tracks. But who’s keeping track? I guess it’s kind of cool that this EP was released three days after it was recorded on July 3, 2010…if you were there…or even knew it was happening…I guess.
Anyway this live EP was cool at least because it was the first live product available with Ozzy’s new guitar wizard Gus G. The band was rounded out by Blasko (bass), Tommy Clufetos (drums) and Adam Wakeman (keys). Hmm, didn’t two of those guys also play on the last Black Sabbath tour?
It’s entertaining enough, but any Ozzy live product in the last 20 years has felt like “just another live album” to me. Even with the new lineup on this one, I can’t feel too excited. At least I got one song that I didn’t have any live versions of: the new “Let Me Hear You Scream”. Oh, wait, hold on — another live version was on the Scream tour edition that was released a few months later! Jesus! This iTunes version sound like it has loads of taped backing vocals. Too bad.
“Mr. Crowley” is next, a fine version, nothing wrong with it, after all these years nothing can compete with the version on Randy Rhoads Tribute. Gus G plays the solo pretty much perfectly, but something’s missing. Maybe it’s that the song is tuned down for Ozzy’s voice. Ozzy reminds us that he wants to see “some fuckin’ hands”. Another Blizzard of Ozz track follows, “I Don’t Know”. Gus G gets to do some more original shredding here, as he puts his own spin on an Ozzy classic. This guy will be a guitarist to watch, as he grows.
“Suicide Solution” is the third of three tracks from Blizzard. I think it’s a shame that Ozzy keeps playing the oldies while leaving more recent songs behind him. On this EP, only “Let Me Hear You Scream” is newer than 1991. I for one would probably poop if I got to hear something like “Perry Mason” or “Trap Door”. At least Gus G breaks the world landspeed record with his solo.
One song I never liked, ever, is “I Don’t Want to Change the World” from No More Tears. This is the fifth version I own now. It’s just…I dunno…I hate the chorus. It’s too pop for Ozzy. It’s like Bon Ozzy, or something. Ozz Jovi.
My favourite track is last: “War Pigs”. Even though “War Pigs” is on pretty much every Ozzy live album ever made, this version is one of the most fun! I just love when Ozzy tells the audience this:
“Clap your fuckin’ hands, come on you fuckin’ assholes!”
That is just hilarious! I always laugh. When I put this song on mix discs, I always label it “War Pigs (‘You fuckin’ assholes’ version)”.
OZZY OZBOURNE – “How?” (2010 iTunes single)
The last thing I want to talk about is Ozzy’s studio version of John Lennon’s “How?”. This is also an iTunes exclusive, released in October 2010, shortly after the EP. It was released on what would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday, with the proceeds going to Amnesty International.
Causes and good intentions aside, I think this version is just as crappy as anything on Ozzy’s dreadful Under Cover CD. This is just…dull, boring, and not good. I don’t know who played on it or produced it because there are no credits. (Physical product! This is why I care!)
Growing up in the 1980’s, Quiet Riot was the first “metal” band I liked. Back then, we were aware that Quiet Riot had two albums prior to Metal Health. These albums seemed unobtainable forever at best, mythical at worst! The first two, Quiet Riot and Quiet Riot II, were released in Japan only. Later on, I did manage to get both albums, so I have a unique perspective on this CD: The Randy RhoadsYears, by Quiet Riot.
See, here’s a nutshell version of the story: QR lead howler and co-founder Kevin DuBrow had wanted to re-release the Randy material for years. Randy himself was never happy with those albums, nor his guitar sound on those albums. In light of this, the late guitarist’s mother Delores was very guarded of Randy’s legacy. She knew that Randy felt the albums consisted of sub-par songs with horrible production. DuBrow eventually won her blessing to re-release some of the old Quiet Riot material, but on one condition only: Get the quality of the songs up to snuff so it doesn’t tarnish Randy’s legacy.
So that’s what he did, using all the means available, and the result is a highly modified collection of Quiet Riot songs with Randy Rhoads.
I can tell people out there who haven’t heard the first two albums that they do sound awful. That’s not a myth. Randy’s guitar is but a shadow of what it would become, and the songs are mostly pretty bad, especially on the first album. The second is much better (particularly in the songwriting category) but it is still hampered by poor production. So what could DuBrow do to get permission to do a re-release?
He started by picking out six of the better songs from the first two records: “Mama’s Little Angels”, “It’s Not So Funny”, and “Look in Any Window” from Quiet Riot, and “Trouble”, “Killer Girls”, and “Afterglow (Of Your Love)” from Quiet Riot II. All of these songs were heavily remixed, with completely re-recorded vocals, from scratch. DuBrow felt, probably correctly, that his original singing voice on those albums was too “boy-ish”.
DuBrow re-sampled all the drums, and re-recorded all of Randy’s guitar tracks through a Marshall stack. Randy had confided with Kevin that he was happiest with the way his guitar sounded live with Ozzy, so Kevin recorded the original, sterile guitar tracks through Carlos Cavazo’s amps. They used the Randy Rhoads Tribute CD as a guide.
On one guitar solo, Kevin knew that Randy wished he had used a wah-wah, but couldn’t afford the pedal at the time. Kevin played the wah-wah pedal himself, using Randy’s guitar tracks, a unique form of collaboration between two friends.
With the Small Faces cover, “Afterglow”, Kevin came up with a cool idea. “Unplugged” albums were on trend, so Kevin stripped all the drums and electric instruments off the track, leaving just Randy’s bare acoustic guitar. It is like stripping a layer of paint off old beautiful old wood: the bare guitar track reveals previously unheard warmth. Kevin re-sang the vocal, kept the electric guitar solo intact, and used a triangle sample to cover up places where the original drums had leaked into Randy’s mike. This painstaking work created from the ground up an incredible alternate version that Randy would hopefully have been very proud of.
None of these people are Frankie Banali.
One of Quiet Riot II‘s best songs is “Trouble”. Kevin felt that it plodded too much, so he slightly sped it up which also raised its pitch. He then re-sang it, and the result is a much better song. Suddenly “Trouble” is a rich sounding hit-worthy rock track.
“Killer Girls” had some minor tampering, a blast of guitar where previously there was nothing. It is “Last Call For Rock ‘n’ Roll” that is most changed. Previously titled “Mama’s Little Angels” on Quiet Riot, Kevin re-wrote what he thought was a juvenile lyric. (It was about trashing the house playing a game of “indoor baseball”.) Bobby Rondinelli, who was working with Kevin on a Quiet Riot album called Terrified at the time, helped him re-write the tune. Unfortunately, regardless of all this work, the song is still just a stock sounding track, nothing special, aside from Randy’s always classy if underplayed guitar work.
The rest of the album consists of unreleased songs. One of the most exciting is a live take of “Laughing Gas” which Quiet Riot never cut in the studio. It comprised an evolving, extended Randy Rhoads guitar solo. Within it, you can hear the kernels of ideas that later became Ozzy Osbourne classics such as “Dee” and “Crazy Train”. Even this “live” track is tampered with: Kevin re-recorded his lead vocals (even the “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Randy Rhoads!” part) and actually spliced two different guitar solos together into one. You can hear the splice point between the two quite clearly. Of course this makes the solo no less jaw-dropping.
“Picking Up the Pieces” and “Breaking Up is a Heartbreak” are two of a kind. Kevin says these come from their “pop” period after the second album, just before Randy was off to work with Ozzy. They were getting more desperate for hits, and wrote these two melodic, radio-ready tunes. Both are excellent. Much like “Trouble”, these two songs are world-class. Kevin re-recorded the vocals and so on just as he did with the other tracks. At this time, bassist Kelly Garni had left the band and Randy played bass himself.
Lastly, “Force of Habit” is the only bare, untampered song. In the liner notes, Kevin says they lost the original master tapes, so he was unable to remix or re-record any of it. I think it’s an excellent heavy song on its own. In fact, Ozzy Osbourne must have thought so as well, since parts of this song later became “Suicide Solution”!
This work, and “Laughing Gas” in particular were enough to convince the Rhoads family to go forward with this album. If Kevin hadn’t done this, undoubtedly we would never have seen this release. On the other hand, this isn’t the way Randy recorded it, and Randy obviously had no input to how the tracks were mixed. This has polarized fans, some of whom thought Kevin was the great Satan, others just enjoying the album for what it is.
I enjoy the album for what it is. I like it a lot, actually. I do have misgivings about the tampering, but since I own the first two albums, that feeling has subsided. I can back up the claims that the first two albums are pretty poor.
Kevin had planned on a second volume, including such treasures as Quiet Riot’s metallic cover of “The Mighty Quinn”. He had also mentioned a home video, including the extended “Laughing Gas” guitar solo. Sadly DuBrow, will never get to complete these Rhoads reissues.
OZZY OSBOURNE – Mr. Crowley / Live E.P. (1982 CBS)
Ahoy, Ozzy fans! I am finally in the process of getting all my vinyl into mp3 format. I chose this E.P. first. This was never released on CD, never on iTunes, never as a bonus track nor on a box set. There’s even one tune here that is not available anywhere else, in any form, whatsoever. It is called “You Said It All”. Most extrordinarily, this E.P. has Randy Rhoads. Rare Rhoads, folks!
Mr. Crowley (or just Live E.P., since that’s what’s on the cover of my copy) is a nice little package featuring two Blizzard of Ozz classics: the title track, and a clipped version of “Suicide Solution” that fades out during the guitar solo. The third track is the afformentioned “You Said It All”, and I don’t know the story behind this song or why it’s such a rarity. All I can say is that it is credited to the writing quartet of Osbourne/Rhoads/Daisley/Kerslake. Which may actually explain everything right there. Sharon is notoriously at war with both Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake over writing credits and royalties.
According to the back cover, this was recorded in October of 1980 during the band’s first UK tour. While the recording is not as electrifying as Randy Rhoads Tribute for example, it’s fine for a low-key release such as an E.P. Most importantly, “You Said It All” is such a great track. The riff is catchy, the melody is excellent, the song memorable. Maybe it’s not as great as the 9 now-classic tracks on Blizzard, but it certainly would have made a great 10th track, if it was even ever recorded in a studio.
I’ve always loved this one. Gotta give this:
5/5 stars
Oh incidentally this was also released on cassette, I used to have that too.
God Bless Ozzy Osbourne(blu-ray, 2011, 135 minutes)
The best metal documentaries are the ones with genuine emotion in them (Anvil, for example), and God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is loaded with all sorts of emotion. Produced by the man’s son, Jack*, this blu-ray runs the gamut of emotions. From hilarious stories with Tommy Lee to some genuine anger and pain from Oz’s family, this movie goes deeper into the man himself, than the music.
The movie starts with Birmingham, and Black Sabbath. Some of the classic footage from 1970 is incredible. Ozzy was one of the most loved frontmen of the decade for a reason, and these clips show why. They also reveal a young fiery Black Sabbath, playing tight fast versions of classic songs, Bill Ward hammering away on his kit like he is trying to destroy it.
After Sabbath, things become less about the music and more about the family man and the wild man. You know those stories — the Alamo, the bat, the dove, the gross-out contests. What’s new here is the raw emotion. Rudy Sarzo recounts a particularly powerful moment the day that Randy Rhoads is killed. New and old interview footage with Ozzy reveals deep wounds.
The Jake E. Lee years are pretty much completely skipped except for Ozz critiquing a few old videos from the 1980’s. Zakk is barely mentioned at all. In fact, another late Ozzy member, Randy Castillo, appears in many clips and is never even named. And I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake do not appear at all.
From there we go to more downs, booze, pills, assault, pain, The Osbournes, more pain, and Ozzy’s eventual sobriety, 5 years straight when filmed. Through it all, Ozzy remains one thing consistently: the clown.
Ozzy is constantly saying and doing things to keep people in stitches. There’s a certain innocence in it. Ozzy never seems to really mean to hurt anyone. He’s just trying to entertain, whether to distract from his own insecurities or just because he was born to entertain, I can’t say. Probably both.
Athough the movie isn’t overblown with big name cameos, you will hear from artists such as Henry Rollins, Tommy Lee, and Black Sabbath.
Bonus features:
Q & A with Ozzy and Jack
Deleted scenes
Tribeca film festival
4/5 stars. More about the solo music would have been great.
*I want to briefly mention Jack’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, revealed this past Monday. Being friends with a person who has MS, I sympathize with the Osbourne family and Jack, but I also know that this is an illness that can be fought! There are many ways to be a part of the fight, but here’s a pretty cool one that might win you a bike.
When Ozzy and Sharon first reissued this album (and Diary) with bonus tracks in 2001, it was a bit of a travesty. Y’see folks, Sharon’s a great manager, there is no doubt out that. But she also holds legendary grudges. So when original Blizzard of Ozz members Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley had the audacity to sue the Osbournes for unpaid royalties, they responded by erasing their bass and drum parts on the last reissue, and having them replaced by Rob Trujillo and Mike Bordin.
Some people will say, “Oh come on, those versions don’t sound bad, they sound good to me.” Sure, casual Oz-fans might not notice the difference because they don’t know how it’s supposed to sound. You can tell the difference. All the subtle nuances of the rhythm performances are missing.
As an added insult, Sharon said, “Because of Daisley and Kerslake’s abusive and unjust behaviour, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums.” Fresh sound? Isn’t that like George Lucas claiming that Star Wars was better when Greedo shot first?
The present:
You can’t mess with a classic so I’m pleased to report that Ozz and Sharon have done the right thing, and reissued the original Blizzard of Ozz.
I’ve always loved Blizzard. My favourite Ozzy record? Yeah, this and Diary for sure. I still remember hearing these songs for the first time on the Randy Rhoads Tribute, and thinking that Ozzy truly had an amazing catalogue of classic tunes here. I do think the live recordings are superior. Randy’s guitar had more bite on them. But you can’t go wrong with Blizzard. Every song here — every tune! — is a classic! From the obvious classics (“Crazy Train”, “I Don’t Know”, “Mr. Crowley”) to the less familiar to the unitiated, this is just an awesome record. Written and produced by the quartet of Ozz, Randy, Lee and Bob, this was exactly what Ozzy needed to release after being sacked by the Sabs — aggressive with stunning guitar, but a hell of a lot of melody. And while it is indeed a riffy album, it is different by a wide margin from his Sabbath origins. The riffs here, rather than being rooted in power chords on the 7th fret, are nimble and verbose, thanks to Randy Rhoads. (And that’s not a slight against Iommi, just an observance of difference.)
Bonus tracks: “You Looking At Me, Looking At You” is back on this edition, in its original version without the re-recorded instruments. This, then, is its CD debut. It is one of the more comercial tunes, and certainly worthy of another look-see. Then there is a new mix of “Goodbye To Romance” which strips the song down to Ozz’s voice and Randy’s multi-layered guitars. It is interesting but not essential to the casual fan. It does reveal the strength and expression of Ozzy’s young voice, and of course Randy’s intricate chordings. Lastly “RR” is a previously unreleased Randy solo, an alternate (mindblowing solo) excised from “I Don’t Know”. Brief but great bonus track!
There are a handful of nice photos, but no liner notes. Shame, that.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 14: Record Shows, Parties, and Quiet Riot
Guys from record stores do know how to party. The only true allnighters I ever pulled happened during the years at the record store. Everything else I called an allnighter, I actually slept for a couple hours.
But trust me folks…guys from record stores play the best music when they party. One night in London (Ontario) we stayed up for what seemed like forever, playing the dumbest fucking drinking games. My drink was Captain Morgan’s (spiced) and Coke. However we were playing this stupid fucking card game. I think it was called Kings in the Corner or something? Each card was a rule? 2 of anything meant you take two drinks, 3, meant you take 3 drinks, etc. And then on some cards, like 6, you’d GIVE 6 drinks to someone else. And a joker meant you took a shot of Wild Turkey. Here’s the photo of my first shot of Wild Turkey from that very night.
r-l: Me, Tom, Meat
Like I said, we knew how to party. From that night forward, when I got loaded, my nickname became “Jim”. And as I took a shot, they’d say, “Here comes Jim!!” Anyway, who gives a crap about that? There’s loads of people who partied harder. We party better.
The best stimulant imaginable is music, and I heard some of the best music ever at those parties. The first time I ever heard Kyuss was at the party at Tom’s place in London. He didn’t start with Kyuss, though. He started with some bootleg Black Sabbath video from 1970. It was taped in some…well, it probably was a highschool cafeteria. That’s what it looked like. It was awesome. It was easily in the top five times I ever truly had my mind blown.
During “Black Sabbath” itself, Ozzy got this crazed look in his eye! You could see it! Then he just started going mad on stage, thrashing about, that leather jacket of his flailing about him. Ozzy’s said before he has another person inside him when he gets crazy, someone they call “Him”. Maybe what they captured on tape that night was an appearance by “Him”? Who knows?
The cool thing though is another of my top five mind-blows of all time happened that night too. Kyuss. I made a nice bed on the floor out of pillows and blankets and stuff, and I passed out in front of the stereo. I woke up a short time later, as some of the guys were heading out (walking) to catch last call at the local pop shop. I just kind of laid there listening to the music…I was falling in and out of consciousness to this heavy, drony music. It was awesome. I didn’t know who it was.
I was told the following morning that it was Kyuss. Tom told me he left the Kyuss / Queens of the Stone Age split EP in the player. From that I pieced together that the song I must have heard was “Fatso Forgotso”. I still remember how it rolled over me like a wave that night.
We had to be up fairly early the next morning, as we were hitting a record show in London. If you don’t know what a record show is, I’ll take a moment to explain. If you do, skip the next paragraph
A record show is usually held in a large room like a conference room in a hotel, for example. Dozens of vendors gathered their best, their overpriced, their rare, and their shelf warmers for you to pick through and haggle over. They are a record store dude’s dream, and his VISA card’s nightmare.
Just to give you a taste, here’s some of my best finds.
At the show in question, I actually found the first two Japanese Quiet Riot albums with Randy Rhoads.
Elsewhere, I found a great book about Alice Cooper called Billion Dollar Baby that we’ll talk about another time. I later found out it was worth many times what I paid.
LP of Faith No More’s incredible Angel Dust album which came with an exclusive remix of “MidLife Crisis”.
Oh, this isn’t a find, but we did see Greg Goddovitz (Goddo) at one. He was wearing socks and sandals.
We had a greasy breakfast (sausage, eggs, toast, OJ) and headed out. I remember it was freezing. Then you get to the hotel, pay your admission (usually somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 or so) and go in. And then you’d be sweating your parka off in this crowded room full of long-hairs, skullets, and mohawks. Guy to girl ratio: About 4-1.
Anyway, as I mentioned, I found these two Quiet Riot albums with Randy Rhoads. I want to post a more detailed blog about this later on, because I truthfully don’t know if I bought a bootleg or a promo. As far as I know there has never been a CD release of these two albums. Yet, that doesn’t exclude that Sony might have pressed some sample copies as a prototype before deciding not to proceed. Or perhaps they were threatened to be sued, who knows? Metal Health was released on Pasha/Columbia which later was absorbed by Sony. My CDs are marked as Sony promos. Everything about the CDs screams “official” except that I am certain they didn’t officially release a CD anywhere at any time.
Regardless, they sound great and I paid what was then a fair price for a bootleg, which would have been $30 for a new, mint bootleg. I would have been willing to pay up to $35 for a good sounding bootleg and they would always let you sample it anyway. So I consider this one of my best scores. I’ve never run across any other copies, bootleg or otherwise, since then. It was meant to be.
We drove back to Kitchener tired as hell but it was worth it. I’m sure there are people out there who don’t understand how you could pay $30 for a bootleg CD when you can just download it for free. And I’m sure someone else could explain it to you better than I can, because I don’t really have a good reason why it’s worth it.
Except I fucking love music, and when you fucking love music, especially when it’s one of the first bands you ever liked, that’s what you do.
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