I was in college when iTunes really started to pick up steam and become available on Windows. They ran a promotion with some soda company and, because I worked for the university and received a meal card that gave me either food or three sodas, I spent every day tipping 20oz bottle of soda to try to see the underside of the cap and find winners.

When I did (the odds were with me), I pieced this album together. Now I can’t download it again. It says it’s been downloaded too many times or on too many devices or something.

But I think it’s incredibly interesting that I went from “ooh, mp3s!” to vinyl records and digitizing the hell of them.

Digital services have been wildly disappointing and I’m tired of trying to get alone with them, so fuck it: here’s my record that I will record and re-record and re-record until the grooves widen too much or the stylus just goes right through the PVC.

What a fun EP. People say Black Sails is where the real AFI started - it’s where Davey said he actually TRIED writing songs - but I think this was where the real birth was.

Is it perfect? Almost. Their cover of Halloween goes on for WAY too long and I was forced to make an edit that fades out sooner or I’d starve between it and the next track.

But the songs are too notch and the energy can’t be beat. The guitar work is great, the pace is break-neck, the Halloween cover is awesome, and the vibe of the whole record fits perfectly with every other part of its presentation. The artwork is cool, and just look at that pretty orange vinyl!

My only real beef is that 10” records are annoying. I’ve got plenty of 7” and even more 12” but I have TWO 10” records and that just isn’t going to work for the long term.

#vinylrecords #vinylcollection #recordcollection #vinylcommunity #vinyl #recordoftheday #recordcommunity #musicsky #vinylsky #afi #allhallowsep #punk #punkrock #punkcollection

I’ve got an annual tradition where I buy (at least) one new Christmas album each year. For the records, these don’t count against my budget and I am indeed limited to one purchase per year.

It’s a weird tradition, I know. But I like having a collection of… well, anything really, slowly grow over time. I suggested to my partner that we get one ornament for the tree each year and they did NOT like that idea and their “one” ornament was a 3-pack.

Anyhoo. This was 2024’s and you can’t go wrong with Bad Religion. I’ve always liked this album and I was shocked (but shouldn’t have been, I guess) to see the entire thing fit on one side. The other side is etched and the vinyl is green with gold dust in it.

Very Christmasey.

I know there’s been a lot of punk in this collection, but I actually think Christmas might be my favorite genre because since we all know the songs and melodies, we can appreciate different interpretations of them. It’s like how people used to grow up listening to standards because everyone played standards and, since you knew them, you knew when people were good (or not).

I honestly don’t think there’s a genre out there that bolsters music appreciation and dissection more than Christmas music. It’s most peoples’ first dip into jazz and classical and it serves as a fantastic bridge to genres people had been neglecting their whole lives.

Christmas music is a friggin’ miracle.

#vinylrecords #vinylcollection #recordcollection #vinylcommunity #vinyl #recordoftheday #recordcommunity #musicsky #vinylsky #badreligion #christmasmusic #xmasmusic #punk #punkrock #punkcollection

I’m pretty new to this record and there’s a myth out there about the 7”. The myth is that there’s the A-side - the single everyone hears and loves and then the B-side is where you find the weird shit. You never know what you’re going to get. Will it be a remix of the A-side? An acoustic version or instrumental? Will it be a cover of some other band’s song that this band happens to love so much that they just had to record it?

It’s like a gotcha ball and that is exciting. I don’t even pay attention to what’s on the B-side because I want it to be a surprise.

Surprises can suck sometimes, though, like when the B-side is just another studio track of a different song from the same album.

Bro, I already own the album and now I have another record that has two songs from the album I already own. The only special thing about this is the cover art (This Addiction was Alkaline Trio’s 7th album and featured a cover with a ton of pills so this 7 and two pills couldn’t possibly be more perfect).

*sigh*

Oh well. I still liked throwing the band more of my money. They deserve all the success they can get and, honestly, that’s why I save and buy new records whenever I can.

Oh well. At least 45s are more affordable than LPs.

#vinylrecords #vinylcollection #recordcollection #vinylcommunity #vinyl #recordoftheday #recordcommunity #musicsky #vinylsky #alkalinetrio #alkalinetriorecords #punk #punkrecords #punkcollection

You know what sucks?

Moving.

I hate it and I have to do it ALL the time. In my over 40 years on this earth, I have moved my earthly possessions - whole house, not just a suitcase - something like 16 times. That’s once every 2.5 years (ish).

And when you have to move all your shit around, you get to be a stickler for the weight of your house - particularly if your work is footing the bill and set a limit on weight.

This is one of the (many) reasons it took so long to get into records and this right here? This is my biggest regret because this Past Live set (great name, btw) came out when I was living in a tiny house with another impending move. I knew I wanted this set but what to do? Buy the records to play on the turntable I didn’t own and store them in the space I didn’t have?

No. I bought the Blu-rays.

And NOW this is the only one of the set that made up live shows of their pre-Is This Thing Cursed? albums in their entireties.

Is it great? You’re goddamn right. But it is IMPOSSIBLE to find them at decent prices. I lucked into finding this one on the band’s website and snatched it up but this is just ONE. There are way more out there just waiting for me like shivering, hungry children on the street and I can’t rescue them.

Yet.

Also, here in Europe, Alkaline Trio records are a tough find so try as I might, I think I might have to resort to buying them used and coughing up more money than I ever have on records.

If there was ever a band to justify it, though…

#alkalinetrio #pastlive #punk #myshameistrue #vinylrecords #vinylcollection #recordcollection #vinylcommunity #vinyl #recordoftheday #recordcommunity #musicsky #vinylsky #punkrecords #punkrock #punkcollection #alkalinetriorecords #mattskiba #danandriano #derekgrant

It's pretty nuts to think about the albums that helped shape you as a human being.

And, I would like to state right here at the beginning that this album didn't help shape me PHILOSOPHICALLY or anything. It's an album full of violent, sexist, and schlocky songs.

But it did help bring me into the fold of punk rock and, much later, warm me up a little more to the world of hardcore (which I'm still not totally sold on). As a kid I bought this because 1) It had the most songs of any Misfit album in the music store and 2) I had heard that classic Misfits was famous for a reason and had already been primed by Michale Graves-era Misfits to love it.

And love it I did. The energy on this is insane and even the god-awful feedback squeals in "Die, Die My Darling" can't throw me off of loving almost every single song on this entire collection.

I. Love. It.

I used to listen to it all the time. It I was driving, it was recorded to a cassette. If I was riding in someone else's car, they ALSO had a ripped cassette from me and I would be in the back seat studying lyrics that we printed out (in "chiller" typeface because subtlety has never a teenager's strong point) so I wouldn't miss a beat when Danzig launched into his rantings of "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?" or basically any song after that.

As far as track progress goes, this is a decent venture through music that just about anyone can tap their foot to all the way to the humble beginnings of hardcore. It took me forever to really get into the B-side of this album, but I got there eventually and now it's my favorite side.

The Misfits really were something great and if anyone is looking for a solid introduction to the band, you can't go wrong with this.

#themisfits #misfits #collection #record #records #recordcollection #recordcollector #vinylsky #coloredvinyl #vinylgram #punk #punkrock #punkrecords #punkcollection #vinylcollection #nowspinning #recordoftheday