I always have a handwritten list of new releases on my desk that gets added to on a daily basis so I can get my shopping list ready for the record stores. Unfortunately, I didn’t see many new releases coming in the beginning of October so I didn’t plan on making many trips to CD hunt. October is another usually slow month for me for buying CDs because of the impending and dreaded filling of the oil tank and my two daughters’ birthday celebrations taking up a good chunk of disposable income! Like I said though, I didn’t have much on my list and I make sure I check every bit of news for release dates of albums I will need. I’m always up for a bargain or two and I found a few decent used CDs mixed in with some new releases…..
Newbury Comics
Sabu – Between The Light (1998) – $4 used: First trip of the month wasn’t for me, it was for my oldest daughter who needed some new Skullcandy earbuds for her iPod Touch. While she looked around, I hit the markdown bin and this CD by Paul Sabu is the first one I found. You may remember Paul Sabu because he’s a huge producer/composer/songwriter in the AOR/Melodic Rock arena and has worked with bands like Alice Cooper, Heart, David Bowie, Shania Twan, Little Caesar, Malice and a ton more but he also managed to carve out a nine album solo career since 1984. BETWEEN THE LIGHT happens to be album #6 in Sabu’s solo career and I’ve never seen a copy in a record store before. On Ebay I’ve seen this album go anywhere between $5 and $15 at auction but it’s nothing I would go out of my way to bid on. For $4 used I grabbed it! Nice and cheap and in perfect condition…..assuming the regular price to be what a normal CD would go for ($15), I saved $11.
Saigon Kick – Devil In The Details (1995) – $3 used: If you were alive and kicking in 1992 then you who Saigon Kick is because Rock stations couldn’t get enough of their hit ballad ‘Love Is On The Way’ from THE LIZARD (1992). Never heard another song though, right? Exactly! Another casualty of the hair band and power ballad craze. The thing is that Saigon Kick had a debut record in 1991, a bunch of good Rock songs and four more studio releases to round out the ’90s…..but all they’re remembered for is the one hit ballad. I seem to always stumble upon a Saigon Kick album in a used bin but it’s usually either THE LIZARD or WATER (1993), when I saw this CD for $3 used I grabbed it right away because I knew I didn’t own it and it was a great bargain. Assuming a regular price of $15, I saved $12, but the interesting thing is that it seems I have the import version and not the U.S. release on CMC International. The label here is Seagull Int’l/Pony Canyon and the band cover shot is different artwork than the U.S. pressing. I know Pony Canyon is a Japanese label but this isn’t a Japanese import…..a great bargain and an alternate version that includes two bonus tracks.
Valient Thorr – Legend Of The World (2006) – $4 used: A band I’ve read about in various Rock magazines (specifically Classic Rock) over the last few years so I instantly recognized that at least this was a Metal CD. Outside of that, I know nothing about Valient Thorr. Buying a CD from a band you don’t know anything about can be very tricky and it’s an art that most record stores rats like myself perfected in the ’80s by using cool album artwork as a guide…..that doesn’t apply here either! You can’t beat the bargain so spending only $4 on a used CD by a band you don’t know anything about is low risk. Assuming regular price would be the normal $15, I saved $11 with another bargain bin find. After I got home with this disc, I checked some of my sampler bonus CDs I’ve gotten in issues of Classic Rock and there are two or three Valient Thorr tracks on them to also check out!
Mercyful Fate – Melissa (1983) – $9 used: Hard to believe that MELISSA is one of those albums that is missing from my collection but the debut from Mercyful Fate has eluded me for a few years now. You can get it on Ebay at anytime but I haven’t bothered because the price always seems too much, I’ve been keeping an eye on the used bins, and the regular priced sections, to see if this one shows up at a decent price. I have most of the Fate catalog with the exception of maybe a couple releases but I never could get MELISSA. This version is the 1997 reissue on Roadrunner which you would think you could find everywhere because it used to be everywhere, the only versions I see are these 2 on 1 CD collection from Roadrunner and I don’t like those, I prefer each individual disc. I found this CD in the regular Rock section rather than the Metal section and, if you compare it to the $16 regular price for one of those 2 on 1 discs, I saved $7 with this find.
Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi & Friends – Who Cares (2011) – $8: It’s very rare that I buy a CD single, and paying $8 for one is even rarer, but I needed this one because it marks the first recorded collaboration between Black Sabbath founder/guitarist Tony Iommi and former Sabbath/current Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. If you’ve read this blog a while then you know I’m a huge Sabbath fan, especially post-Ozzy, so when I heard that Iommi and Gillan were working together on a project that was for charity, I had to hear what the old BORN AGAIN lineup was up to. The “friends” on this album are Jason Newsted (bass), Nicko McBrain (drums), Linde Lindstrom (guitars), and Jon Lord (keyboards) and the only play on ‘Who Cares’, the second song, ‘Holy Water’, has other musicians. This is a two song single but it’s an enhanced CD that includes the video for the title track and a 27 minute documentary on the making of Who Cares.
Charred Walls Of The Damned – Cold Winds On Timeless Days – $10: I never really gave the debut by Charred Walls Of The Damned enough time when it came out but it was a great record and I’m hoping for the same on COLD WINDS ON TIMELESS DAYS. Richard Christy’s project has Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens back again on vocals and Steve DiGiorgio on bass so it’s kind of like an Iced Earth alum band in a way…..say what you want about Ripper Owens singing on everyone’s albums (Yngwie Malmsteen, Iced Earth, and a bunch of guest spots), the guy is a great singer and not the Rob Halford clone everyone thinks he is. Charred Walls Of The Damned got instant credibilty with Owens and DiGiorgio on board but the quality of songs on the debut made this more than a bunch of names. Buying this new record means I will revisit the debut first and give both records extra playing time. Regular price is $14 but I got this on sale the day of release for $10 so I saved $4.
Halford – Live At Saitama Super Arena DVD (2011) – $7: I had no idea this was even coming out but when I saw a new Halford DVD on the Newbury Comics mailing list I immeadiately went to the Halford website to see what this release was about. A 15 song live set in Japan on the last tour in October 2010 promoting MADE OF METAL (2010) that adds two bonus videos…..there isn’t really anything else to this release which is why the price was so low. Checking out the Halford website, it seems the live CD will be released November 21 & 22 worldwide. I’m glad that Rob Halford is releasing this on DVD and CD (Blu-ray is out now too!) but I’m a little disappointed that this wasn’t released as a CD/DVD package. Granted, $7 for a concert DVD is awesome, even the $12 regular price was great, but having the audio CD and the DVD together in a nice package for a $15 sale price/$20 regular would be more my thing. Not complaining at saving $5 off the regular price for this DVD, I just wish I didn’t have to wait on the CD.
Iced Earth – Dystopia (2011) – $10: When I heard that Iced Earth had a new record coming out I was psyched because the last two albums have been really good. I’ve been a long time Iced Earth fan, since the mid-90s, and I recently went back and listened to all the older albums with Matt Barlow on vocals…..excellent stuff! The problem with Iced Earth over the last 9 years has been the constant changes in the lead vocal slot. New vocalist, and Into Eternity frontman, Stu Block is the band’s fifth lead singer in the band’s 20 year career but the real upheaval is that critically acclaimed, and fan favorite, singer Matt Barlow has left the band for a second time! For me, a new Iced Earth record is a must have no matter who’s on the mic and I made it to the store the day of release to get the limited edition digipak that includes 3 bonus tracks, a fold-out poster and a sticker. There was no regular version available that I could find but the sale price was only $10, saving me $7 off the $17 regular price.
Running Wild – The Final Jolly Roger (Live At W.O.A. 2009) (2011) – $12: Rock ‘n’ Ralf announced the end of Running Wild a couple of years ago and the band’s last performance at Wacken Open Air 2009 was recorded for the live CD and DVD. Of course, Ralf has decided to bring Running Wild back for a new album in 2012…..the originators of Pirate Metal are back again! THE FINAL JOLLY ROGER comes in 3 formats: the double live disc (this is the one I have!), the DVD, and the limited edition 2 CD/DVD set with both together. Of course, there was only one copy of the live album in the store and I had the staff look up the availability of the DVD and the 3 disc edition…..nothing. I figured that I was going to miss out on the live album if I didn’t grab it right away so I snagged it for the $12 sale price, saving $8 off the $20 regular price. Now the search is on for the DVD…..I wish that these collections were only released in the one all encompassing format. I would have easily paid $20-$25 for the 3 disc set.
Jag Panzer – The Scourge Of Light (2011) – $12: Here’s an album that I didn’t buy over the spring when it came out and the sale price came and went pretty quickly. Taking a look at my collection, I’ve picked up most Jag Panzer releases since the band came back in the late ’90s but I haven’t picked up the last two studio albums MECHANIZED WARFARE (2001) and CASTING THE STONES (2004). I think that’s one of the reasons why I passed on this CD initially…..I just haven’t bothered to keep up with the band and their presence over the last decade has been spotty. I was picking through the Metal section and I noticed that the store had 4 copies of THE SCOURGE OF LIGHT but there was only one with a sale tag on it! Regular price on the other 3 copies was $16 so I immeadiately grabbed this disc to save the $4 but the most important aspect is that this new album as ignited a new spark for Jag Panzer and I’ve been revisiting the other albums I own and I’m on the search for the missing ones.
Lillian Axe – Psychoschizophrenia (1993) – $6 used: I’ve had a lot of luck lately in the bargain bins so I went over and gave them another thorough check. I’ve pretty much grabbed all the quality Hard Rock & Metal over the last couple of months but there’s always that person that sells back CDs for store credit and enhances my collection at the same time! As soon as I saw PSYCHSCHIZOPHRENIA, I grabbed it because I knew that I needed two Lillian Axe records in the middle of their discography to complete my collection but I couldn’t remember which ones. I decided to tke the $6 risk and buy it knowing I had a 1 in 3 chance of filling another hole in my collection. When I got home, it turned out that the two records I needed were 1992’s POETIC JUSTICE and this one. My research shows that this CD goes for around $15 on Ebay so I saved $9 by bargain bin diving!
Total = $85
Total (year) = $887
Average Price (per item) = $8.61
Total Savings (month) = $78
Total Savings (year) = $813
Total CDs (year) = 96
Total DVDs (year) = 6
Total Box Sets (year) = 0
Total LPs (year) = 1
The Big 4 (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth & Anthrax) – Live From Sofia, Bulgaria (2010)
Michael Schenker Group – The 30th Anniversary Concert: Live In Tokyo (2010)
Heaven & Hell – Neon Nights: Live In Europe (2010)
Heavy Metal Addiction 