Perhaps I should have called this confession 31.5 given that its so quick after the last post but a couple of packages arrived on saturday and as there are no more albums on order at the moment I need to update things....

First package was an ebay purchase - Whitesnake's Saints And Sinners which I've always enjoyed.... no question that Here I Go Again was improved by the 1987 version but this has to be the ultimate Crying In The Rain.  Also picked up the 2lp set of Bryan Adams' Waking Up The Neighbours.  This was the set he wrote and recorded with Mutt Lange so there are plenty of "Leppardisms" as they concoct BAs Hysteria!  Still, its a seriously good rock album and (even if it has become a bit cheesy through over-exposure) the definitive version of Everything I Do with the extended guitar solo at the end ala Layla!!

Second package was one I've been waiting a couple of weeks for.   I wanted Iron Maiden's Fear Of The Dark for a while now but it always goes for nearly twenty quid on ebay so I had to shop around.  Finally found a copy on gemm - in a shop based in St. Petersburg, Russia - arrived today and its in excellent condition and the only difference to the uk copy is the label.  The cover has a laminated finish and I can't remember whether the uk issue was?  However all in including postage I paid about 12 quid so I'm well pleased.

Building up my Beatles singles collection for the next couple of weeks - only 1980s reissues in picture sleeves though just to increase the challenge!!

till the next time.....

A quiet couple of weeks has seen me mostly picking up stuff off ebay and musicstack.

My first couple of purchases were two of my most played compilations when I was a kid.  Buying these again has once more brought home what folly it was to sell my record collection to avoid the moving costs when we relocated!  Nevertheless they are now part of my new collection and Axe Attack and Axe Attack II will get plenty of spins!  Featuring rock giants like Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Gillan etc its not as obvious tracklist as the recent Air Guitar compilations and captures the spirit of early 80s rock music.

Roadhouse got a little bit of media attention with their debut self-titled release.  They featured former Def Leppard guitarist Pete Willis as a full time member of the band and the Leppard similarities are clear in the music as well.  Not a great album but solid enough and worth a play now and again.

Tangerine Dream - Phaedra is the best example of ambient music I can think of.  I've tried a fair bit of TD but this is far and away the best in my opinion.  I remember lying in total pitch darkness listening to this about 12 years ago!!  Real good relaxing sounds and a bit of a change from the norm for me.

Mott The Hoople frontman Ian Hunter's 1979 release You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic has long been a favourite of mine.  I first heard it after buying the cassette version for 50p in a sell off at the exhange and mart shop in Rugby!  Cleveland Rocks was later covered by Little Angels as England Rocks and Standing In My Light and Bastard are great tracks over on side two.

I nipped into Ammanford on friday and spent twenty quid at Gwyld Deg after a brief sort through the record room.

To compliment my David Coverdale collection I purchased the magnificently titled "The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast"  -  a Roger Glover project from 1974 on Purple Records.  The covers itself is worth the money - where else can you find such quotes as "David Coverdale warns Lilly Lizard of the Fox" and "Ronnie Dio as Froggy sings at the Butterfly Ball" - classic stuff

Obviously I was on a 1970s concept thing subconciously cos I also picked up Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds while I was there.  A lot more accessible than Butterfly Ball and featuring great tracks like The Eve Of War and the superb Justin Hayward track Forever Autumn the gatefold cover is innear  mint condition with the booklet still attached.  Phil Lynott as the Parson Nathaniel was a masterstroke!

Also in near mint condition was Ozzy Osbourne's The Ultimate Sin.  Arguably his most commercial release this 1985 LP had the big hit Shot In The Dark on it and a couple of others that stick in my head following many viewings of The Ultimate Ozzy video back in the late eighties!

Also from the 80s I found a nice mint copy of Iron Maiden's Wasted Years twelve inch single - great cover art featuring futuristic Eddie and one of the highlights of a great Maiden album.

Finally, another various artists collection but this time a little different as it was a lable sampler from Atlantic Records.  Titled The New Age of Atlantic it has tracks from Led Zeppelin, Buffalo Springfield and Yes amongst others.  Record Collector list this at 15UKP mint - this is in VG+ and cost a quid!

Now - back to my job hunting !!!  Till the next confession.........

Every two or three years or so there is a major happening in the world of rock music.  2006 is such a year as Iron Maiden return to the fore once again and unleash probably their best album since Seventh Son in 88.  Now I've only had chance to listen to it a couple of times so far but A Matter Of Life And Death contains everything you could wish for from a Maiden album.  Stand out tracks so far the superb 7 minute epic single The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (this may just be familiarity however as I bought the single a couple of weeks back) and the closer to side one Brighter Than A Thousand Suns.  Closer to side one you question??  Yep - as usual with Maiden the vinyl collector is well catered for with this luxury gatefold sleeved double picture disc set.  Derricks Records in Swansea threw in a poster as well and the bloke behind the counter handed over the record with the comment "I don't think you'll be disappointed!" - he was right, superb album.

I spotted a sale by Daventry based Visual Vinyl on ebay last week and bagged a few 80/90s albums that I used to play to death at very reasonable prices.  They arrived after just a few days and have been gradually going through the cleaning and playing process before hitting the shelves....

Quireboys - Bitter Sweet & Twisted.... the second album from the Faces-esque band and this one after a considerable delay due to record company games.  This was a good follow up to the great debut album but unfortunately some pratt in a cardigan had invented grunge so it seemed to go largely ignored at the time and they split after this album until reforming a few years ago and releasing more great stuff in a very similar vein!  Criminally overlooked band and album.

Shy - Excess All Areas....  another British band they looked like they might break big but just failed.  I think they supported Bon Jovi at one point and I saw them live on the tour after this one but this is generally regarded as their best album.  The Don Dokken co-write Break Down The Walls is the stand out track but its worth hearing the cover of Devil Woman as well.  Check the review on heavy-harmonies.com to realise how highly regarded this album is to aor fans!

MSG - Perfect Timing.... the first album of the Robin McAuley/Michael Schenker partnership and an album I first bought when I saw them support Whitesnake in January 1988.  I've always rated McAuley as the best singer Schenker had an this as the best of the three studio album they released.  Get Out is a great guitar driven rocker and Time stood out both live and on the album as a great "lighter's out" ballad.

Kingdom Come - Kingdom Come....  a classic Zeppelin album for the 80s - except it wasn't Zep, didn't have anything to do with Zep and mainmain of KC claimed he'd never heard of Zep!!!  Severly lambasted for ripping off Zep in every way Kingdom Come never hit these heights again and seemed to search for their own less 'influenced' sound to lesser success.  However, put that to one side and this is still a wonderful album.  The riff heavy Get It On, the bluesy ballad What Love Can Be, the soaring Now Forever After - it would be thought of as a classic if it just had of been who it sounded so much like!

Jimmy Page - Outrider....  now, the bloke that lead the band that the band above wanted to be!!  His debut (and to date only!) solo album was released in the same year as Kingdom Come (1988) but didn't seem to make the waves theirs did.  Maybe because is not quite Zeppelin!  However it did feature Robert Plant singing lead on one track and Jason Bonham on drums throughout which created the rumour of a Zeppelin reunion.  It wasn't to be tho (quite rightly) and JP returned to form some five years after with the Coverdale Page album - then returned to Plant after that for a bit of Un-Led-Ed!!!

Cinderella - Long Cold Winter....  the album where they came out of fellow New Jersey band Bon Jovi's shadows and defined their own sound.  A grittier, more blues influenced album that their debut, Night Songs this too got some criticism for copying Zeppelin a bit too much but so many were in the late 80s!  Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone) was the killer ballad and had the brackets in the title that real rock ballads need!  Gypsy Road and Coming Home are better songs but turn up on less compilations.

Saxon - Destiny....  smacks of a great rock band being told to polish their sound a bit by their record company and ending up sounding not enough like the great rock band they were.  However, but some strange quirk this is my favourite Saxon album!  Sure it is more polished than Denim And Leather or Wheels Of Steel and is miles away from the classic English Metal sound they adopted a couple of albums later and have peddled succesfully ever since but to my mind its a bloody good classic rock album!  The cover of Ride Like The Wind kicks it off in style, the ballad I Can't Wait Anymore (track 3 of course cos the book of late 80s rock says ballad at track 3!) is cool, Red Alert is a cracking closer telling of the band touring in Eastern Europe when Chernobyl went up.  It just didn't sound enough like Saxon for most fans and they were duly dropped from EMI shortly after.


A couple of ebay Buy-It-Nows next, both at the criminally low 1.99 each!

Bad Company - Holy Water....  Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke with vocals by Brian Howe, so not the classic Rodgers led Bad Co. but still a great album that sits nicely in their discography whilst sounding right for the times (1990).  The title track itself is a stormer and its a solid enough effort otherwise without being exceptional.

Dare - Out Of The Silence....  now this album caused quite a stir when it came out in 1988.  Lead singer Darren Wharton used to be the keyboard man in later incarnations of Thin Lizzy (the real Phil Lynott led Thin Lizzy!) and that in itself promised publicity but this set of 10 highly polished melodic rock tracks earned great reviews at the time.  King Of Spades was a tribute to Lynott and a highlight of the live show as it was extended to include a few Lizzy samples.  I actually appeared in the video to one of the singles off this album, Raindance if I recall correctly.  Okay so it was just an audience shot of the front row at the NEC when Dare supported Europe but it counts doesn't it?  The second Dare album was good although heavier in sound - after that dimishing returns and revolving door line-ups saw them become more of a well kept secret than a potentially world reknowned band.

Finally for this confession then, a return visit yesterday to Hag's Records in Lampeter, mid-Wales and 50 quid on some great priced vinyl.

Sammy Hagar - Loud And Clear...  the 'Red Rocker' live in concert and on Red Vinyl!  A very pre-VH (1979) but post Montrose release with the best tracks being the two closers Bad Motor Scooter and Space Station No.5.

Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton.... with bonus 7" interview disc!  Not listened to this 1984 Geffen label release yet and never heard it before however the first track 'There's Only One Way To Rock' was played in Sammy's Van Halen days and stuck in my mind from the VH live video Without A Net.

ASaP - Silver And Gold....  the solo project of Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith released in 1989 a short time before he left Maiden for good (until he returned in 2000 that is!).  A big difference to Maiden this is strictly melodic rock territory and Smith sounds a lot like Bryan Adams in places.  Also features Zak Starkey on drums long before his more lucrative hook ups with The Who and Oasis.

Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell....  classic debut release of the Dio fronted version of Sabbath.  Sounding exactly as a cross between Sabbath and Rainbow should sound this has the classics Neon Knights, Children Of The Sea and the outstanding title track on it.  "The world is full of Kings and Queens. Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams. It's Heaven And Hell"... quite!

Van Halen - OU812....  a decent album from the Sammy fronted VH era but forever to be thought of (at least by me) as being not quite as good as the one before it (5150) or the one after it (For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge).  Mine All Mine and Finish What You Started are decent tracks whilst When It's Love is a nice polished ballad however.

Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge....  possibly rated above OU812 by me due to the fact I saw the tour to this one at the NEC in Birmingham and after that the album really hit home.  Poundcake is an awesome opener, Judgement Day follows it just nicely, Spanked is a superb tongue in cheek song and Right Now is possibly the best song of Sammy Hagar's stint with VH.

Jim Steinman - Bad For Good.... the follow up album to Bat Out Of Hell except it doesn't feature Meat Loaf at all!  Differences with ML lead Steinman to release this as a solo album with himself handling the vocals and a great album it is as well.  Strangely though most of the songs did turn up on Meat Loaf's eventual follow up to Bat, Back Into Hell.

Snafu - All Funked Up....  a purchase that I had never heard before - not a single track that I am aware of.  However Snafu were the band Micky Moody graced before hooking up with David Coverdale for his solo albums and eventually Whitesnake.  This 1975 release also features Tim Hinkley on piano, another name I recognise from Coverdale's solo albums.

Marseille - Marseille...  another long lost English rock band from the nwobhm era although by all accounts a little more melodic than most of the era!  I have previously heard their later release which I think was Touch The Night.  Guitarist here is one Neil Buchanan who I seem to recall landed up on childrens TV in recent years fronting an art programme.  Of course it might be another Neil Buchanan I guess!

Kiss - Paul Stanley....  the best and most Kiss-like of the solo albums released simultaneously in 1978.  The seller couldn't bring himself to charge for this one he thought it so bad! (as he had with Dave Lee Roth last visit!) however Wouldn't You Like To Know Me later ended up on a Kiss compilation and there are a couple of other decent tracks.  Rather this than the Peter Criss one - he'd have paid me to take it off the shelves if they'd have had it!

Georgia Satellites - Open All Night....  superb second release from the Atlanta boogie rockers.  Good solid no-nonsense rock all the way through and brave enough to cover a Ringo Starr composition with Don't Pass Me By (originally on the White Album).

Thin Lizzy - Johnny The Fox...  classic era Lizzy with the classic Lynott/Downey/Gorham/Robertson line-up and tracks like Johnny, Don't Believe A Word and Massacre.  Can't go wrong with this stuff!

Led Zeppelin - Coda...  nicely packaged gatefold archive release that was put out a couple of years after John Bonham's death and Zeppelin's subsequent decision not to continue without him.  Only 8 tracks but still a good album that nicely closed off the Zep legacy.

Nazareth - Greatest Hits....  the final album I picked up in Hags on my way to the counter and for 1.75 you can't complain can you?  The definitive version of This Flight Tonight, Shanghaid In Shanghai, a rasping Love Hurts and my favourite, Broken Down Angel just four of the 12 'greats' on this compilation.

Well, that its for this time - looking at the stats its possible that this 30th post could see me pass the 200 views mark.  That's an average of er... 6.66 readers per post - relevant that for a rock & metal collector!!! 

Another decent week with 7 additions to my collection - new shelves are also now in place for storage.

Got the call from Swansea Market's Musiquarium yesterday and went to pick up the two Beatles 1995 direct metal mastered vinyls they'd ordered for me a couple of saturdays back so I can now enjoy Revolver and Abbey Road in crackle free analogue glory!

Also popped to HMV and as well as getting the new CD by The Answer (Rise - what an album by the way - I hope they release this on vinyl!) I got the new Iron Maiden 10inch single The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg which more than whets the appetite for the new album.  A 9/10 score in classic rock does pretty much the same as well!

Finally a four pack off ebay from the seller yorkrecordsengland.  Just four days between purchase and the first one hitting the turntable, why can't all sellers be this good?

For the record then, I got the following...

Whitesnake - The Best Of..... - an early (1982?) French release with all the best up to the Come And Get It album.  Nice album if you want a bit of classy blues rock though I'd probably plump for the double live album first mind!

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells  -  okay, something a bit different to normal and bought on impulse but its a great listen late at night when your just chilling out and everybody else is in bed.

Cinderella - Night Songs  -  the debut album from one of my favourite bands.  Nobody's Fool is an absolute classic rock ballad and I can't hink why I havn't bought the albums of theirs I'm missing yet - I'll put that right in the next couple of weeks!

Finally, Survivor's Too Hot To Sleep  -  an overlooked album which I remember having on cassette years ago and liking. Straight ahead American Melodic Rock but done well!

Anyway, that the lot for now - the web sites up to date and I'm off to continue the systematic play through of my collection which I started earlier this week - just finished the Bryan Adams albums - Aerosmith next!

Home Page:  www.zen45648.zen.co.uk

Keep rocking and keep vinyl alive!!

A reasonably brief blog this time with only three new records to add.  However they confirm that I'm just as committed as I ever was as one I already have and the other two are the same release!  Let me explain....

I mentioned in my last confession that I'd finally got Thunder's The Thrill Of It All release.  Well someone offered a signed copy on ebay - so I bought it again!  Not as low limited edition number as the first but it was a decent price and to be fair I still hadn't won the other at the time so I ended up with both.  This after being outbid at seventeen pounds last time I tried to get a copy off ebay.

Similar story as well for the other record.  Once again its Thunder only this time its the earlier EMI release Behind Closed Doors.  Once again the unsigned copy has a lower limited edition number but it was nice to get a signed copy as well!

The home page is updated with covers and tracks for each and hopefully the  next update will add more than this one!

First up then I'm changing the titles of the blog cos I can't keep coming up with different headings!  From now on it Confessions.... and a part number.  My main aim here is to just record the order I buy stuff in case I decide to do the High Fidelity thing and re-order my collection from alphabetical to purchased (or autobiographical) order!.... and just to capture my thoughts about the albums and artists as I buy them.

Anyway, first couple of additions this week are both recent purchases from ebay.

No Prayer For The Dying is an often overlooked Iron Maiden album.  Released in 1990 and acompanied initially by a stripped down tour without the big stageshow this isn't that bad an album.  The change of guitarist from Adrian Smith to Janick Gers may have signalled a slight downturn for Maiden after the big sellers of the 1980s but this album did contain their only number one single in Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter.  My favourites are the opener Tailgunner and the title track and whilst its not up there with the 80s stuff in terms of quality its still better than a lot of other bands could muster.  I'm now looking for to the new Maiden album due later this year - especially as they still embrace the vinyl format!

The other purchase is a significant one.  I've been looking for Thunder's The Thrill Of It All on vinyl for some months now and have been outbid at the seventeen pound mark before so to get this finally and for just ninety-nine pence as well amazed me.  A double LP gatefold set and edition number 0092 out of 5000 this release marks the final vinyl album release by Thunder - all subsequent albums were on the cold cd only as far as I know.  A very nice seller as well - apparently selling the collection of a friend who unfortunately died in a bike accident she seemed pleased the album would be appreciated.

Finally, an early finish today so I took the oportunity to pop to my favourite second hand seller, Discovery Bookstore in Glanamman.  I topped up with some sci-fi and war paperbacks first then got down to the serious business of sorting through the vinyl.  As usual the choice was superb and I had to put a few back for next time but still got half a dozen albums for my twenty six quid.

The Who's magnum opus Quadrophenia was my main buy - original issue with booklet and in very good condition I was pleased to get this for twelve and a half quid.  I've nearly bought this a couple of times before and have ended up hiding it back in the racks.  For me this is right up there with Who's Next and has my favourite Who song I'm One on it as well as 5:15, The Real Me and Love, Reign O'er Me.  All I need now is one quiet night to listen to it completely rather than a side at a time!

I bought a Joe Walsh single a couple of weeks back, enjoyed it, and thought I'd get one of his solo albums.  None of his 70s stuff was there so I ended up with There Goes The Neighbourhood from 1981.  More laid back and pop-oriented than I expected this was still interesting to listen to.  I have a feeling his earlier stuff will suit my taste better tho'.

Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction gets silly money sometimes on ebay for its original robot sleeve version so I figure that 3.25ukp for this is a good buy.  I'm still of the mind that combining Use Your Illusion into one single album would have at least equalled and maybe eclipsed this album however the number of now classics on this means that those follow up albums just sound like a collection of ideas to me that miss the filtering process most bands apply to their album releases.  On a side note, I remember buying this album originally back in '87 from a place also called Discovery Records back in Rugby one night whilst waiting for the bus home after college.  I played it a bit then put it away - about a year later it seemed to go stellar and everyone discovered GnR!  Somehow I doubt the new album (if its ever released) will come anywhere near this one in terms of quality.

Two WASP albums next, namely the self-titled debut album and The Last Command.  A fine band who always seemed to capture the jokier cartoon side of heavy metal in their earlier days (whether on purpose or not I don't know!).  Stand out tracks are Wild Child and Blind In Texas on the first album and the opening salvo of I Wanna Be Somebody and LOVE Machine on The Last Command.  A great band who's mainman Blackie Lawless reached his creative peak with The Crimson Idol a few years after these.

Finally, I've been after the classic Blue Oyster Cult track Godzilla for a while and in the absence of the studio album in the store I took the 1978 live album Some Enchanted Evening.  Also including a version of MC5's Kick Out The Jams and the well know Don't Fear The Reaper for maximum air guitar!!

Check out my full and growing vinyl collection, bootleg cd collection as well as a few live shows for download at my home page here!

Thanks for reading.......

So with the local 2nd hand record shop providing diminishing returns I happened to check the local paper last Friday night and spotted an add for Hard Rock/Metal vinyl collection for sale.  Now with it not being one of those that said contact anytime, I had to wait until the next day but Saturday evening with family duty all completed off I trotted through the barbecue waft in the valley into deepest West Carmarthenshire.

Now it seems I was a little late for the real good stuff (Wednesday's paper!) but there were still 100 or so albums and singles to sort through.  An offer of fifty quid the lot fell 100 pound short of their asking price (way overestimated imho) so I had a sort through and picked up the following for fifteen pounds.

Scorpions - Savage Amusement .....  I bought this one when it first came out and its allways been a great rock album - just the Scorps doing what they do best.  Stand out track is Rhythm Of Love.

The Cult - Sonic Temple .... not a big fan (unlike the seller who had loads of Cult vinyl) but this is the best stuff of theirs that I've heard.  Havn't listened to this yet since buying it but seem to remember that Edie (Ciao Baby) was a good track.

Kings X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska .... have to be in the right mood but I can remember an MTV special after Headbangers Ball (1989ish) which lead me to originally buy this on cassette.  Can't say that any of these titles ring a bell but an old college mate of mine (Liam) was a huge fan so they're gotta be worth a listen again.

Finally, and to my delight, I picked up the debut album by the almighty Bad News!  The brainchild of Ade Edmondson and the Comic Strip team this Gatefold Sleeve album has been on my wants list since starting collecting vinyl again so this made the trip.  At one point I thought I'd picked up a rarity but it turned out that someone had been hiding a copy of a porno mag in the sleeve!!

Also got a copy of the Bad News 12 incher Bohemian Rhapsody still in celophane as well as Bon Jovi's Lay Your Hands On Me 12 inch single so on the whole a worthwhile trip.

Now on a different note I read recently that the definitive Beatles releases in terms of sound quality were a set of 1995 EMI re-releases of the original albums which benefitted from direct metal mastering from re-mastered original tape.  So Saturday at Musicquarium in Swansea I purchases Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to check this out.  WOW!!  Still gatefold packaging although the cut-out sheet is now paper thin rather than cardboard but that sound - so rich sounding and well defined - Paul McCartney's bass work really came across and it all sounded so good .....  well worth the sixteen quid and means I've now gotta hunt down the 1995 release of each Beatles album - oh well!

Onto ebay buys now and another Iron Maiden release - this time the Bruce come back album Brave New World in 2LP gatefold picture disc format.  10 out of 10 for presentation and pretty high for content as well.  Ghost Of The Navigator stood out for some reason but I've always liked this return to form for Maiden and have the benefit of seeing them live a couple of times on the tour to support this album.

Got a couple more Van Halen releases from a private seller.  Fair Warning and Van Halen II - got II playing at the moment and you just know what you get with Roth era Van Halen.  Music to play when the sun is out (or when you want to make believe its out!)

Also got the first post Moon era The Who album Face Dances.  Not as bad as I had read but not much really memorable stuff with the exception of You Better You Bet it soon had me reaching for my The Kids Are Alright DVD and sampling some classic 'Oo.

Finally a couple of records from someone else and whilst these play very well the covers were overstated in the description so upgrades may be necessary at some point.  Nevertheless Pink Floyd - Animals and Black Sabbath - Tyr are both fine albums and are definately not destined to be played once and confined to the shelf.

Covers and tracklistings to be added soon to the web site Recollection and the next confession will be soon cos theres been a few more recent ebay purchases which havn't arrived yet.

Thanks for reading......

Yep - the building of the vinyl rock museum continued apace the last couple of weeks but began with some newly released vinyl.

Namely, the first three 7inch singles from Irish band The Answer.  Heavily promoted in the likes of classic rock its good Zep/Whitesnake type stuff.  I even got a response from their MySpace page but unfortunately it appears that no vinyl release of the debut album is imminent.  For now though I've got Keep Believin' on white vinyl, Into The Gutter on good ol' black vinyl and the superb Never Too Late on a tasteful brown vinyl! 

I got these three from Musicstack seller Action Records along with the long sought after Coverdale Page album and one of my favourite Kinks albums, State Of Confusion from 1983 which featured their final big hit Come Dancing.

Another couple of Musicstack 'finds' were courtesy of Disc-covery and were the picture disc promo of Iron Maiden's Maiden England - a live show recorded in my presence (!) at the NEC on the Seventh Son Tour.  Not sure if this is a real promo item or a boot but it sits nicely alongside the video/CD dual package I bought years ago.  Also from these was the rare fourth solo LP from David Lee Roth - Your Filthy Little Mouth.  Quite a bit removed from his first couple of solo albums its still Diamond Dave as we know it!!!

Now, a couple of weeks ago I took the family east to Cardiff for the day specifically to visit the Dr. Who exhibition (my sons a fanatic!) but also for my first visit to Kelly Records in the old indoor market.  An Aladdin's Cave of music they have a huge vinyl collection which in the short time and limited funds I had I struggled to see in all its glory.  I did manage to grab 5 album from the £4 section though - all classics!

Whitesnake - Come And Get It featuring the classic Coverdale-Lord-Marsden-Moody-Murray-Paice lineup.

The Who's outtakes album Odds And Sods with the die cut sleeve and posters!  This has the song Put The Money Down on it which I think is an outtake from Lifehouse and would have graced Who's Next.

Ian Gillan's Naked Thunder album.  An often overlooked Gillan album but worth the money for No Cane On The Brazos if for nothing else!  A great vocal performance.  Not sure whether he was in or out of Purple at the time this was released (which is probably how he felt at the time as well!).

AC/DC's Blow Up Your Video.  This came out in 1988 and features both Heatseeker and That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll as the singles picked from the album.  I remember both with fond affection from the likes of No Limits and The Album Chart Show!

Little Angles - Young Gods.  Another british band that at the time I thought would be huge worldwide (ie the next Def Leppard) but now I think I can see why they didn't!  Nevertheless I still really like this album and I Ain't Gonna Cry is still an anthem to make the hairs on the neck stand to attention when its played loud!

But even before I got to Kellys I stumbled across the Cardiff Record & CD Fair at the St. Davids Hall.  Now I didn't expect this as they've stopped advertising it in Record Collector for some reason but after a bit of begging for funds from the financial overlord (wife!) I popped in for an hour and picked up five album from a dealer from Wolverhampton (a Wolves fan like myself) and all were in stunningly excellent condition and in pvc sleeves.

Van Halen - MCMLXXXIV or 1984 if you prefer.  DLR's last VH album best known for Jump but also containing the superior Panama and Hot For Teacher.

Deep Purple - Made In Europe.  MKIII era Purple from the Stormbringer tour.

Deep Purple - Live In London.  Burn era MKIII LP containing (it says on the sleeve) "Over 57 minutes of Heavy Rockin' Music".  It does as well including a superb version of Mistreated.

Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast.  The original issue not the Fame issue and including the lyric sleeve.  Bruce Dickinson's first Maiden album and still a classic.

Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind.  A favourite of mine due mainly to the track Where Eagles Dare which picks upon a favourite film for its content and also for the Revelations and Die With Your Boots on tracks.

I also picked up a nice little curio from another dealer, the first Faces album "First Step" but given this was the USA release its credited to Small Faces due to contractual stuff.

A couple of ebay buys recently as well in the shape of Dave Lee Roth's Crazy From The Heat and the compilation Old Grey Whistle Test ( to go with vol.2 I bought the other week!)

Finally managed a quick visit to Gwlyd Deg in Ammanford at the weekend and although his slowly rotating stock is beginning to be a problem I managed to spend nine quid on Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA and Queen's News Of The World as well as getting the Joe Walsh single Life's Been Good for 50p.

in actual fact I bought six but close enough!   A quick trip to Glanaman to get a few books to ease the boredom of recovering from my recent operation and a promise to my better half not to go mad and buy another load of albums as well.

Again a nice mix of stuff I've heard before and some that I reckon I might like.

Faces - Coast To Coast was the first album I picked up.  Live in concert towards the end of the bands career this one doesn't feature Ronnie Lane.  I heard their version of Jealous Guy which closes the album a few days ago so looking forward to this.  The best of Faces album I bought the other week is currently a big favourite.

Don Henley's Building The Perfect Beast is an album I've not heard before.  The Boys Of Summer is the big song off it and the main reason for buying it and with a lot of Eagles stuff around at the moment due to the tour I'm hoping this will be in a similar vein.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Deja Vu is a real trip into the unknown for me.  Okay I have a couple of Neil Young solo albums but nothing in this track list rings a bell with me.  The cover is so good tho - a sepia coloured 'old photo' style gatefold sleeve.  If I don't like it the cover is worth keeping!

I was messing around with You Tube website the other day watching old videos from Headbangers Ball and stumbled across the superb Forever Free by WASP and this is what led me to buying The Headless Children.  Now for me no WASP album will ever match The Crimson Idol but this is still good quality stuff.

Must be the summer coming as I've been playing a lot of Dave Lee Roth albums recently.   I'd forgotten how good A Little Ain't Enough was!!!  so I figured I'd get a big of classic Van Halen today and picked up Women And Children First - soooo long since I last heard this album.  I don't think I've ever owned it on vinyl before actually.

Final purchase today is a compilation double album called The Old Grey Whistle Test Take Two.  It got an album each of British and American artists and all of course from the early 70s so should be plenty of good rock music on here.  Some names I know of course (Eagles, Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Camel) but many will be new to my ears (Dan Fogelberg, Little Feat, Widowmaker and Jackson Browne etc) so it may lead to some new targets in future trecks to the shops.


A few other purchases to record as well while I'm here.... 

From Ammanford last saturday I picked up Wishbone Ash - Pilgrimage (weird stuff this - part Quo-like boogie part hippie chanting!!), Bob Dylan's Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid soundtrack (very nice laid back acoustic stuff and THE version of Knocking On Heaven's Door) and a sealed copy of Motley Crue's Girls Girls Girls album.

Recent ebay wins have seen Deep Purple's Burn 30th Anniversary Remaster added to my collection - the remix of Mistreated is awesome!  Also got Jon Bon Jovi's Blaze Of Glory album (must be a Billy The Kid theme going on subconsciously!) and Iron Maiden's 1986 release Somewhere In Time. Another Maiden album that has to be owned on vinyl just to appreciate the cover artwork if nothing else!

Seeings that I've been off this week a few orders have been placed on musicstack so another update should follow soon!  Until then I'll press on with adding covers to each of these purchases to my web site.

Home Page : Recollection

Its been exactly a month since my last confession during which time I've nearly finished listing all my bootleg cds, added a few for download and managed to pick up some excellent vinyl from a variety of sources.

Ebay finds over the last few weeks include....

Stampede - Hurricane Town - a 1983 very British sounding release feating Laurence Archer on guitar.  Well worth checking out if you like nwobhm.

Ram Jam - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram - best known for the superb Black Betty this album doesn't feature that song!!  It does however have 10 solid guitar driven tracks and given that it came out in 1978 can be safely assumed to have been overlooked by most.

Magnum's Goodnight L.A. is regularly near the bottom of Magnum fans favourite album polls but its actually one of my favourites.  A much more polished and melodic rock oriented album than their early stuff it's a worthy successor to Wings Of Heaven.

Cinderella released another album after Heartbreak Station but very few people bought it!  Titled Still Climbing I managed to get the US limited edition clear vinyl off ebay for very little except shipping.  As with everything Cinderella put out its quality.

Finally I managed to complete my Jasper Carrott collection (with the exception of his Best Of compliation) with his first and last vinyl releases.  Both Rabbits On And On And On and Cosmic Carrott cost only a penny each but three quid each postage, this from the same dealer who then 'knocked it down to a round six quid' for me and promplty sent it in a second hand jiffy bag not a proper mailer!!  Fortunately they arrived in good nick but its clearly a case of buyer beware.

I took my first trip to Lampeter, just across the border into Ceredigion this week and found Hags Records.  A thriving little shop which specialises in dvd and video rental for the university masses in the town but they do have a sizable collection of vinyl up for sale.  I couldn't afford the four Lost Lennon Tapes albums they had there but did get some great albums for just twenty five pounds total.

Sweet - Desolation Boulevard - a good album with a mix of stuff written by them and stuff for them by the Chinn Chapman team.  Has Fox On The Run on it as well as a cover of My Generation.

David Lee Roth - A Little Ain't Enough - not charged for this one - the guy behind the counter didn't think it fair to actually charge for a Roth album seeings I bought some other stuff

Badfinger's Airwaves - a 1979 release which includes the hit Love Is Gonna Come At Last

More classic Southern Rock with Blackfoot's Highway Song Live

John Sykes' post Whitesnake album Blue Murder. A really good album but I'd love to hear it with Tony Martin (Black Sabbath) singing - maybe one day the tapes they made with him will appear. His co-write Valley Of The Kings is the epic on the album.

Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits has all the essential Alice stuff up to its release in 1974 which includes Elected, School's Out, Under My Wheels and Eighteen.

John Fogerty's self titled album which I bought mainly for the original version of Rockin' All Over The World - Quo's version is better!

Finally, my favourites out of this lot are:-
1) The Faces collection Snakes And Ladders / The Best Of Faces.  A great band and a superb set of songs - its like discovering the Quireboys had an earlier life!

2) Whitesnake's Ready An' Willing - the album where Coverdale's post Purple blues rock thing reached it peak.  Fool For Your Loving years before Vai got hold of it, Ready An' Willing and the stunning Ain't Gonna Cry No More.  One of my favourite albums of all time actually.

A visit to Carmarthen car boot sale last sunday only cost me a fiver but added two latter day Kiss albums - the good Lick It Up and the patchy Crazy Nights along with an ex-Kiss guitarist's album (and god knows there are enough ex-Kiss guitarists to go around) in the shape of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion album All Systems Go.

My two favourite local sources of vinyl havn't let me down either recently.  A trip to Discovery in Glanamman secured the following...

Armoured Saint - March Of The Saint (John Bush on vocals pre-Anthrax)

Gillan - Future Shock

Gillan - Magic

Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards (Easy Livin' - yeah!)

Whitesnake - Live In The Heart Of The City (I've been mistreated.......)
and
Whitesnake - Slip Of The Tongue (yep the one where Vai butchered the afore mentioned Fool For Your Loving but old 'Cov saves the album with Judgement Day and Sailing Ships)

A a few corkers also from Ammanford shop Gwyld Deg,

The Who - My Generation (not an original but what a debut album!)

Bruce Springsteen's The River double album - well I'd seen his show on BBC 4 the night before and wanted some of his old stuff - I was not impressed with the BBC show but this album has it!  Still need to get his best known album tho - Born In The USA.

The absolute classic Rainbow Rising - I love listening to this album.  It only has 6 tracks but each of them is so good that it'll never age.  Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie Dio and Cozy Powell perform on this and to my mind Rainbow when downhill after Dio moved on (or was moved on).

Finally, and to compliment the purchase of a nice new amplifier I went back into Ammanford today and got a nice condition original issue of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album so I can enjoy Kashmir and Trampled Underfoot in all their vinyl glory.

Check out my home pages http://www.zen54648.zen.co.uk/
and if your a vinyl collector - particularly with similar musical taste - get in touch and let me know how your collection is going!   Remember admitting your addicted is the first step!!