Is this necessary?

Trying not to be too negative about this one. 

So I’ll go at this with a sense of wonderment. Is there a demand for this bootleg? Has there been a clamoring for someone to release a 12″ of 4 randomly compiled records from a roughly 4-5 year period that don’t share much commonality outside of the broad category of “hardcore”? 

Let’s review, and maybe suggest some better combinations in the future for Sir Boutleggeur who so decided these 4 singles. The “suspended disbelief” here being that none of this is readily available in a “bandname+mediafire” google blog search.

Chain of Strength – “What Holds Us Apart” 7″ (foundation / first strike records) (**I wanted to include mindpower records but…)  - So though these songs are readily available on the Revelation “the one thing that still holds true” 12″, the original mix is not. This is a great record and though not as great as the true till death 7″, I understand the “this needs to be heard” urgency of releasing it on a bootleg 12″. 

But it would make more sense if… the other 7″s included the End to End 7″, Hard Stance “face reality” 7″, and Something to Say (Statue) demo. Reasoning – not necessarily a picture of the So Cal scene at the time (Strongarm demo?) but a little bit of depth to this grouping. End to End share the Foundation label as well as the Roa connection. Statue (originally named Something to Say) makes sense as well, this recording has a definite link and I think should be heard by the masses. Rearranged Chain playing a hybrid Inside Out meets DC sound? Sign me up. Hard Stance nudged out competitors from Against The Wall  to Free Will to even the first Strife 7″ as far as who should fill out the rest. Though I’m not personally a Strife fan, their importance to California in the 90′s is hard to deny, and their first 7″ could be seen as the ushering in of a new era. 

Intensity 7″ (common sense records) – I can’t say I am an Intensity fan, though there’s obviously a place for this in my heart, as an NJHC fan. Would I buy this record for up to $5 if I saw it? Yes. Do I own it already? Yes. The most notable thing about this band is the record label, run by Ken Olden, named after the Tony Rettman / Tim McMahon fanzine, and the role of all that in making the Intensity 7″ Common Sense Records #1. Regardless, this isn’t bad, and they have a goofy song about the Jersey Shore. I guess I should edit this and say that I am DEFINITELY a fan of the band, though I don’t see myself dusting this platter off to listen to anytime soon.

It would make more sense if… I don’t know. I guess this could be on an NJ collection that also features Flagman and Reveal stuff (yes, Intensity predated those bands by a few years), but let’s go in the other direction. This could be the weak 7″ on a 12″ with the Turning Point 7″, Release “the pain inside” 7″, and the Release / Courage split 7″. 

Earth Crisis “All Out War” 7″ (conviction / victory records) – Never an Earth Crisis fan, but like Strife, can’t deny how big they were. I guess my best Earth Crisis story was a friend in high school loved them, along with Limp Bizkit, Coal Chamber, Sevendust… you know, Ozzfest metal. 

This would make more sense… on a 12″ with either all vegan bands (like Tenfold, j/k) or all Syracuse / Western NY bands. Let’s say put this, the Firestorm 7″, a Green Rage 7″, and a Framework 7″ altogether. I wouldn’t buy this – but someone would.

Battery s/t 7″ (deadlock records) – Much like the Intensity 7″, no idea why this needs to be bootlegged. I’ll be honest and say that I enjoy the “until the end” 12″ albeit mostly sentimental. Why does this fit in with the Chain of Strength, Intensity, and Earth Crisis 7″s? NO CLUE!

It would make more sense if… it was not bootlegged. But if it had to be, you could put it on a 12″ with the the Fury demo, Far Cry 7″, and the Worlds Collide 7″. If it had to be.

It comes down to the fact that these “Four 7″s on a 12″ bootlegs continue to come out and rarely, if ever, reflect the idea and power of the original Dischord release. Those weren’t four random singles thrown on a 12″ – they were an imprint of what was going on in a specific place at a specific time. In the time it took me to post this I came up with more concise ideas for four separate bootlegs than the one posted, and I don’t think any of those are cool or necessary. Though it shouldn’t even need to be said, a 2010 repress of the Dischord release is far more deserving of the purchase, interest, and listen then some poorly thought out bootleg.