(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best metal music

Thanks to u/checkerdamic for inviting me to do a Record of the Week post. After thinking about it, I decided to do the eponymous first Die Kreuzen LP, which is one of my favorite records but is often overlooked, even by folks who would be into it. Hope you enjoy the write-up!

The Band and Record

Die Kreuzen were (are?) a band from Milwaukee, WI, who formed around 1980. Originally named The Stellas, they quickly changed their name to Die Kreuzen, which is a term for the sign of the cross that they found in a German bible. The lineup consisted of:

• Eric Tunison, drums.
• Keith Brammer, bass.
• Dan Kubinski, vocals.
• Brian Egeness, guitar.

Like a lot of new bands at the time, they drew inspiration from the early punk rock and hardcore records of the time – Brammer characterized the first Circle Jerks and Germs record as their “touchstones”, along with Ron Reyes and Dez Cadena-era Black Flag, the first Ramones record, and the early Sex Pistols singles.

After kicking around for a while and recording for a few compilations (including the semi-legendary Charred Remains cassette compilation), they recorded their first 7” in 1983, titled “Cows and Beer,” on Version Sound records (apparently recorded by a friend who had “some studio time available as part of her thesis for audio engineering”). I, unfortunately, do not have a copy, but here is a kind of cool catalog from the Articles of Faith 7” that points out that it is “coming soon.” Cows and Beer was also repressed in 2007 and is widely available in that form. Our heroes then decided to move to San Francisco, where they rapidly began to run out of money and, after playing a big show with the Dead Kennedys, D.O.A., and Personality Crisis (side note: holy shit, what a lineup!), went back home to Milwaukee and broke up.

Thankfully, the story did not end there; they figured out that life without the band was no fun and got back together. It’s 1984 at this point. At some point before the breakup, they had played a show with The Necros, whose bassist Corey Rusk ran (and runs) Touch and Go records. Rusk had offered to put out a record for them before the breakup, and the offer was still good after the breakup, so they went to Detroit, hit the studio, and knocked out the album in a few days, redoing some of the songs from Cows and Beer and adding a bunch of new ones.

The band went on for a number of years, and, after this record, changed styles dramatically in a number of ways. That’s beyond the scope of this post, but I highly recommend the oral history below (which is where I got much of the information for this section):

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2012/05/24/century-days-the-story-of-die-kreuzen/

The Music

The album has 21 songs, most clocking in at less than a minute and a half in length. I was tempted to describe them by just relying on this legendary review from Tim Yohannon in MAXIMUMROCKNROLL at the time, but that might be a little less than I’m supposed to do here.

It’s a clichéd thing to say, but it sounds like nothing else at the time, or since. It is unquestionably rooted in the hardcore from whence they came, but much more musically complex and interesting without losing the visceral energy that makes early HC so great. Comes out of the gate like a bomb with the song Rumors. More bass-forward than a lot of stuff at the time (similar to some post-punk bands, but far more aggressive), with incredibly frantic and galloping drums, with trebly, jagged guitar lines across it all (perhaps some early DK’s influence to the guitars in a song like No Time). And the vocals are incredible, raw-throat-shredding noise that are largely incomprehensible but completely fucking awesome. This is where I wish hardcore music had gone in the second wave.

I have a particular affinity for the song All White, which is a slower, noisy track (and the longest one on the album, at three and half minutes!). The slight pause at just after 1:30 (and a couple of other places) in the link I provided kills me, as does the gradual slowdown/speedup near the end of the song – just so badass. Incredible stuff, and more influential than it gets credit for.

The band went on to record several more albums, but all had a different style – slower, and less chaotic, more along the lines of the Echo and the Bunnymen post-punk stuff with a little more bite. It’s all good stuff, and I give them much credit for progressing as a band (although this is the most late 80/early 90s dark alty music video I can imagine), but none of those records ever grabbed me the way the first one did.

While I was working on this, I stumbled across a few live videos from the early days, though -- this one from who knows when:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz5pjQjbVqY

And this one from public access TV, which would have really benefited from an actual crowd being present:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPQtOdwy4Lw

My Connection

I first heard this record around 1992 or 1993, when I was in college and an older friend with a badass record collection and encyclopedic knowledge of music dubbed a cassette of it for me. I was super into classic hardcore, as well as the great bands of the time (Fugazi, Jesus Lizard, that sort of thing), and this was kind of the best of both worlds; it was a regular in my Walkman as I wandered around campus.

Another friend of mine (exposed to it through the same source) found a used copy of it in a local store and bought it. That friend’s house was one of our central hangout spots; on the weekends, we would gather at his place with a few quarts of King Cobra or Olde English and get loaded, which often would up with us gathered around his record player listening to records. This one was in regular rotation (as was the Angry Samoans “Back from Samoa,” the first Drive Like Jehu LP (as an aside, DLJ’s If It Kills You is one of the greatest songs ever written), and Naked Raygun’s “Understand” (once we got tanked, Wonder Beer would usually make an appearance).

It was a great time. We were all into music, some of us were in bands, and I booked shows, did a radio show, and did a fanzine sporadically. And we were fiercely independent, to a kind of ridiculous (and somewhat silly) degree in retrospect. In a time when the world wasn’t so interconnected, we felt as if we were a part of something much broader than ourselves, and carrying on a tradition bands like this had started – if they could do it, why couldn’t we? In particular, what I thought was so great about this band is that they were from someplace completely un-hip (Wisconsin?), and so were we, and they had created something mind-blowing. I’ve always loved the middle-of-nowhere bands that sounded like they were screaming back against the world around them and created something that was uniquely their own. To some degree, that was a product of the pre-internet age; while there’s plenty that is great about the internet, I do miss the way bands like this could develop in relative isolation and create something new with what they could find through the nascent underground network of mailorder, fanzines, and compilation tape exchanges. There were plenty of bad things about those times, too, but that part was awesome.

The Pressing

Well, I mentioned my original copy of this was a dubbed cassette, and that kept me going for a number of years. My copy of it now is vinyl, but a relatively recent repress and not one that’s particularly interesting. Sorry! I would love to find an older copy sometime, without the UPC code and web site printed on it, but not yet. Alas. Nice thing is that the record is still available, although I can make no representations about the quality of the current pressing. It’s not exactly something that requires immaculate reproduction and sound quality, though. You can tell the early pressings because they have a Maumee, OH address for the label, while later ones have a Chicago address. First pressings have a light blue label.

Here's a few that I have and love

Dave Matthews Band - Crash: All analog master and cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and pressed at MPO. Some bias, because I'm the resident DMB fan on r/vinyl, but this is a perfect release and what every band should model anniversary vinyl releases after. If Radiohead had done this with OK Computer, it would have been 1000x better; missed chance. Anyways, this is a must have for any DMB fan. $30 on Amazon

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik: All analog cut. Not sure if Bellman did this or Grundman himself, but it was cut at BGM. Maybe one of the best sounding remastered albums in my collection. It's extremely detailed and "revealing". Definitely recommend picking this up, both on the quality and the music itself - one of the best albums of the early 90's. $30 on Amazon

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium: Another all analog mastering and cut RHCP album, this one by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray. All versions (original, deluxe, and reissue) use the same stampers. It's a rarity that a 2006 album was recorded analog, so it's wonderful they kept the vinyl AAA. Full bass, and a really detailed high end. Highly recommend if you're into the band, it's a steal at $33 for a 4xLP

Nirvana - In Utero: Released for the album's 20th anniversary, this was a direct metal mastering and cut that used the albums original cut and contains a bonus disc featuring alternate mixes. There was also a version released in 2013 with all alternative mixes and was also all analog. Both are great and fully dynamic, though I prefer the original mix. Whichever mix you prefer, go with that version, you won't be let down.
$50 shipped (lowest available) for the 20th Anniversary release | $25 for the 2013 mix thru Walmart

Nirvana - Nevermind: Bernie Grundman mastered this one himself, and keeping with the theme from above this is all analog as well. Maybe the best album of the 90's, this is (in my opinion) the ultimate version of it. This master was released by ORG in 2009, but it was released again from the Geffen label using the same stamper in 2013 and pressed at Pallas. $24 on Amazon

Van Morrison - Moondance: This is the 2008 release, mastered and cut analog by Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray at Acoustech and pressed at RTI. There's a really good discussion about this remaster and specifically the mix of Into the Mystic over at the Steve Hoffman Forums. $18 on Amazon

Phish - Junta/A Picture of Nectar/Lawn Boy/Rift/Hoist: All of these Phish albums are fan-freaking-tastic sounding. Bellman did them all at BGM and used all analog sources and cuts for each, minus Rift which was cut from hi-res digital files. All can be found at Phish Dry Goods for $50 each. A bit pricey but well worth it IMO!

The Beatles - 2014 Mono Remasters: If you want the ultimate, most true to the original, Beatles releases; this is what you want. These are all analog and do everything to mimic the UK first press releases. There's always good debate about Mono/Stereo for The Beatles, but there's no debate that these are top notch releases. You can buy the whole box for ~$350 or each release individually for $15-$25 each if you search for each on Amazon

There's really an endless amount of good, affordable, new records with great sound. Check out Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi/MFSL), Analogue Productions, Analog Spark, Music Matters, among others. MOV also does great work, though they generally use hi-res digital rather than tape to cut from. Also, look for the mastering engineers I mentioned above - Chris Bellman, Bernie Grundman, Steve Hoffman; plus Kevin Gray, Scott Hull, among others

it's not the same as live and in person, but there are a few ways you can get the feeling of what a nin concert was like. trent reznor was very open to nin shows being recorded, and thus we have a lot of great memories that can be viewed/listened/relived for us who were there, and also viewed for the first time by new nin fans.

there are a couple dvd releases of concerts that you can purchase - and all that could have been & beside you in time, PLUS an amazing fan-created dvd called another version of the truth: the gift. seriously, the effort and teamwork that went into that project was amazing. the people behind that project also helped put together a video (near the bottom of that page) of nin's live performance of the entire TDS album, sourced from many different people that were at that show, vtaping the whole thing. also amazing.

plus there's tons of fan-sourced videos of nin concerts floating around on youtube. i would recommend watching some of the 2006 summer amphitheatre shows, which had amazing (i keep saying that word, but i can't think of anything stronger) light and screen special effects. specifically, look up "closer", "only", and "non-entity". the beside you in time shows had amazing hi-tech effects as well.

Like previous user mentioned, Machina II wasn’t commercially released. It’s always been available online per BC’s instructions. Here’s a good link that includes cover art, more information, and the album itself:

Machina II

As far as Zeitgeist goes, if you buy a copy online somewhere, try to find the silver Best Buy edition. It has some great bonus tracks and a making-of DVD.

For example, one like this.

Wish I could be discovering these albums for the first time. They’re among my favorites. Enjoy!

Edit: Oh, and as far as “why” Zeitgeist isn’t available anywhere, BC said something on Instagram along the lines of, “No one appreciates it now, so I’m waiting til people come around to it.” Very much paraphrasing here, but that was the idea. Bottom line, it wasn’t a successful album, so he’s crossing his arms and punishing any new fans like yourself who might want to delve further into his discography. I think he’s trying to “George Lucas” the Pumpkins legacy, so to speak, but it’s a great album.

There are two releases that have shared a similar fate to Zeitgeist: the American Gothic EP and his solo album, TheFutureEmbrace. If you haven’t heard those, I recommend them as well, particularly TheFutureEmbrace.

/rant

I generally just listen to The Best of the Doors Disc 2, Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul for Rock n' Roll, or even White Zombie - Super Swingin' Sexy Sounds... Me and my partner both like the simplicity and theme that an album creates. Protip: The Best of The Doors (disk 2) Is an amazing album to fuck to, and normally we both end up cumming on the last track. Then the music's over and we turn out the light.

Opiate: $12.59
Lost my first copy I got at a record store in the 90's, re-bought this on Amazon.


Undertow: [$16.98](http://www.amazon.com/Undertow-Vinyl-Tool/dp/B000000992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346420953&sr=8-1&keywords=tool+vinyl
&qid=1346420953&sr=8-4&keywords=tool+vinyl)
I bought in '95 at a local record shop in PA. Easily available on Amazon.


Ænima:$300 / $50
Original prints are $300+ on Ebay
The knockoff that I have sell cheaper on Ebay


Lateralus: $38.99
bought from ToolArmy, didn't have the cash to get the $150 signed one
at the time. Not too expensive on Ebay right now.


10,000 Days: $49.99
Never released by the band only knockoffs available on Ebay


Salival: $69.99
Also never officially released. I don't have one of these, but knockoffs available on Ebay. Too expensive for a knockoff. I'm happy just having my original VHS copy.

$238.54 gets you all the knockoffs. If you want the 4 originals it'll be $368.56

Hope that helps.

I'm a metal head.. 70's and 80's rock/metal music is the best :P

I'm a Batman fan... Well my name is Robin so it's impossible for me to not be a Batman fan xD

Aaaand... that's everything mildy interesting about me xD

It's on Youtube but like people said, it's the from the IDR: The Deluxe Video Album.

I just bought a copy on Amazon for like $7...showed up yesterday actually.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000TAZJW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR91Rj1ZN1M

Mad World. Those feels. It can remind me of a lot of things but mostly it reminds me of my older sister who committed suicide about 10 years ago.

This cd if I win?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000641ZIQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OCYQBIQB0HKN&coliid=I2D7Z5TDMI30R8

Edit- because the 2 year old stole my mouse and clicked save too soon :-p

I am completely [music] (http://www.amazon.com/Californication-Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers/dp/B00000J7JO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3B9XQV6CY0NFW&coliid=I2DTRAXKDQ1EVY) obsessed lately.

Something that made me happy, everything. All of you people. Several in particular. Thank you guys for being my friends D:

| | |
|-:|:-|
|player|http://radd.it/r/listentothis/comments/1i0dqu/alestorm_captain_morgans_revenge_goddamn_pirate/|
|track|Captain Morgan's Revenge|
|mp3|Get the mp3 from amazon!|
|album|Captain Morgan's Revenge|
|released|Jan 2008|
|cover|http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/74588650.png|
|cd|Get the CD from amazon!|
|artist|Alestorm|
|about|Alestorm is a folk metal band from Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterized by a pirate theme, and as a result have been dubbed a pirate metal band on a popular heavy metal related website. They refer to their genre as "True Scottish Pirate Metal". The band formed under the name Battleheart in 2004. After releasing two EPs, they were signed by napalm records in 2007 and renamed themselves Alestorm. Their debut album was released on 25 January 2008. The band's third album, Back Through Time, was released in June 2011.|
|pic|http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/56545491.png|
|formed|2007|
|wikipedia|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alestorm|
|soundcloud|http://soundcloud.com/alestorm|
|official homepage|http://www.alestorm.net/|
|discogs|http://www.discogs.com/artist/Alestorm|
|social network|https://www.facebook.com/alestormband|
|discography|http://www.musik-sammler.de/artist/82836|
|myspace|http://www.myspace.com/alestorm|
|youtube playcount|9263|
|lastfm listeners|180443|
|lastfm playcount|7931229|
|permalink|http://reddit.com/r/listentothis/comments/1i0dqu/alestorm_captain_morgans_revenge_goddamn_pirate/|


Why yes, I am a bot. I've been requested to comment in this subreddit.
Please let me know if I made a mistake!

Do yourself a favor and check them out then.

Moths and Rust

Sojourner

Telos

Also pre-order this because you're going to want to hear the whole thing haha

Good luck finding an official pressing of the Fragile for a reasonable price...

"This release has several bootleg copies in wide circulation, including those pressed on red vinyl, and those with the white shrinkwrap sticker printed as part of the back artwork."

http://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Vinyl-Nine-Inch-Nails/dp/B00001P4TI

Price History

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Well, here's a 14 disc Rammstein box set, with free Prime shipping, so sure, why not? https://www.amazon.com/XXI-Vinyl-Box-Set-14/dp/B016EAZ6DK

a) Gallbladder~

a) 7/10

b) 7/20

CD

You better get well soon and stuff o:

Both physical and digital are up for pre-order now! =D

Hard copy & bundles: http://forevermore.merchnow.com/

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/ForevermoreiTunes

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Integral-Forevermore/dp/B01E8FE3AK

You should check out Alestorm on amazon.com then.

I bought it.

DRM free mp3s? Why not?

Wow. Idk why I thought of this

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If you're from the US it's on Amazon and fluctuates between $235 and $260.

If you factor in each record coming out in December for $35 and that Raritaten is $100 if you can find it, the Amazon pricing is good. I wouldn't pay $350.

But, I will tell you it's not hyperbole... these tracks have genuinely never sounded better and it's immediately noticeable.

Could it be Orgy?

They sing a cover song that was popular back then called 'Blue Monday'

You mean this? It was definitely officially released. Even on cassette.

So I found the NIN - And All That Could Have Been DVD at my local Half-Price Books. Holy smokes. The live performance of NIN in 2000 is a hallmark of its time.

My favorite track so far is La Mer. YouTube doesn't do it justice. It's so good in 5.1 surround.

well vatismyvagina wants this

she is going to get her PhD in Psychology

What's Going On?

(I rather appreciate the cover version on eMotive, which is an album of nothing but anti-war/pro-peace covers)

I had a remix CD they did called Supersexy Swinging Sounds. I confess that I didn't hate the cover art.
This one is up on You Tube.

Just found it on amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000Y1H7VA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520296264&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=zeitgeist+smashing+pumpkins&dpPl=1&dpID=51fBSS%2BhEtL&ref=plSrch

These records are really common. Here it is on Amazon for $25 bux. https://www.amazon.com/Undertow-Vinyl-Tool/dp/B000000992/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=tool+vinyl&qid=1565982910&s=gateway&sr=8-2

1. I’ve seen them 24 times from Coast to Coast (in the US at least) and have never paid anywhere close to $200 for a ticket. Including a show at a small NY Opera house on the 10K Days mini-tour where I was greeted by a tux-wearing usher and had to check my coat at the door.
   
   
2. Radiohead and Beyoncé (among others) - 2 of the biggest names in music whether we want to admit it or not - have both dropped brand new albums with NO prior warning, marketing or announcement of any kind. Tool announced the release date months in advance and even told fans in advance that new music was going to be played on the tour that just completed.
   
   
3. Here is Lateralus Vinyl for under $30:
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005BGV2
   
   Undertow Vinyl for $25:
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000000992/
   
   Opiate Vinyl for $9:
   https://www.amazon.com/Opiate-Ep-Tool/dp/B00000098N
   
   
4. The setlist from this most recent tour contained 11-13 songs depending on if it was a festival gig or not.
   
   Of those 11-13 songs - TWO were brand new tracks, ONE was a brand new drum solo, and THREE others (Intolerance, Sweat, and Part of Me) have been extremely rare cuts over the last decade (or more).
   
   So going into the most recent tour, chances were 100% that out of the 11-13 songs they were going to play, you were going to get no less than 3 new songs you’d never heard before (period) and almost 100% that you’d get a 4th song you’d at least never heard live before.
   
   
5. Now get off your f’ing soapbox. We need the f’ing space to nail the next fool poster.

Price Chart:

https://charts.camelcamelcamel.com/us/B075795D51/amazon.png?force=1&zero=0&w=725&h=440&desired=false&legend=1&ilt=1&tp=all&fo=0&lang=en

I'm assuming this one:

Blood Sugar Sex Magik https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005VPLZ76/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qAASzbFX3SMEC

Price History Graph

Also,

CD - https://www.amazon.ca/Master-Puppets-Remastered-Metallica/dp/B0757HTJCZ/

3CD (Expanded Edition) - https://www.amazon.ca/Master-Puppets-Remastered-3CD-Expanded/dp/B0757DV91P/

Vinyl - https://www.amazon.ca/Master-Puppets-Remastered-Vinyl-Metallica/dp/B075795D51/ (not up)

• tool undertow
  
• tool Lateralus

https://www.amazon.com/CKY-Infiltrate-Destroy-Rebuild-Deluxe/dp/B0000TAZJW

It's a CD of covers but try this

BYIT

AATCHB

I actually linked this in the sidebar a while ago :)

The actual DVD title is Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild: The Deluxe Video Album so I called it IDR: The Video Album.

SECTION | CONTENT

--|:--
Title | Megadeth - Mechanix (HD/1080p)
Description | Artist: Megadeth Track: 7 of 8 Album: Killing is my Business...And Business is Good! Year: 1985 I don't need to say much here. What I will say though, is buy the goddamn album!: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00005V0X5/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1333421651&sr=8-1&condition=new
Length | 0:04:27






****

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