WarZone was one of those bands I discovered from the NYHC: The Way It Is comp. They did a bunch of crappy later records, but I liked the early stuff. By the time I got into them around 2000, even the CD with
Don't Forget The Struggle, Don't Forget The Streets and
Open Your Eyes was out of print and hard to find. In the early days of Napster, I remember downloading a few songs off this record and loving them. I made it a mission to find it on vinyl, only to find out they were going for a lot more than I could afford as a 20 year old. Luckily one boring Sunday I went to my favorite local record store, Curmudgeon Records (RIP), and there it was at the top of the LP wall. Not behind glass, or anywhere special, just on the wall with other records of note that had come in used. I really wanted it, but being not the tallest dude in the world, I couldn't reach it. At the time 2 other hardcore dudes were talking about it, and I figured it was a lost cause. Those 2 would go on to do a high profile record label, and book the majority of good shows in NYC. Luckily they decided to pass on it that day, and my friend at the time Brian was working there. Dude's like 7 ft tall, so he got the record with no problem. It was marked at $20, which was amazing, and was also in awesome condition.
After a little bit of research, I found out that I had scored a first pressing copy of this record. Holy crap, right? The major difference is the song titles on the back cover. This is referred to as the "graffiti lettering," as opposed to later pressings' computer lettering. However, keep in mind in the late 80's computer lettering was extremely pixelated, and looks like garbage. Another difference was that later pressings are on Caroline, and this is on Fist Records. I wonder if that label did anything else... This was one of the first rare records I ever owned, and it definitely holds a special place in my collection.
Also check out that thanks list... WarZone: God warriors.
WarZone was one of those bands I discovered from the NYHC: The Way It Is comp. They did a bunch of crappy later records, but I liked the early stuff. By the time I got into them around 2000, even the CD with Don't Forget The Struggle, Don't Forget The Streets and Open Your Eyes was out of print and hard to find. In the early days of Napster, I remember downloading a few songs off this record and loving them. I made it a mission to find it on vinyl, only to find out they were going for a lot more than I could afford as a 20 year old. Luckily one boring Sunday I went to my favorite local record store, Curmudgeon Records (RIP), and there it was at the top of the LP wall. Not behind glass, or anywhere special, just on the wall with other records of note that had come in used. I really wanted it, but being not the tallest dude in the world, I couldn't reach it. At the time 2 other hardcore dudes were talking about it, and I figured it was a lost cause. Those 2 would go on to do a high profile record label, and book the majority of good shows in NYC. Luckily they decided to pass on it that day, and my friend at the time Brian was working there. Dude's like 7 ft tall, so he got the record with no problem. It was marked at $20, which was amazing, and was also in awesome condition.
After a little bit of research, I found out that I had scored a first pressing copy of this record. Holy crap, right? The major difference is the song titles on the back cover. This is referred to as the "graffiti lettering," as opposed to later pressings' computer lettering. However, keep in mind in the late 80's computer lettering was extremely pixelated, and looks like garbage. Another difference was that later pressings are on Caroline, and this is on Fist Records. I wonder if that label did anything else... This was one of the first rare records I ever owned, and it definitely holds a special place in my collection.
Also check out that thanks list... WarZone: God warriors.
