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Quality release with thick as fuck lp cover!

For those of you brave enough to crack the seal, I'd be interested to hear what you think of the additional tracks. We were probably at the peak of our ability to play and write together as a band. These aren't "new" recordings but recordings that we did with Josh Silver at "Sty In The Sky Studios" in the early 90s. BBTAD did a great job bringing these songs back to life. They sound great cranked! Jess had a real flair of capturing the times through his lyrics. I'm very proud of these pieces.
The "acoustic" guitar in the beginning of "Truth" is actually an old nylon-strung classical guitar that I used at school. I studied classical guitar for a short time. I was heavily influenced by Alex Lifeson of Rush. You can probably tell with some of the off-timings in later songs Thank you Alex, Geddy, and Neil!

I think the later recordings are at least equal to the EP tracks Great riffs, melodies and atmosphere, and you should know I'm quite a critical person when it comes to music haha. When I listened to 'Truth' for the first time I remember thinking it somehow seemed the song ended without the crescendo it seemed to be moving towards. 'Messiah' is my favourite, very powerful.

Lots of feedback here :/

To be honest, this is a great reissue, and the money's going to a good cause, but the thick cover issue, well the cover is actually TOO thick, it doesn't fit into a normal protective sleeve without causing the cover to bend, it also adds to shipping costs for no good reason because every other 60's/70's/80's vinyl I have has way way slimmer covers and they've held up just fine. I think the high cost of the BBTAD releases will also be a problem for me in the future, with Street Child, I had to get that and it's cool, but the high cost is going to hinder me from making any random/impulse purchases in the future. I've actually understood that through outsourcing you are paying higher production costs than normal for your releases. It would be great to push the prices down a bit, because this could be done without sacrificing quality.

I also wonder if there is a better solution for us over in old europe. If it's correct that these LPs get pressed inthe Czech republik, then maybe it would be possible to ship them directly from there to the distros like HRR? I also reserved me a copy of STREET CHILD and probably also will buy THE WIZAR'D, but that's it for the moment.

The thick cover is so thick that is a problem, couldn't fit the vinyl and the insert together, one of the two has to stay out.

As far as the music is concerned, I was basically spinning only the a-side until now, I've heard the unreleased tracks only once, however none of them made a great impression on me, nothing on par with 'Erotic Insomnia' or 'Building a wall' which are my favourites from the EP.

Received it yesterday. Great release. I hope more US metal EP's/LP's from the past get this treatment!!!

What makes the cost a bit higher in respect to other releases is not the fact that these are top notch quality and leagues above most other releases around. BBTAD _do not_ charge any extra for quality. It's pretty much production costs at GZ, plus mastering (these are always stunning!), plus layout/graphic work...and take in mind that BBTAD are a respected label that deliver a good amount of royalties to bands for the music they license. And normaly only press 500 pieces, so unit cost is not the same as 1000 pieces (factory offers discount for higher amount). I'm sure you saw the post were Nick gave the price breakdown on the PA LPs, that should be more than enough to explain. You might be thinking...why not press 1000 pieces...well, the total amount of investment would be crushing, I can imagine pressing costs alone going into the ~12000€ range for that case.

They are shipped from Czech Republic directly to the distros in Europe (like myself), but postage costs are very high these days, especially for heavy duty releases like these. For example, SOLSTICE package was 20kg for 20 pieces. Shipping costs charged by GZ were 130€ alone. Please also add Paypal fees...and thats like another 20€, so in the end, 150€ of overhead are added (7,5€ per piece in my case).

I'm in Portugal and carry these at 17€ for STREET CHILD and 26€ for SOLSTICE. I actually think that these are not relatively very high costs, thinking about STREET CHILD for example: if you look at other releases done on single LP, cost will be around 13-15€, so it is 2-4€ of difference. And keep in mind these are casewrapped cover, killer artwork, 180g vinyl, 12"x12" 8 page full colour booklet. In comparison to maybe a normal cover, 140g vinyl and 2 page insert. So, what you pay is what you get, there is no added overcost for the fact that these are higher quality (see Rise Above for a perfect example of overcharging for both releases and shipping costs, plus their quality is rather dubious).

Now, let's say somebody in Europe wants to buy from me, well SOLSTICE is 26€, but then postage costs from Portuguese Post office are 10€ airmail or 13€ registered. So, total cost is 36€ or 39€.

POSTAGE costs are the kicker...I mean if you get it registered, 50% of the cost of the release are added to the total.

Sgt. Kuntz wrote:I also wonder if there is a better solution for us over in old europe. If it's correct that these LPs get pressed inthe Czech republik, then maybe it would be possible to ship them directly from there to the distros like HRR? I also reserved me a copy of STREET CHILD and probably also will buy THE WIZAR'D, but that's it for the moment.

Killer package all round. First time I've heard the band, obviously the original ep is awesome, but I'm really into that track Messiah as well.

As for the cost thing- people crack me up- they'll pay hundreds for an old version but get all tight when they pay a couple of euros more than standard for a brand spanking new one.........

ION BRITTON wrote:The thick cover is so thick that is a problem, couldn't fit the vinyl and the insert together, one of the two has to stay out.

I have no problem with fitting both in the cover. That is of course after widening the cover manually with a lot on manpower.
I wonder how mny centuries it takes before that cover starts to get some ring wear...

Ordered Street Child last week, will provide feedback when it arrives.

Will have to consider ordering Solstice in January, didn't realize i was already available- I need to pay more attention

Thanks everybody for support of the Street Child record. A couple of things for clarification from Russ and I. We do ship straight from GZ to HRR and other distros, they only have to purchase at least 20 copies fro a drop ship as that is the plant minimum.

The heavier case wrapped sleeves we do because we feel they represent certain recordings better, but its just Russ and my opinion. Our next three or four things will have the regular sleeves so that will keep certain costs lower. For ease of getting the records in use the nylon no static sleeves, or for me I just keep them in the gatefold.

There seems to be a coMmon thought that BBTAD charges more for our stuff than most or everybody. If you can get 10 copies(wholesale) here is what we charge not including shipping

WIZAR'D-9 EURO
SOLSTICE-17 EURO
STREET CHILD 11 EURO

To me that is pretty reasonable for what you get. We try to do the best we can with the mastering, detail in booklets and other stuff that we know vinyl people appreciate, whether you agree or not is up to you.

Shipping is what it is and will not get better me thinks, but if you do wholesale the price per copy goes way down. Lastly we do this because we live for metal and love vinyl, we make very little on each release and if you question that we'd ask you send your money elsewhere.

Thanks again for support. Nick & Russ.

Keep doing the heavier case wrapped sleeves, they fucking rule. Any oldtime record collector would be blown away. When I get a record like that, it is always, and I mean always impressive. The one, like Max Planck, in the thin sleeve, they just dissapoint after holding the Gaskin lp you released in your hands!!!! But I know they cost more. I'm in no way saying the music of Max Planck, dissapoints, I just want you to repress it with a think cover just for me, ok?!? haha.

Back to the topic, looking forward to seeing the new stuff, I'm sure they will be impressive. Street Child MLP is a classic, just had it cranked while I was sorting through some of my records for the last 4 hours.

Yes, a Max Planck case wrapped would br killer Rob! hmmmmm....

I need to buy this!