Minor Punk Rock Scams: BATTALION OF SAINTS- Second Coming LP (Nutrons Records, USA, 1984) vs Death R Us CD
photos currently down I was puzzled when I first saw “8 mm”. Handsome Joaquin Phoenix (“Walk the Line”) played a witty and very likable L.A. “punk” character that immediately reminded me strongly of somebody I had met only a few years earlier in the backyard of my house: Anthony, the singer from BATTALION OF SAINTS. Just like his movie alter ego, he was a bright and nice bloke; you’d just love to sit down with him and have a couple of beers.
So what, you’re saying – this has been re-issued on that “Death R-Us” CD, along with some bonus material. Well, maybe I’m getting a bit paranoid here, or am just fantasising – but that Cd version of “Second Coming” is not the same as my vinyl! It starts right from the beginning in “My Mind’s Diseased” (the band’s super hit and one of the best and catchiest songs that I, professional barker and fan of “Power Metal”, have heard in my nearly 39 years under this sun): Where the original just has this incredible riffing intro, the CD has a bass drum kicking in the beat! There are more differences in many of the songs, but I’ll loeave it you private ears to find them. Also, but that’s maybe due to the 160 kb copy I have from Soulseek, the sound of the CD version doesn’t even come close to that of the vinyl.
Oh yes, and another oddity: Did you ever notice that the LP track listing of the B-side is actually wrong?
BATTALION OF SAINTS were one of the first bands to combine the power of metal (hint hint nudge nudge) with the relentlessness of Punk and the steadyness of Rock – and that combination sounded Hardcore without being Hardcore, really. Amazing! To me, this album is the only american album that has the brute force of DISCHARGE’s “Why” 12″, even you can’t really compare the bands musically. Much of the impact of B.O.S. is probably due to the clean, simple, precise and monotone drumming. When it came out, everybody said that this must be a drum machine and I always believed it.
Though I don’t at all agree with Lemmy that the B.O.S. version of “Ace of Spades” beats the original, it still is an impressive cover and matches perfectly with the rest of the songs and the overall dark, hard and down&out feelin of “Second Coming”.
This, ladies and gentlemen, IS a fucking milestone of a record! And you get the full A-side here, plus “Ace of Spades”.
My Mind’s diseased.mp3 (“Death R-Us” version)
compare with:
My Mind’s diseased.mp3
Animal in Man.mp3
Right or wrong.mp3
Holy Vision.mp3
Buddies and Pals.mp3
No more Lies.mp3
Second Coming.mp3
PS: On a side note: I’ll be selling a beautiful ex/ex spare copy of “Fighting Boys” on eBay soon. If you’re interested in it before it goes up, drop me a line and make an offer. The last one on eBay went for 114$ (ended yesterday).
Anonymous wrote:
damit you’re right. time to get the vinyl. how do you manage to get such a powerful sound in mp3?
[Reply]
Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 10:29 am | Permalink
Erich wrote:
@ Anonymous: I use a pro sound interface with good cabling and a quality stereo system, high bit rate and generally try to put a bit of work in clean cuttings, fade-ins and -outs etc. Apart from that I know the music very well and maybe a bit of my personal energy jumps over to that of the rips, haha.
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 10:35 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
unreal band. seen them many many times from 1981 – 1984.
always heavy, fast and powerfull!!!!this record is great.
timmy
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 12:03 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
and don’t forget that i gorehound aka jordan kratz helped you out to get the decent sound you now get on all your vinyl jobs.
keep on rippin !!!!
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 3:38 pm | Permalink
Erich wrote:
Never shall I forget, Jordan! Ever scrolled down the site and spotted the right column?
Keep on keeping on!
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 3:40 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
really frightening, that cd story. i would never have realized it myself. wonder whether somebody of the band will shed some light on this maybe …..
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 3:54 pm | Permalink
malfeitor wrote:
I had posted a few tracks from the vinyl as a sort of promo for 2 reissues that I thought were a long time coming- BOS and Nip Drivers on CD. Someone wrote and said the very same thing you did about the CD versions being different (particularly in the drum sound) than the original issue of Second Coming, which I was disappointed to hear. You’re sure right about the drumming. Whenever I used to listen to this record I always thought that if you took a bpm reading that every song would be exactly the same speed.
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 4:16 pm | Permalink
otto wrote:
Just finished ripping this from my vinyl copy over the holidays… as usual, your mp3s sound fan-fucking-tabulous next to mine. Cleaner vinyl, bigger sound from the rip… damn you!
Keep the great ones coming. Maybe a Sacrilege post…
[Reply]
Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 4:20 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
Maybe that’s why I never listen to my cd of these songs, although I played the hell out of this record as a kid. I really thought these guys were the coolest thing ever. For some reason a lot of records don’t sound right on cd. Ever compare that useless Bad Posture cd that came out some years back to the original record? Another intense recording that lost half its blast in a digital format.
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Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 7:10 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
THE JELLO BIAFRA TED BUNDY TWIN CONNECTION!!!!!!!
Look at the second picture down on this page:
http://www.alternativetentacles.com/bandinfo.php?band=deadkennedys&page=3&sd=43ZvfRIoDSyooln7zpl
and compare the face of the communist Biafra to the mugshot of TED BUNDY SERIAL KILLER NOT NICE NOT NICE PERSON!
http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/bundykillschicks/
PLEASE ERICH; for the readers who are lazy copy these two photographs and make it into a post. Show the two faces side by side. As Bundy bund killed women, Biafra killed punk.
MILKY
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 12:14 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
THAT WAS NOT OFFTOPIC.
This was on the topic. You compared Harliquin Fetus actor in Wart the Spine and AteMM (Ate Mutilated Midget) to the singer of Bob Albert Faints.
So this makes me think! Now! Let us reveal the TRUTH of the murder of punk by the bloody limp-wristed hands of Jello Biafra and his group who backed by a beat provided by Jello’s tragic Plantation slave; implanted hippie orthodoxy into the punk brain. No longer could a Stiv Bators be accepted into punk, what with him shaving Swastikas in girlfriend’s pubic hair.
MILKY
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 12:25 am | Permalink
Peter - KBDRecords wrote:
Yeah Milky you’re the man!! Or something HA HA HA LOL
.
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 6:28 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
Peter, you made no comment about the guide I posted in the comments for the MC Rad record, which would allow you to escape the cage of wimp cursed upon you by power pop and the fruition of absolute power that may come if you assert this destiny.
[Reply]
Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 6:46 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
GO GO GO read read read.
If you dont RODNEY BINGENHEIMER will put you in his bathtub or make you develop a “fursona”!
Milky
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 6:47 am | Permalink
Erich wrote:
What is “fursona”?
Scary shit, man.
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 7:27 am | Permalink
Erich wrote:
Malfie H-Bomb – would love to read that comment on the drum soundyou mentioned, but couldn’t find it …..
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 7:30 am | Permalink
MILKY AFN wrote:
A “Fursona” is the animal persona of a Furry.
If you don’t know what one is look it up and BE REVOLTED beyond measure.
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Posted on 05-Jan-07 at 7:14 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
not too good. fighting boys 12″ is great.
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Posted on 06-Jan-07 at 2:04 pm | Permalink
Eric wrote:
Holy shite – I never owned the vinyl, just the CD – who knew it could sounds so much freaking better? Thanks for this
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Posted on 07-Jan-07 at 10:25 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
I’m glad I only own the vinyl. It’s
very close, but I always agreed with
Lemme on that one.
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Posted on 08-Jan-07 at 3:03 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for posting this LP!!
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Posted on 11-Jan-07 at 9:15 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
Biafra didn’t killed punk you stupid prick, it was already dead and SO WHAT!
Gorpe
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Posted on 16-Jun-07 at 10:48 am | Permalink
Billy Druid wrote:
Let me set the record straight about the drums on Second Coming. They were, in fact, a drum machine. I would know, I played guitar in BOS from 2003-2005 and this information was drunkenly confessed to me one night by George Anthony himself.
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Posted on 18-Sep-07 at 12:49 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Thanks Billy – I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW IT!!!!!
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Posted on 18-Sep-07 at 12:57 am | Permalink
Hendrik wrote:
I have a vinyl rip of this, and My Minds diseased sounds a lot better without that kickdrum in the beginning…
Would be cool if somebody could answer why the re-issue sounds so much different.
Regarding the drum-sound…I know the question was answered but I just read this post….
[quote]
Ted Olson of Battalion Of Saints
Hey,
I am/was the original drummer in the BATs. I was and still am Ted Olson, I am not dead as most of the other members of the are. I left the band in ’85 because Chris and George were trying to screw me over because their heads got too damn big.
On the album, Second Coming, Chris played all guitars and bass. We had gone through so many bass players that the guy thsat played bass for us when we recorded couldn’t play the songs well enough, so Chris did the bass.[/quote]
http://www.markprindle.com/battalion.htm
Why did they use a drum-machine when the original drummer (if that’s all true) was still in the band??
[Reply]
Posted on 28-Dec-07 at 5:49 pm | Permalink
Good bad Music for bad, bad Times! / BATTALION OF SAINTS / S.V.D.B.- Split 7″ (Mystic Records, USA, 1983) wrote:
[...] If you want to find out how I uncovered one minor Punk Rock scam that involves the BATTALION OF SAINTS, you should click this link. [...]
Posted on 12-Apr-08 at 7:32 am | Permalink
Kountchokula wrote:
You’re quite right, the vinyl has way more “punch” and texture. The Cd has better stereo separation.
[Reply]
Posted on 14-Jan-09 at 11:26 am | Permalink
Battalion of Saints: Live At The Foolkiller in KC, MO 06-18-85 | Oxide Flake wrote:
[...] forward to summer 1985: by this time the Bats had released their first full LP Second Coming (containing several slightly slicker re-recordings of tunes from the demo tapes, singles & [...]
Posted on 27-Jan-09 at 7:29 am | Permalink