Hot Topic 'Hoods

So my last post was about a record I grabbed from Hot Topic, so it's only right I talk about the other record I got from Hot Topic next right? 

Blink 182 - Neighborhoods - 1st Press - Geffen // Interscope - Clear W/ Black & White Splatter / 2700 (Hot Topic Exclusive)

I've been a fan of Blink 182 since before I hit my teen years, and so it's fair to say this band have been a long standing staple in my musical tastes. So it seems odd that I hadn't even heard this record in full until a few days ago when I spun this for the first time. I guess I was worried, as with the exception of a few great bands, comeback records suck. And since this record, nothing about this band has made me want to stick around for the fallouts, cancelled shows etc. so I put it off. Also, I was so into whatever side projects were going on that I was kind of fulfilled.

Back Cover // B-Side 

What I will say is that these records look incredible, and they sound fine to my ears too. The LP's match the art and colour scheme of the record. Plus, the artwork is so busy that you're forever finding new stuff in there, I like it far more for grabbing a copy on wax I think. Plus, against my initial fears I am really warming to this record. 

The records are housed in a triple gatefold sleeve, so it made sense to photograph it in sections so you don't get too much of a blurry mess. I find it a little funny that I bought two double LP's from HT and neither came in a normal gatefold sleeve. Unimportant anomalies like that make me chuckle I guess? These are the first two panels of the inside gatefold. 

The third panel contains the lyrics and credits, alongside a greyscale Smiley logo. The amount of times in my life I nearly had this tattooed on my body. I'm still certain I'll end up with a Blink 182 tattoo at some point, even if it's something little and dumb. I've certainly got more embarrassing band tattoos on me with no regrets so it'll be fine I'm sure! 

The first two panels of the outside. You can see the third panel for the most part in the 2nd photo in this post; and for the detail in the artwork, you struggle to see much without having it in your hands anyway I guess. 

Overall, I'm really chuffed I finally made the dive with this record. The downside is this is my first piece of Blink vinyl, and now I want to try and collect all the HT splatter variants this late in the game. I'll never learn...

Consolation Prize.

I've been a little slack with all things Blink 182 this year, and honestly I'm kicking myself for it. Blink are just one of those bands I've loved since I was a young 'un and they'll always be there. Two great things missed this year were: the Hot Topic re-issues; I managed to miss the first couple released, and so opted out of buying the remaining available titles for self preservation (they were expensive enough, so buying the first batch from eBay would've really sucked). Secondly, they played the UK and it completely passed me by. So as a consolation prize I ended up with this. 

This is the Kung-Fu Records 2014 re-press of the Buddha cassette tape. I believe they were all on White shells and limited to 350 copies. 

Back of the case / B-side. Fairly standard packaging for the most part. Track-listing sticks to the classic Kung-Fu release order, not the 15 tracks found on the Filter Records release (that press looks massively different too). Those copies are crazy rare now and are from a pre - 182 era Blink. That's a whole different story though. If you have an hour to kill, hit up the internet about that, it's a fairly weird tale. 

Spine view. Kung-Fu logo chilling at the bottom of the spine and on the left of the shell. I know that there are various promo / original press copies of this cassette. Most can be told apart by the shell or by the text on the cover. I don't have any other variant and honestly don't know enough on previous copies to tell you much more than that. There are some Blink-182 collector blogs out there that get super in depth though. 

Folding out the J-Card you get this. Far left is presentation text from the label and track-listing with the usual legal gumph beneath the barcode. The centre text explains a little about the original 'Buddha' cassette put out under the name Blink, a little about the recording process and a thanks to Kung-Fu for remastering and re-releasing this. Oh, and some art direction and song credits, including acknowledgement of 'The Girl Next Door' as a Screeching Weasel cover. No mention of Pat Secor mind *coughcough*. 

Reverse of the J-Card. Most of the lyrics are here, but not all. 14 tracks on the cassette, and only 10 lyrics accounted for. I know there should only be 13 as one track is a cover, but it's kind of odd that these lyrics are missing. Not a clue why, but it's cool I guess. Finally, I believe the photo in the top right there appeared on the original Blink/ Filter recs copies of this release.

This has been really fun. Not only to talk about, but picking it up was just the right thing to do. I split an order with a buddy, getting them from Shop Radio Cast. They may still have copies, and I'm not sure if other retailers were carrying them.

Over the years, I do hope to pick up more Blink 182 stuff. I mean, stuff like earlier cassette presses of this (and other releases) might be a little too ambitious, but a boy can dream.

 Blonk 196 forever.