COLOSSUS

the CITIZENS ARREST 2 x 12" discography, called COLOSSUS finally surfaced yesterday. I hope I don't need to tell you how fucking brilliant this band was (and still is!)? in any case, the packaging is as top-notch as the music. COLOSSUS comes in a gatefold cover and incl. a double-sided poster, a thick booklet with pics, flyers, etc. and the records are made of the 160g vinyl type. music-wise this discography is a little bit incomplete as the tracks from the live 8" and the CRUCIAL CHAOS radio-show on WNYU are missing (except one track of the later). the liner-notes say that the 8" tracks weren't included cause of the bad quality. that's a pity cause those tracks are as raw & vicious as it can get so who gives a fuck about the quality in that case? and as even my tape with the radio-show still is of ok quality I assume that a 1st generation copy of that show should have a quality that one could use without embarrassing oneself. what surprised me was that the tracks from the SONGS FOR THE SOCIALLY RETARDED tape comp. were not only left off the tape comp. isn't even mentioned anywhere. anyway, now that I told you what you won't get it's about time I tell you what you get. the a-side of the 1st 12" has the tracks from their 1989 demo on which the vocal duties were handled by a guy called Ted Leo while the later singer Darryl Kahan played drums. the b-side then follows up with the 6 tracks from their A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 7" which was released in 1990 and which could be described in one word as: masterpiece. the 2nd 12" starts with the tracks from the various comps. on which CITIZENS ARREST appeared like the LOOK AT ALL THE CHILDREN NOW 12" comp., the FOREVER 7" comp., etc. and ends with a cover of RED C's PRESSURE'S ON that was supposed to be on the FUCK ROCK - ABC NO RIO comp. that never saw the light of day and was therefore unreleased till now. on the b-side you then get the tracks that were on their full-length from 1991 which also was already called COLOSSUS. to make a long story short: in my book HARDCORE is divided in two periods from start till 1994 and from there till now. why? cause from start till 1994 NEGATIVE APPROACH have been the only band that came close to usurping CITIZENS ARREST 's throne. they fought tooth and claw for the pole-position in my personal ranking till finally CITIZENS ARREST could slowly gain the upper hand in 1993. but when they just tried to catch their breath GEHENNA launched their 1st ambush attack and the war was on again and still goes on today! to spell it out for you: buy this record!
edit: when I found out that there is also a "die-hard" edition (= colored wax & incl. a patch) I immediately ordered one. now the sad thing is that after I placed my order I recognized that the label also distributes a lot of National-Socialist Black Metal which is a total let down! why CxA decided to work with those asscandles is beyond me as every label would have been honored to release the discography! therefore my new advice is: try to get the original records on e-bay or where ever you find them (I could maybe help you with a copy of their 12" or either pressing of the 8" which isn't on the record anyway). b.t.w. if you want to sell/trade me a copy of the A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 7" or the COLOSSUS 12" on red vinyl shoot me an e-mail.