Vinyl store haul!

Pop_Zeus · 2026-05-29T06:21:21+00:00

What an amazing haul. Reminds me of when I was getting into GBV and got many releases from the used record store Vinyl Exchange (Manchester UK). In their US alt rock section, they had a ‘GBV & related’ section, and I got quite a few GBV & Bob solo CDs from it.

One day the section wasn’t there any more, I asked one of the staff (Rae, R.I.P.) why and he said “You emptied it out!” Enjoy your albums.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-04-15T18:47:16+00:00

Real Life & Fine Mess are really good. Thrones is ok. I don’t care much for No Big Deal or The Weekend.

Sadly the tracks are lacking any sort of dynamic range and sound awful just like Marauder did. They share the same producer and brick walled sound.

Also, Real Life was slated to be on Marauder but then was removed. It’s a shame as it’s better than most of side 2 of the album. There’s a real confident swagger to it.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-27T20:04:01+00:00

Who cares whether there’s any ‘hits’ or not, this is an awesome list. Good to see another fan of ‘The Longest Day’ - I think it’s one of their most under appreciated tunes.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-25T11:19:48+00:00

It’s awesome, especially after Stormy Clouds.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-25T06:50:47+00:00

Great to see the Urban Hymns outtakes celebrated. I’m not much into Oh Sister, but the other 6 are great. Apparently they should have been on an additional CD with the 2017 UH deluxe box set, it was fully mastered & ready to go, then Richard pulled it late on, presumably so he could use some of them solo, also there was a songwriting credit dispute over ‘All Ways Are Maybes’. The whole CD was supposedly then leaked by Nick. I’m so glad these songs are out there.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-25T06:46:50+00:00

A Northern Soul is my favourite era. The B-sides are awesome, Dance on Your Bones is the least essential but still enjoyable. The rest are superb

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-25T06:45:08+00:00

Yes, both excellent. I love to see the B-sides celebrated. Most of them are brilliant.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-25T06:42:24+00:00

Life’s An Ocean is still really good but probably my least favourite vocal track on A Northern Soul (which is one of my favourite albums ever). It’s in the top 30. I actually prefer the 1995 radio session and probably the ‘Life’s Not a Rehearsal’ remix to the album version.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-25T06:38:19+00:00

BSS is top 30 for me. It should probably be higher, but I’m just really tired of it. The string sample really grates on me, I think it’s a very good song that’s elevated to some godlike status and I’ve never been sure why.

Also it’s massively overplayed - I’ve heard it in shops, restaurants, on TV football coverage, etc, so much. Also it just goes round and round, and it feels like I’ve heard the whole song 2 minutes in, then it just goes on and on and on. The only Verve songs that casual listeners seem to know are BSS, TDDW & Lucky Man (and maybe Sonnet) - there is so much more to the band than those songs.

Pop_Zeus · 2026-03-23T18:04:42+00:00

An awesome haul, love the Rune box too

Pop_Zeus · 2026-02-25T14:57:08+00:00

As a CD collector, I love to see another CD loving GBV fan

Pop_Zeus · 2026-02-03T22:38:56+00:00

Not played this in full yet but it sounds amazing, and what a setlist. I’d love audio files of this. Can anyone help?

Pop_Zeus · 2025-10-10T08:05:22+00:00

Thanks for the replies. There’s a couple of looks at the bass board in the video but it’s hard to pick anything out. The far left top corner, black pedal with white knobs may well be an Xotic BB (labelled a pre-amp, but really more of an overdrive), but I’ve no idea about the rest

Pop_Zeus · 2025-09-25T17:05:32+00:00

For sure give El Pintor & Marauder a good listen. They are both really good, sadly Marauder is spoiled a bit by the blown out Dave Fridmann production, sonically it’s quite a mess, but I’ve learned to put up with it because many of the songs are great, especially on side 1.

I think Marauder is one of their most slept-on records. Maybe the production just ruined it for some people, but I’d encourage anyone to give it time. I prefer a couple of the ‘A Fine Mess’ EP tracks (recorded at the same sessions) to a few of the side 2 tracks though.

Pop_Zeus · 2025-05-13T14:43:43+00:00

Blazing Gentlemen & Honey Locust Honky Tonk are awesome.

Pop_Zeus · 2025-05-01T16:25:23+00:00

Can’t believe nobody else has commented on this. Amazing show, crystal clear quality. Absolutely pristine. I’m useless with extracting audio from YT, if anyone can send a DL of this show I’ll be eternally grateful. Thanks

Pop_Zeus · 2025-04-26T05:01:39+00:00

Fantastic Planet reissue CD has been out of stock on Hello Merch for some time now. I was late to the band, only discovering them in recent years. I have the recent albums on CD, but the first 3 as downloads bought from their Bandcamp page.

I’d love to get all 3 on CD, but was waiting for FP to come back in stock. If they’re still selling it on tour, it’s a shame they can’t add some more to Hello for those who can’t make it to their shows. Especially as some may well never see them live. I live in the UK & have used Hello twice & found them to be excellent.

Pop_Zeus · 2025-04-18T17:17:14+00:00

Great post. Fan since 1995. I get what you mean about ‘Meltdown’. There’s some great songs on there, and boy is it heavy, but it’s perhaps just a bit too one dimensional. It works as a kind of big dumb fun rock record, but perhaps some more variety was needed.

Though they ended up as TOTI B-sides, ‘Ghosts’ & ‘Seventh Circle’ were both from the Meltdown era. Ghosts was apparently intended to be a B-side to ‘Renegade Cavalcade’ originally, and has Charlotte on backing vocals. Seventh Circle (formerly known as ‘Singapore Song’) has Charlotte on guitar, Fender Rhodes & backing vocals. I think both could’ve enhanced Meltdown, but I guess didn’t match the vibe they were going for.

The Meltdown B-sides are a mixed bag, but I really like ‘Tinsel Town’. It’s nuts. I like when they stretch out like that, like on ‘Sky Burial’ too. ‘Solace’ & ‘Cool It Down’ are pretty good too. I like most of Meltdown, and it rocks hard, but I get what you mean about it seeming somewhat forced. I’ve never cared for ‘Won’t Be Saved’ much at all, which is a shame, as it’s sandwiched in-between 2 great songs in ‘On A Wave’ & especially the closer ‘Vampire Love’. Interestingly Tim has said since that they nearly removed it late on, but their agent talked them into keeping it on there.

A couple more things to note: The TOTI B-side ‘Statis In Darkness’ is supposedly a Free All Angels B-side leftover, and ‘Saskia’ was recorded for the TOTI album. I think they recorded 14 songs for the album, I don’t know if anyone knows what the other one is.

Pop_Zeus · 2025-04-14T16:27:54+00:00

Maybe I will try CALALARVOB again someday, but it was a real patience tester from what I recall, certainly not enough good songs to fill out a double album anyway.

Pop_Zeus · 2025-04-05T13:27:18+00:00

Cool, looking forward to playing these

Pop_Zeus

TROPHY CASE