THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - OPTION PARALYSIS

After the relatively weak 'Ire Works' I didn't really have high expectations for the this album.  After seeing the band at the Barfly in London about a month before the album was released I had higher expectations as the new songs they played that afternoon were great.  While 'Option Paralysis' is a little uneven, there are songs on here that are the best they've written since Calculating Infinity and fans of the bands older material who may have given up after Ire Works should give this a listen.

Season Of Mist released this on black and clear, while Relapse released it on white vinyl. The die-cut sleeve with the spinning disc is something I haven't seen before and is also pretty cool.

Clear /500

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - CALCULATING INFINITY

Back in the day a friend of mine, Mike, would order stuff from the Relapse magazine resound.  I believe they'd mail it out with an order form in the back and you'd fill it in and mail it back with a money order or something or the like.  In 1999 he received a copy of resound with a huge write up about The Dillinger Escape Plan and their soon to be released Calculating Infinity album.  The same edition had a big write up about Coalesce's Revolution in Just Listening too.  The write up made it sound like the future of music.  Instead of ordering a copy through Relapse, Mike ordered one through the local music store, mostly due to the extremely shit Australian dollar which would have made the Relapse order for the album something around AU$40, which was, well, more than the $30 the shop charged.  We were expecting it to take a few weeks.  Mike would go back to the store weekly and ask the metal loving dude that worked there if it was in yet.  It must have taken 6 months for it to arrive.  I can still remember the first time we listened to it.  The anticipation was huge.  We put it on and for the next 30 minutes I had no idea what the fuck was going on.  I must have listened to it daily for 6 months before I full knew what was happening.

I've met a few kids at shows who first got into The Dillinger Escape Plan through Ire Works.  I think they heard the hits, bought the album and were blown away by the less commercial songs.  Most of these kids rate Ire Works as their favourite and I can understand it, it was their first exposure to the band and it probably changed the way they thought about music, much like myself and Calculating Infinity.  I'm not saying these kids are wrong but this album is light years ahead of anything else they've done.

This is one of those albums, like Converge - Petitioning The Empty Sky that really shaped my musical tastes, although I can't say I really listen to anything else like it as the imitators have always been pretty poor.  This is one of my all time favourites.

I have this on phlegm(?), gold and black and while I don't usually collect all the variations would be keen to pick up the root beer.  The insert is also printed up-side-down.  Not sure if they were all like that.

On phlegm / 335

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Live Infinity

A novelty live 7"! I say novelty 7", as it was pressed in such a manner that it required playing instructions, which is somewhat uncommon in the vinyl game. You see, some songs play from the outside in and others from the inside out. It's the type of innovation you need when you are releasing a live 7" that people don't really need. I guess it sucked me in.

I'm not really a big fan of live recordings and it is hard to capture the Dillinger Escape Plan live show on tape so the only reason I bought this was to complete my DEP.

Good to have a final release with Dimitri.

On White vinyl /300.