10 years after the release of RPM10 – Revolutions Per Minute – “Fat Wreck Chords” is releasing a anniversary edition of the hardcore punk classic, which features the well-known 12 songs of the Chicago quartet along with the demo recordings of 10 of the 12 songs. Every RISE AGAINST fan knows that the songs from their second work are brilliant. I don’t need to say much about that; the songs have power and very good lyrics. That is well-known, and every fan already has this album anyway, so a new purchase is unnecessary since there’s nothing really new on it. No discarded songs, no outtakes, nothing that would justify a purchase for the owners of the 2003 album.
What can still be achieved in an excellent studio or with an excellent producer is shown by the 10 demo recordings, which are already very good, but the 12 studio mixes are that famous 1% better that sets the album apart from the crowd and makes it brilliant. Alongside minor musical optimizations, especially Tim McIlrath's vocals have been refined, which is particularly noticeable in the song “Torches,” where the vocals sound a bit “off.” It’s interesting what can still be achieved, but you don’t need to buy the album a second time, not for these 10 songs that are already on the 2003 album in better quality.
I can’t say anything about the booklet and co. because I unfortunately did not receive it once again. That gives a minus point, although there are only minus points for an album that no one needs to buy a second time! And that’s all it is. The 12 songs were strong in 2003 and are still strong today (a full 10 points), but to release them together with the demo recordings and promote it as a new album is pathetic.
So what do I do now? 10 points for the old recordings + 5 points for the demo recording – 1 point for the missing booklet – 1 point for the subjective rip-off in my eyes + 2 points because the album (thus) almost reaches the maximum playing time limit. That makes 15 points divided by 5!
