OMG! I Just Spent 5 Hours LIstening To Baltimore Basement Prog Weirdos *HEAVY THE WORLD*

I had a feeling about the thrift store today. My spidey-sense was tingling. Or whatever that feeling is that overgrown, slightly soiled scrubheadz like me get when we know there is vinyl with our name on it out there for the taking. I slipped in to the store quietly and bolted for the records. Same old, same old. Swedish Kim Wilde singles, Shalamar, Carly Simon, Heifetz up the butt, etc, etc. And there it was. Rapped in a red bow and rubberbands and a red tag that said: All For $5. I didn't even look at them. I grabbed it, paid my moolah, and Maria was already in the truck and ready to make our getaway. What did I get?

Heavy The World's 1991 L.P. "The Next World" on their own Imaginary Pirate label. (the cover is fab. Heavy The World playing in a cathedral of stalactites in the grand canyon and Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz is holding one of their records and their is a crowd on the moon and...all of it made out of pictures cut out of magazines. It was sealed too, but I had to open it. Still haven't heard the whole thing, but it's pretty hardrockin'. They made this one after the move to Hollywood to hit it big.

A test pressing of Heavy The World's album "Thick" which is almost the end of the line for the band. They go for the metal gold on this album with songs like "Rock 'Em Child", "F#@$ Off", and "Speed Metal Opus". The band would make one more album and end up getting ripped off by Ross Robinson before calling it quits.

Brad Knox's (Heavy The World's leader. A.K.A. Trash 1) solo release from 1995, Psychoincandescent Souvenir. All bedroom weirdness from various years that must be heard by all. #202/1015 and signed by Brad "Trash 1" Knox. "The Andromeda Stain", "Orange Popcorn", and "Where Have All The Disco Faggies Gone?" just some of the highlights.

AND, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Heavy The World's Unforgotten Worlds. A massive 6 CD BOX SET!!!! of unreleased rehearsals and live tapes. Culled from over 500(!!!) hours of tapes, here is, um, the best Heavy The World rarities from 1981 to 2001. Yes, 2001, because some of the members still get together and jam in Baltimore when their schedules permit. Each cd comes with a video that you can watch on your computer. I haven't tried yet. I can't wait much longer. They made 3 albums in Baltimore in the 80's that I would love to hear. NONE of the stuff from ANY of their albums is on this massive box-set (!!??) Their first album, Runes, was a 3 record set (!) that they made, like 200 copies of. The boxset comes with a thick-ass book that tells the tale of the band in excruciating detail (Like the time that Doc almost got busted for slashing the tires on 93 cars in Towson, BUT Brad's I Ching journal CLEARLY VERIFIED that Doc had been present at an all-nite Heavy The World rehearsal session that lasted all night!). It also comes with a cool replica gig poster from a 1989 show at the Odd Fellows Hall in Pikesville. It also comes with a cool booklet of reviews and gig flyers. AND it comes with a book entitled WORLD BASE written by Brad Knox that is a meticulously annotated guide to Heavy The World set lists and which contains definitive information on every known Heavy The World live concert and studio session EVER!!! Here's a choice entry:

12/22/87 Rehearsal, Burn's House, Baltimore, MD
Guitar solo
(Members of H.T.W. present but only Mike Harris played at this brief session held at the house of Richard Burns.

For the record: Most frequently played cover was "Tarkus".

Oh god, it's almost too much to take in all at once. So many poorly recorded nights at Chester's Place and Dewees Park. That first rehearsal at Mike's house in 1981. They played for 2 hours. You know what they called what they had taped when they were done? "The First Two Hours". Unfortunately we only get 16 minutes of it on the box set. I love the 80's stuff. The wobbly cover of the "Crystal Ship". All those noodle jams. And they got really good by the 90's. They weren't kids anymore. But by the time they hit Hollywood they had lost a little of that Baltimore basement spirit that makes them legends.