leeway - open mouth kiss

probably my favourite lewway album. reality records did a nice job with this pressing.

leeway - desperate measures

'desperate measures' from 1991 is the second full length of leeway from queens, new york. it feels a little bit like the unloved sibling of 'born to expire' when reading through reviews and fan opinions on the net. i can only partly understand that. yes, the vocals of eddie sutton sound a bit overmixed and yes, the band got a bit experimental here and there, but that's not even a bad thing.

the bad vocal mix aside, 'desperate measures' is a great record from start to finish. i love the ragers like 'make me an offer', 'kingpin' or 'the future (ain't what it used to be)'. i love the songs where they experimented with the melody section like 'stand for' or 'who's to blame', i even like the rap song that is 'two minute warning'.

ok, i also think that 'born to expire' is the better record of the two, but no way 'desperate measures' is a stinker. it's the righteous successor to the throne which 'born to expire' built in the first place. again, i love the overall tone of the album. chris williamson built a massive wall of sound at his normandy sound studios, it's hard to believe that this is not a modern recording.

the band released 'desperate measures' on profile records again. a label that was more known for their hip-hop outputs of run dmc. the label kind of experimented with hardcore bands like murphy's law or leeway. unfortunately they failed to promote those releases properly and so leeway's second full length faced a massive delay of release. the label couldn't use the momentum leeway had after 'born to expire'.

maybe another reason why 'desperate measures' wasn't as successful. anyway, reality records did another great job with this re-press. original artwork, extended liner notes, a digital download with a bonus of a live-set from the band's first european tour from 1991 and this lovely vinyl colour. green marble which looks best hold up to the light. 300 copies made. reality records. 2015.

leeway - born to expire

in my last post i let shine through that i bought myself some leeway vinyl. as i love those nineties crossover bands such as biohazard or merauder, i was very interested when reality records from belgium announced a re-press series of leeway's back catalogue. the first two in line would be 'born to expire' and 'desperate measures'. the first mentioned being a real classic.

i didn't know much about leeway at this point, to be perfectly honest. when i was talking to my uncle about the re-issues he raved about leeway's sound and the massive impact they had on him. he saw the band play live in the early nineties and was blown away. they were the hot shit back then. so i decided to listen to some music on the net and maybe pull the trigger on this reality records pressing.

you know, i don't really like thrash induced hardcore and leeway definitely has a thrashing edge to their sound, but somehow this band got me hooked. i listened to a few songs of each record and decided that i needed some vinyl copies in my collection. at that point, it must have been late march, i pre-ordered at core tex. and the oddyssey began.

after several delays the records came in over half a year later than actually planned. i don't know what went wrong but pressing plants are pretty much booked out these days because of the great demand. so this re-press probably fell victim to full order books. the outcome, however, compensates for the long wait. thankfully reality records stood true to the original look of 'born to expire'.

it comes in a slip sleeve, an insert with all lyrics and a printed dust sleeve. the dust sleeve has loads of interesting liner notes printed on it. statements from craig ahead to daryl jennifer plus a detailed review on the events leading to 1988's 'born to expire' of carlos ramirez from noecho.net. love that! it gives you an impression of the time the record came about. i bought this lovely white marble vinyl out of 500 copies. lovely all around. reality records. 2015.