Caution was the first Hot Water Music album I bought, but the story of how I got into HWM really goes back to the story of how my friend Hugh got into HWM, so this first paragraph is about him. Hugh bought Kerrang! magazine nearly every week for at least three years. The great thing about that was that it meant I didn't have to (unless the occasional free cd looked good) because he'd bring it into school or college, and we'd all read it throughout the day. The routine was to turn straight to the gig listings (it's funny to think about the old days, before I had the internet set up to tell me these things), then the reviews, then the articles. Anyway, sometime in 2001, they gave the new Hot Water Music album, A Flight and a Crash, five K's (the highest score, for those not familiar) Something in the review must have appealed to Hugh, because he bought it on that alone (and it probably took some effort to find; I don't remember our local MVC having a Hot Water Music section).
He became a big fan, and one afternoon in Punker Bunker I decided to check them out for myself. I can't remember if he'd even played me any at this point, but for £9 I was willing to chance it. I asked him which of the LPs they had in stock was the best place to start and he said Caution. And that's how this record ended up in my collection (for those interested, it's from the huge first pressing of black vinyl, which is shame given the crazy colours it's been printed on since). It was definitely a grower - I don't remember being blown away the first time I played it, but I'm a big fan now. Depending on my mood, my favourite HWM record moves between A Flight and a Crash, Caution and Fuel For the Hate Game (the latter always feels so different - it's like HWM tried to write the heaviest album they had in them). So many of their biggest songs are on Caution and it has some huge choruses. Highlights are numerous, but Remedy, Trusty Chords, The Sense and Wayfarer are all incredible.
All this brings me to problem I have with HWM (which isn't a fault of theirs, but of mine) is that I want to sing along to these huge choruses, but I have no idea what Chuck and Chris are singing half the time. I've sat down with the lyrics sheet and it's barely even possible to keep up. Those guys squeeze a lot of lyrics in. I've seen HWM three times now and each time I've come away wishing I'd been able to sing along. Each time I've gone home and tried to figure what they're saying, but it never sticks. The layered vocals at the end of The Sense are excellent, but I have no idea how they relate to the words written in the sleeve. I've just about managed the chorus to Trusty Chords, but that's barely scratching the surface.
Anyway, HWM music have had a fairly huge impact on my life in varying ways. Half of the bands we saw regularly in Wales wanted to sound like HWM (with varying degrees of success) and a year after I moved to London, I travelled all the way back to Wales to see HWM play in Newport with all my friends. And that's not even mentioning the fact that I may never have heard Chuck Ragan's solo records if I hadn't first heard HWM.
I don't know what that Kerrang! review said to convince Hugh to check it out, but I'm glad he did.
Format: 12", 16"x12" insert
Tracks: 12
Cost: £9 new
Bought: Punker Bunker, Brighton
When: 16/09/06
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A: "...is a word that I can't understand" Side B: "One hundred records since finding the rhythms...can you believe it?!?"
mp3s: no
