I was 17 when United By Fate came out. I became aware of it through a free magazine from my local cd shop that happened to come through my door one day. They described Rivals Schools as "post-hardcore", a term I hadn't come across before but liked the sound of. Based on that intrigue alone, I bought the cd and I became a huge fan. I certainly would have discovered Rival Schools at a number of later points had I not read that magazine that day - they became a huge name amongst my friends (and I even became friends with some guy at college because I recognised the cd in his Walkman), not to mention when the video for Used For Glue started to appear all over MTV. However, something has always pleased me about the slightly coincidental way I came to hear about them. I like it when that sort of thing brings you such excellent music.
Twelve and a half years after I bought that cd, I still love United By Fate. Pretty much everything Walter Schriefels touches turns to gold, but Rival Schools - particularly United By Fate - is especially brilliant. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what makes this album so incredible, but possibly the usual combination of excellent songs and time-and-a-place had something to do with it. If you drew a Venn diagram of Quicksand, Walking Concert and something entirely different, you'd get Rival Schools in the middle (I'm struggling to think what the third circle would be, but I'm glad it's there).
In those 12 and a half years, I saw the original release of United By Fate on vinyl twice. I can't remember where the first one was, but the second was in a record store in Canada in 2009. Both were new copies but both were in terrible conditions and so both times I decided not to buy it. I have no idea how they both got so battered but I knew it'd always bug me. Ironically, now it bugs me that I didn't buy either! The original vinyl had a green cover which looked odd given how familiar I was with seeing that classic logo in blue.
However, last year SRC announced they'd be re-releasing United By Fate on vinyl meaning I'd at least have a copy, even if it wasn't the original that I'd turned down twice. What was more exciting was that it was on some nicely coloured double-vinyl with five bonus tracks. Needless to say, I eagerly pre-ordered. The record turned up about a month after Fest, where I could have bought the same pressing for nearly £10 cheaper, but I wasn't to know that (the moral is to move to America, where records are cheap).
This re-release is thoroughly lovely - all the packaging is excellent and the bonus tracks are a pleasant inclusion (allowing extra justification for spending £26 on an album I already have on cd). The main album is split across three sides of vinyl, but was packed into two sides on the original. The thing that's hardest to get used to is Holding Sand not launching straight into the excitement of My Echo. Of the bonus tracks, I knew The Sweet from the Used For Glue 7" and On Vacations from the Used For Glue cd (although the other b-side, Bells, is curiously missing). The other three were new to me and the sort of songs that could've easily been album tracks.
Anyway, I love this album. If you've read this far, you probably know the album well too, but my favourites were always Undercovers On, Used For Glue and Hooligans For Life. After seeing Rival Schools the first time I went through a phase of putting Hooligans For Life as the first track on mixtapes because I thought I couldn't get over how uplifting it was; it made for a pretty awesome start to things as well as a pretty awesome end to things.
Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, 11"x11" insert
Tracks: 18
Cost: £26 new
Bought: Website
When: 23/11/13
Colour: Blue with white swirl
Etching: none
mp3s: no
