I listen to Till the Wheel Fall Off a lot more than I do regular HWM music albums. The album collects what Wikipedia is calling "b-sides and rarities", but I think calling these songs b-sides would be doing most of these songs a disservice - some bands produce some incredible songs when working to create an EP or a one-off track, and that definitely seems true of HWM.
One of the reasons I listen to this so much is that there are some incredible songs on it - Kill the Night is amongst my favourite HWM songs and a great way to start the album. Beyond that you've also got "God Deciding", their excellent cover of Alkaline Trio's Bleeder (both, as it happens, songs that Chuck has often played solo), Home (unreleased before this record) and an early version of Wayfarer which is also up there amongst their best songs. Some brilliant songs for a collection album.
The latter half is dominated by a variety of covers, including their Turbonegro cover that I also have on the Alpha Motherfuckers tribute album. It feels much less coherent towards the end but that adds some charm (and it says a lot that it was so coherent at the start). The Springsteen cover came at a very bad time for my friend's band when we lived in Cardiff, as they'd just finished working on their own cover of No Surrender when this album came out; given how heavily influenced by HWM they already were, I think they felt that doing the same cover was a step too far (although that cover had been knocking around since 2000, so perhaps it was just bad research). Their's was about as scrappy as HWM's version here is.
I found this copy in an excellent record shop in Toronto called Criminal Records, where I also stocked up on a lot of Attack in Black records. I hadn't seen it around before so I figured it'd be a good addition. I knew it was a collection album as I recognised Prince of the Rodeo on the tracklist, but thought I'd enjoy it either way. I didn't realise quite to what extent I'd like it mind you. This is the double transparent green vinyl from the first pressing (/625). Or at least I think it is - I don't know what the "green mix /32" from the second pressing looks like, but odds are this is the first. The second record is a much darker green than the first. It's a nice package too with the lyrics on the picture sleeves and a very nice way to capture the band.
Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves
Tracks: 23
Cost: £12 new
Bought: Criminal Records, Toronto
When: 13/05/09
Colour: Transparent green
Etching: Side A: "We.re all put to the test... to drown like all the rest" Side B: "We fend and fight what we know best" Side C: "Alone or siding with the chosen few" Side D: "Breaking up is hard to do"
mp3s: no
