Today i decided to check out Hot Hits, another record store on gratiot not a mile from Record Time. My first impression of the place was less than optumistic. It was dirty, cluttered and disorganized. It looked like a pawn shop with dvds and videogames lying around in piles, no prices on anything. I decided to give them a chance and browse through the music they had. I was actually surprised by what i found. I suspect the reason i found what i did was because they get very few costumers, especially costumers looking for the obscure stuff i was looking for. A few of the titles i found but did not buy were: “Chase the Sun” – The O.C. Supertones (maybe next time), “The Adventures of the Orange County Supertones” – The O.C. Supertones, “On Your Feet” – Spoken (i was very surprised to find one of spoken’s very early albums since they aren’t very big… i’m not a huge fan of the album though, so i passed it up…), and “Payable on Death” – P.O.D.
I did find a few albums on the list that were worth getting at Hot Hits, sadly Hot Hits charges $7 for used CD’s instead of $6 like Record Time so I oly got a few:
“Satellite” – P.O.D.
This album and I go way back. This is probably the first hard rock album i ever owned. Back in the day (7th grade) when my top recording artists were MXPX, Audio Adrenaline, DC Talk, and the Newsboys (i know, i’m sorry, i was a kid… and everyone else liked them 
) my friend Eric told me about this band, P.O.D. and he burned me their album. I was in love right away, the music was so powerful… heavy distortion, screaming, i loved heavy music… now, i know people are like P.O.D.? That’s your exposure to heavy music? You can’t get much more mainstream than P.O.D… I know, but this album opened the door… and really if you give it a listen now, it is pretty heavy, you have to admit (especially in contrast to the Newsboys ) So this album has been a part of my collection since i started defining my musical tastes, so when i saw it, i had to pick it up. Price Paid: $7
“Wake Up, O Sleeper” – Cool Hand Luke
I’ve already said how my love for cool hand luke has grown in the last six months. I had all their albums downloaded and recently found “the Balancing Act” at Record time. Well, Hot Hits actually had their second release, “Wake Up, O Sleeper” so i snatched that bad boy up! Price Paid: $7
“Love” – The Juliana Theory
When i really started to get into the christian alternative and rock scene in high school, i found out about the Julianna Theory. I gave them a listen, but at that time i was listening to bands like Underoath (early Underoath, with Dallas on vocals) As I Lay Dying, Extol, and Christian hardcore or metal. What i heard of the Julianna Theory was not “heavy” enough for me. Then somewhere along the line i downloaded some pack that had a bunch of christian albums in it and “Love” was one of them. It found it’s was onto my ipod and stayed there for awhile, just waiting. Waiting until i started college… every once and awhile a song from the album would pop up on shuffle and i would think “this is pretty good, who is this…” I’d look and it would be a song off this album. When i compiled the hunt-list i decided that i would buy this album if i ever come across it. I came across it today and I was pretty shocked, the only Julianna Theory album that Hot Hits (or Record Time for that matter) had was the only one i like! Hah! Price Paid: $7
After Hot Hits i made a stop by record time because i had a trade in. I traded in a sealed copy of Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” (it was a gift) and got $3 store credit.
“Shadows are Security” – As I Lay Dying
Though my interest in metal is not as strong as it used to be, I can’t deny that this is a good album. For $3 i couldn’t pass it up. Price Paid: ($6 – $3 store credit = $3)
Pretty productive day. Not sure if i’ll be going back to Hort Hits anytime soon, but the trip todday was worth it. I found out about a couple more record stores in the area so i might try those sometime soon… after i get paid again.
