ANDREAS REISSNAUER – A Dive…

This is our fourth dive into the record collection of selected people working within the record labels. We had the pleasure of diving with Haavard Holm from Aftermath Music, Pip Soret from Relapse Records in Europe and Stefan Franke from Century Media Germany in the three first editions in this second series of our record collection interviews, and now the time has come to Andreas Reissnauer from Metal Blade Records Germany.

Are you a vinyl freak or more of the modern CD type?

CD. That just happened. For me it´s more convenient plus I don´t listen to much music at home. I listen to music all day at work and in the car and need to have a break from it when I´m at home. When I started collecting back then I started with CDs in the late 80s since I trusted the music industry when they said "This is the future, vinyl will be gone in a few years". Hahaha….

Do you have a record player? If so – do you use it?

Nope

Do you remember the very first record you bought?

Talking about metal – The first one I got was Russian Roulette by Accept, the first one I bought was Keeper pt. I by Helloween.

What is the rarest album you’ve got?

Actually I have no idea. I guess some of them are rare, but I don´t think in terms like "rare" or "not being rare" so I have no clue about it.

Does Andreas’ record collection consist of metal only? What else can one find that Andreas highly appreciates?

It´s mostly Metal – I´d say about 95 % – and all the other stuff is at least Rock – means music with guitars. I have a few soundtracks and a few  things being more electronical, but that´s just like 1 % of my collection. 99 % is Rock and Metal.

How do you preserve your collection? Is it categorized or is it just helter skelter?

Classical A-Z. Much easier to find records if you´re in a hurry. And I HATE searching things.

In advance of this interview you told me you have tons of favorite bands and among them you mentioned old Metallica and old Slayer along with Neurosis and Killing Joke. There is a wide musical range between these bands. But as you said, these are just some of your favorite bands. However, now try to explain what these bands have that makes them so good. We can start with Slayer.

Reign in Blood and Hell Awaits – that should be reason enough. Well, they were love at first listen, Reign in Blood just blew my mind back then in the late 80s. When South Of Heaven came out it took me some serious time until I could enjoy the album. Once I got used to it and Seasons came out I loved that one straight from the start. Weirdly enough it took me some years until I understood the genius of Hell Awaits. My theory is that you always love the album from a band the most that you listened to at first – this theory only counts for the teenage years and only for me, of course, but then I´ve heard it from many other people as well. Anyways, nowadays it´s Hell Awaits and Reign In Blood, both on the same level, both easily two of my ten most favourite albums. I also liked the stuff they released later on, but actually I never listen to them. I play them like 10 times in the first three months after release and then….uuuh, once every other year. May be…may be not.

Metallica is next…

Some other student played it to me on his walkman (remember what that is?) when I was 14 and all I understood was "Duster! Duster!". So I thought for a while the album is called "Duster Of Puppets". May be I shouldn´t have told this now… Anyways, straight liked the "Duster…" album and got interested in the other stuff. The first three albums are fantastic from start to finish, no weak song, not at all. I also like "Justice…" a lot since I also like technical stuff. "Blackened" is one of their best songs ever. I can enjoy the black album by now, but it took me many years to appreciate it, I hated it when it came out. You know, Enter Sandman was everywhere, on the radio, in the supermarket, etc… the rebellion had stopped out of a sudden and I didn´t wanna talk to Poppers about Metallica. Let´s not talk about the albums they released afterwards. Until "Death Magnetic". I really  like the album despite the crap sound and the loss of vocal power from James. Still, I didn´t listen to it in like 2 years. The Slayer-syndrome, eh?

Neurosis

Someone played the "Souls At Zero" album when it came out and it immediately blew my mind. This melodyline that keeps on coming back is just haunting and an instant erection. I love all the albums they released since then, they never disappoint. I love the approach they have at their own music and art, their work ethic, their uniqueness, more or less everything. Their live shows are the ultimate experience. I simply love Neurosis! They are one in a million!

And Killing Joke…

Fantastic band. I knew them from the early 80s when I was a small kid, but only their biggest hits of course. I seriously got into them when they released their first "metal" album which was "Pandemonium." Brilliant album!  Then again I digged deeper into their history and bought the old stuff. Some great stuff, especially the early records, a few being a bit more mediocre. The latest few albums are all great, also the new one. And if you see them live you can´t hide from the aura of Jaz Coleman, he´s one of the best frontman on this planet for sure. That guy´s to me  bigger than earth!

You also told me that you have approximate 7000 albums in your collection. I know it can be difficult, but…is there one album that means more to you than the rest?

You mean THE one? No, I could make a Top 100 and skip 6900 others if I HAD to. Of course there´s albums I like more than others, just normal I´d say.

You are home after a long day’s work and want to relax with some music. What do you, most likely, want to listen to?

Nothing. Once I´m at home I hardly ever listen to music anymore. You just beome like that when you are surrounded by music 9, 10 hours a day. Still I can be very enthusiastic about new stuff. I listen to some stuff when I´m outside doing a BBQ though, that´s mainly classics then, like Priest, Crüe, WASP, etc… no Deathgrind, I´m afraid.

Where do you stand when it comes to original albums? Do you want a first press or are you pleased with re-mastered re-publications?

If possible I prefer the original. With some of my fave bands I keep the original and buy the remaster as well, but that´s just a few. Lack of space.

There are split opinions about live albums. Where do you stand and what’s your ultimate live album? What’s so special about this record?

I don´t need them anymore. It was cool when I was a kid and could´t afford buying like 5 or 7 albums from a band that I just got discovered. So I bought the live album first and that way I could have at least all their best songs (well, in their opinion 😉 . Don´t ask me why, but I listened to that Candlemass livealbum from 1990 probably 250 times back then. May be because I didn´t see them live until their re-union a few years ago? I don´t know. Fact is that it´s a great live album. Hey, ask me about my favourite metal video clip, it´s "Bewitched" by Candlemass!  There´s lots of other killer live albums as well, of course, but they are all from the 80s, arent´t they?

What about the gender distribution in your collection; how is that coming along?

Sure I have albums from bands that feature female musicians, it´s about the quality and that´s all that matters. I am not into all that Goth crap though.

The vinyl tax collector is standing at your doorstep and demanding one – 1 – vinyl record as an instant charge. What record do you choose to give away?

I only have like 100 vinyls but I know I have the first Faster Pussycat album on vinyl. He can have that one.

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