March 2024 Purchases – Some CDs, One Book, and One Vinyl Record

I don’t do music purchases blog posts often because as mentioned in my November 2023 Purchases blog post, all of my CDs are usually from Amazon. Thankfully, March was a special month because Judas Priest released Invincible Shield (2024) on March 8 and The Black Crowes put out Happiness Bastards (2024) on March 15, a week later. I also went a little nuts on eBay and Amazon, so yeah, March was a big month for me. With all that said, let’s get on with the music!

Right before I went to Las Vegas to see The Black Crowes live this past February, I gained a new appreciation for the blues rock band, Free, thanks to Rich Robinson. I was listening to a 2016 interview, where he talked about how good their Fire and Water (1970) album is. Afterwards, I gave it another listen and it finally clicked with me. Therefore, the search for the rest of Free’s studio albums was on! The first one I ordered was their fourth studio album, Highway (1970), through eBay. It’s a Japanese SHM-CD with six bonus tracks; the lyric book is written in Japanese and English. 

On March 9, I picked up Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine (2024) at Target in Salt Lake, Honolulu. I was smart enough to do the in-store pickup option when purchasing the items the night before. That way, I didn’t have to risk going all the way there and having them be sold out. For Invincible Shield, Target had an exclusive version that came in a digibook format with three bonus tracks. By the way, what the hell is with this album cover for Eternal Sunshine? Out of all the different covers Grande made for the album, all I get is her blurred face? That’s freaking messed up! Also, I’m not a fan of Rush, but I heard great reviews of Geddy Lee’s My Effin’ Life (2023) book and because I’m trying to read more, I thought, “why not?”

The next of Free’s albums I got was their debut studio album, Tons of Sobs (1969), through Amazon. Pete Pardo from Sea of Tranquility says that it’s his favorite by the band, which I can kinda see why. Paul Kossoff’s searing guitar tone is jaw-dropping, especially on “Moonshine.” However, I only bought this album for the cover, which features a creepy, old-school Mickey Mouse doll on the bottom left corner. But, of course, after I listened to the whole thing, I was happy with my purchase anyway.

In all seriousness, I didn’t need The Black Crowes’ Croweology (2010) because it’s just an album with acoustic versions of tracks I already have on CD, except for “Cold Boy Smile” and “She.” But according to Wikipedia, Croweology is considered a studio album, therefore, I had to get it on Amazon, for the sake of owning all of the band’s studio albums. I also didn’t need Pyromania (1983) because I had it in my collection, but it was originally my dad’s copy, which I stole from him, and he took it back recently. As a result, through Amazon, I ordered the two-CD deluxe edition, which includes their 1983 show at the L.A. Forum. I know Def Leppard are releasing a box set for Pyromania in late April, but I don’t really care for the demos, rough mixes, and all that stuff. I just wanted the live album for the L.A. Forum show because the tracklist is so good!

Because Free were such a killer live band, I had to get the Free Live! (1971) album, also through Amazon. I thought I ordered the reissued version with seven bonus tracks, one of them being a live version of “Moonshine,” but I ordered the regular version by mistake. I don’t mind, though, because I don’t have a lot of time for albums on the weekdays, due to my work schedule and since the latter is only 40 minutes, it fits in with my schedule perfectly. My only complaint is that I wish they ended the album with another live track, instead of “Get Where I Belong,” which is a studio track.

As a gift from rock ‘n’ roll heaven, I was blessed with five more Free albums, thanks to eBay. Two of them were unopened and three of them were used, but still in decent condition. The total was $50 for five CDs, which is reasonable. One of them had two albums on one disc, Tons of Sobs and the self-titled Free (1969) album. The set also included Free at Last (1972) and Heartbreaker (1973). It was the easiest way for me to get the rest of the band’s studio albums because other than the debut and Fire and Water, their studio albums are hard to find for a good price. 

As mentioned earlier, I was smart enough to do the in-store pickup option for Invincible Shield and Eternal Sunshine, but I never thought to do the same thing for Happiness Bastards. When I checked the Barnes & Noble website on March 15, the CD versions were already sold out. I could’ve ordered it from Amazon, but I was determined to pick it up at an actual store because that hardly happens anymore and besides, Amazon can be a hit or miss with their shipping. I ordered Happiness Bastards that night and picked it up on March 26 at Barnes & Noble Ala Moana; the wanting and waiting was literally driving me insane. I’m not a vinyl person, but when I saw the liner notes and lyric sheet for the CD version on a YouTube video, I knew I wouldn’t be able to read small print. That’s why I bought the vinyl, as well, just to be able to read the dang thing!

There you have it, people! Those are all the music purchases I made during March 2024. My wallet definitely needs a break after that chaos. I keep telling my mom that I’m not going to spend my money on albums for the rest of the year, but we’ll see how long that lasts!

---

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it with your friends. I write about music, Disney, movies, shows, and mental status. If that sounds like your cup of tea, please subscribe to my blog for more content like this! To help me keep this blog going, you can either make a donation or support me through Patreon. You can also follow me on social media through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Don’t forget to leave a comment down below to start a conversation!

Take care and see ya real soon!

Lana