Monday, January 2, 2012

7 Seconds - New Wind

7 Seconds - New Wind
Download - www.mediafire.com/?y2zudd2gzz2
Release - 1986

Story by Andy Norton, singer for the band Praise.

My journey with 7 Seconds began in the summer of 1999.  I'll start by saying I heard 7 Seconds in skate videos and on tapes, but never really paid much attention to them besides that.  On our way up to the ‘99 Youth of Today reunions, we made a stop at Trash.  I remember walking into the shop and immediately getting great vibes.  It was just a cool shop and very welcoming.  I've been saving money for months, so I was ready to spend a lot of money on music.  As I was perusing the CDs, a friend of mine walked over and handed me two CDs: Uniform Choice's Screaming For Change and 7 Seconds' The Crew. I valued this guy's opinion on music, so I grabbed the CDs and kept looking for new music.  I remember buying a lot of stuff that day, but those were the two records that stuck.  On the way home from CT, I listened to The Crew on repeat, reading the lyrics over and over again.  A lot of great things happened that weekend, but really being introduced to 7 Seconds is the one thing that really sticks out.

Fast forward six years, I am in a van on tour and we get word that we are going to be playing 10 of the shows with 7 Seconds on their upcoming tour.  I had many emotions come over me.  What if I met these dudes and they turned out to be complete assholes? I kept playing out 7 Seconds lyrics in my head and getting scared that when I met them, all of those lyrics would become null and void because a bunch of 45 year olds just wanted to relive their glory days.

Up until the point of the tour, I had all the 7 Seconds records up until New Wind.  I loved New Wind, but not the way I loved The Crew or Walk Together, Rock Together.  The tour was great and the dudes in 7 Seconds ended up being some of the most legit dudes I had ever met. After that tour, I started listening to all the 7 Seconds records over again including everything after New Wind.  I would sit in the van listening to those records on repeat.  When I would get home, I would sit in my room and revisit the LPs and so forth. When the touring stopped, my reality changed and I hit some really low points that first year of getting back into the groove of a “normal” life.  During those moments, I remember putting on New Wind and finding a lot of comfort in it.  The record deals with real life, hardcore and so much other stuff.  Sure, it doesn’t sound exactly like the crew, but to be honest, the lyrics on that record were life changing to me in a different way then The Crew.  Songs like “Expect To Change,” “Somebody Help Me Scream” and my favorite, “The Inside” put into words the way I had been feeling for so many years.  Six years later, New Wind still has that effect on me.  To anyone who hasn’t listened to New Wind, I highly recommend taking the time to sit down, read the lyrics and listen to it in its entirety.

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