7-song 7"
Intolerance
Straight Edge Crew
Silent Ones
Look Out!
Work It Out
Why I Went
Drop Out
Pressing-info:
First pressing:
100 copies on black vinyl
900 copies on solid blue vinyl
Second pressing:
500 copies on black vinyl, with a slightly different sleeve
Third pressing.
250 copies on black vinyl, with the same sleeve as the second pressing
release-date: May, 29, 1998
SOLD OUT.
REVIEWS
Arm's Length #2, The Netherlands.
This is cool. This is more than just making fast music. It has got so much fantasy
and variety within songs, but still you can recognize one sound and style. A must
for the fans of mid '80's hardcore, buy this record. Old school lives!
Back To Back #4, The Netherlands.
Commitment Records doet goede dingen voor de Nederlandse old school straight edge
hardcore scene. Het label geeft jonge, talentvolle bands die die stijl spelen de kans
om een 7" op te nemen die vervolgens prima gedistributeerd wordt. Vitamin X is zo'n
band die een 7"voor Commitment heeft mogen opnemen. Ze passen dan ook perfect bij dat
label met hun old school straight edge hardcore. De band klinkt op deze 7" nogal rauw
door de magere produktie en dat vind ik erg jammer, want op zich is de muziek dik in
orde. Ook de zang klinkt niet echt goed door die produktie. Ondanks dat denk ik dat
Vitamin X een hele goede band is die het nog ver kan schoppen.
Core #5, The Netherlands.
Nederland heeft zich altijd al kunnen buigen over een aantal aantrekkelijke old school
sxe bands. De grote uit deze scene, Feeding The Fire, Mainstrike en Deadstoolpigeon en
in iets mindere mate Crivits, vormen gelukkig niet meer een select kwartet binnen de
landsgrenzen. Vooral Commitment Records doet geweldig werk om de jonge aanwas een kans
te geven. Alleen op vinyl, dat wel. Met releases van Reaching Forward, Guiding Line, X-Men
en dit Amsterdamse Vitamin-X, zit er weer duidelijk schot in de zaak. Vitamin-X is pure
old school energie en dito teksten. De band zou ook een grote aanwinst kunnen zijn voor
Crucial Response uit Duitsland... en dan komen ze ook op cd. Verplicht voor iedere liefhebber
van deze '88 sound.
Forum #4, Malaysia.
Imagine, what would happen if Youth Of Today was still around ? This is what... a record of
7 pure old school HC songs!! Lyrically, they sang about animal rights, intolerance, sXe and
those '88 youthcrew thing. The song "Look Out!" does impressed me though with their anti
homophobia message (which I dedicated to those 'HC' kids in the deep south of Malaysia). I'll
add 5 Hard Core points for having band members from 3 different countries and 5 more points
for the cool photos; finger pointing, high jumping, kids singing along ... this one is an
ace!! Go !
Funtime #12, Belgium.
Knap artwork, dat positieve unity gevoel, oldschool,... dat kan haast niet anders dan
een nieuwe Commitment release zijn. Vitamin X is een Amsterdamse band die mij zeker
wisten te verbazen met hun debuut. De eerste referentie die ter gedachten komt is zeker
en vast Redemption 87, het probleem is echter dat Vitamin X het er beter vanaf brengt
dan deze laatstgenoemde. Kort samengevat: een eind jaren '80 sound voorzien van de
nodige singalongs, een aanrader.
Heartattack #22, USA.
This is the best straight-edge record I've heard since the Former Members split 12". Vitamin X is indeed overtly X, but not in a fashion oriented way. They have many opinions and ideas for a better world and proceed to pontificate with these seven songs. Power chords, gang vocals, and hand clapping make this highly energetic and fun listen. I would really enjoy more bands like this.
I Stand Alone #11, USA.
The cover for this kicks ass. It's a kid in a Champion hoodie, with a bat holding a jar of X
Vitamins. It's cute and not scary like it sounds. Anyway, this band stands out from the 8 billion
other old school bands that are surfacing this year because they cover some issues lots of other
bands ignore. They actually take a stand against homophobia, which is nice, since suddenly it seems
like intolerance was becoming acceptable. In case the name didn't reveal it all for you these kids
sing about animal right and straight edge. It seems like there are a ton of straight edge and vegan
kids in the Netherlands and that they have a flourishing scene. It's certainly a mecca for those
into old school style stuff.
International Straight Edge Bulletin #25, France.
Well I'm disappointed, and the blue vinyl won't make up for that. The band members
play in other bands and two of them hail from Yugoslavia. But the music (fast SxE Hc)
and lyrics are too basic and superficial. Here again, it's not bad, and I prefer this
to 99% heavy metal bands.
Like An Arrow #1, The Netherlands.
"Straight Edge Crew", allright, no more questions about that. I've seen these guys on stage
a couple of times and I can't say I did not have a good time. Since I also enjoyed the demo,
I exptected quite something from this band from Amsterdam. Sad to say that this 7" can't quite
measure up to my expectations. If this would have some out two years ago, I would have got on
my kness to thank Hare Krishna, God and Allah. But times have changed and now it's just one of
the many other Wide Awake-sounding bands. It's not bad or anything, it's just not good enough
to make a lasting impression on me. Still, it's not bad to hace bands like Vitamin X around. A
solid scene is build on smaller bands like this, and I surely look forward to see them live
again.
Maximum Rock N Roll, #183, USA.
Here you go ! Big leg-stretching jumps, youth crew shouts, fingerpointing, and being X'd for
battle all play straight into VITAMIN X's style. Simply put, this is great 88' style hardcore that
stands above the mark. And with easy to remember choruses like "Straight edge crew, smart enough
to stop, wide awake, we'll be on top!" the dogpiles should be immense.
Reflections #11, The Netherlands.
Well, let's face it: the title is cheezy. No matter what reason you come up with. On the other
hand, the fact that Marc and Eric are Straight for way over a decade, is somehow a justification.
Okay, the music: Vitamin X plays old school hardcore with loads of melodies in the guitarparts.
The sound on this 7" is overwhelmingly good, maybe even too good. You can hear these guys are
real music-freaks. Due to the fact that their vocalist is pretty raw and energetic it's sometimes
contradicting. It's a good 7" but honestly I expected a little bit more as I thought the song on
the 'Return Of The X-Men' compilation stood out. I'm curious about future efforts from this
'natural high'.
Step Forward #3, The Philippines.
Here comes the debut EP of this youth crew band from Holland. This wonderful piece of blue vinyl starts off with a song against intolerance 'salvation doesn't come in rules that you force on someone'. The music is authentic '88 styled straightedge hardcore. It's cool to see that sxe youth crew bands have moved on from just writing songs about lost friendship, betrayal, etc. and started to tackle more serious and relevant subjects like homophobia, animal rights, etc. I loved the pictures and the artwork on this one.
Straight Force #4, USA.
Man this record kicks ass! First of all did you catch the name and title? Hells yeah, you're right this is from the Netherlands dude! Half of these dudes are 30 years old, and escaped from the war, and are still keeping it real singing their assess off in a hardcore band about staying straight, working it out, and animal rights! This could not be more positive. Straight up old school hardcore with sing a long's and awesome German accents. Three of the five dudes in this band names are Mark! Plus this is one of the thickest pieces of vinyl I've ever seen...
Suspect Device #34, UK.
Yeah, you guessed it, Vitamin X are a straight edge band, Amsterdam's only sXe band in fact. Old school meets positive hardcore, quite a mix of different styles in their songs, well written personal/political lyrics, singer sounds like he's using a megaphone instead of a microphone. I reckon this band is definitely worth checking out.