Together at Last

Brother and Sister

I went on a pilgrimage today, with my friend Dan, to the local mall. I was in search of the American release of Dir en grey’s latest album, “Withering to death.” It’s identical to the Japanese release that has been out for more than a year (sans a bonus DVD of material that everyone already has), but I wanted to show support for the band and pick up another copy.

First stop was FYE, which proved to be a complete waste of time. The album was nowhere to be found. I contemplated getting an FM transmitter for my iPod, but decided against that, since all the reviews I’ve heard have been negative.

Next, we decided to venture into Hoy Topic. At first I was a little wary of entering, but once inside, it wasn’t that bad. I strolled to the back, where there was a rack of CDs. As I was looking for the “D’s” I saw the album on the wall, a part of one of those listening booth things. Just below were about five, or six copies. I immediately snagged one and felt a sense of delight. This was the first time I had ever gone into a “regular” (Got some singles at a Japanese book store out in San Fran) shop and just picked up a Dir en grey album.

After purchasing the album, we headed back to the car and then to my house for a little guitar practice. On the way back, I examined the contents of the package. I was pretty disappointed, but what the hell, I knew what I was in for.

Now, the album is sitting on the side of my desk, along with newly purchased copies of “N” by ZONE (to complete my ZONE album collection), “CLIMAX” by La’Mule (to complete my La’Mule album collection), “LUNACY” by LUNA SEA (Finally got this album, after years of putting it off), and “Acsendancy” by Trivium (Been hearing good things about these guys and was pleased with the album).

Ultimately, this album will just be thrown onto the shelf and completely forgotten about, as I have already had it’s Japanese sister for over a year, but I am more than pleased with the idea of traveling to a local record store and being able to purchase an album that would usually take a few days, and thousands of miles, to reach my house.