What's In Worth

Purpose was a late 90s straight edge hardcore band that came from New Jersey. If somebody stumbled upon this blog, chances are you know a bit about them already. If not, I'm not really here to give a band bio or anything, but instead, share some of the records that they put out. I came across them early on and they are a band who's records have always stuck around in my collection as others made their way to eBay or to be traded in at record stores.

In the late 90s, I was a high school kid who just discovered straight edge hardcore and relied on things like the Very Distro catalog and Hardware Fanzine to get me into new bands. I was really into a lot of the late 90s explosion that brought out Floorpunch, Rancor, Atari and the like, and was always searching for new bands that fit the same mold, so to speak. Bands didn't have pages or anything, so it was purchasing records based on a blurb and seeing if the records lived up to the hype. Anybody who was around for the whole 1997 "rebirth" knows the line that was drawn between being great and being completely generic and a fine line it was at that.

One day at Double Decker Records, I picked up a seven inch by a band called Purpose. I took it home and was really into it for the most part. It was way more melodic than a lot of the hardcore I listened to, but it sounded really good to me, so I recorded it to a tape and played it each morning on the way to high school. It was on my turn table or tape deck regularly and I saw them listed on a few local show bills, but never got to actually see them live.

The story kind of stops there. I had read a review of one of their records in what I considered to be a reliable zine and the reviewer's words weren't the most flattering. It kind of made me think twice about the initial awesomeness I had bestowed on the Reaction 7 inch, but I shrugged it off and still listened to it on the reg. Like a lot of my records, it got lost in the shuffle and just sat on my shelf, but any time I found a Purpose record at a record store, I was sure to pick it up.

I ripped what I had in my collection although the sound may not be the best (cracks, pops, etc.), so listener beware and apologies in advance. As I transferred everything, I gave it another listen and despite no longer being an easily influenced teenaged posi-core kid, I still dig a lot of what I'm hearing. Some of the lyrics are a little heavy handed, but I still dig 'em. Here's what's included:Self Titled on Reaction Records
1. Pride in Belonging
2. Don't Sit Down
3. Vicious Circles
4. Forced Through the Cracks

What's In Worth on Special Forces Records
5. Opinion
6. Tried
7. What's In Worth
8. Tonight
Art as a Weapon on Underestimated Records
9. We are the Third World
10. That Smile
11. Land to Glass
12. Player Piano

Alpha and Omega LP on Special Forces Records

13. Pedestal
14. Over My Shoulder
15. Striking Worker
16. Our Future
17. Despair
18. Kill For the Cause
*Remaining tracks not included but are the same as on Reaction 7 inch


PURPOSE: THE COLLECTION