Osc-Dis 2-Disc Special Edition

When I saw this on eBay, I was ecstatic. This is the two-disc special edition of Palm Pictures' American release of Osc-Dis from 2002 (yes, a year after 010 was released in Japan), in association with Speedstar and Manga Entertainment. Their Stateside deal with Palm Pictures turned out to be more lucrative than their deal with George Cockle's What Up Music label, as Osc-Dis was released far wider than the US releases of Park and Digidogheadlock were, and even got Pulse onto the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 soundtrack. Why was I ecstatic for this particular issue, you may ask? That slipcover it has on it!

...or so I thought. The reason you can see the bottom of the jewel case in each of the above shots is because it isn't actually a slipcover at all-- it's actually a paper wraparound whose spine is at the top of the jewel case. It blows a little, but at the same time, it also becomes an interesting addition in and of itself, as the inside of this wraparound contains music video credits.

Why does it have music video credits? Because the second disc is a DVD reissue of Osc-Dis Video that was also issued with other Manga Entertainment DVDs of the time. I don't have the original VHS issue of that to compare, but I can't imagine it being very far off. Included as a bonus video is the video to Systematic, since Digidogheadlock only had a video for that one song, not enough for its own VHS issue... sad, because it would be cool to see on a VHS slipcover.

The tracklisting for Osc-Dis is as follows:

1. Tribe

2. Out/Definition

3. Pulse

4. Multiplies

5. Mob Track

6. All The Time In Sunny Beach

7. Island

8. Restart!

9. Jag

10. Step Into Yourself

11. Good Girl (dedicated to bride 20 years after)

12. MIDI Surf

The tracklisting for Osc-Dis Video is as follows:

1. Tribe

2. Pulse

3. All The Time In Sunny Beach

4. Good Girl (dedicated to bride 20 years after)

5. MIDI Surf

6. Systematic

Of course you know I think this album is an absolute classic. Just about everyone into Mad thinks this album is an absolute classic; hell, it's how most people get into Mad in the first place. It's not my absolute favorite album-- Park and 010 tie for my all-time favorite-- but it is my second. (Or third, depending on how you look at that.) You should already have a copy of this by now; if not, get on it as soon as possible.

Look at how Palm's logo throws the section off.

Tribe single

While George Cockle's record label What's Up? Music released American editions of Park and Digidogheadlock (Wasn't 4 Plugs recorded in the US? Huh?) during the late 90s, they never released any singles exclusively to Anglophone audiences... not to my knowledge, at least. During Mad's far more lucrative deal with Palm Pictures, their single Pulse was pushed pretty well to the point of being in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, but this was the first single that Palm released without a Japanese equivalent. Why, I don't know, but there's a similar case with Happy Ride from CiSTm K0nFLiqT... which has its own EP only released in Europe. All of the extra songs are also from the album, but still.

Personally, I never thought Mad made any switch to any genre of heavy metal throughout their long career, as their music always had heavily apparent melodic punk influence, but there are plenty of people who derided and dismissed them as just being a nu-metal band. While I honestly don't even think Digidogheadlock could be considered nu-metal, nor a lot of Osc-Dis... I can easily see why this song would be tagged as such. It isn't really punk so much as it is bouncy nu-metal, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing by any means. This song is still really fun, and makes for a great album opener even if it doesn't match a lot of the music that followed it.

This single is packaged in a typical maxi single case, and in the below photo you'll see a big crack in what looks like the disc... believe me, that's just the case itself. Honest. Behind the disc is a detailed explanation of the weapons the White Crushers have in the video for Pulse... that diagram may have been included in another Mad single, but I honestly don't remember. There's also a fold behind that, but it just opens to blankness. If you need the remixes like I need them for Rare Mad, then pick it up, but otherwise, I don't think it really matters if you pick this single up or not.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Tribe

2. Midi Surf (STRRRRIVE!! Mix ver. 2.0)

3. Good Girl (Long Beach Family Remix)

Good Girl single

You know, of all the songs to release as the third single from Osc-Dis, I would've thought it'd be All The Time In Sunny Beach, but Good Girl (Dedicated to bride 20 years after) is a really good choice now that I think about it. A fun punk number with Takeshi doing the chorus? Yeah, I can buy it. Still, Osc-Dis is really one of those "all killer, no filler" albums, so pretty much anything from it that's over two minutes in length could make an excellent single.

This is also one of the single most interesting Mad singles, packaging-wise. The entire... maxi-digipak? maxi-pak? is silver and reflective a la the Japanese first issue of Slipknot's Iowa, which is why some of the angles for this photo shoot are a bit weird, and it prominently features the female Pink Crusher Erika, originally featured in the game Pochi Racing. The disc itself is held in a sleeve made of a material I honestly couldn't name, but reminds me of a paper towel, and there are two paper inserts that the protective sleeve is made of. I haven't stumbled across anything like this before, and I don't know if I ever will again.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Good Girl (Dedicated to bride 20 years after)

2. Step Into Yourself (Ryu Remix)

3. Good Girl (Long Beach Family Remix)

Keep in mind, when I count singles from certain albums, in Mad's case, I generally only count the singles released in Japan. I think All The Time In Sunny Beach was released in the UK through that deal with Palm Pictures, but, I dunno, I don't really count those at the moment... probably just because I don't have a lot of those. The only single I have released exclusively in Anglophone territories is the single for Tribe, and I'll be getting to that one tomorrow. Below are the inserts the disc was slipped between... I hope you all are getting hyped for some of those 14-year-old tour dates.