Who remembers Hardcore Generation? Who is old enough to remember buying 'cheap' Hardcore CDs in the 90s, using Guilders, not Euros? And the first one being for 25 piek! Remember that, when CDs were cheap? But sometimes there was a specific reason why they were cheap. And in my eyes Mecado as a label ruined a lot for us ravers, and normal music lovers. Not putting the blame solely on this label, but a contributor for the downfall of Hardcore. They did release a few CDs in the 90s, but gladly faded into obscurity. One of those was a series called 'Hardcore Generation'. And yes, I owned a few of these. They were cheap, and I'm still Dutch, remember?
The series started (for me) with a CD called Hardcore Generation, with a big ass dinosaur on the front cover. Mecado wasn't the only one that did it, but it always made me wonder who came up with that shite? A dinosaur on a Hardcore CD? It looked like it would devour you in a split second, but I do not see the link between this extinct animal and Hardcore music. Don't get it. But also the next CD, which was a nice looking female raver in the toilet with some other ravers. What's that all about? She did have the most gorgeous eyes of all on a CD, ever.
But all jokes aside, looking back at it, it was an appalling series. They were all released in 1997. 6 in one year. Surely not to capitalise the genre of music that was bringing in the big bucks, right? They folded back in 1998, after Hardcore died down, and due to some backlash in regards to copyright issues etc. To me the name Mecado is a blemish on our rich music history. A dark page. But I still bought the CDs, because every so often you would find decent CDs. Yes, on one of the worst labels ever to exist, a few CDs stood out. But only 2% of all their releases were good.
A terrible label that captured peoples attention, especially the gabber scene. I bought literally everything and anything Hardcore related, so I know about this collection. And some of the records on these 6 CDs were actually good. But the majority of these are just terrible, really terrible.
Just have a look at the tracklist for these CDs. I'm not going to type them all, I've got a life, you know?
Still to this day I find it weird to find an ass, or a toilet roll on the back of a CD, and why is the lady on the top right image so angry? Why, there's no reason for you to be unhappy? And dinosaurs, really? Ross would get a boner, but I don't think any gabber would get one.
Not only were the tunes so bad, but sometimes the actual quality of the songs too. You cannot make this shit up, seriously. I'm now listening to 'Motherfuckers Move', and the bass is just taking over every element of the song. Just an example. Or just the general state of Hardcore tunes. The CD with the gorgeous lady starts with 'Mosselman'. It was funny back then, but to me it's lost all its strength. And is kind of the downfall of the Hardcore too. Not a good start to start your CD series with.
Back to this series. Only lasted 1 year, 6 editions, and that was it. The end of an era, for which I'm glad. And sad at the same time. Strangely this series was part of my youth and as much as I hate it with a vengeance, I still consider this part of my youth. A learning curve, a stepping stone. The main lesson for me was: you might need to pay more for quality, but it's worth it. I'd rather spent 50 guilders on 1 CD, instead of 25 on 1. But without this series I wouldn't have known.
This is, in comparison to other compilations, one of the worst. They made some other crappy Hakkuh CDs, focussed on the stupidity. Hakkuh & Zaguh, Hakkuh op de camping, etc. They weren't the only one, but a huge contributor to why the style lost a huge following, and respect.
Don't get me wrong, you wouldn't be expecting Thunderdome level quality tunes on here, and I love me a bit of Happy Hardcore from time to time, but this in comparison to others which were released back then, is worthless. Not spending any pieks on.
I couldn't find all the CDs on YouTube, but have a trip down memory lane (for you Dutchies out there), and remember why we turned our back to the commercial side of Hardcore.
To me, the only positive to come out on these CDs, were the songs by Army Of Darkness. Still the finest Hardcore tunes to this day!
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