Back to vinyl

Well I was up early today and my wife had the day off work so she decided she would like to go out for the day, we chose to go to a local carboot sale ,I can always find something to buy being a collector of pretty much anything retro that takes my eye. Today I was drawn to an old box of vinyl records , usually there isnt much Im interested in when I look in these boxes filled with the likes of harry seacombe and brass bands but today was my lucky day , I came across a few great soundtrack lps and a few good rock lps. I had stopped collecting vinyl for a while but Im now back in the groove.
I have stacks of old vinyl and due to lack of space most of it has ended up in the loft but Im going up there today ,fetch it all down and sort through it all and find some of my old favourites. My wife will not be happy with all the extra clutter though

I'm just SO astonished at the resurgence of interest in vinyl. I know that most people who've given it any thought at all think that vinyl died years ago (same as laserdiscs, but with LDs, most people haven't ever heard of them).

Records were the first things I really started collecting (not including Beano comics and plastic toy soldiers) and if I'd kept the collection I originally owned I could now write my own cheques if I wanted to sell them to a dealer (of whom there seem to be hundreds trading on the net - where did THEY all suddenly appear from?) I had all those LPs that today go for super-silly money (The Rolling Stones' "Aftermath" in mono, all The Beatles first pressings, all the early Pink Floyd albums - mono AND stereo - and stuff like "In The Court Of The Crimson King" and "S.F. Sorrow") - you just can't buy these now without remortgaging the house - and I had them AND LET THEM GO!!!

Well, I knew no better. CD had arrived. Vinyl seemed old hat, took up space, and was subject to damage from worn needles, etc. There were all those anomalies that were associated with analogue recording, so yeah, the records had had their day. After the cull, I probably ended up with about one-tenth of my original collection (and they were just the ones that I felt no one else would buy).

I blame the internet and eBay for making it too easy to get rid of these LPs, but of course I also invited dealers into my home to cherry-pick for peanuts. Was I mad? OF COURSE I WAS!

Now, having had my own Damascene conversion, I've spent the last two years trying to buy them all back - and, more or less, I've been successful. I've replaced most of my lost treasures, either with original copies (not necessarily first pressings, though) that were as good as or even better than those I'd owned before, and to them I've added a whole lot more that I never used to have anyway. So I've ended up today with a vinyl collection that is bigger AND BETTER than my previous set. (I call them 'Collection 1' and 'Collection 2'.) It's astonishing how many items in Collection 2 are brand new mint pressings - who'd have thought that the major companies would now be repressing all those classic titles? I can't be the only one out there who's made the return journey to vinyl. (There's even a specialist website called ClassicLPs - that's classic like in "Sgt. Pepper" rather than 'classical' and they sell ONLY new mint LPs. They seem to shift a lot of stock especially when they have their occasional weekend sales.)

I hardly ever play my CDs anymore. With a new turntable to bring out that warm rich uncompressed sound, my LPs are now my listening source of choice. And, to my credit, I never did get rid of any of my singles from the 60s and 70s. (Now, Mr Dealer, where's that chequebook of yours?)

Ah, LPs, my main collection...

Being only 25 I unfortunately don't really remember vinyl from the first time round, but I am an avid collector, mainly of Queen material. There's always been a record player in the house as my parents had one and would use it when I was young, I had one in uni to play some of the records I had, it's just a format I've always had around.

What draws me to vinyl is the purity of the sound. When you play a good record it's like the band is performing in the room with you, it's just so much clearer. Of course there's some records that'll have crackle and pops etc, but the majority of LPs can be cleaned up to be as good as new and sound excellent.

The other thing that draws me to them is because they contain the original version of songs and albums, rather than the nth digital remastering. Remastered versions often increase clarity in some ways, though loosing depth in my opinion, but also because the tracks are being taken apart and reassembled I think modern influences creep in and so the new mix sounds more 'modern.' I recently got my girlfriend into vinyl and she has been amazed at how different familiar songs are on LP because she has only heard the various different digital remasters.

If anyone is interested you can check out my collection here http://www.discogs.com/collection?user=HippieDalek&sort=artist%2Casc

If you have read my other post you will be aware that I stood a carboot sale on tuesday and took some laserdiscs, well I also took some of my vinyl and I was amazed at the amount of vinyl collectors and some were no doubt traders that didnt even ask about them. I think all the traders must be looking for The beatles and The rolling stones and I wouldnt say the records I took with me were even very obscure. I didnt price any of the records but I dont think one person even asked. All of the records were rock pop and soul and only 2 soundtrack lps which were both quentin tarantino films reservoir dogs and pulp fiction. Even if your not a fan of tarantino films Im sure you would love the soundtracks.
Here is a few of the lps that I took with me.

Records are my main music source always has been.
They sit nicely next to Laserdisc on the shelf.

I've just received this in the post:


Into The Electric Castle by Ayreon.

This album has previously only been available on CD but Arjen has finally released an LP. Possibly one of the best albums ever made it is also the most beautiful LP I have ever seen!

A three LP set, gold vinyl flecked with silver, triple gatefold sleeve, slipcase and amazing artwork by Jeff Bertels.

If you're a fan of prog and/or metal and haven't encountered Ayreon then it's certainly worth checking out. The core of Ayreon is Arjen Lucassen, each album features several other performers filling various roles, some famous, others unheard of, all amazing. This album features Fish (Marillion), Peter Daltrey (Kaleidoscope), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Damian Wilson (Threshold) and Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) amongst many others.

Just had to share.

HippieDalek wrote:

This album has previously only been available on CD but Arjen has finally released an LP. Possibly one of the best albums ever made it is also the most beautiful LP I have ever seen!

A three LP set, gold vinyl flecked with silver, triple gatefold sleeve, slipcase and amazing artwork by Jeff Bertels.

That looks to be a stunning set, and another example of a CD finally getting a vinyl release. It was always the other way round, but not any more, I'm pleased to say. Was it a double CD? I ask because some former CDs are being spread across 2LP and 3LP sets unnecessarily. This results in ridiculously short playing sides in some examples, and serves only to put the cost of the vinyl release up higher.

BTW, which label is this on? I can't tell from the pic, and I imagine it's a European independent. The majors only seem interested in re-releasing ever more editions of Beatles, Stones and Dylan albums.

laserkb wrote:

Was it a double CD? I ask because some former CDs are being spread across 2LP and 3LP sets unnecessarily. This results in ridiculously short playing sides in some examples, and serves only to put the cost of the vinyl release up higher.

BTW, which label is this on? I can't tell from the pic, and I imagine it's a European independent. The majors only seem interested in re-releasing ever more editions of Beatles, Stones and Dylan albums.

It was originally a 2 CD release, most of Ayreon albums tend to be two act concept albums. The record label for both the CD and LP is Inside Out, though the CD was originally released on Transmission (now dead).