What is so special about Vinyls? :)
Reply #40 – 2013-11-02 21:50:58
From a collector's point of view there's a pride of ownership that isn't the same with any other format. I'm primarily a metal fan and have been for years and years (I do collect quite a bit of mainstream '70s and '80s rock as well though.) When I was younger there was this (misguided) notion that vinyl = "real metal" and the hardcore metalheads all had turntables and bought it on wax. Indeed, similarly to Ronald Dumsfeld's comment, it was awesome for me to cut class and go hang out at a friend's house and listen to his Metallica records (back when Metallica actually meant something IMO.) Those of us who bought the cassette found them far less durable but we had the convenience of portability. The record collectors also had that convenience because they dubbed off copies for the road, but they also had the advantage of the nice TT and huge coverart and wicked collections. ...this is much the same today with CD and digital. In fact, most albums I get come with a digital download which is win/win to me. The record still rules as a collector's choice and dominates in resale value, pride of ownership, etc. When I have friends over they see my record collection and it's way more impressive and interesting to them than even some of my rarer CDs. And I'm always slapping somebody's hand off of my mint original pressings of Number of the Beast and Mob Rules These days I don't try to acquire every album I want on vinyl because it's cost-prohibitive, but the stuff I do is far more valuable than my digital files or even my CDs. Many of my LPs are autographed by the artists. I went to some effort to put the jackets in a cardboard mailer and take them to them. I also have a few autographed CDs but it's not quite as cool (to me anyway. Some music just isn't released on any other physical format now.) I've often bought "limited tour vinyl" from bands' merch tables and had them sign them...great memorabilia of all the shows I, and now my daughter too, have been to. She doesn't like records nearly as much as I do and has no interest in playing them but, when I cease to breathe and am on the other side of the grass, she wants and is getting them all. Death metal, while not everyone's cup o' tea, is one of the funnest genres to collect on vinyl. The insanely brilliant cover art of many of these releases is only rivaled by classic Iron Maiden IMO. If I took pics, like these below, of my autographed CDs nobody would care or even look closely: