Sales of vinyl reached a 15 year high in 2013. It was the ONLY music category to grow at all. Arctic Monkeys had the most vinyls sales with their album AM. Haven't heard of them? Well then you're old. It's the first year in a decade that The Beatles Abbey Road HASN'T been in the top 10. The list was filled with Daft Punk, Queens of the Stone Age, Vampire Weekend, Justin Timberlake, and some other shitty bands. What? Pearl Jam didn't make it. Even though they released an album on Vinyl. (Their pressing was messed up, producing warped copies that they had to reimburse fans for). I've been pillaging my fathers collection for years. But I've reached a point where now I must purchase my own if I want to keep up with the wave of classic album re issues and new albums.
Vinyl is not for the faint of heart. It takes dedication and commitment. It takes research if you want to collect vinyl beyond just listening. For example, Led Zeppelin II. Contains the mythically classic songs, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Ramble On, What is And What Should Never Be. Pure Rock N Roll bliss. Gotta have this album in your collection right? Well shit, there are so many versions with varying degrees of sound. The HOLY GRAIL is a Robert Ludwig mastered version, pressed at Sterling Sound. good luck. it goes for $500 sometimes on Ebay. wha? why? Just download the damn thing on Itunes for $.99 right? Pshhhfff. Ok there are things you must know about Vinyl first to understand this beast.
1. Our ears hear in analog. Vinyl done right, is recorded and played in analog. When is the last time you HEARD a vinyl album? I am willing to bet all you listen to now is compressed mp3 files on your crappy earbuds while you're jogging, or maybe some laptop speakers that sound like dog farts. Digital can only replicate the sound wave. Vinyl IS the soundwave mannnnnnnnnn (hippy voice)...
2. When is the last time you TOUCHED your music (no, not in that way)? Vinyl requires you to hold it, touch it, smell it, feel it, before you hear it. You flip through bins at swap meets and flea markets. You now become aware that Record stores STILL EXIST. And that artists actually take time to put together a piece of art that you can hold in your hands. Um yeah. it's slightly different than clicking a cursor on a button like you do for everything else you buy.
3. What if I told you that vinyl is so far ahead of digital that good recordings, matched with good equipment can produce something called a "3D soundstage" ? Technology is better than ever today. And the entire process is a modern marvel. If done right, vinyl today will not just CRUSH digital, but will out do older vinyl pressings. Turntables and speakers are so advanced that you'll swear the musicians are in the ROOM. Why so much for an old Led Zeppelin pressing? Because sometimes the new issues aren't as good. They are from digital sources, or they are remastered crummy etc. So you have to find the BEST version of the music you're after, seek it out, go after it and get it.
4. Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi (Pictured Above), Poison and many others, released their biggest albums with covers that were either banned or censored. The Slippery When Wet cover was only issued in Japan. SO find one of those in Mint condition and you've got a rare one. Today's bands are doing things to make their vinyl rare and collectible as well. Such as colored vinyl like red, blue, clear, green etc. And they only print 500 or so copies.
5. 90's vinyl is by far the hardest to find. This was the golden age of the CD. Some artists never released ANYTHING on vinyl during the decade. If they did, it was very small numbers. Which make it harder to find and more valuable. Sting, Bob Dylan, Dave Mathews Band and Pearl Jam all have vinyl releases from the 90's fetching $200-$500 online now. So maybe they re issue them. Nirvana re issued Nevermind on vinyl. $30. But it still isn't an original pressing from 1991.
That's just the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more to vinyl than even I imagined. Did you know that there are needles for turntables that cost $10,000 ? what the what?
If you have a collection that you want to get rid of, hit me up I'll take them off your hands....
