Why I Like Vinyl . . . Records That Is
May 29th 2010 21:05
Vinyl - the religion of cool these days apparently
You have a great CD collection, but just think of all the music you will never hear.
So the arguments go around like willy willies about the sound quality of vinyl vs CD's vs MP3 vs the newest brightest bells and whistles technology but that's why collecting vinyl is worth the time, effort and the few bucks you spend on classic pieces of black wax …. you have a chance to hear artists who have not “made the cut”.
Then there's the album art. It's worth collecting in its own right. Not too many CD covers from memory managed to break new ground when it came to artwork and as for simply downloading - well sure its convenient - but imagine if The Beatles Sgt Peppers album or Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell was ever simply a download?
Don't get me wrong - I own an ipod I compile my playlists - but nothing beats finding that long lost album or 45 when rumaging through boxes at garage sales and fairs.
An audiophile - perhaps? Longing for a slice of my lost youth - perhaps?
Oh - which brings me to the fact that I'll be mingling with hundreds if not thousands of others today in Sydney at the Parramatta Record and Music Fair . . . if you've got nothing on it's worth the trip.
You might just be converted to the religion according to cool.
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Comment by Anonymous
An example is the Moog solo at the end of Lucky Man by ELP. Listening to this solo, on vinyl, with really good speakers, that solo will peel the wallpaper off your walls. It's also extremely disquieting, since it goes from the very lowest to the very highest of human sound perception. On CD, its good, but never as intense a feeling. That is what vinyl can do.
Another example is all those prog rock album covers that just don't get translated well to CD, mainly because of size. Gatefold covers, like Yes/Closer to the Edge, or ELP/Brain Salad Surgery, had amazing graphics by great artists. You could really see the paintings. On CD it is reduced so small that the image is, well, less possessing.
Listening to a vinyl record, holding it, looking at the lyric sheet or the artwork, was a listening experience that no IPod can reproduce. Going to your friend's house who had the good turntable was an excuse for a groovy party, with music on all night. And everyone listening.