Paying The Price – Collecting Records In 2021

On October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 By bigbadburchIn collecting3 Comments

One topic I want to cover more aspects of on here is music collecting. Not everyone does it these days but several of us still have collections of various physical formats. I’ve done one post so far on my own collection, as well as this post specifically about my Iron Maiden collection. And there are numerous issues within the realm of collecting that I plan to discuss going forward.

Today I want to get into vinyl collecting specifically and one huge elephant in the room that comes with modern-day record buying. Overall it’s the price of records today that has become an issue of huge concern among collectors. Back ten or so years ago old records were in flea markets for a few bucks apiece, while new records that were coming out could be had for maybe $20.

The music industry flipped on its head a few times in the past decade though, and now we live in a world where new releases push $30 or more and many old records are sought-after relics that command big prices depending on the shape they’re in. Flea market rummaging these days is reserved for the old polka classics that never had much of a market in the first place.

This isn’t a simple examination that ends with “damn, records are expensive.” There are a number of factors that play into the vinyl price inflation and why the market is the way it is today. Of course the prices of everything go up over time. If that was the only issue here I wouldn’t have a topic to write about. I know people love to lament how much cheaper things were way back when, but it’s a baseline business education fact that prices go up every year. This affects manufacturers, distributors and obviously, consumers. There’s nothing else to see here in regards to increasing prices.

What we have is a resurgence in vinyl interest. The record was a dead format, having been killed off in the early ’90’s in favor of the smaller CD. Then the digital revolution came and threatened the very existence of physical collections. I myself was still buying CDs and even a few records into the 2010’s but by and large people kept their music on their phones. This then gave way to streaming, where all you have to do is pay someone $10 a month to listen to more music than most people could ever bother with.

But then the vinyl boom came around and totally turned the physical market on its head. Records had never totally gone away – they were issued in limited pressings for diehard fans and collectors. Some of those 2000’s releases are now small goldmines. I’d love to have a vinyl copy of Neil Young’s 2007 Chrome Dreams II, but the price of admission is at least $100. And in the same year Nine Inch Nails released Year Zero, one of my favorite albums from them. If I want that record? We’re talking $250, at least.

Now both Neil Young and Trent Reznor have been pretty good about doing album reissues. I don’t have the income or desire to have original presses of everything ever released so I’d be more than happy with a new pressing of either album. Reissues do come around for a lot of albums, some that were scare in the first place or perhaps not even done on vinyl, as with much of the 1990’s. It is the saving grace for the middle-class or modest-income music collector.

But even reissues can be tough to come by, much like new releases. I don’t have a huge problem getting what I want but I have learned one valuable lesson – if I know a record is coming out, I better pre-order it and make sure I get a copy. Some new releases might be available at retail price until the pre-order sells out and will be two or three times higher ever after. And while some labels do their best to make sure reissues of even recent material are out there, the record manufacturing sector is in such short supply that lead times on new pressings are months out. It especially hits independent labels hard when the majors are filling orders in every available plant for Record Store Day reissues of the same ten albums.

I will say this about Record Store Day – I think it’s fantastic for the stores. Retail music stores were nearly extinct before this vinyl resurgence. I don’t at all mind seeing lines of people outside shops I frequent, I want these businesses to succeed and more customers is always going to be a good thing.

But RSD has a bad side, too. Multiple, in fact. It clogs up record plants, which again are in very short supply. But it also feeds into the modern market we have going on in music, gaming, shoes and even toilet paper at times – the secondary “flipper” market. In less savory terms, vinyl has fallen prey to the scalpers and price gougers.

The play is this – a record label offers a reissue or new release in limited scope, between 1,000 and 2,500 copies. Flippers buy up as many as possible and immediately post them on eBay and Discogs for insane mark-ups. Regular fans who really wanted the record but had no shot at the one copy in their local store with 35 people ahead of them in line on RSD are left out in the cold. It’s either suck it up and pay the scalpers’ prices or go without.

This issue plays out in consumer goods everywhere today. Scalpers using bots have turned current-gen gaming consoles into a total fiasco. PC stuff like GPUs are unobtainium these days. But it has redefined music collecting and not for the better.

I honestly have not gone to a Record Store Day. I’m not fond of huge lines for small buildings and also I often don’t see anything I absolutely have to have on the release lists. There’s always a record or two I wouldn’t mind having but nothing that gets me out of the house.

I did miss out on one record I would have like to have, though. In 2020 a reissue of Skid Row’s excellent Slave To The Grind was released for RSD in a limited format with bonus tracks, which is a creative way to get the clean and explicit versions of the album on one release. I was very stoked for a chance to get the record, but that chance never came. None of the local shops were able to get a single copy for their RSD allotments and the record instantly sold for $75 or more the day of release. The current price has gone over $100 on Discogs. It’s truly cheaper to get an original 1991 copy on record which was only released in a few countries and is pretty scarce.

I’m not willing to pay that much for the record even though I’d love to have it. It’s something I’ll just have to live without unless a local store gets a copy in someday and I can trade a bit into it. I’m fine with the CD copy of the explicit version I have that cost me $4.

Even without the dark aspect of flippers and scalpers, sticker shock is getting to be a thing with vinyl these days. Prices had moved to a rough average of $30 for a new copy of either a new release or reissue. But now that needle is moving upward. I’ve noticed a fair bit of new releases going for $40 or more. Hell, I paid $60 for the triple-vinyl copy of Iron Maiden’s new album Senjutsu. Yes, it’s Iron Maiden and yes I’m going to pay it, but I sure as hell noticed.

I do think this combination of factors like scalpers, supply shortages and rising prices might lead to the end of this vinyl boom. Let’s be real – this was never going to last forever. Collectibles as a whole are a weird market with unpredictable rises and falls, and in some cases those markets have now been entered into by investors. Just look at the collectible card game market for a prime example of that.

I’m not trying to be doom and gloom here, if I had my way a healthy vinyl market would continue on for the end of time. My town is lucky to have a handful of local stores that offer great selection and a much better shopping experience than ordering crap from Amazon or Discogs. But there are some alarming signs that, when put together, could lead to reduced interest in vinyl and an eventual crash in the market.

First off, labels are having issues getting records pressed. Smaller labels especially face months-long delays in getting their new albums to press. This causes smaller runs of vinyl, which feeds the scalper market by creating scarce supply to feed greater demand. The prices rise, both because of flippers and the natural or otherwise rise in prices.

What does this do? Seriously – Spotify is $10 a month. The other streaming services are roughly the same price. This is what the vast majority of music listeners use anyway so the economy of that is going to sway yet more people to it versus hunting down overpriced vinyl.

And for the diehard physical collector that refuses to give all the way in to streaming? As luck would have it, there is a much cheaper and more convenient format to consume music with. The CD is still around, though it was a battle for life there for awhile. I’ve noticed more collectors and music fans going back to the CD. Hell, any back catalog release is $5 or less these days and CD’s are literally all over the place. It’s a quiet undercurrent of people returning to that format but it’s noticeable and it’s getting a bit louder.

Should more people be turned off by the array of factors leading to higher record prices, I fear the market will suffer as a result. Many of the stores today are small businesses – they can’t survive a huge drop in demand. The vinyl boom needs to continue or at least plateau to something sustainable for them to continue on. If people keep running from the format or limit their purchases to their absolute favorite artists who often sell directly, it could spell trouble for what has been a fantastic renaissance for record stores.

Again, I hope this doomsday scenario doesn’t play out. In this crazy world that changes and mutates more often than most people change their underwear, I’d like to have something last for longer than a few years. I have X amount of life left and I’d like to spend it as a music fan and collector. Hopefully circumstances change a bit and the market can push through the rising prices, supply issues and scalper problems.

In the end, the price of records is an issue that needs to be dressed for the long-term health of the market. I can’t fix flipping nor do I have any practical ideas on how to, even though it’s a much-despised part of the modern process. But it’s not the only issue the vinyl industry faces today.

As a footnote – let’s give credit where credit is truly due to the vinyl resurgence. The independent and underground scenes in every genre kept vinyl going in a time where no one else cared. But it’s that oft-derided subculture from a decade or so ago that truly brought vinyl back. Give a round of applause to your local hipsters for kick-starting the vinyl revolution. I’ll talk more about them (uhhh, them…) another time but I wanted to throw a mention in while I was talking about this.

Looking At New Music – October/November

On October 1, 2021September 30, 2021 By bigbadburchIn Upcoming Music1 Comment

I want to shift gears a bit on the blog and go through a handful of preview songs for upcoming albums. Some of these works have set release dates and a few others aren’t even named yet, but the acts have released singles to build hype for their new efforts. I’ll start doing this on a semi-regular basis, as I find myself with more songs than time or space presently allows. These will genre-hop through just whatever is on my radar at any given time.

Guns N Roses – Hard Skool

This is the second track from an apparent upcoming EP and the first new GnR music to feature Slash and Duff since the early 1990’s. I wasn’t in love with Absurd, the first song we got and probably a leftover from the maligned Chinese Democracy era. This song is a lot better though I won’t fall all over myself for it either. The verses drag a bit but it gets to some classic GnR in the chorus. I don’t know if this song was also one of many Axl has laying around from his protracted recording sessions or if there was more collaboration between the reunited band members.

This new EP will be more of a curiosity for me than anything but it’ll be interesting to hear what Guns N Roses has to offer the world decades after their prime.

Limp Bizkit – Dad Vibes

I wrote earlier this year about Limp Bizkit and some shifting attitudes toward them, perhaps a retro appreciation for their era and at least some calming of the hatred they’ve endured over the years. Now they’re bringing new music for the first time in a decade, perhaps the truest test of how long their 2021 renaissance will last.

I never was a real fan of the band and even if I can look back on my past hatred for them as a bit blind, I probably won’t be beating down the door of my local record store to pick this up on release day. But this song is pretty cool. It’s short, chill and still Limp Bizkit. I can appreciate it. If nothing else, it reminds me that Fred Durst and I are both getting older, and that’s ok.

Swallow The Sun – Woven Into Sorrow

I ran across this on social media last week when the song was released. Woven Into Sorrow is the lead single from the band’s new effort Moonflowers, which comes out November 19 on Century Media Records.

I’ll be honest – Swallow The Sun is one of the many bands I have heard of, but not heard. I just haven’t got to them in all my years of metalheading. Well, I’m happy to say that I’m on board now.

Woven Into Sorrow is some excellent gothic doom, or symphonic doom or whatever subset of doom a person might call this. This song is about as sad as it gets and moves into a harsh vocal passage toward the end that blends well with the song’s tone. I will absolutely be checking out the new album when it hits.

Marissa Nadler – If I Could Breath Underwater

Marissa is not an artist I’d even heard of until last month when she announced her new album The Path Of The Clouds. As it turns out she has been around a long time and has a back catalog absolutely worth checking out, a very dreamy pop-folk style, if that’s a real thing.

This song, the album’s second single, is an absolute dreamscape, gently floating into itself or perhaps everything. I’d say that this isn’t a style of music I’d normally gravitate toward, but perhaps it’s more fair to say it’s a style that I’ve just now found space to appreciate. This is another release I’ll be checking out when it hits, which in this case is October 29^th.

Converge – Blood Moon

Huh, it’s new Converge. I haven’t listened to them a lot over the years but I’ll give them another spin, they’re historically very noisy and I like noise and …

… oh, hello Chelsea Wolfe, wasn’t expecting to see you here.

So this new Converge album Bloodmoon I is a collaborative effort between the band and indie queen Chelsea Wolfe. Various configurations of this lineup has performed as Blood Moon in the past and now a full album of work under the Converge banner will be realized November 19^th.

I’ve only had one listen to the song so far and I’ll be playing it again, that’s for sure. This is creepy, haunting and fantastic. I guess this collaboration isn’t as unlikely as it seems, given their past live performances. But it wasn’t something I was really aware of and this song came totally out of nowhere for me. I guess that’s why we do this.

Slow Crush – Hush

2021 will go down as the year I got into shoegaze. It wasn’t a sound I’d ever really messed with besides the stuff Alcest or Deafheaven have been doing over the years. But I went full in this year after the right circumstances came together to allow me to enjoy this kind of stuff.

Slow Crush are newer to the scene, having come on in 2018 with the excellent Aurora. This song is the first single from the album Hush, out October 22^nd.

This track has been out for a few months now and I’ve been jamming to it pretty regularly. It’s a beautifully done atmospheric song that absolutely nails the shoegaze pattern of leaving the music, including vocals, together to be found in layers or enjoyed as its whole. I won’t be missing this release later in October.

Hypocrisy – Chemical Whore

This is the lead single from the death metal veterans’ new album Worship, available on November 26^th, appropriately Black Friday in the United States. This marks their first release in nearly 9 years as leadman Peter Tagtgren has been exploring other creative avenues through the past decade.

This excellent mid-tempo monster highlights the horrors of drug overuse, more the pharmaceutical kind than the street kind. It comes with a great video and the album should be another win for a band that have been racking up great albums since 2004. Hypocrisy is always an auto-buy for me.

Emma Ruth Rundle – Return

It’s time for the main event as far as I’m concerned. The artist I just talked about earlier this week is releasing her much-anticipated new album Engines Of Hell on November 5^th. Emma has stated that this record is a sparse affair, informed by major transformations in her personal life over the past few years.

Return absolutely fits the description and is a movement away from contrast in noise and melody that marked ERR’s prior effort. This song is haunting, minimal and seems very deliberate in its delivery. It’s almost scary what the rest of the album might be like – without the use of her extensive collection of effects pedals to mask the more harrowing moments, Engines Of Hell might rip the listener’s soul right out. I’d say I’m ready but I might very well not be.

That’ll do it for this first round of upcoming releases. I’m sure I’ve forgotten more than one thing, and in the future I’ll try to tidy these up a bit and focus on the next month’s upcoming records. I left a few out that I’ll have time to get into a bit down the line. While many fans turn their attention to considering the ever-important question “What is the album of the year?” it’s worth remembering that there are other contenders to come.

The Importance Of Being Idle – Will Oasis Ever Reunite?

On September 24, 2021August 28, 2024 By bigbadburchIn Uncategorized2 Comments

UPDATE August 2024 – this whole post is essentially worthless now, as Oasis have announced their reunion tour for 2025.

It’s time to wrap up Oasis week here on The Crooked Wanderer. I’ve enjoyed going through what I have so far, remembering Definitely Maybe and gifting S-Tier status to Don’t Look Back In Anger. I would have loved to write up a discussion of the Knebworth documentary that hit theaters yesterday, but sadly no theater in my town showed it. I’ll give some space to that when I can watch the film and also when the album and concert footage releases in November.

Of course there are many other things to talk about with Oasis. I’ll eventually cover other albums and songs as time goes on. I just wanted to spend a moment with them on the week of the Knebworth release.

But there is a huge elephant in the room when it comes to Oasis and it’s now time to discuss that. Oasis came to an end in 2009 when Noel Gallagher left the band after yet another altercation with his brother, singer Liam Gallagher. Noel would immediately start a solo career, while Liam and the remaining Oasis members briefly toured the ill-fated Beady Eye project. Liam would launch his own successful solo career in the late 2010’s.

The question is pretty simple – will Oasis ever get back together? Reunion tours are big business in music and Oasis has captured a wave of nostalgia in recent years that would set the table for a literal truckload of cash. There are several factors to consider in trying to answer this question.

First of all, Noel and Liam have engaged in a rather bitter sibling rivalry in the decade since Oasis split up. I’m not going to recount specifics but it’s not hard to find examples of the two slagging each other off. The feud has gotten extremely personal at times and it does feel like one of the irreconcilable matters. They really, truly do not like one another.

Secondly, Noel does not show any real inclination to get the band back together. He has pursued several experimental musical directions with his High Flying Birds project and every word he has said about an Oasis reunion has been negative. Liam, however, seems ready to do a reunion show the next day if only it would materialize.

An Oasis reunion would be a big-ticket event. There is demand from fans old and new, as their music has transcended its moment in time and lives on today. It’s often cynical when old bands get back together but there is a convergence of interest and nostalgia involved with Oasis that would send that tour to the moon.

I’m gonna be real – I honestly don’t think an Oasis reunion will happen. I take Noel at face value when he says he’s not interested. I think a lot of people want to believe something is brewing behind the scenes, what with the work that went into the Knebworth documentary and the brothers’ high profiles in the past few years. But I really am just not seeing it. Noel has been unequivocal in his dismissal of the reunion concept and of his brother.

Sure, the tour would be huge money. But Noel has made mention of the small fortune he already has. If money were his motivation we would already have had a reunion to talk about. He seems touched by the fond recollections of Oasis fans but seems very interested in going forward with his own vision, and his vision is one not owing to reminiscing.

I could, of course, be wrong, and Oasis might announce a reunion tour the second after I post this, or perhaps after the pandemic has run its course (when the hell ever that will be…). But based on my obviously uniformed opinion as nothing more than a fan, I honestly do not see a world where Oasis gets back together.

I’ll leave with this Noel quote from the How To Wow podcast a few weeks ago. Noel addresses the state of his and Liam’s solo careers, and I think it truly illustrates Noel’s mindset regarding an Oasis reunion.

“He’s doing massive gigs, he’s selling more records than I am and he’s selling more tickets than I am, if you can believe that.”

“So he’s doing his thing and I’m doing mine and we’re both pretty happy doing that at the moment.”

“Liam’s doing his thing, he’s responsible for the legacy being what it is, he’s keeping the flame alive and all that and good for him.”

Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger

On September 22, 2021March 15, 2024 By bigbadburchIn S-Tier Songs6 Comments

This post was part of a series that I called S-Tier Songs. I later decided to abandon the series in favor of a simpler Song of the Week format. I am keeping these posts as I wrote them but removing the old page that linked to the list of S-Tier Songs, so that is why these posts might look a bit odd. Enjoy.

Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger

The song is a curiosity from the get-go as guitarist/songwriter/head honcho Noel Gallagher sings the track as opposed to his brother, singer/man of the people/loose cannon Liam. It was an interesting choice and one that might be criticized in retrospect. The story goes that Noel told Liam he could choose between Wonderwall or this and Noel would tackle vocals on the other. Liam chose Wonderwall, probably correctly, and the rest is history.

It’s fun to imagine a world where Liam sang this tune but it doesn’t matter. Noel guided the ship well through the song. Of course, when you write a song as magnificent as Don’t Look Back In Anger, it’s probably not hard to carry a tune along with it.

As with much of Oasis, the song does borrow from the realm of the Beatles. In this case, DLBIA has direct ties to John Lennon. The song’s intro hearkens back to Lennon’s magnum opus Imagine, while lines in the pre-chorus like “the brains I have went to my head” and “gonna start a revolution in my bed” are culled from things Lennon said and did.

The song becomes Oasis’ own in the chorus, and it marks one of music’s signature anthems. The song’s message of letting things go really hits when “So Sally can wait…” comes on. It is an iconic chorus that has taken on a life of its own, often belted out at soccer/football matches. It’s also a song that, much like Live Forever, gets airplay at weddings, funerals and the like.

Of course the central theme of Don’t Look Back In Anger is spelled out directly in the title. And yeah, it’s an important one. I’ve been known to hold a grudge or two in my day, but as time wears on it becomes clear that holding on to old resentments is tiring and unproductive. It’s almost always wise to let shit go and let your soul slide away.

Don’t Look Back In Anger would help Oasis’ home city rally in the wake of tragedy – after the terrorist bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in 2017, the town used the Oasis anthem to find their way through the devastation. A lone woman at a rally led the crowd in an impromptu rendition, and later at the One Love Manchester tribute concert Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland would serenade Ariana Grande with the tune.

Why is this an S-Tier song?

Don’t Look Back In Anger is a masterful anthem with a gorgeous melody and an iconic chorus. The song’s message of letting it all go is powerful and important, and at times the world has used the song to soothe disappointment and even tragedy. In a time period when Noel Gallagher was maybe the hottest songwriter on the planet, this song perhaps stands out even over many of the other memorable tunes he wrote.

Oasis – Definitely Maybe (Album of the Week)

On September 20, 2021June 24, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week2 Comments

This weeks marks the theatrical release of the Oasis – Knebworth documentary. It chronicles the two historic nights Oasis played in England at the height of their immense popularity in 1996. So I felt it fitting to make this week Oasis week around here. We’ll start with the usual Album Of The Week, and I’ll get straight into it.

Oasis – Definitely Maybe

Released August 29, 1994 via Creation Records

Favorite Tracks – Live Forever, Cigarettes & Alcohol, Columbia

Creation Records had been plagued with financial troubles, at least somewhat owing to the ridiculous saga surrounding the recording of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. Label founder Alan McGee sold half of the label to Sony and then needed to find a hit to stabilize finances.

He found his hit in the pubs of Manchester.

Oasis’ debut album was an instant success, smashing debut album records in the UK and also hitting platinum in the US. The “brothers’ war” between Noel and Liam Gallagher played out as great fodder for the British tabloids, both painting them as brash bad boys and keeping Oasis in the press. It was a case of instant success for some down on their luck blokes from Manchester, with that would come all the good and bad.

But let’s talk about the album itself. Definitely Maybe is a monster release and a stellar debut that belies the absolute inexperience of anyone in the band besides chief songwriter Noel Gallagher. These are songs of the hopes and dreams of working class people looking for something more than the doldrum of everyday life. It’s spelled out in the beginning on album opener Rock N Roll Star, and excellent banger than sets a hopeful, dream-laden tone.

The album contains several songs of varying scope and heft. Digsby’s Diner and album closer Married With Children are more fun tunes, not quite filler but also not exactly top-shelf stuff. Up In The Sky is a bright, rocking tune while Bring It On Down is a flat-out headbanger, on par with the title track from the second album.

Then there’s Columbia. This song is all about the atmosphere and vibe. This song isn’t about anything at all, or it’s about whatever you want or need it to be. Oasis would offer a few things like this, kind of “nonsense” songs, through their career. And honestly I love it – I just want to go full hipster and strut down the street with this as my theme music.

If one nonsense song wasn’t enough, the album brings another. Highlight single Supersonic is a heavy, mid-tempo affair with a whole lot of words that rhyme with each other and little else. It tells a story of … something or someone who does stuff on a helicopter and, well, that’s about all I get out of it. But it’s a solid song that stands out on a record filled with brilliance.

Sitting between the two “odd” tracks toward the album’s end is Slide Away. A masterful tune, this is a quintessential love song from the Britrockers. And it is actually a love song, unlike Wonderwall, which shocks some people when they find out it’s not a love song. (Seriously, go look up what Wonderwall is really about. Then sing Slide Away to your boo at your next drunken karaoke night. Then consider the existential dread that Wonderwall truly envelops. Then go back to another drunken karaoke night.)

Another favorite of mine is Cigarettes & Alcohol. Yes, both the products and the Oasis song. This tune is a nod to the hollow pursuit of substance abuse to alleviate the strain and nihilism of working class life. Damn, if that ain’t the truth. I’ve been there myself many different times, or perhaps even for just one very, very long time. It’s a statement similar to that of Pulp’s smash hit Common People, though the latter includes some different commentary about how the working class are viewed. No matter the perspective, it’s kind of damn bleak out here, and it wasn’t any different in the early ’90’s.

This album does have one song that, in my estimation, stands head and shoulders above the rest. The song was, metaphorically and literally, an antidote to grunge’s sometimes miserable self-flagellation. Noel told NME in 2013 that he wrote Live Forever as a response to the Nirvana song I Hate Myself And Want To Die.

Live Forever is an amazing song that expresses the bonds of friendship, family, romance, or whatever between people. The song could be, and has been, played anywhere – weddings, funerals, dances, or just hanging with mates. It is a sentimental, sweet, perhaps melancholy yet ultimately triumphant celebration of those deepest, most meaningful connections between people.

Live Forever has been voted among the best of Britrock’s songs in multiple polls, often sharing space with the aforementioned Pulp hit and a few other Oasis tunes. Noel has called it the best song he’s ever written and Liam has said it was his favorite song as well. And it’s number 3 on my list of all-time Oasis songs.

Definitely Maybe was an amazing debut album that helped set the stage for the scene of Britrock to take over the world in the mid ’90’s. Oasis themselves would truly conquer the planet the next year with their second record. But the debut is absolutely possessing of its own merits and is often, perhaps rightfully, regarded as their best overall record.

With the theatrical release of the Knebworth documentary coming this Thursday, I’ll take the rest of the week to discuss Oasis. On Wednesday I’ll pick out one song in particular, and on Friday I’ll address the “what if?” elephant in the room question that comes up when talking about Oasis these days.

My 5 Favorite Songs From The Use Your Illusion Albums

On September 17, 2021September 16, 2021 By bigbadburchIn Favorites3 Comments

I spent the week paring down the monstrous Use Your Illusion albums from Guns N Roses into one lean, mean fighting disc. Here is Part One and Part Two of that effort, and here you can find the results of my labor.

With that out of the way but the topic still fresh in my mind, I wanted to take a moment and review my favorite songs from the records. There isn’t any more lead-in than that needed so let’s get right into it.

#5 – 14 Years

This is the song Izzy Stradlin sang the verses on, though an unfamiliar listener could be forgiven for not knowing that since Axl’s voice can take on so many different forms. There is no official confirmation but rumors suggest that the song is about Izzy and Axl’s friendship. Izzy left the band during the tour cycle for Illusion and the band did not play the song again until Izzy did a guest spot on the reunion tour.

For me it’s just a cool song that I always liked. It has no real personal meaning for me – I mean, I was 14 when the records came out so I had no “14 years or silence or pain” to relate to, just dumb kid stuff. It’s a song that I’ve always playlisted or whatever and when I revisited these albums it was one of the first ones that really jumped out at me.

#4 – November Rain

Yep, the epic, grandiose, and also ridiculous and over-wrought hit is one of my favorites from the albums. This song and video was such a complete spectacle that it was hard to turn away from. Cake fights, explosions, and cars driving off cliffs while Slash solos – what more could you ask for?

I guess this song is about Axl and his personal relations with women. I don’t really know, it’s a bit hard to derive meaning from all the bombast. I do know that when it rains in the winter I always get this song stuck in my head. I think that’s an inevitable part of life for anyone around when this was all the rage.

#3 – You Could Be Mine

The lead single from the records had a glorious tie-in with the hotly-anticipated Terminator 2. The resulting video interspersed movie footage and also some original content, climaxing when the Terminator’s target screen gives a funny message after scanning the band.

The song is a badass rocker that outlines what must have been a crazy relationship. Nothing wrong with redlining things once in awhile, that’s what youth is for. But yeah, it’s a great song and a signature tune for me from these albums.

Interesting that the band didn’t officially upload the video. I guess money and rights issues between them and the studio.

#2 – Estranged

This long epic was always one of the highlights of the double set. It (I think) served as the final single release for these records before the band moved to an uninspired covers album before effectively breaking up for 20 years.

The song is magnificent – with slowly-building movements that incorporate some of Slash’s most tasteful guitar work and very poignant lyrics from Axl. The song builds to a monumental finish around the 7-minute mark – this is the part where Axl jumps off the ship and does his swimming with the dolphins thing in the video.

I loved the song when it first hit, but Estranged has also taken on new meaning as I’ve gotten older. When the albums released I was 14, when the video for this song dropped I think I was 15 or 16. The word “estranged” is something I would have had to look up in a dictionary. I didn’t know the first thing about it.

But all these years later it’s a different story. Sure, estrangement usually refers to either spouses or parent-child relationships. But it can still apply in a broader sense to personal interactions as a whole. As time wears on, we will lose family, friends, lovers, and other people. One day, often without knowing it, we’ll have said the last things we’re ever gonna say to each other. It’s not a matter of death – everyone’s still around living their lives, it’s just that people have fallen away. Maybe some reconnections can and should be made, but by and large there is very much a “ships passing in the night” vibe to how people come together and fall apart.

In this age of pandemics, climate upheaval and social-political unrest, it’s tough also not to consider the personal relationship aspect of life. We’re all twisting and turning toward something that doesn’t really look good, but also the past is dead and gone. Might as well have a bit of midlife crisis on top of the endless supply of existential dread.

Why must it drift away and die? I don’t know, but that’s the way it goes.

#1 – Civil War

It’s time for the champion to come claim its crown, and this battle was never in any real dispute.

Civil War has always been my favorite track from this era. The song is both melodically beautiful and powerful, a masterful attack on the military industrial complex and a look at the formation of unrest and discord through society.

I didn’t quite understand all of that back then but the song always leapt out at me. And now that I do, perhaps barely, understand what it’s about, I’ve noticed I’m far from the only one to gravitate towards it when these albums get brought up. Hell, they play this song on the radio a fair bit these days, even if “radio play” doesn’t mean what it used to.

Rock music doesn’t always have to be high-minded. It can be dumb and fun, both of which are in ample supply on the Use Your Illusion records. But rock is often at its best when it does cover the deeper, darker threads of existence. And Guns N Roses are in top form on this song.

Well folks, that just about does it for my exploration of the Use Your Illusion albums. It was a very interesting time for me to come of age in, both with this ultimate realization of the band’s grandiose plans and the antithesis to that bombast that hit the airwaves at the exact same time. It was pretty fun and sometimes head-scratching to go back through these ambitious albums and the wide variety of songs on offer. I didn’t feel many were that great but there are some absolute masterworks to be found here.

In terms of further explorations of double albums, well, I know there is other work to be done. My next cutting room floor project is sitting on my CD shelf right now (sorry, Trent). I also have a future idea that pushes the bounds of the definitions here but I’ll see how that goes a bit down the road.

To close – thank you, rock stars, for thinking we need these massive double records. If nothing else, it gives me something to write about.

Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears (Album of the Week)

On September 13, 2021June 24, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week2 Comments

Programming note – I was unable to post last Friday due to technical difficulties with pictures. That post, which is just a look at my Iron Maiden collection, will come at another time. But this week there will be a post every day of the week.

September of 1991 was a watershed month in music history. There are so many albums that released that month of importance, some of grand significance. September 17^th of that year saw the release of two, or I guess three, huge albums for the rock crowd. Guns N’ Roses dropped their long-hyped Use Your Illusion double set. Those captured my attention to a point that I’m literally going to spend the rest of the week on here talking about them.

Yes, really.

But not today. The Album Of The Week comes from the same day in 1991, but from a different rock and metal institution. The Prince Of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne released No More Tears on the 17^th nearly 30 years ago.

It’s not that we necessarily need a special occasion to discuss this seminal record, but with its 30^th anniversary approaching and also a sorely-needed vinyl reissue of the album coming on its 30^th birthday, I figured this week would be a great time to pay homage to it.

Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears

Released September 17, 1991 via Epic Records

Favorite Tracks – Hellraiser, No More Tears, I Don’t Want To Change The World

I was very hyped for this release as soon as it was announced. By this time in 1991 I was staying up every Saturday night to watch Headbanger’s Ball, which quickly became my church rather than the droll kind I got drug off to on Sunday morning. Ozzy was a fixture on MTV and especially the Ball around the time of the album’s release. For 14 year old me it was can’t-miss viewing.

Lucky for small Midwest town me, the album did not come with a dreaded Parental Advisory sticker, so the only place in my cowtown that sold albums, Wal-Mart, stocked it. I bought it the minute I could and jammed out to it over and over again.

I know this is a divisive point in Ozzy’s catalog. Some older than me turned their noses up at this direction, preferring the all-out evil Prince Of Fucking Darkness to the more subdued elder statesman of rock that Ozzy became in the ’90’s. But for me? No way – this is absolutely where it’s at. It was the perfect album at the perfect time for me.

This is a beefy album, with 11 tracks and nearly an hour runtime. It works just great for me, there honestly isn’t a tune or even a note that I don’t appreciate here. Even the three quasi-ballads – Mama I’m Coming Home, Time After Time, and the excellent album closer Road To Nowhere are all choice cuts.

Of course Ozzy’s calling card is rock and metal, and No More Tears delivers in spades. This album slams with Zakk Wylde’s guitar and a deep-rooted drive and groove. Mr. Tinkertrain opens with a frantic pace and, while maybe kinda creepy, sets the mood as dark and heavy. The title track is an epic masterpiece – a long, brooding, doom-laden lament of lost love, or at least sex, or something, I don’t know. The Lemmy-penned Hellraiser really kicks up the dust and throws things into high gear. Desire is a very tasty rock anthem that could be suited for a raceway, pro wrestling entrance, or something of that like.

As I look back in the absolute gold mine that was music in 1991, I honestly feel like this album was the one that really kicked things over the top for me. Yeah, grunge arrived and changed the world. Sure, Metallica became one of the biggest bands in the world. Guns N’ Roses offered up a double serving of their unique brand of psychotic excess. Skid Row didn’t let “hair metal” go out quietly into the night – they recorded one of the greatest albums of the era and honestly probably transcended the term hair metal. Van Halen even dropped a Van Hagar-era cut that I feel is woefully underrated and sneakily heavy.

But I keep coming back to Ozzy for this year. I’ve been over it before – I was ready to come into the 1990’s and have my turn with the fun and ritz of hair metal. But the world just threw everything into chaos right when I arrived to the station. Instead I came in amazed at the shifting landscape around me, but still looking for something familiar to cling to. And old reliable Ozzy offered that.

It isn’t just that Ozzy helped anchor me in a turbulent musical climate or that he offered his own gateway into the far heavier things I was about to explore – No More Tears is an excellent document on its own terms.

For Ozzy he seemed to shed the “general of the Satanic armies” persona he had developed in the 1980’s, fueled in large par to the grotesque Satanic Panic of that time. Instead he was the rock god that everyone respected and revered, he was the dad and husband who talked funny but also got on stage and brought it every night.

For me this album was extremely important. It absolutely fits the “raised on rock, made by metal” ethos that shaped my formative years. Ozzy was that metal god and he delivered a sermon I was more than ready for. No More Tears stands to this day as one of my favorite albums and most important steps on the road through music I travel. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to move on and make the most of the night.

Iron Maiden – Senjutsu (Album of the Week)

On September 6, 2021June 24, 2023 By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week7 Comments

Last Friday, heavy metal legends Iron Maiden released their 17^th studio album Senjutsu. The double disc or triple vinyl album clocks in at a mammoth 82 minutes, rivaling their prior effort Book Of Souls. Maiden have been riding a wave of new popularity and legacy building for the past few decades since a reunion of their classic lineup in 1999. This new effort, correctly assumed to have been recorded before the events of 2020 put everything on hold, was instantly hyped and anticipated by fans.

Iron Maiden are my favorite band, they have been for a very long time. I’ll get more into that later this week, as all my posts for the week will be dedicated to Maiden in celebration of the new album and their overall legacy.

For today though it’s pretty simple – Monday is the Album Of The Week, and that pick for this week is Senjutsu.

Iron Maiden – Senjutsu

Released September 3, 2021 via Warner/Parlaphone Records

Favorite Tracks – Hell On Earth, Writing On The Wall, The Parchment

I’m not one much for doing album reviews right off the bat. I prefer the gift of hindsight to settle on a record’s place in my music library and in a band’s catalog. I honestly was going to do a ranking of Iron Maiden records as my debut video for YouTube later this fall – the second I started working on that was when they announced a new album was coming. So my Maiden ranking will have to sit until I have time to consider where Senjutsu fits with the rest of their discography.

But this AOTW thing is not always a strict review – it’s more often a discussion of a record I like. And I certainly like the new Maiden offering. It’s another epic, multi-faceted album that stands in fairly stark contrast to its predecesor. It is yet another movement for a band that hasn’t rested on its laurels since finding acclaim in the later years of existence.

It’s also clear that the captain is steering the ship again. After kind of talking Book Of Souls off and letting the rest of the band handle that, Steve Harris is all over this album. It does at times recall the mid- and late-90’s when he was the creative force in the band. That could mean different things to different people, but in this case it’s a good thing.

I think an easy way to approach this is to go track-by-track. Let’s dive into the hour and 20 minute epic that is Senjutsu. Something to note – I have not, to date, read or watched the fairly extensive interviews that the band have given discussing meaning and theme on the record. I will do so after I’ve spent some more time with the album. I wanted to go into it on my own and see what I came out of it with.

Senjutsu

Iron Maiden have almost always been on their game with title tracks. Senjutsu is no exception and is a standout for both the album and in consideration of past title tracks. This song about heading into battle features some sick drum sounds and an atmospheric, almost hazy layer to the production, as if recalling a fog of war. The song does a great job tying into the album’s samurai theme and setting the tone sonically as the lead track.

Stratego

This was the second of two preview singles released ahead of the album. I struggled with the song on its own, it too is atmospheric and a bit buried in itself. But in the context of the album it works very well. It’s another tune about war and tactics, which “tactics and strategy” are the rough translation of Senjutsu. I honestly never played the board game that this track took its name from so I can’t really comment on that.

My only real qualm with the album’s production is on this song – it’s almost done in the vein of a shoegaze song where the individual parts are left in vague layers to consumed as one unit. Iron Maiden isn’t a shoegaze band by any stretch and the music needs to stand out. I think Bruce’s vocals are supressed here. But again, I do like the song and I think it fits the album’s theme and mood.

Writing On The Wall

Here we have the album’s first single, released before we even knew the album title. Any Maiden fan is already well familiar with this post-apocalyptic biker metal jaunt that heralds the arrival of the Four Horsemen.

I’ve played WOTW hundreds of times since its July release. The song is terrific and is an instant classic from the Smith-Dickinson songwriting tandem that has delivered many crucial metal cuts over the years. The song also sets the stage for the album’s other theme, that being how screwed our civilization probably is. It’s a theme that has always grabbed my attention and does so especially now.

Lost In A Lost World

This excellent track gets into some conventional past Maiden melodies and also tells the tale of some long lost civilization. It could be a past reflection on a lost culture, something the band have tackled before. Or it could be a look from the future back on our time. That would certainly fit the album’s second, apocalyptic theme.

Days Of Future Past

This short, blistering song seems to outline some war against a god, perhaps the lines are from Satan’s perspective. Or maybe it’s a burned, scorned mortal who fell out of favor with a god or king, who knows. Either way it also seems on theme – some damned soul wandering the wasteland with no purpose or end. Pretty stark stuff from the band, though they are no strangers to that sort of introspection.

The Time Machine

This song has a fairly vague theme, it appears to be a man recounting what he’s seen over his life. It doesn’t get too specific into what that is. The music is great on this track, very much signature Iron Maiden with a few intersting movements and twists.

Darkest Hour

Another tune from Smith and Dickinson, this song recalls some sort of war. It does feel a bit like World War II, with the mention of the beaches in blood. I have to wonder if it’s purely a look back or again, if the darkest hour is one just on the horizon. The song is, like the rest of the album, great. Very dark and moody stuff.

Death Of The Celts

Here we have the first of 3 Steve Harris-penned epics that close Senjutsu. This track is an absolute callback to The Clansman, a highlight from Maiden’s oft-maligned Virtual XI album. It is again, the tale of a lost culture, this time in its final battle from the perspective of a lone remaining warrior.

It is yet another welcome addition to the Iron Maiden catalog of long, epic songs. A powerful yet somber recounting of a last stand in the face of the conquering enemy, the song itself triumphs in a way its protagonist could not.

The Parchment

Look, it’s a 12-minute long song about a piece of paper. What else is there to say? Is it some ancient text of forbideen knowledge being sought, or did the band forget to cash a royalty check from Powerslave and set out on a quest to be whole?

More seriously, the song tackles yet another war. This time the depth and meaning is not found on the surface, at least for me. It’s a song to sit with later on and find its hidden passages and themes.

What does stand out on this track? The guitars. For a guitar-driven band with 3 players, this song lets them have at it. It is, for Maiden, a shred fest disguised as another gradiose epic. It’s a song that stands out from the crowd to me and one I’ll be spending more time with down the line.

Hell On Earth

The album’s closing track rounds out the creative burst trilogy from Captain Harris. It brings the album’s theme of “we are doomed” to full bore as the song literally depicts what the title suggests. It isn’t hard to look at how things are going and reach the conclusion that we’re either already there or are about to get there. It came up in several spots on this record and now it has a fitting, full exploration.

And for the love of all that is Maiden – this one is a masterpiece. It almost immediately joins other post-reunion epics like Paschendale and For The Greater Good Of God as some of the best work the band has ever done. It’s early of course but I don’t really mind saying it so soon.

It’s all here on this song – Bruce’s command of the song, the guitars both flowing and slamming, and the band’s drive and rhythm in full force. The starkest and bleakest of songs on the record provides a true Maiden singalong moment and yet again shapes their ever-growing legacy.

I haven’t dove too far into others’ opinions on the record yet but I do know I’m really only offering consensus when I talk about how much this song stands out. People are going off about it on every corner of the Internet. Hell On Earth is absolute power, force and Iron Maiden.

Here we are on the release of yet another classic from one of heavy metal’s most enduring icons. Senjutsu is a well-crafted, on theme and on track record that offers a greater unity amongst its individual parts than some of its predecesors. It’s one I’ll have to spend a lot of time with to reach conclusions about its overall form and where it fits in the already bursting with treasures discography of the band. It will certainly be time well spent.

Album Of The Week – August 30, 2019

On August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 By bigbadburchIn Album of the WeekLeave a comment

Yeah, I know it’s 2021. Yeah, I know the title says 2019. You’ll get the gist of it here in a minute, just bear with me.

August 30^th, 2019. It was to be the culmination of the great “Stan Wars” between Taylor Swift’s mega-huge fanbase and Lana Del Rey’s smaller but dedicated stan squad. Twitter was a raging dumpster fire of toxicity and hatred hurled back and forth between these warring factions. It was an epic showdown to see if LDR’s album release could dethrone Taylor’s second-week of release album from its throne at number one on the charts. Fans were lining up to buy multiple copies of everything they could get their hands on.

On August 30^th, 2019, Tool released their long-awaited fifth studio album Fear Inoculum. It was a 13 year wait after 10,000 Days arrived in 2006. Whatever contributed to the delay, Tool fans were finally getting this eternally sough-after release. And, to the chagrin of mega-stans everywhere, it would claim the number one spot on the Billboard charts the following week.

Tool – Fear Inoculum

Released August 30, 2021 via Volcano Records

Favorite Tracks – Descending, Pneuma, 7empest

Me? Yes, I’m a Tool fan. I know there are annoying Tool fans out there. I know that I am annoying. But I am not an annoying Tool fan, I promise. I’ve been a fan since Sober first hit airwaves in the early ’90’s but I’m a sorta-casual.

And being sorta-casual is ok with Tool, since they spend 13 years between albums. Math is a thing so let’s figure – I was 28 when 10,000 Days came out. I had just turned 42 when Fear Inoculum released. That’s a lot of damn time. Trust me I know, I was there.

I was a bit concerned when the news of the album hit. The preview tracks were fine but unrefined phone recordings aren’t going to offer enough of a quality preview of a Tool song to pique my interest. I was cautiously optimistic that I’d be fine with it but I did have my concerns.

How was it really gonna be? It had been 13 years. What were they like now? What kind of headspace was I in to process a Tool album in my early 40’s? It was entirely possible that my enjoyment of Tool was from a bygone era and that they and I had both moved into different waters that just didn’t meet up anywhere.

Those fears were unfounded. Fear Inoculum is an absolute masterpiece. A collection of songs that are each over ten minutes in length, entwined with a few interludes. It is a dense album that conjures atmosphere at the expense of accesibility. But Tool have been drifiting toward that kind of sound anyway so it isn’t some huge leap, especially the powerful title track from 10,000 Days.

I do have to give Tool credit – they released an album and title song about inoculation and contagion less than 6 months before a world-altering pandemic struck. It’s almost like they themselves opened a portal to something and ushered in a whole new reality. It’s just an odd bit of coincidence, of course, but it’s a bit morbidly funny given the times we’re in now.

Of the 7 main songs that comprise the album I don’t find any real fault with any of them. A few do stand out, though. Pneuma is a fantastic cut that probably hearkens back most to past eras of the band and also offers a message either about unity, the interconnectedness of the universe, or something like that. 7Empest furthers the band’s fascination with the number 7 on this album and offers a more confrotational view of things, though what those things are lay beyond the scope of my understanding.

It would take me several listens to truly process the album as a whole and also figure out what my favorite song is here. Oddly enough, in the end it came back to Descending, one of two songs made available before release. It is truly a call to arms and order as our world descends into chaos. Many fans have made the connection that Descending is like the antithesis to Aenema, the band’s celebration of misanthropy that cheers the end of the world (or at least California).

And yeah, the world looks pretty bleak to me. Has for the past several years. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I mean, I’m fine in my day-to-day life, I get through the days no problem. But this society, civilization, whatever, just looks like Hell. I don’t know if I really possess the strength of spirit or perspective to see through it to something better, it looks really ugly and like it’s headed down rather than up. And yeah, Descending might be a more fitting song for the times than Aenema, it might truly be time to sound the dread alarm. But in the end, might still wanna learn to swim in Arizona bay, I don’t know.

Fear Inoculum sees vocalist Maynard James Keenan take something of a backseat in terms of performance. He’s still there of course, but he’s not necessarily as out there front-and-center as he has been in the past. There is nothing wrong with that, this album is a marathon and the music as a whole sets the pace rather than any frentic vocal performance.

But there is a standout musical peformance on the album – this whole record is the Danny Carey show. The drums are unreal from front to back on this release. I’d highly recommend throwing on some headphones and just taking in the drums. It’s one hell of a trip.

We are now 2 years removed from Fear Inoculum releasing and giving long-starved fans new music for the first time in over a decade. I’d have to assume the band will not spend that long on a follow-up, given that them or us aren’t getting any younger. I guess we can place bets on whether their next album or Elder Scrolls 6 drops first. I’d put the money on Tool at this point.

I definitely enjoy the album and would dare say it’s at least my second-favorite of Tool’s releases, and an argument could be made for it taking the top spot. That’s a discussion for another time, though. For now I trudge on through the muck and mire of our world, taking solace in the fact that I love these really long, dense songs that so many people can’t stand.

A Bit About Collecting

On August 25, 2021August 24, 2021 By bigbadburchIn collecting2 Comments

One aspect of music fandom/appreciation/worship/whatever is collecting. In our day and age, having a collection is not at all necessary. Collections of anything are cumbersome – they take up space, they cost money, they are at risk to perils like flood and fire, and they cost money.

I came up in the old days, when everyone had a music collection. And I’ve maintained one most of my life, from when I started piling up cassettes in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s. (Thanks, fake names and Columbia House!)

I would quickly move to CDs as the ease of use over tapes was massive. No more rewinding or fast-forwarding the end of a side, just let the album play. The CD would be my primary music format for a long time, probably from 1992 through to 2017.

Then there is the matter of the vinyl record. I would be exposed to vinyl at an early age – it was abundant in the early ’80’s. It was still for sale at retail along with cassettes and the just-emerging CD. I messed around with my parents’ collections, including a bunch of old 45 singles. That was mostly popular ’70’s stuff like Fleetwood Mac and Heart.

*My current tape rack. This is only for looks, I don’t have a tape player.*

I would wind up with a handful of my own records. I ended up with a stack of Sammy Hagar’s solo records that had originally belonged to my deceased uncle (sadly I no longer have those). I also wound up with other relatives’ hand-me-down records. I do recall having multiple copies of Boston’s first album and Frampton Comes Alive! There was some, uh, other stuff in there too – I kinda recall Captain and Tenille as well as a bit of Barbra Streisand. But overall I got some pretty good classic rock scores from my betters.

Then, of course, everything changed in the 2000’s. The digital music revolution hit – first as a pirated fileshare mechanic, then as a legit sales source innovated by Apple. What used to take up a lot of space on shelving could fit on a hard drive, on an iPod, and later on a phone.

I did not go quickly or quietly into the digital age – I went late as hell, kicking and screaming the whole way. “Only physical formats are real! I’d rather die with an 8-track in my hand than play an MP3!” I’m sure I said a bunch of other stupid shit, too.

Eventually I would give in and truly join the digital wave. In 2008 a buddy of mine upgraded his iPod and sold me his old one. And yeah, I finally understood it. I don’t think I need to explain the nuances of digital music versus physical formats. Can’t play your records on a drive or a stroll through the park, we all know that.

I never did fully adopt buying digital music, though. I kept with the CD as my main purchase point and I wound up with a collection of about 800 before I finally got sick of looking at so many plastic cases taking up so much space. I still haven’t moved on from them to this day but I’m on the verge of actually downsizing and keeping only the ones I really want.

Of course I’m not going to be left without a physical format to collect, and I’m sure most know what every good hipster got into back several years ago. Yes, friends, the LP record is back in business.

I had been buying records occasionally over the years and I finally made the switch to it as my primary format a few years ago. I got a bit panicked by the collectibles price spike of 2020 and quickly fleshed out my Iron Maiden collection, and also bought a bunch of other stuff because fiscal responsibility is for losers.

*My first record shelf. Iron Maiden takes up the top left part, not sure how visible everything is.*

As I sit today I do still buy records. Hell, I occasionally buy a CD because it’s cheap and I might need to evaluate it for a future project of some sort. But, like a lot of people, the allure of streaming music isn’t lost on me. I use Spotify pretty regularly to keep up on new releases and visit past music I don’t own or explore scenes and genres I haven’t previously had exposure to. And being blunt, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper to give them 10 bucks a month than it is to drop a few hundred on any record I might possibly be interested in. I know there are issues of artist support there but I’ll let that thread hang for another time.

It’s been quite an adventure going down these twists and turns in how music is distributed. I like having a collection but I could point to more than a few reasons not to. At this point though I have some pretty cool pieces and there’s stuff I wouldn’t part with unless a total catastrophe hit. I still have a fair bit of Iron Maiden stuff I want to get and that’s before getting into the more expensive things out there. And even if I pare down how much I spend there are still boatloads of old, cheap albums out there I certainly wouldn’t mind having.

We’ll see what roads music takes in the future. The ultimate physical format, the vinyl record, prevailed just as it looked like physical collections were dead. But digital still serves the masses when it comes down to it. Is the next step a sort of neural implant, akin to something from Cyberpunk? Hard to say, but until then, I guess I’ll have some form of music taking up too much space in the house.