Amazon Offers Genesis Vinyl Set

Got an(other) email from Amazon.com today. Usually they say something like "Since you bought that Star Wars figure for your kid at Christmas, we thought you'd want to buy this Star Wars lawn dart set" or some shit. I usually delete these emails right away.

But today this was the offer:

As someone who has purchased or rated music by Genesis, you might like to know that 1970-1975 [6 LP 180g Vinyl] will be released on April 14, 2009. Following the upgrade of the Genesis catalog with three comprehensive boxed sets of their entire studio output (plus bonus DVDs), Rhino brings the legendary band's early era back to its vinyl origins in style. Presented on 180 gram audiophile vinyl, the six-LP boxed set GENESIS: 1970-1975 features five landmark albums from the group's seminal Peter Gabriel-fronted era: Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound and the double concept LP The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

Collected in a handsome, protective slipcase box, each of the five albums comes in its own heavyweight gatefold sleeve featuring the classic cover art faithfully reproduced from its original source. The set contains some of the band s most adventurous albums and chronicles Gabriel's groundbreaking tenure as frontman for Genesis, one of the top-selling recording acts of all time.

I won't be ordering this because I already have all of these releases on vinyl but I thought it was cool that this is even being offered!

Digital Music Robs Listeners of Album Artwork

My buddy at work who writes a metal column for About.com has written another good one. 

The latest article is a long tome about how the move from vinyl to CDs to purely digital is a death knell for album artwork.

Justin suggests that it is a far greater loss to the metal genre, because metal bands leverage album artwork, inserts, posters, logos etc to help create an overall image of the band and to give the music a powerful visual not found in other music forms (like country for example).

I'd tend to agree with him but I think the loss cuts across every genre. He interviews a number of metal artists that back up his belief, for example King Diamond, who says:

“If I got a new album, especially in the old days, I would study that thing before I even put it on,” Diamond says. “It just created the atmosphere of the music to come. You could get into a certain mood before the album. It was created with the lyrics and the artwork. That’s still what we’re trying to do with CDs.”

I certainly did that. I remember poring over every Rush and Iron Maiden album cover, looking for little things the artists included, like a figure in a window or a hidden image. Hell, my friend Kevin and I decrypted the bizarre writing that was all over Ozzy Osbourne's Speak of the Devil album. I have no idea how we did it, but we did it, and it took a while.

These experiences are lost to today's generation who is now used to just grabbing digital songs off of iTunes. It's too bad.

Even Paul Stanley gets into the discussion in an AM New York article about the resurgence of vinyl. He says:

“The beauty in buying an LP used to be you got a package, a piece of art — something that someone worked hard on to make it creative, dynamic and interesting to look at it and maybe to put on your wall,” Stanley said. “And now with CDs, all you can see is someone’s name. In that way I miss it.”

Take the time to read Justin's article here, and let me know what you think.

CNN Covers Portland's Love of Vinyl

I was just cranking my LP version of Iron Maiden Powerslave the other night, noticing how much warmer and richer it sounds on vinyl than on CD. It was a total blast from the past and reignited my passion for my old records (I still have about 500 but have not bought one in more than 20 years).

And then CNN runs yet another story about vinyl's resurgence, this time in my own town! I had posted about this in January and the story is just getting hotter. From the CNN story:

The best-seller so far at Fred Meyer is The Beatles album "Abbey Road." But musicians from the White Stripes and the Foo Fighters to Metallica and Pink Floyd are selling well, the [Portland] company says.

"It's not just a nostalgia thing," said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for Fred Meyer. "The response from customers has just been that they like it, they feel like it has a better sound."

Dig the full story here. Who of you still spins your vinyl? Leave a comment!

Look Out World - Vinyl is Coming Back!

According to TIME Magazine, vinyl records are making a comeback with younger listeners who are not pleased with the tinny quality of MP3s and enjoy the large format artwork and overall experience offered by the ole Big 10 Inch format. From the article:

Like the comeback of Puma sneakers or vintage T shirts, vinyl's resurgence has benefited from its retro-rock aura. Many young listeners discovered LPs after they rifled through their parents' collections looking for oldies and found that they liked the warmer sound quality of records, the more elaborate album covers and liner notes that come with them, and the experience of putting one on and sharing it with friends, as opposed to plugging in some earbuds and listening alone...

The article continues to state the obvious:

Large album covers with imaginative graphics, pullout photos (some even have full-size posters tucked in the sleeve) and liner notes are a big draw for young fans. "Alternative rock used to have 16-page booklets and album sleeves, but with iTunes there isn't anything collectible to show I own a piece of this artist," says Dreese of Newbury Comics. In a nod to modern technology, albums known as picture discs come with an image of the band or artist printed on the vinyl. "People who are used to CDs see the artwork and the colored vinyl, and they think it's really cool," says Jordan Yates, 15, a Nashville-based vinyl enthusiast. Some LP releases even come with bonus tracks not on the CD version, giving customers added value.

It's great to have 13,000 songs on something the size of a pile of business cards, but it's also nice to see that young folks are starting to get hip to the way that many of us grew up listening to music on a turntable.