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National Record Store Day

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Posted on April 15, 2015 at 20:55:31
Luminator
Audiophile

Posts: 7339
Location: Bay Area
Joined: December 11, 2000



I got a head-start on National Record Store Day (which is this Saturday), and picked up the SHM-CD of Metallica's ...And Justice For All. This awful "mini-LP" packaging is absolutely crummy. Why in the hell would CD buyers want anything to do with LPs? The whole point of CD is to avoid vinyl, and anything vinyl-related. Record companies, please just give us a jewel case!

The cardboard album cover won't last a day. You'll need a magnifying glass, in order to read the tiny inner sleeve. The SHM-CD also comes with obi and a Japanese-language booklet.

In early September 1988, during the first Friday of that school year, I went to the Wherehouse, which was then located on Geary & Parker, in San Francisco. There, I bought ...And Justice For All on the Elektra redbook CD. Since I had my Sony D-10 Discman with me, on the way home, I opened the long-box packaging, popped in the CD, slapped on my Sony MDR-CD6 headphones (by this time, the foam was coming out of the pads), and pressed PLAY. Boy, as we rumbled through the east-bound tunnel under Masonic, there was nothing like hearing "Blackened!" From that instance, my friends and I knew we were going to have a kick-ass school year.

Okay, all of you know the story behind ...And Justice For All's bone-dry, bass-less recording/production. In the almost 27 years since my classmates and I first heard ...And Justice For All, I've heard it on various cassettes, LPs [plural; the 65-minute album can't fit onto one 12" record], and CDs. None was/is any good.

This SHM-CD is the least-bad format I've heard. Instrumental textures are not as dry, 2-dimensional, hashy, and irritating. Those allow for somewhat rounder images, with at least a little bit of separation between them. You can better make out the space surrounding each image. No, the SHM-CD doesn't boost the bass. But the cleaner sonics subjectively make the album appear less thin or more full-bodied.

I'm currently reviewing, among other things, the Simaudio Neo 260D. Playing this SHM-CD has a weird dichotomous effect on us. On one hand, it makes us realize that we are older and (hopefully) more mature. OTOH, it makes us feel that the 88-89 school year (my senior year of high school) wasn't that long ago.

It also reminds us that there was a certain charm to thumbing through a record store's rows of cassettes, CDs, and vinyl. With physical media, there was the thrill of discovery, something that scrolling through iTunes and playlists doesn't quite match.

So are you ready for National Record Store Day? Have you already started buying physical media? Happy hunting!

The Audiophiles' DJ,
-Lummy The Loch Monster

 

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    ...
Apparently the fond sentiments aren't universal shared... , posted on April 15, 2015 at 21:18:28
Steve O
Audiophile

Posts: 12383
Location: SE MI
Joined: September 6, 2001
 ...From Salon...

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 15, 2015 at 22:18:09
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37333
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
 "The whole point of CD is to avoid vinyl, and anything vinyl-related."

That's not the point of CD.... It was supposed to be a sonic improvement over vinyl.... The "vinyl" stuff came into CD products after the realization in the mainstream community that the CD wasn't an incontrovertible improvement.

"Record companies, please just give us a jewel case!"

I'd just buy the cases in bulk.... Make a copy of the album material, and you got yourself a CD in the packaging of choice.

"In early September 1988, during the first Friday of that school year, I went to the Wherehouse, which was then located on Geary & Parker, in San Francisco. There, I bought ...And Justice For All on the Elektra redbook CD. Since I had my Sony D-10 Discman with me, on the way home, I opened the long-box packaging, popped in the CD, slapped on my Sony MDR-CD6 headphones (by this time, the foam was coming out of the pads), and pressed PLAY. Boy, as we rumbled through the east-bound tunnel under Masonic, there was nothing like hearing "Blackened!" From that instance, my friends and I knew we were going to have a kick-ass school year.

"Okay, all of you know the story behind ...And Justice For All's bone-dry, bass-less recording/production. In the almost 27 years since my classmates and I first heard ...And Justice For All, I've heard it on various cassettes, LPs [plural; the 65-minute album can't fit onto one 12" record], and CDs. None was/is any good."

Are you saying the original you purchased at the Wherehouse (old West Coast store chain) was great, but none of the subsequent releases?

Or are you implying that something has gone awry with the album experience once the Sony D-10 Discman became history?

This piques my interest only because some of the best playback I've ever heard via headphones was with 1980s vintage portables. (Both analog and digital.)

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 16, 2015 at 01:33:32
Ozzy
Audiophile

Posts: 7598
Joined: September 21, 1999
 I guess my misconception is that record store day was about actually buying records. Yet you use it to disparage that very medium. Bravo!

Oz



Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill

 

RE: ita actually an international event, posted on April 16, 2015 at 03:12:16
digda_beat
Audiophile

Posts: 1724
Location: Canberra
Joined: July 31, 2003
 so why do they keep calling it National Record Day?

 

"so why do they keep calling it National Record Day?", posted on April 16, 2015 at 04:56:08
volunteer
Audiophile

Posts: 5666
Location: Louisville, KY
Joined: January 7, 2012
 For the same reason we call it the World Series and tag the Super Bowl winner as World Champions.


-Wendell

 

That guy echoes pretty much how I feel about it..., posted on April 16, 2015 at 06:03:09
Dman
Audiophile

Posts: 7211
Location: Kansas
Joined: January 28, 2001
 I have Elusive Disc.

As well, Acoustic Sounds and Blue Heaven Studios are only 2 1/2 hours away!

Darn the prices...

Dman
Analog Junkie

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 16, 2015 at 07:07:50
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Lummy-

for a comparison, do you own the 1st Japan pressing CD?

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 16, 2015 at 07:08:46
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Second Note;
in any format, this is still a killer disc!

 

Well, when you really think about it..., posted on April 16, 2015 at 08:50:50
rlw
Audiophile

Posts: 3347
Location: Near West Palm Bch, FL
Joined: August 29, 2006
 The World Series is called that because of the historical context - it was originally dubbed the World Series way back when and is to this day. As for the Superbowl champs being world champs, please name for me another country which has the (American) football talent to compete with the NFL. Hint: they don't exist...
-RW-

 

That tour was the loudest show I've ever seen. , posted on April 16, 2015 at 08:53:42
Prisoners
Audiophile

Posts: 4493
Location: Chicago
Joined: June 13, 2004
 It's still the only show that I held my hands over my ears and was relieved when it ended. It wasn't just the climactic explosion and collapse of Lady Justice either, the entire concert was just too loud and I wasn't anywhere near the stage.

 

Never heard the National part - it's Record Store Day..., posted on April 16, 2015 at 10:17:46
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004



pretty much since day one.

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

Yeah, that was a good one!...N/T, posted on April 16, 2015 at 10:18:46
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 N/T
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

For record stores it's the New Christmas..., posted on April 16, 2015 at 10:48:34
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 Amoeba Music (for example) worships it and it is their (by far) busiest day of the year.

Have no fear though, the record companies are just as stupid and as unenlightened
as they have remained for the past 30-35 years. THEY will kill RSD off in their greed
and myopia by releasing FAR TOO MUCH CRAP that record stores get stuck with
(no returns!) and within a few years things will return to "normal".

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure




 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 17, 2015 at 02:27:12
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37333
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
 I remember a "National Duct Tape Day"...........

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 17, 2015 at 15:08:17
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Guys-

feel free to give a shout-out to your fave Recka Stow's ...

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 18, 2015 at 04:25:38
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Happy Record Store Day!

 

RE: National Record Store Day, posted on April 19, 2015 at 08:33:25
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 How did you guys do on RSD?

 

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