Best Ever Albums

Re: The Other Side

meezus — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 14:56:48 GMT

Author: meezus

Posted: 10/04/2013 18:56

meccalecca wrote:

I'm guilty of this. honestly, I'm indecisive. I'm cheap. And it's those 2 things colliding. If i could afford it, i'd buy every album that interests me, but sometimes it requires deep thought.

Haha, this. Usually, if I'm staring vacantly at an album, flipping it back and forth, I'm thinking, "I love you... but should I buy you this time (or, inevitably, next)?" And trying to convince myself one way or the other by holding it and reading the track-listing (which I probably already know).

Re: The Other Side

meccalecca — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 14:32:32 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 10/04/2013 18:32

an_outlaw wrote:

Other oddities include going back to the same album multiple times, staring so vacantly (swear you were drooling once) at the back its obvious you didn't read anything, spending your time looking at the backs in stores but only ever downloading music at home, repeatedly looking at the back of an album you have got already... I could go on...

I'm guilty of this. honestly, I'm indecisive. I'm cheap. And it's those 2 things colliding. If i could afford it, i'd buy every album that interests me, but sometimes it requires deep thought.

Re: The Other Side

Anonymous — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 12:06:22 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/04/2013 16:06

Necharsian wrote:

Really? Buying albums just based off of album covers is super fun and I usually do it every time i go to the record store. My last venture I picked up like 5 albums id never heard of and all of them ended up being really good (I guess that was just lucky but still). At the very least I usually find some really cool sounds or unique takes on certain types of music. Its an adventure.

I think the chances of my really liking 5 albums chosen purely on album covers are virtually zero... one out of 5 if I'm lucky, and I don't have that kind of money to burn to discover my music that way.

I do understand the adventure side of it, though. That's pretty much the mentality behind my history of music thing, except that I'm using Spotify and only buying stuff I love.

Re: The Other Side

Necharsian — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 10:30:17 GMT

Author: Necharsian

Posted: 10/04/2013 14:30

sp4cetiger wrote:

I would go a step further and ask why anyone would bother browsing a record store for music without actually sampling it?

If I had to pick my music that way, though, I'd probably look at some combination of the visual art and the song titles. I bet a few seconds would be plenty to distinguish a metal band from a punk band, for example... in most cases, anyway.

Re: The Other Side

Listmeister — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 09:45:25 GMT

Author: Listmeister

Posted: 10/04/2013 13:45

an_outlaw wrote:

What information will you be getting also? Sometimes you are picking up albums by artists you have never known before. Even when you spend the required time to read the tracklisting I still find it a bit odd. Would you buy an album based on a cool song title? Good for you if the answer is yes. Song titles are fun. If not, what does it mean to read those song titles?

How do you know I've never heard of the band before? For that matter, how do I know I've never heard of the band before? [old man voice] I've forgotten more bands than you've ever known, sonny. [/old man] I'll tell you how I know. I look at the track listing, and scan (it only takes a few seconds) for any song that I might have heard of. Even if I know the song but not the artist, I might buy the CD just for that reason. Plus, the CD caught my eye, that's why I picked it up in the first place. Rather than try to figure out why it caught my eye, I turn it over, scan the tracks, and see if anything clicks that makes me want to buy the album.

Real world example. I'm in a record store, doing that thing that you were talking about. The album is Meat Loaf's Dead Ringer. Now, at this point in my listening career I am not yet a Meat Loaf fan. Album cover looks cool, an artsy painting, of, I guess, naiads arising from the sea. Let's check the track list. Oooh, "Read 'em and Weep," I know that song from the Barry Manilow version (don't judge me, I listened to a lot of radio in the early 80's.) The store is out of Moody Blues' Sur la Mer, or whatever it is I went in the record store to buy, and I don't want the day to be a total loss. So I buy it, listen a few times, then, a few weeks later, I get Bat Outta Hell, which is still one of my favorite albums.

Re: The Other Side

benpaco — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 00:04:05 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 10/04/2013 04:04

ihh2013 wrote:

So, outta curiosity, what's the best album you've discovered in that way, benpaco? 😎 Was in a store a while back that was doing lucky bags, I probably shoulda taken a punt on one . . .

Phew ... that's tough. Uh, from the $1 bin, Foiled by Blue October (it's not that old so IDK why it was in there), and from the 50 cent bin, there was an CD of electronica with no DJ listed that was actually REALLY good, and Fine Line by the Papersons was great too.

This same record store used to do things in the 80s where you would get an unopened box of records. 20 for $20. My dad did this to buy records on the cheap, and sold the ones he didn't like back to the store for 25 cents a piece. This was how he got Drums and Wires, Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, and several other albums he still has now.

Re: The Other Side

Anonymous — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 23:52:31 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/04/2013 03:52

an_outlaw wrote:

Here's the problem. Well... I present quite a few problems with this thread. For example, sometimes you barely give the back a look. Sometimes, with no exaggeration, I have timed it to be literally one second of looking before you are putting it back on the shelf. The majority of the time it is 2-3 seconds at most. While this is still pushing it, one second surely is not enough to get any meaningful information from the action.

Re: The Other Side

latenighttv — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 23:25:34 GMT

Author: latenighttv

Posted: 10/04/2013 03:25

So, outta curiosity, what's the best album you've discovered in that way, benpaco? 😎 Was in a store a while back that was doing lucky bags, I probably shoulda taken a punt on one . . .

Re: The Other Side

benpaco — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 21:14:31 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 10/04/2013 01:14

I'll be honest - I've never done this. I either go in KNOWING I want x album and y album, or more commonly, I go find cheap albums with cool covers. My local record shop has $1 CDs that are old or compliations and 50 cent CDs that are local or really underground bands. I just go buy like 10 albums that I like the album cover of. There's usually 1 really good one, a couple OK ones, and most of them are awful. But I keep doing it for that occasional super gem.

Re: The Other Side

meccalecca — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 20:01:28 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 10/04/2013 00:01

stop staring at me. it's creepy.

The Other Side

Anonymous — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 19:50:04 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/03/2013 23:50

I fancy myself as a bit of a thinker and an imaginative person. Not sure how much truth could be said about either. Regardless I still try and I am having fun with my thoughts. To get them it does involve me taking down observations.

Well... I've been watching you lately. Doing so I have noticed something quite strange the last few times you have been in the presence of CDs/Records in a store.

Everytime you pick one up you will turn it over immediately and look at the back. Everytime. Same motion in the arm. Without exception everytime. Why do you do this? Well... the answer is obvious. The tracklisting. At first it seems such an obvious question that it doesn't even deserve a thread. The CD/Record almost always has a tracklist and you are having a gander round back.

Here's the problem. Well... I present quite a few problems with this thread. For example, sometimes you barely give the back a look. Sometimes, with no exaggeration, I have timed it to be literally one second of looking before you are putting it back on the shelf. The majority of the time it is 2-3 seconds at most. While this is still pushing it, one second surely is not enough to get any meaningful information from the action.

What information will you be getting also? Sometimes you are picking up albums by artists you have never known before. Even when you spend the required time to read the tracklisting I still find it a bit odd. Would you buy an album based on a cool song title? Good for you if the answer is yes. Song titles are fun. If not, what does it mean to read those song titles?

Other oddities include going back to the same album multiple times, staring so vacantly (swear you were drooling once) at the back its obvious you didn't read anything, spending your time looking at the backs in stores but only ever downloading music at home, repeatedly looking at the back of an album you have got already... I could go on...

Also, the action itself. It never seem like a conscious decision where you are thinking "Hey, lets check the tracklist man" but more a reflex action. An action you do without thought. Trust me, I would know. I read a book this one time at college on cognitive... things. I'm by all means an expert in this field.

May I ask why you are doing this? It would help clear a few things up hearing from yourself. In the meantime I will see if any such oddities come up in other areas of your life.