I recently got a turntable and some old 60’s and 70’s records from my uncle, as a result of his closet cleaning. I thought, “Hmm… I can now buy classic music cheap at used music stores.” Well, I was right, but I saw something while I was there that startled me!
They had tons of new albums on LP records. I’m talking ©2001 albums. THere was Aerosmith, Kid Rock, and other albums, all BRAND NEW, JUST MADE.
Didn’t they stop making LPs about a decade ago? For that matter, when did they really become phased out. I didn’t get a CD player until about 1993, but I was definately aware that LP’s were dead for all intents and purposes at the time.
What gives? I saw those records and thought I was in some kind of twilight zone time warp.
I used to wonder about this too, but all the LPs I saw here in the UK were fairly hard core house music and rave (this is going back a few years). My guess is that if you’re a performance DJ, maybe it’s more fun to have an actual scratchable record on a turntable than it is to just shove a CD in a player. Can’t help you with the Kid Rock stuff though.
Wombat
the resurgence really started in the early to mid 90s with grunge, at least with rock. some artists, especially pearl jam, would release the vinyl copy a week earlier than the cd and tape copies. i know nine inch nails released their first album on vinyl in 1989. vinyl never died, it just took a back seat.
and they’re still making 8-tracks…sorta… the melvins released (well, let a fan release) an ‘official’ bootleg on 8 track just last year. the guy bought 100 8 tracks and dubbed the show from minidisc to the 'tracks.
One answer might be, to paraphrase Nicholas Cage, “they sound better.” Because they are analog, LPs actually carry a lot more information than do CDs, but comparing the two is difficult and to most it is a matter of taste which you prefer.
Hopefully some audiophile will come along and explain the masking principles that CDs use to compress the information, and why many feel that gives LPs a significant edge, especially in the midrange. Then, hopefully, someone from the other camp will explain the difference away by claiming that what you are actually hearing is distortion from the turntable’s preamp, which makes for a “warmer” sound. I’ve heard plenty of both arguments, let me tell you.
I can say this, however. I know my Jimi Hendrix pretty well. Listening to my friend’s LP of that album, I heard for the first time another track (also Jimi’s guitar) playing in the background of some songs on the flipside of Electric Ladyland. Going back to my own CD, I could just barely pick it out, now that I knew to look for it. Hendrix’s stuff has been re-mastered and generally messed with so much that I don’t know if the two recordings were slightly different or not, but either way I suppose that might be considered a benefit of LPs.
You have punk rockers to thank for keeping the flame burning. Most punk labels never stopped pressing vinyl. Dunno why… probably just plain orneriness…
But yeah, what the King and the Mensch said. Once alt-rock hit big in the mid-90’s, Aerosmith et al started re-releasing their back catalogs on vinyl to prove that they were still with it.
Audio properties aside, you can design a much cooler cover on a 12"x12" LP jacket than on a teeny jewel box.
There are many threads on this board regarding does an LP sound better than a CD. Basically they come down to yes the LP sounds better the FIRST time you play it.
After that the stylus corrupts it, scratches and dust set and so forth.
Germany is an excellent place to get LPs.