The Classic Vinyl Record

I really like The Tubes. I do think that a lot of their later stuff was much more pop than their earlier work. I love the original self titled album. It’s very different and almost prog.

The Completion Backward Principle is a pretty good example of 80′s New Wave, leaning towards pop, and it does have some good songs on it. It was the 6th studio album put out by the band, and it made it to #36 in 1981. The single, Talk To Ya Later went to #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. You can buy The Tubes at Musicstack.

This album is supposed to be a little stab at corporate America I believe. The back cover has all of the band members is suits, looking very professional and yuppie-ish, with important sounding jobs appointed to them. For example;

Bill Spooner – Analyst, Guitar, Vocals

Michael Cotton – Trend, Synthesizers

Fee Waybill – Motivation, Lead Vocals

Roger Steen – Development, Guitar, Vocals

Prairie Prince – Systems, Drums

Vince Welnick – Accounts, Keyboards, Vocals

Rick Anderson – Policy, Bass

Haven’t we all heard important sounding titles that really don’t mean anything?

The Completion Backwards Principle Track listing

Side One

1. Talk To Ya Later
2. Sushi Girl
3. Amnesia
4. Mr. Hate
5. Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman (mp3)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Side Two

1. Think About Me
2. A Matter Of Pride
3. Don’t Want To Wait Anymore
4. Power Tools
5. Let’s Make Some Noise

Overall, I don’t listen to this album very much. I really like The Tubes original and older stuff. It was much more experimental and almost on the verge of prog. This is a great album though, if you are into early new wave, and 80′s pop.

By the way, Fee Waybill has also appeared in the movies ‘Xanadu’ as a rock singer, a little known movie call ‘Ladies and Gentleman, the Stains’ as lead singer for the band The Metal Corpses, and also in ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ as one of the Three Most Important People in the World.

A while back I posted “Why Vinyl Records Sound Better” which had some reasons why vinyl was better from an audio standpoint than newer CD’s. I saw a new article that has the perfect example using Metallica’s new album Death Magnetic.

The Wall Street Journal carried this post saying that even heavy metal fans are complaining that music is too loud. Following are some quotes from the article:

“…even though Metallica’s ninth studio release, “Death Magnetic,” is No. 1 on the album chart, with 827,000 copies sold in two weeks, some fans are bitterly disappointed: not by the songs or the performance, but the volume. It’s so loud, they say, you can’t hear the details of the music.”

“…audiophiles, recording professionals and some ordinary fans say the extra sonic wallop comes at a steep price. To make recorded music seem louder, engineers must reduce the “dynamic range,” minimizing the difference between the soft and loud parts and creating a tidal wave of aural blandness.”

“When there’s no quiet, there can be no loud…Louder recordings, with higher average sound levels, leave less room for such variation than quieter ones.”

This next one is amazing;

“…the critics have inadvertently recruited a key witness: Ted Jensen, the album’s “mastering engineer,” the person responsible for the sonic tweaks that translate music made in a studio into a product for mass duplication and playback by consumers. Responding to a Metallica fan’s email about loudness, Mr. Jensen sent a sympathetic reply that concluded: “Believe me, I’m not proud to be associated with this one.”" [Wow. Even the engineer who worked on the album isn't happy.]

“Sound engineers say artists who insist on loudness paradoxically give people less to hear, because they end up wiping away nuances and details. Everything from a gently strummed guitar to a pounding snare drum is equally loud, leading to what some call “ear fatigue.” If the listener turns down the volume knob, the music loses even more of its punch.”

“But many musicians, producers and record-company executives “think that having a louder record is going to translate into greater sales,” says Chris Athens, Mr. Jensen’s business partner and a fellow engineer. “Nobody really wants to have a record that’s not as loud as everybody else’s…” [These are most likely the same people who think that people actually love to pay for crappy music.]

Thousands of fans have already started petitions to have the band remix and re-release this album to make it sound better. That to me is just crazy, when your own fans say your album sucks because of the sound quality, you might want to make them happy.

Below is a graphical representation of the wav files for …And Justice for All, and Death Magnetic. There is no dynamic range to Death Magnetic, which makes everything the same volume. That isn’t music.

There are play buttons on these, but they don’t work as this is an image, but please, go to the Wall Street Journal link above and click on the graphic and listen to the sound files. The new Death Magnetic is unlistenable.

Since my power was out due to Hurricane Ike (even up in Ohio), I was unable to write about the passing of Richard Wright. I have the album ‘Wet Dream’ by him, and I agree with my old record dealer; Richard Wright’s album had more of that Pink Floyd Sound than a lot of the other members solo material. Then again, one of my favorite Floyd songs is Great Gig in the Sky, written by Richard Wright.

There is not a lot of information about this album, as it didn’t make much of an impact. It is out of print, although released on CD in the mid 90′s. However, you can find Richard Wright CD’s and vinyl records at Musicstack.

Richard Wright - Wet Dream Vinyl LP

This album was released in 1978, my copy is a promo copy, so it is original, and 30 years old. What do your 30 year old tapes sound like? Rick Wright wrote and produced all of his own songs, except for the second track which he co-wrote with his wife.

Track listing for Wet Dream by Rick Wright:

Side One

1. Mediterranean C
2. Against The Odds
3. Cat Cruise
4. Summer Elegy
5. Waves

Side Two

6. Holiday (MP3)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

7. Mad Yannis Dance
8. Drop In From the Top
9. Pink’s Song
10. Funky Deux

If you listen to the entire album (hard to do when you have iTunes on shuffle), you can hear definite influences from different Floyd albums. I know this because I love Pink Floyd and have every album, most on vinyl.

I am very sad that I will never get to see the original Pink Floyd in concert.

I read an article today that really annoyed me. I am always reading things about how CD’s and MP3′s are the greatest thing since fire, and that vinyl is dead and should stay dead. The following excerpts are an example:

“There will always be a very special place for vinyl albums. That place is called eBay.

There they rest in peace, alongside trashed DC comic books, used Pinto cars (read: moving coffins) and 500-pound Atari PONG systems.

But for the rest of the living, breathing and dare I say evolving world, the medium of choice is any of the latest supergadgets — may it be incredibly convenient iPods, laptops or BlackBerry phones…”

“…Vinyl lovers are thereby unavoidably left in the Stone Age…”

“…Many vinyl users argue that the biggest difference between the modern digital album and the outdated … er, “classic” … vinyl album is the feel. Vinyl “feels warmer” or has a special crackling sound to it. I don’t hear many people pining for the days of VHS’s poor picture quality or dial-up Internet’s molasses-like speed, but I suppose to each his own…”

“…In indie music, nothing screams shameless pretension quite like vinyl records…”

“…I ask that if you make modern music, get with the modern age. I understand Radiohead’s Thom Yorke is obsessed with the “complete album” experience, which I respect. But people who want that experience will do so without buying a $100 vinyl packet. I’ll keep my pay-what-you-want (in other words, free) digital copy and still listen to it completely and in copious amounts…”

“…Let’s face it, we may be currently looking at the end of compact discs. Eight-tracks and casette tapes are long gone. Vinyl is as dead as disco, and the music-loving community needs to respectfully move on…”

Those quotes were from Emorywheel.com where the writer obviously doesn’t like vinyl. He brings up the old argument about vinyl “feeling warmer” or having a “special crackling sound”. I’ve never heard anyone say they love the crackle on vinyl.

The reason these articles annoy me is that there is a big, definite reason why vinyl sounds better. Most people hear it, but don’t know what it is. Vinyl inherently has a lower dynamic range than CD’s or MP3′s. Which means that the volume can’t be too loud on vinyl records. Therefore the sound engineering and mixing that goes into vinyl records is much more precise and musical. In a CD every instrument is taken to the loudest point, then mixed together, then compressed to the loudest point overall possible. The difference in listening is that on vinyl the separation between the instruments is very easy to hear, but in CD’s ( and especially MP3′s) every instrument is as loud as every other instrument or voice.

To understand why this is bad for CD’s, check out what fans are saying about Metallica’s new album Death Magnetic.

Now there are exceptions, but not a lot. That is why record labels love CD’s, because they can increase the volume of the music, at the expense of the musicality.

That is why vinyl records are better than CD’s.

As I’m sifting through news stories and articles looking for something to talk about, I keep coming across ads about LP to MP3 converters.

What the crap?

Isn’t the point of records to enjoy the high quality music? I understand that a lot of people have records, but don’t really care to listen to them. So they want them converted. But what I don’t understand, is that downloading music is supposed to be illegal, UNLESS YOU OWN IT!

If I own the vinyl record, It is not illegal to own the MP3.

But this is where it gets kind of weird. I have talked about ripping MP3′s from vinyl records before, but it could probably be done again. There are two ideas about ripping MP3′s from vinyl.

Do you own the content of the vinyl, or just the vinyl? That is the question.

Some say we bought the album, we own the music on it, and can copy it (for ourselves) as many times as we wish in any format we wish.

Others (mostly record companies and their lawyers) say that we only bought a piece of vinyl that just happened to have music on it. We own the vinyl, but not what is on it. If you want to have the music on CD, then you need to buy it on CD. If you want to have MP3′s to take with you, then you have to go and buy the MP3. Even if you already own it on one format.

I agree with the first idea, and I’m sure most people do. However, if you agree with the second point of view, I’d love to hear why. Because it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Anyway, my point is that the Vinyl to MP3 industry is booming. These record players that convert vinyl are selling in high numbers. But why? If I can download it legally (because I own the vinyl), why would I want to buy something when I can just get it on U Torrent?

Anyway, whether you download it or rip it, you have still lost so much quality in the conversion process, that it’s almost pointless. I don’t like to listen to MP3′s on my big stereo. Small speakers are ok, but not the good stereo.

This is one of my albums by Billy Joel. As a pianist, I think that I’m supposed to love the song Piano Man more than anything else, but I don’t. I’m sick of hearing it by every hack pianist in the world.

An Innocent Man had some great songs, such as “Uptown Girl”, “The Longest Time” (which I think was played by every radio station at every hour during the entire 1980′s), and “Tell Her About It”.

This is a must have album for every record collection, and you can get An Innocent Man, or anything else by Billy Joel at Musicstack.

An Innocent Man was Billy Joel’s 9th album released in 1983. This album went 7X platinum, spent 111 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, and hit the #4 spot on the same list. That’s pretty impressive. It also had three #1 spots with “Tell Her About It” “The Longest Time” and “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”. Surprising to me is that “Uptown Girl” never hit #1. I thought it was one of the more popluar songs on the album, but it did go to #2.

Included in the track listing is an MP3 of Easy Money.

Track Listing:
Side One:

Side Two:

I also have Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Volume 1 & 2, although I’m not sure I really care to talk about compilation albums here. I’ll have to think about that.

I love the 80′s. I really do. That’s when I grew up. I love most everything about them, especially the music. Although some of the pop music I could do without, I still think it was better than today.

Men at Work is one of those iconic bands with their single “Down Under”. I’m not sure I know anyone who would change the station if that came on the radio. Of course, if you are lucky enough to own the vinyl (like me), you can listen to it anytime you like. If you don’t own the vinyl, you can buy Men At Work, and more at Musicstack.

Released in 1982, Business As Usual spent 15 weeks at #1 on the US album charts. It also sold 6 million copies in America, and 15 million worldwide. It was knocked out of 1st place by none other than Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

I consider Men At Work to be sort of a minimalist type of music. There is not a lot of instrumentation, and the arrangements are very sparse, yet it’s very melodic and easy to listen to.

“Down Under” has become a patriotic song in Australia, and is named the 4th greatest Australian song of all time. It is also VH1′s 96th song on the 100 Greatest Songs of the Eighties.

The track listing is as follows;
Side One:

Side Two:

Re-Mastered Bonus Tracks:

Yes, there is a Vinyl Record Day. Why, you may ask? Well, simply put, to celebrate the record. Obvious, I know. According to the Vinyl Record Day website;

The Preservation of the Cultural Influence, the Recordings and the Cover Art of the Vinyl Record

Celebrating our Fondest Music with Friends and Family

Promoting the Future of Vinyl

Nationally Establish August 12th, the date Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, as Vinyl Record Day

You can do a number of thing to celebrate Vinyl Record Day, on of which is to donate to the non-profit organization. They recommend that you gather with your friends, and play your favorite vinyl records. If you have a business, you can have a VR Day sale.

Basically, enjoy the vinyl that you have. Listen to it and appreciate it. Although that is probably kind of stupid to say, because anymore, most people who have vinyl listen to it to appreciate it.

All right, time for some good hard rock.

Eliminator by ZZ Top is now at Diamond status for sales. It’s not surprising as this album rocks. There are great songs such as ‘Gimme All Your Lovin” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs”. You can buy this album by ZZ Top at Musicstack.

Eliminator is the 8th album by ZZ Top, and is #396 on Rolling Stones Greatest 500 Albums of All Time. Here is the track listing:

Side A

1. Gimme All Your Lovin’
2. Got Me Under Pressure
3. Sharp Dressed Man
4. I Need You Tonight
5. I Got the Six

Side B

1. Legs
2. Thug
3. TV Dinners
4. Dirty Dog
5. If I Could Only Flag Her Down
6. Bad Girl

Instead of an MP3 this post, I thought that I’d put up a video. So here is the video to ZZ Top’s “Gimme All Your Lovin”;

Can I just say that the 80′s rock.

The car on the front of this album is actually Billy Gibbons (guitar, vocals) 1933 Ford 3 window hot rod, as seen in the video above. Many of his cars are featured on album covers and in videos. Oh, and a little known fact, ZZ Top made a puppet music video for Sesame Street for the letter Z.

I know that there are already turntables out there with USB ports, and other ways to transfer your vinyl to digital, but this actually has an iPod dock. Just drop your iPod on there and don’t worry about wires at all. Of course, it apparently only works with a 5th generation iPod or 2nd generation iPod Nano. Pretty stupid, maybe just getting one with the USB would be better. So you can see that below.

A vinyl collector’s dream come true, a Turntable with Universal iPod Dock converts your vinyl records into digital, portable music. This USB turntable records directly to a fifth-generation iPod, a second generation iPod Nano, or to your home computer. A great gift for any music lover – including yourself. Built-in sync dock lets you transfer recordings to other iPod models through your computer. Recording software is included for archiving record to other MP3 players or CDs. Supports 33-1/3, 45, and 78 RPM. Professional features clean up tracks for the best possible sound. Adjustable anti-skate control for increased stereo balancing. Software analyzes your vinyl and automatically retrieves album, artist and song information (PC only). Connect to any home stereo with an AUX input for everyday use as a great turntable. Mac and PC compatible. iPod not included. Requires Windows XP or Vista to run on a PC; OS X 10.3.9 or higher to run on a Mac. Read more technical specifications.

I know that there are vinyl purists out there who will say that these turntable are a sacrilege; that if you claim to be an audiophile, you should never use the digital format. Although I think that there are less of the absolute purists than ever. The fact is, I can’t carry my album with me, whether on trips, or to a friends house. Also, when I am working, I don’t like to be bothered, (which is why I don’t use Twitter) so I end up using my iTunes for my MP3′s rather than getting up every so often to change sides or albums. Not that I don’t like to do that, but not when I’m working. (Yes, I work from home, haha suckers).

CASE PACK: Sold Individually DETAILS: li Ion USB turntable *Ideal for archiving your records to MP3 (and play them on any digital media player!) *Also features a line level output for connecting to your home stereo system (line-level RCA output with built-in preamp) *Revolutionary USB turntable allows you to convert your old vinyl collection directly to CD or MP3 with included recording software *Plug and play USB *no drivers needed *Supports the recording of 78 RPM records through the included software *Computer requirements: PC running Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP, Mac running OS9 or higher, one available USB1.1 port or higher, *Compatible with most standard operating system drivers *Includes dustcover (ADD) *Compatible with Windows Vista software *Silver UPC: 855960000573

Also I have included the Stanton T.90. I haven’t actually used the Ion turntables, so I can’t guarantee their quality. However, Stanton is pretty good, so you would be safe with it, although it is a lot more money.