For those of you old enough to wax lyrically about the joy of vinyl, it's perceived "warmth", "sonic balance" and "organic"feel, I had ,not 2 words, 2 letters to counter these statements with : C and D.
I was fortunate in that I got my hands on a first generation Philips CD player and copies of the first albums released on CD - Dire Straits " Love over Gold" and Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" before the player was available.
I loved it - no crackles, no hiss, no turning the album over after 20 minutes... bliss.
I can still remember listening to "Telegraph Road" in my room, the lights out , watching a thunder strom roll over my parent's house, waiting for the lighting to replicate the cover. The music filled a room, crisp drums, layers of texture, no skipping, no wow and flutter from warped vinyl, nothing between my ears and the sound.
That was it.
I was off to the HiFi shop as soon as I could afford a player,and I put down hard earned cash for the first in a long line of CD players . I've gone from Technics to Sony to Marantz to Cambridge Audio, back to Marantz and am back with Cambridge audio again.
In fact, I'm listening to Pink Floyd "Meddle" through it as I type.
My first CD purchases were Led Zeppelin "Houses Of The Holy" and The Waterboys " This Is The Sea".
Since then, I've managed to divest myself of all the vinyl I'd collected , repalcing it with CD, then replacing the CD with the remastered CD, then upgrading to the "definitive " remaster deluxe versions of albums that have been a part of my life for those 30 years - Step forward Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Prince,Hawkwind, Climax Blues Band - all have made this journey with me.
Last week, the nagging at the back of my mind about the feel and look of vinyl combined with remembering the ritual of preparing to listen to a piece of music - choosing the album, removing the inner sleeve, sliding the vinyl out and onto the turntable, choosing the correct side, then placing it gently onto the anti static mat, cleaning it with the micro fibre brush, raising the tone arm, positioning the stylus over the run in groove then lowering it onto the rotating album became a full force gale.
Perhaps it's a reaction to getting older, maybe the realisation that I can no longer sit and devout 80 minutes without interruption to a CD, or maybe giving up alcohol has rekindled a previous addiction?
Whatever the reason, I ended up purchasing vinyl for only the second time in 30 years-The first was me treating myself to the ltd German special edition of the Storm Corrosion Album, which, with stereotypical German efficiency came as a CD / DVD / Blu Ray / double vinyl set, in a gatefold sleeve!!! That was how the beast was woken - Prog rock gatefold sleeves. The artwork, the care that went into the design of the whole album caused memories of fold out sleeves, posters, lyric sheets, all in stunning colour and 12" x 12" formats.
All those works of art that were taken for granted- I wish I'd kept them - The Zeppelin Physical Graffiti sleeve with the windows, "In Through the Outdoor " with it's brown paper outer sleeve that contained one of eight different colour wash pictures, the Hawkwind sleeves that folded put and were enough to send you in search of space just by looking at the art, The Prince sleeves, iconic and powerful in their messages, the long forgotten SF artworks, the "double live" gatefold in concert shots that captured the energy and power of a band in full live mode.
So, I trotted off to Sound Machine, determined to just buy a couple of albums for the artwork and the half remembered feeling of holding the album and unwrapping it, that ritual of preparation, now replaced by the sliding of a silver disc into a black box, or by the touch of a mouse button..
And I struck gold - 2 x Jess Rodens albums that have never been available on CD and a trio of Prince albums , "Around The World In A Day" with it's psychedelic cover that only hints at the music squashed into those grooves, "Purple Rain" with the iconic Rock Star on a Motorbike at night ,pouting cover, with the typeface and the tracks split between side one and side two... Sorry. All getting a bit weird here.
I also succumbed to temptation to purchase "Sign O the Times" on vinyl, as it was the first Prince album I'd gone straight to CD for on release, so felt a little guilt for not having owned the vinyl .
I then had the task of removing my old Dual turntable form under the bed where it had been stored for the last 15 or more years, reconnecting it and seeing if it worked.
After a lot of rerouting wires, checking plugs etc, it was ready to go.
Sign O The Times album, side 4, " The Cross" cued up and ready to go.
The turntable still turned at a constant 33 1/3 rpm. The tone arm still floated across to take up postion, and the dampening on the move into the run in was good.
The crackle of the stylus slipping into thr groove brought a memory flashback to my first "proper" Hi Fi record deck, a Garrard one ( they were made in Swindon, my Grandmother worked there) and the anticipation was still a rush.
The music kicked in, quieter than CD , so the volume was adjusted , and it sounded good. Very good.
Hmmm. Where were the crackles? what about the clicks? the "muddy" sound of vinyl that bright shiny digital CD over wrote?
Well, either my ears have lost the ability to discern the fine points of difference, or I listen to things more holistically now as it sounded great.
In the interests of fair play, I'm now going to put on a vinyl copy of "Lovesexy", the 3rd of the Prnce albums acquired that day, and the CD too.
Well, the Cd is "Brighter", has more "punch", the bass is more "Bassy" , but the vinyl sounds fine, more crackly, sure, but that adds to the experience, a bit like good black pepper on a meal, that finishing touch to a meal.
in fact vinyl listening is like eating a rich dish - a treat every now and then ,worth the extra effort for a special occasion,an indulgence , a guilty pleasure..
The artwork is the main reason for me revisiting vinyl country, but the ritual of listening is a pleasure too and one I'm glad I was brave enough to take the trip.
So , after a nag, the turntable has been reinstated , hidden in thr hi fi cupboard, not on top as it "clutters the room even more" , we have a small selection of vinyl that will expand under carefully controlled laboratory conditions ( ie charity or bargains from secondhand shops, chosen for cover art aesthetics primarily) and my love affair with music continues unabated.
In fact, Lovesexy is sounding very, well , sexy - now this is not all down to the power of vinyl, more to do with the fact that this is the first time I've listened to it in a couple of years. In fact, the crackles on this pressing are coating it with a veneer of nostalgia that is a little too much bathos , so back to CD we go...
but not before we admire the beauty of the Paisley Park design on the record label. Why can't they reproduce this on the CD?
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