Greatest hits, or the original album...

[RichPA]

I remember Rose Records, always a must-do stop for me in Chicago. As for GH albums, I agree with those who said it depends on the band. In the 60s, many bands didn't make albums as albums, just their radio songs and some filler - for those, a GH album is plenty.

 

[quaddriver]

Here in my area of the US we have 'walmart' and 'Best buy' as the popular consumer fronts - they are almost all just the latest in be-bop crap, greatest hits and country with ZERO actual vinyl. Target and Sears have half assed attempts at CDs. The only chain that has survived locally is FYE (for your entertainment) which is mostly blue ray and games, they have limited vinyl - but for 35-40 a pop!!

As an exercise I picked out a couple dozen bands with long catalogs - from A to Z (aerosmith to zztop) and found it 5:1 compilations over individual releases. With many popular bands missing, but orderable (1 week delay, twice the price currently in the store)

Leaving pretty much amazon as the only full catalog selection option

 

[Bourbon]

I tend to prefer original albums when it comes to the music and artists of my youth. Growing up listening to Van Halen, for instance, precludes me from buying any GH album they might release, because I felt a personal connection to the music. I didn't grow up with the Beatles, so I don't have that connection, and would probably prefer a GH collection.

Also, I tend to view GH albums practically. I don't have a lot of album storage space, so one GH collection saves space over 6 albums with one or two songs each that I enjoy.

 

[wisnowski1]

The Grass Roots has an awesome greatest hits album. I don't need to purchase any thing else by them. But 99 percent of bands from the 70's on i stay away from the greatest hits.

Also, one of the main reasons I love buying vinyl is to discover songs from artists i didn't knew existed. For example: I knew all of Bruce Springsteen's hits from growing up with my dad and classic rock radio stations, but after i started spinning vinyl I realized he had SOOO many more jams to listen too.

 

[Sam Cogley]

lol, you would have to prove that now wouldn't you.

Not really. The person who made the original statement bears the burden of proof. I could easily prove my point...I could stop by any of the four record stores in town and take a quick photo of the CD racks full of non-compilation albums.

 

[quaddriver]

Not really. The person who made the original statement bears the burden of proof. I could easily prove my point...I could stop by any of the four record stores in town and take a quick photo of the CD racks full of non-compilation albums.

That would be true and 3 pages of people agreeing with my observations (re: what is actually stocked) and your lone post produce a lopsided result.

I stand on my position.

Lest I diverge and hijack my own thread, I own over 400 CDs and have stocked in the store over 700 ROCK albums. Pre-90's, mostly pre-80's. I could go grab any linear foot of them and challenge you to find their counterpart stocked in ANY store save some one off 'record graveyard' and you will be out of luck. In fact, over half of the albums I have are out of print. (that means they do not make any more copies in any format - vinyl, cd, 8 track, cassette, R2r due to lack of demand) to such an extent that Amazon for the last 2 years has found single copies of albums and stored them digitally and sells downloads or cloud copies for .79-1.29 each. Most of what amazon has as 'new' was NoS. the fact that a nation of over 300M on a planet of over 7B can have the largest worldwide online retailer with numbers of copies listed in the single digits tells you all you need to know.

Going to the LARGEST brick and mortar retailer - walmart for Styx, we find that they stock not 1, not 2 but 11 best of or collections or compilations. They have catalog access to online modern vinyl of 3 titles - pieces of 8, grand illusion and equinox - all out of stock with no uptime. They do not have a SINGLE previously released styx album for sale in the US, except a boxed set of 5 albums on 5 cds, 4 albums and 1 millennium collection ...

Rod Stewart? *12* collections and a similar 5 album boxed set which they jumbled and remastered...

need I go on?

quick, in 5 hours or less get in your car and find a) mystery to me (f'wood mac) b) you can tune a piano but you cant tuna fish (reo) or c) fight dirty (Charlie)

 

[quaddriver]

Not really. The person who made the original statement bears the burden of proof. I could easily prove my point...I could stop by any of the four record stores in town and take a quick photo of the CD racks full of non-compilation albums.

Oh, and I just noticed you were from Missouri....go find the Brooklyn Side (bottle rockets, highest charting singles to date) in YOUR walmart or best buy. Walmart, doesn't.even.sell.it.

 

[bobins08]

Oh, and I just noticed you were from Missouri....go find the Brooklyn Side (bottle rockets, highest charting singles to date) in YOUR walmart or best buy. Walmart, doesn't.even.sell.it.

Well right here in St Louis we have lots of record stores, or music stores that sell used and new records/CDs and even tapes. I can think of at least 8 stores without trying to hard. There is no need to buy records at Wal-Mart, Target, or even Thrift Stores (which rarely have anything worthwhile these days).

Because of the large amount of real record stores here l think your findings are false in this market, or most any major metropolitan area. From my view "Greatest Hits" are not the dominant record that is available. You can buy most anything here as there is a big music and audio equipment market. Some stores will order records for you if you are looking for rare ones.

As far as preference, I avoid "Greatest Hits/ Best Of" compilations because I much more enjoy the record album as a statement made by the artist at that time. Compilations are ok for artists that I have only a casual interest in as it provides a sample of their most popular work. Sometimes a good compilation can lead you to appreciate that artist and then collect more of that artists LPs.

Cheers, Bob

 

[Sam Cogley]

Oh, and I just noticed you were from Missouri....go find the Brooklyn Side (bottle rockets, highest charting singles to date) in YOUR walmart or best buy. Walmart, doesn't.even.sell.it.

From your original post (emphasis mine):

If anyone has taken a walk thru a record store (and I use that term loosely) you might notice that the original albums are no longer sold for the most part in brick and mortar stores...instead we find many 'greatest hits' or 'millennium collection'.

:lmao: Wal-Mart and Target are not "record stores." At this point, I think we can fully call this myth "busted."

The best and easiest way to lose an argument: move your own goalposts once someone says "you're full of it."

Also, any of the four actual record stores in this city (two outposts of the Vintage Stock chain, one CD Warehouse store that has long since broken ties with the national chain but keeps the name, somehow, and an independent record store/head shop called "Stick It In Your Ear") could get a copy of Brooklyn Side in a few days, and one or two of them might actually have it on the shelf.

 

[quaddriver]

From your original post (emphasis mine):

:lmao: Wal-Mart and Target are not "record stores." At this point, I think we can fully call this myth "busted."

The best and easiest way to lose an argument: move your own goalposts once someone says "you're full of it."

Also, any of the four actual record stores in this city (two outposts of the Vintage Stock chain, one CD Warehouse store that has long since broken ties with the national chain but keeps the name, somehow, and an independent record store/head shop called "Stick It In Your Ear") could get a copy of Brooklyn Side in a few days, and one or two of them might actually have it on the shelf.

if we are going to play the semantic game - then fine. However the truly pedantic will point out that we have not had a 'record store' since the 80's... In short, there are no 'record stores', other than I spoke to, a one off record graveyard - i.e. a thrift store specializing in USED vinyl. Not at all unlike what I do in the 'radio section' of my store.

moving goalposts? how about ignoring what was actually written. I have memory of writing "'record store' (and I use that term loosely)" If you did not, or chose not to infer the significance of the wording used - I can hardly be held responsible can I? I think you might be the only person claiming that you thought I was referring to stores where actual vinyl might be sold. As opposed to the rest of us who recognized that the 'collections', especially wordings like 'millennial collection' are CD only and 'record store' as I qualified it would stand for a wee bit more than vinyl...

My challenge still stands and you are wasting those 5 hours discussing the meaning of is....

And to make it easier, I pose this question to you and you alone: if you were to refresh or start your collection TODAY, and you decided you wanted the ORIGINAL album (re-releases fine) and not a collection, WHERE would YOU go, WHICH brick and mortal store would YOU drive to in order to find new unopened, un-previously enjoyed copies of the albums?

If you think you have an answer, just post it, and I will do due diligence in checking the inventory.

And, there is a difference between 'oh shucks, we must have just sold our last copy, the truck comes in tuesday' and 'never heard of it but I can order it online' Special ordering a non-stocked item is not, in any fashion 'available in stores'

 

[quaddriver]

From your original post (emphasis mine):

:lmao: Wal-Mart and Target are not "record stores." At this point, I think we can fully call this myth "busted."

The best and easiest way to lose an argument: move your own goalposts once someone says "you're full of it."

Also, any of the four actual record stores in this city (two outposts of the Vintage Stock chain, one CD Warehouse store that has long since broken ties with the national chain but keeps the name, somehow, and an independent record store/head shop called "Stick It In Your Ear") could get a copy of Brooklyn Side in a few days, and one or two of them might actually have it on the shelf.

PS: I promised I would do due diligence...

'Vintage Stock' is a chain that does business under 3 names ' Movie trading company', 'vintage stock', and v-stock and they (from their website):

Founded in 1980, in Joplin, Missouri, Vintage Stock was originally called Book Barn and sold used books. As time progressed, we have diversified the product line to include other new and pre-owned products, including music, movies, video games, sports collectibles, trading cards, games, comics and toys.


sounds like if I locate a copy of 'fight dirty' there, it will be used...likely the same if I wanted, oh I dunno 'waiting for the sun'.

Add furniture, glassware, petroliana and stereos and they could be my store.

 

[Ths364]

The only "Greatest Hits" I've bought are the compilations of singles from artists like Little Richard or Howlin' Wolf.
Most of the Greatest Hits albums contain stuff I've already heard on radio WAY too many times over the years.

 

[davidro]

Afterall, they were a Rock and Roll band, not Mahler.

Nice Slingerlands.

I think there's some truth in this for me.

When it comes to non-classical music, I enjoy listening to those compilations more than the individual full albums.

I see the novelty in collecting the individual albums and I succumb to the temptation myself every once in a while.

But when I listen to the stuff, individual albums have too much stuff that I can't care for.

 

[Sam Cogley]

if we are going to play the semantic game - then fine. However the truly pedantic will point out that we have not had a 'record store' since the 80's... In short, there are no 'record stores', other than I spoke to, a one off record graveyard - i.e. a thrift store specializing in USED vinyl. Not at all unlike what I do in the 'radio section' of my store.

One business I mentioned, Stick It In Your Ear, does a significant portion of their business in vinyl. They also carry CDs, posters, and a small selection of "head shop" items - but easily 85% of their inventory is music., and at least 2/3 of that is vinyl. Probably at least 20% of that, if not more, is new.

moving goalposts? how about ignoring what was actually written. I have memory of writing "'record store' (and I use that term loosely)" If you did not, or chose not to infer the significance of the wording used - I can hardly be held responsible can I? I think you might be the only person claiming that you thought I was referring to stores where actual vinyl might be sold. As opposed to the rest of us who recognized that the 'collections', especially wordings like 'millennial collection' are CD only and 'record store' as I qualified it would stand for a wee bit more than vinyl...

Who said anything about a store that only sells vinyl being a "record store"? That term has been used for a "music store" ever since there have been commercial formats other than vinyl - so 55 years, at least. There is still a Grammy given for "Record of the Year," even if digital formats are the dominant distribution method for music these days.

My challenge still stands and you are wasting those 5 hours discussing the meaning of is....

And to make it easier, I pose this question to you and you alone: if you were to refresh or start your collection TODAY, and you decided you wanted the ORIGINAL album (re-releases fine) and not a collection, WHERE would YOU go, WHICH brick and mortal store would YOU drive to in order to find new unopened, un-previously enjoyed copies of the albums?

If you think you have an answer, just post it, and I will do due diligence in checking the inventory.

Any of the four I already mentioned. Or I could drop in any number of other places when visiting St. Louis or Columbia. Several of which deal primarily in vinyl, both new and used.

And, there is a difference between 'oh shucks, we must have just sold our last copy, the truck comes in tuesday' and 'never heard of it but I can order it online' Special ordering a non-stocked item is not, in any fashion 'available in stores'

The CD Warehouse store here carries all sorts of stuff you couldn't possibly guess as regular stock items. If I get over that way today, I'll see if they have any Bottle Rockets. And Vintage Stock has become a pretty bloody big retailer, they usually have just about anything you could want in one of their shops, somewhere - any of which can be easily shipped store-to-store, or even straight to your house.

PS: I promised I would do due diligence...

'Vintage Stock' is a chain that does business under 3 names ' Movie trading company', 'vintage stock', and v-stock and they (from their website):

Founded in 1980, in Joplin, Missouri, Vintage Stock was originally called Book Barn and sold used books. As time progressed, we have diversified the product line to include other new and pre-owned products, including music, movies, video games, sports collectibles, trading cards, games, comics and toys.


sounds like if I locate a copy of 'fight dirty' there, it will be used...likely the same if I wanted, oh I dunno 'waiting for the sun'.

Add furniture, glassware, petroliana and stereos and they could be my store.

The various Vintage Stock stores carry a whole lot of new merchandise, along with used. I'd say about 60% of their vinyl stock is used, but probably only about 30-40% of their CDs.

And I forgot about another one, Entertainmart. They also have a wide selection of new and used CDs, and have recently started carrying new and used vinyl again. And I'd be shocked if any of the five didn't have both a new and used copy of something as popular as "Waiting for the Sun."

All of these stores have one thing in common: they're not generic, "big box" retailers like Wal-Mart or Target, or even specialist "big box" retailers like Best Buy. Our Best Buy used to have a great music selection, including a huge vinyl rack. It's recently shrunk to almost nothing, and they even seem to have reduced their DVD/Blu Ray and video game selections. Probably because they were being out-competed by five retailers who are heavily into music and movies, and quite a few more in video games.

None of which changes the fact that Wal-Mart is far from anything anyone would have ever called a "record store."

 

[bobins08]

Since the OP is in central PA, I recommend a road trip to Pittsburgh, stop at Jerry's and buy some records from a record store. They have more than Greatest Hits compilations there.

 

[eyekon218]

im new to vinyl. of the 60 or so albums i have, only 1 is a greatest hits album.

 

[NeonDriver]

I vastly prefer original albums to greatest hits compilations. There are a few compilations that I like a lot, but I still try to get as many original albums as I can find of my favorite artists. Love those unheard deep cuts.

 

[quaddriver]

Since the OP is in central PA, I recommend a road trip to Pittsburgh, stop at Jerry's and buy some records from a record store. They have more than Greatest Hits compilations there.

Im from Pittsburgh. I know where to get WONDERFUL used and NOS vinyl and even tapes and CDs. But the very fact that I would have to go THERE (clearly the one, one off store) proves my point(s)

pop quiz: what brick and mortal stores who have a 'record' section, sold the MOST units - making their inclusion in my posts VERY relevant.

 

[sqlsavior]

Depends on the band. For example, Jethro Tull's "greatest hits" are hardly definable, for others, they're all that are worth hearing.

 

[Sam Cogley]

OK...I stopped at one Vintage Stock location and CD Warehouse tonight.

First photo is the selection of Doors CDs at Vintage Stock. They also had two compilation albums in the rack. Second photo is the selection of Bottle Rockets CDs at CD Warehouse.

While Wal-Mart may move a ton of CDs across their gigantic corporation, it's hardly the first choice for a semi-serious music fan to look for stuff.

quick, in 5 hours or less get in your car and find a) mystery to me (f'wood mac) b) you can tune a piano but you cant tuna fish (reo) or c) fight dirty (Charlie)

I missed this tidbit earlier, but I've seen the first two recently in several of the local media (record) stores. The third one I haven't looked for, but I think I own it. I'd be happy to look for all three in the local stores next chance I get.