Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
I got the idea for this thread tonight as I was flipping through my collection.
I'd like to hear about (and preferably see) your most highly-valued lp, and the reasons why it's at the top of the heap in your collection, so to speak. I know, the obvious reason is going to be "Because I love the music," but there could be other reasons in addition, such as rarity, monetary value, sentimental reminders, and so on. Of course monetary value doesn't necessarily play into it; your most cherished record might be something that's often found in the dollar bin.
Mine are not, but I have strange interests.
The crown jewel of my record collection is without a doubt The Church, Priest=Aura. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and my favorite album in this Aussie band's very extensive catalog, which doesn't feature one bad album IMO.
I was first "turned on" to it about 6 years ago while living in Germany as an exchange student. I was already a fan of The Church, but was only familiar with their better-known works from the 80s, like the album Starfish, which contains the smash hit single "Under The Milky Way" (it's likely you've heard this on the radio even if it doesn't ring a bell). Lead singer/bass player Steve Kilbey suffered from heroin addiction in the early 90s, and this album is a product of that experience. Dark, sad, and highly atmospheric, Priest=Aura is an intense emotional experience for me every time I listen to it (which believe it or not has primarily been in my car, at least after Germany). It reminds me of a lot of things, not least of which is the 7 months I spent in Germany, so there's definitely a sentimental component there too.
Despite all that, you may be surprised to know that I've only played the record once, and not all the way through. This album is very difficult to obtain on vinyl - I think it was a German-only import, perhaps UK too - and when I bought it on ebay the average auction ended around $100 for a used copy, which is about what I payed. Therefore, I've promised myself that I will not use the vinyl copy until I have a professional record cleaning machine (the lp isn't too dirty, but it could use a good cleaning), a new turntable (that won't be any time soon unfortunately), and the best cartridge I currently have. I also plan to make the ultimate analog copy of the album with my Nak DR-1 and one of the finest blank tapes I own.
Here's a picture:
I'm also going to include my most highly-valued 7" single. My favorite band is The Cure. Knowing this and sharing my love of the band, a now ex-girlfriend (who remains a close friend) had the excellent idea to get this for my birthday, some ten years ago.
Released in 1984, this is the single 7" picture disc for the song "The Caterpillar," which is from that year's Cure album The Top. It's not extremely rare - one could find decent copies of it on ebay for about $60 around 8 years ago, I don't know about today - but it's not something you're likely run into in any record store, that's for sure. The 12" single version has the same cover art, just on a white background, and the vinyl itself is standard black.
The Top was (again) a drug-fueled, bizarre album that's often referred to as somewhat of a Robert Smith (front man and vocalist) solo album. In fact, Smith wrote most of the songs by himself during a time when the band were having issues with each other. To me, "The Caterpillar" has always seemed like one of those happy type of sad songs. I'm sure many of you know what I mean, we don't have a word for it in English but apparently some languages do.
I'm a big fan of b-sides, so for me the best singles have great b-sides. The Cure is one of those bands with a hell of a lot of wonderful b-sides, and IMO "Happy The Man," which is the b-side of "The Caterpillar," is one of the good ones. It's well-known among Cure fans that the The Top era coincided with heavy drug use by the band (it's not the only one), and Smith has said in interviews that psychedelic mushrooms were the drug of choice at the time. Indeed "Happy The Man" is about a hallucination Smith experienced while tripping on mushrooms. It was occasionally played live during the tour for The Top in 1984.
Here are the pictures of both sides. The plastic sleeve is actually part of the artwork, although it's difficult to see how unless the records are out of the sleeve - some of the solid red lines are actually on the sleeve, not the record:
So there it is. I hope to get a lot of responses to this thread topic as I'm really curious what interesting lps and stories will appear.
...
I'd like to hear about (and preferably see) your most highly-valued lp, and the reasons why it's at the top of the heap in your collection, so to speak. I know, the obvious reason is going to be "Because I love the music," but there could be other reasons in addition, such as rarity, monetary value, sentimental reminders, and so on. Of course monetary value doesn't necessarily play into it; your most cherished record might be something that's often found in the dollar bin.
Mine are not, but I have strange interests.
The crown jewel of my record collection is without a doubt The Church, Priest=Aura. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and my favorite album in this Aussie band's very extensive catalog, which doesn't feature one bad album IMO.
I was first "turned on" to it about 6 years ago while living in Germany as an exchange student. I was already a fan of The Church, but was only familiar with their better-known works from the 80s, like the album Starfish, which contains the smash hit single "Under The Milky Way" (it's likely you've heard this on the radio even if it doesn't ring a bell). Lead singer/bass player Steve Kilbey suffered from heroin addiction in the early 90s, and this album is a product of that experience. Dark, sad, and highly atmospheric, Priest=Aura is an intense emotional experience for me every time I listen to it (which believe it or not has primarily been in my car, at least after Germany). It reminds me of a lot of things, not least of which is the 7 months I spent in Germany, so there's definitely a sentimental component there too.
Despite all that, you may be surprised to know that I've only played the record once, and not all the way through. This album is very difficult to obtain on vinyl - I think it was a German-only import, perhaps UK too - and when I bought it on ebay the average auction ended around $100 for a used copy, which is about what I payed. Therefore, I've promised myself that I will not use the vinyl copy until I have a professional record cleaning machine (the lp isn't too dirty, but it could use a good cleaning), a new turntable (that won't be any time soon unfortunately), and the best cartridge I currently have. I also plan to make the ultimate analog copy of the album with my Nak DR-1 and one of the finest blank tapes I own.
Here's a picture:
I'm also going to include my most highly-valued 7" single. My favorite band is The Cure. Knowing this and sharing my love of the band, a now ex-girlfriend (who remains a close friend) had the excellent idea to get this for my birthday, some ten years ago.
Released in 1984, this is the single 7" picture disc for the song "The Caterpillar," which is from that year's Cure album The Top. It's not extremely rare - one could find decent copies of it on ebay for about $60 around 8 years ago, I don't know about today - but it's not something you're likely run into in any record store, that's for sure. The 12" single version has the same cover art, just on a white background, and the vinyl itself is standard black.
The Top was (again) a drug-fueled, bizarre album that's often referred to as somewhat of a Robert Smith (front man and vocalist) solo album. In fact, Smith wrote most of the songs by himself during a time when the band were having issues with each other. To me, "The Caterpillar" has always seemed like one of those happy type of sad songs. I'm sure many of you know what I mean, we don't have a word for it in English but apparently some languages do.
I'm a big fan of b-sides, so for me the best singles have great b-sides. The Cure is one of those bands with a hell of a lot of wonderful b-sides, and IMO "Happy The Man," which is the b-side of "The Caterpillar," is one of the good ones. It's well-known among Cure fans that the The Top era coincided with heavy drug use by the band (it's not the only one), and Smith has said in interviews that psychedelic mushrooms were the drug of choice at the time. Indeed "Happy The Man" is about a hallucination Smith experienced while tripping on mushrooms. It was occasionally played live during the tour for The Top in 1984.
Here are the pictures of both sides. The plastic sleeve is actually part of the artwork, although it's difficult to see how unless the records are out of the sleeve - some of the solid red lines are actually on the sleeve, not the record:
So there it is. I hope to get a lot of responses to this thread topic as I'm really curious what interesting lps and stories will appear.
...
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The prices have really come down from a couple years ago, which is good for me.
