Making better Album purchases

trutrent

trutrent

Active Member
I recently have been using this technique and have had a lot of success in buying albums that I have been enjoying instead of putting back to the bottom of the pile.

Ok, I go to that popular auction site and type in a band I like. When all the albums come up I pick one and highlight the title. Copy & paste into your google search (mine usually automatically pastes), hit search and look for the Wikipedia link for that title. Open up Wikipedia and read on. Between the history of the band, their hits, best selling albums and other tidbits, it has helped me as to not be as disapointed on some of my other 'blind' purchases.

Also you can find a "power seller" scroll through their variety and cut & paste over to Wikipedia and cover alot of ground that way also. Plus the bonus is if you buy multiples they usually only charge .50 additional to bring your shipping per album way down.

I'm sure others have already have been doing this, but I thought this info might help other into streaching their album dollars.

Any other Tips would be appreciated, I'm trying to grow my collection with decent copies on the cheap.
 
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You might also check out the allmusic.com website. Type in a band name and you'll get (in most cases) a brief bio along with a discography and reviews of specific releases. Records are rated from 1-5 stars. I don't always agree with their reviews or ratings, but they're a good guideline.
 
I sorta do that in reverse as the Cd's + Lps are from the thrifts. Cd's that are still sealed I have no problem buying blind, catchy name ,song list, cover art. Lps the same thing. I buy them and then do the Wikipedia link for info. :thmbsp:
 
I make better purchases by buying Japanese!

So many 'dealers' on eBay grossly over grade their records....I've yet to buy one from Japan that hasnt' been *under graded*!!

I got a 'mint' record from a UK dealer yesterday that was unplayable...hopefully my RCM can sort it out :sigh:
 
I've started to use DISCOGS recently and have been impressed with what I've had so far.
Sellers seem to run pretty close to their grading guidelines and keen to protect their seller rating.
Cheers
Dave
 
@ cactuscowboy, thanks for that site I really like the indepth reviews. I compared my take on known albums to theirs, and like what they say. Nice reference site!

@jovinyl, I like buying the way you do also, but sometimes the "deal" I get has only a one or two decent songs (just like it has always been) and I find out the actual album I wanted wasnt that one. Or I dont recognize the song titles later to find out that was the album I wanted.

@ Phantom Zone. Yes I agree I recently bought a Jap. version Stephen Stills and love it the packaging and reproduction. Got it cheap from a U.S. seller. All the other ones I want from Japanese sellers seem just abit to expensive when adding shipping.
 
cactuscowboy said:
You might also check out the allmusic.com website. Type in a band name and you'll get (in most cases) a brief bio along with a discography and reviews of specific releases. Records are rated from 1-5 stars. I don't always agree with their reviews or ratings, but they're a good guideline.
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+1

Also if I am looking for the best version and personal experience I would check out the Steve Hoffman website. Their music forum members have discussed a lot of target classic LPs, remasters.
 
Now if only allmusic and discdogs could combine that would be a Great site. One has all indepth reviews and the other only sales. :cool:
 
Don't forget other types of music. You can read the threads here at AudioKarma in the music forum, and try what the posters recommend. You will soon learn who has taste similar to yours.
 
For the most part, I think allmusic.com is great (as is allmovie.com, BTW). The only qualifier is that they'll give 4-5 stars to standouts in a given genre that I don't appreciate and whose artists I don't know (e.g., rap, metal). In other words, a highly praised 5 star rap album still isn't my cuppa joe.

OTOH, I think their star ratings of albums within a given artist's discography do a pretty good job of ranking their relative quality/appeal.
 
trutrent said:
Now if only allmusic and discdogs could combine that would be a Great site. One has all indepth reviews and the other only sales. :cool:
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The best DISCOGS feature for me is the Want List.
Pop a few in, do a quick search if nothing doing at the price you want then no sweat, leave as is and the PM system auto mails you when any new matches are added to someone elses seller list.

Once a tasty opp comes along, check what else that seller has and bundle them up into one package to save postage costs.

For me it's much better than individual purchases via online auction.

Cheers
Dave
 
This is very similar to the approach I use. When I'm searching for new music, I usually have a certain band, album or genre in mind. So, I'll usually start with Wikipedia to narrow down which bands and which albums are likely to be of the most interest to me.

Starting with Wikipedia is nice because if there are any reviews of the albums in question, it lists them on the right. So, I can read up about the "factual" details of an album, and then I can jump immediately to some editorial content. Allmusic frequently pops up, but so does Robert Christegau, Rollingstone (which is really hit and miss with me) and even Pitchfork.

For example, let's say I want to get into the late 70s Post-Punk band, Wire. Over the last 30 years, they've released lots of albums. Obviously, not all of them are going to be essential. Wikipedia and the affiliated review websites help me to decide upon which albums to specifically seek out. So, in the case of Wire, I discovered that their first three albums (Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154) are considers drop-dead essentials. Three back-to-back masterpieces. To the auction site I go, with a clear goal in mind.

Now, if I'm at all concerned about getting original or early pressings of a particular album, I use Discogs to figure out whats what. If price is the same, I'll usually go with an original or early pressing as opposed to a recent re-issue. It just depends. Because on the other hand, I'd rather have a nice clean re-issue than a thrashed, noisy original.

I'll also use digital music suppliers like iTunes and Amazon to sample an album before I commit to hunt for it on vinyl. It can take a lot of time and money to find a particular piece on vinyl, so sometimes I like to make certain that I even want the thing in the first place. Other times, I have a pretty good idea and would rather be surprised when the lp arrives. Especially if I know I already know I like a certain band. Take Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, for example. Love that band. After I acquired all the critically praised albums, I thought I'd try one that wasn't so well-received. Turned out, I liked that one too. So, from that point forward I decided I would try ANY OMD album I came across, and so far that's worked out pretty well for me.
 
I find that buying LP's from local music stores or online vendors is the most expensive way to do it. At least for the stuff I'm looking for. Stores and online vendors are trying to make a buck (nothing wrong with that) and often over value stuff.
Since attending record shows I'm blown away how cheap I can get stuff compared to local stores and online vendors. Although vendors at record shows are also trying to make a bit of money most of the stuff I pick up are sold cheap as these vendors don't want to haul a lot of LP's back to the vehicle. Its easier to negotiate deals. I've picked up brand new sealed LP's or mint LP's for as little as a dollar or 2.
The best online deal I've had was a guy advertising on Kijijiji that had about 1,400 LP's that he just wanted to get rid of. I picked up Zeppelin, rolling stones, etc for between 5 and 10 bucks an LP' where as my local music store was selling the same LP's for between 30 and 100 bucks.
Since there are about 5 or 6 record shows a year that are between 10 minute and 20 minute driving distance for me, that is the only way I buy LP's now.
 
guitarman50 said:
I find that buying LP's from local music stores or online vendors is the most expensive way to do it. At least for the stuff I'm looking for. Stores and online vendors are trying to make a buck (nothing wrong with that) and often over value stuff.
Since attending record shows I'm blown away how cheap I can get stuff compared to local stores and online vendors. Although vendors at record shows are also trying to make a bit of money most of the stuff I pick up are sold cheap as these vendors don't want to haul a lot of LP's back to the vehicle. Its easier to negotiate deals. I've picked up brand new sealed LP's or mint LP's for as little as a dollar or 2.
The best online deal I've had was a guy advertising on Kijijiji that had about 1,400 LP's that he just wanted to get rid of. I picked up Zeppelin, rolling stones, etc for between 5 and 10 bucks an LP' where as my local music store was selling the same LP's for between 30 and 100 bucks.
Since there are about 5 or 6 record shows a year that are between 10 minute and 20 minute driving distance for me, that is the only way I buy LP's now.
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I also hit up a record show every couple of months. But, I find that for what I'm looking for, I rarely get any kind of a deal on it. Nice Brian Eno records seem to cost $20-$30 whether I buy them online, at a record store or at a convention. Sometimes I'll save on the shipping, other times not. What makes it worthwhile for me is that I get to look at the goods before buying them. Because that's the main problem with online purchases for me. Seems most people over grade. At least at a record convention, if I come home with a crappy lp, I only have myself to blame.
 
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I don't know anything about these record shows you guys are talking about...hoping there's one in Kansas City at some point......

Another great feature on allmusic, by the way, is that you can find similar artists, artists who influenced, and artists who came after...good way to discover more bands you might not have known about otherwise....I just keep clicking and clicking and clicking...been addicted to that site for 10 years or more...love it.
 
found a site with record show listings around the world...looks like none in KC but four upcoming this year in St. Louis...don't know if it's worth a 3-4 hour drive?
 
@synclavier82
your right Im investigating the same way you are also. About the reissues I've always thought they were a degraded version of the original, or some overzelous producer remixed it and messed up the original intent. Thats why Ive been staying away, but like you said sometimes I get a not so pristine copy in the process.
Being from Akron are you a fan of the Black Keys? I just recently really got into them.

@bobellis75
Please do share the world listings on record shows that new to me also. I love shows of all sorts much more up close and personal than online.
 
trutrent said:
About the reissues I've always thought they were a degraded version of the original, or some overzelous producer remixed it and messed up the original intent.
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Depends on the pressing I guess. I bought a reissue of Joe Cocker's "With a little Help From my Friends", album that was phenomenal. It was done by Speakers corner, who is very picky about what reissues they will do.
 
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