Vinyl has given me a new appreciation for music

Three years ago I purchased my first turntable, a ProJect. It was pretty much necessary, given that I'd purchased my first LP at a concert a few weeks prior. It was a spur of the moment decision, I was just planning to pick up a shirt. Yet I saw the album sitting there on the table, and just decided it would be a cool thing to I have. So I bought a record, never mind the fact that I lacked the means of actually listening to that record.

I really began listening to music around the same time that compact discs were beginning to replace cassette tapes, which is probably making some of you think "fuck, this guy is old!" At that time, I'd get a new album maybe every other week. Getting my hands on new music was a bit of a challenge at that point. I had to save up the money, and convince my parents to drive me to the mall in order to buy the CD. And at times, is have to talk my parents into just buying me a CD when there was something I really wanted that instant.

Since there was often a fair amount of time between album purchases, I would have to get the most out of each new album. I'd listen from start to finish, then listen again to see what I hadn't picked up on before. Most modern music has quite a few layers, so I'd start to just focus on different pieces with each listen. I'd go through the whole disc, and just focus on things like the background vocals. I'd also spend a great deal of time looking at the album art, and reading the liner notes in an attempt to really appreciate the concept in its entirety.

MP3's and iTunes were truly an impressive innovation. Suddenly I have 500+ albums that I can carry around on my phone, which is a hell of a lot easier than even carrying 15 compact discs everywhere. It's also more convenient for me to get my hands on new music. I can preorder an album, and the moment it releases. have it on my phone.

The drawback to this convenience is that is often download songs, listen once or twice, and then never play the song again. In some instances, it's probably safe to say that the song just outright sucked. Like I should've just flushed the 99 cents down the toilet and saved myself the time. But there were also songs that I never really gave a fair listen to, because something else quickly caught my attention. I also stopped reading the liner notes, and gazing at the artwork. Music was becoming something I was only passively listening to.

Vinyl has brought me back to those days of being a kid, and feeling excitement with each new album. The glossy cover art, and even the more out there vinyl colors are a joy to look at. There is no skipping around on a record, so you're pretty much stuck listening to every track. But you're listening to the album in its entirety, getting the experience the artist wanted you to have when they came up with the concept. The sound clarity is so much better, and the sensory experience is also miles ahead of listening to an MP3. I'd say that in a lot of ways technology improves our lives, and it certainly offers convenience, but there are certainly some experiences that technological advance simply can't match. The experience of listening to vinyl is one of those experiences.