FULL CIRCLE....

Back in the late eighties people were told that their vinyl was outdated. Antiquated. Chuck out your dusty, crackly, scratched records, said the advertising folk, they belong to the past. No one will be making records in a few years. Get rid of it all and buy it all again on compact disc. They sound better! They're indestructible! They're the future! So that's what the majority of us did. Fast forward four decades and the trend has reversed: those same people are now re-buying their music collections on 180 gram half-speed remastered from the original tapes vinyl. I left school and got my first proper job at a time when records were disappearing fast from shops, but cassettes were still big sellers due to the still extortionate price of cd's. But like the majority of folks i bought into the myth that this shiny digital format was vastly superior to vinyl. It was certainly an improvement on cassettes, although you couldn't record onto them - that was a few years away, and the equipment cost a fortune. The pro's of compact discs: the sound was crisper, cleaner, with no crackles and pops. They were more portable, and took up less space - actually, that last one is utter crap, as anyone with a serious music habit will tell you! But indestructible? My arse. The first wave of albums to be re-released on CD were often poorly mastered, still copied from the analogue tapes - the legend AAD was printed on many a booklet. Well, i say booklet. Very little effort was made in that department, it usually consisting of four "pages", two of which were often blank. These older discs can usually be spotted as they all suffer from "bronzing", a chemical reaction between the sulphur in the booklet paper and the lacquer used to coat the discs, which meant that the reflective surface would rot, rendering it unreadable. Although that problem was largely dealt with after a few years, cd's are still easily marked or scratched, the surfaces dull over time. I've lost count of the many i've had to replace, despite my taking good care of them. Vinyl can stay in great condition for much longer, provided it is looked after and stored correctly. I still buy cd's, mainly new albums and compilations, due to them being cheaper and the sheer amount of albums available on the format. But i have found myself beginning to replace some with the vinyl copies, usually older albums from before the early nineties, and for two reasons: i firmly believe that music which was produced to be on vinyl always sounds better on vinyl; and that older albums which have been re-released on cd usually come with a load of extras - b-sides, different mixes, demos, radio sessions etc - and whilst this is sometimes a fascinating listen, an insight into the songwriting process or a more experimental side of an artist, more often than not it means multiple versions of the same songs, endless remixes, and songs that were discarded i.e too shit to be on the album or even hidden away on a b-side. Unless you're a die-hard fan of an artist it's unlikely these extras will get more than a couple of cursory plays before never gracing your speakers again. I love the 1980 album I Just Can't Stop It by The Beat, and the deluxe reissue of said album has a few interesting extras - non-album singles and b-sides, some 12" dub versions . But then there are five modern, unnecessary mixes and two radio sessions, and the repetition begins to grate. An album that clocks in at just over thirty-six minutes is stretched out to about two hours. Now, i don't know about you, but i like to have variety in my music playing sessions. I want to hear the original album as it was intended, and all these bonus tracks can have the effect of watering down the impact of the artist's original statement. I've just bought a vinyl copy of Architecture & Morality by eighties electronic pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. After listening to it for a few years on cd, with all the attendant bonus tracks, i feel as if i'm really hearing it for the first time. It's the same with other albums that i've had on cd for years: on vinyl, stripped of all the frills and frippery, they take on a new life. After years of snapping up deluxe expanded remastered reissues, hungry for the unheard treasures within, only to be, at best, mildly disappointed. It appears i have come full circle.