Vinyl Is Back

It's true, vinyl is back, and while I would like to say stronger than ever, it's at least much stronger than it was a few years ago. The Wall Street Journal recently announced vinyl sales had doubled in 2007 and more and more bands are running around trying to release their albums on this once practically deceased medium. It's almost odd that this news would come after the digital media market is expanding each and every day. Each day on the train I see white earbuds surrounding me, it's not even a stretch to say that there is an Ipod in the pocket of every middle class American.

I've written countless posts on the demise of the CD and physical formats, but now I'm having some hope. I've gotten a number of e-mails from promo companies announcing the release of their music on vinyl. Sony/Legacy records for instance is releasing classics such as Boston's self titled debut, Lou Reed's Berlin, The Blue Oyster Cult's Agent's of Fortune and countless others. MVD is announcing the re-release in vinyl format of such artists as the absolutely absurd GG Allin, Devo, and others.

So why is there a resurgance? It just may be, that this push towards a non-physical format has left a bitter taste in our mouths. I'm still young, and grew up during the age of CD's, I have never purchased a vinyl, but love to go through my parents collections. Opening up the jacket of each album is so special, with large artwork, a wonderful smell, and descriptive liner notes. It's time for people to realize that digitmal media isn't the way to go. Shopping for an album on the date of release is always a special moment. Ripping off the plastic and actually holding and looking through the artwork is an event within itself. Digital music is so impersonal, and leaves us feeling disconnected.

Another possible reason for this growth in vinyl, is because the music actually sounds better. Vinyl fans will always talk about the warmth of the sound, which is true, but the reasons go beyond even that. Vinyl is an analog medium, where as mp3's and CD's are digital. CD's are only capturing snapshots of an entire soundwave leaving us with some missing pieces. Mp3's are even worse, because by converting our music to mp3's we are compressing the sound. Vinyl is a true replication of what we are supposed to hear, and while only an audiophile may hear a true difference, one can always fall back on the warmth.

It's about time that people are facing the music, literally, and buying physical albums. Maybe if we're lucky, we can go back to a time when bands actually put thought into something beyond the music, it's time we go back to the entire experience, which exceeds just the sound.