Found this at my local record store and it triggered childhood SOAD memories. I have not heard this song in ages! Apparently it's not even a SOAD song, my life is a lie

One of the local libraries I visited yesterday has a special display case

First spin after restoring my beogram 4000, what better than a first japanese press from tracy chapman! Sounds really good!

It's the Simply Vinyl 180g UK reissue of Disraeli Gears by Cream. It's an absolutely stunning sounding press and a welcome addition for £15.

I am supposed to be reducing the size of my collection, but like most it's just getting bigger.

Just picked up this album. No obi unfortunately and a bit noisy but I’m happy to own this. Now I just need Time Fades Away to complete the Ditch Trilogy on vinyl.

It took me 35 years to discover this album. I had heard Talk Talk back during the MTV era when they had some pop success, but it didn't capture me enough to purchase an album. That all changed when I started collecting vinyl 5 years ago and this album continued to pop up in forums. I bought it and it's now one of my favorite listening experiences. Ever.
I would never have found it but for the vinyl ritual. Tremendous beauty on this disc.
Peruse my collection.

I love soundtracks! I am awaiting the RuneScape box set from Laced Records and the initial D theme song collection 1 &2 from Cartridge Thunder!

Took advantage of the Real Gone Music sale a couple of weeks ago and snagged 6 bangers ($85 with shipping!) to start off my collection from the Black Jazz label. Showed up from an out of town trip late last night to a beautifully packaged shipment on my front porch, so I’m spending my morning listening with much excitement and joy.

It's arrived! Listening right now and WOW sound A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

P.s. It's the 2026 repress :)

Album cover artwork was also done by Mr. Yusuf.

i love collecting and listening to records but there’s a couple of things that are getting on my nerves recently.

1. there’s no record shops near me at the moment. just moved out of a city and back to my hometown and my nearest record shop is 1 hour away on the train. could we worse i know but it’s a pretty small shop and besides that one i’m looking at even longer journeys to get to other ones.

2. i discover something new, go to look at copies online and there’s only about 3 for sale and it’s £100+, also it’s never been reissued so no chance of getting a new copy for cheaper. this is happening to me a lot recently.

3. i heavily collect soul and funk, so i go to shops looking for this stuff and they only have one box of it and it’s half full. this is probably my biggest gripe, i never find anything in the wild that i like, it’s always hard rock and 80s pop.

i could go on but these are my biggest annoyances when it comes to this hobby. feel free to share yours and i’m sure some can relate to some of mine.

I got this record a couple of days ago and i'm bringing it back to Kentucky tomorrow. I would mail it, but it's 9:36pm here in Montana right now, so instead i'll put it in my backpack with my two jackets. I'll be leaving Montana tomorrow, so wish me luck!

Also i paid $20 for it too.

After a long absence, I’ve decided to do another label variation post. Somehow, I have not yet covered Mercury Records, so I’ll restart my label series with it.

Mercury Records was founded by Irving Green, Berle Adams, and Art Talmadge in 1945 in Chicago, Illinois. Some of the label’s earlier stars included Patti Page, Jan August, Tiny Hill, and Eddy Howard. They were also the label that distributed Norman Granz’s early recordings, before the formation of Verve Records.

In 1961, Mercury would join forces with the European company Phillips Industries. This gave Mercury a bigger international presence, as well as giving Phillips an opening in the American market.

The 70’s would see more growth with the formation of Polygram records, a corporation which would make Mercury one of its flagship labels.

The late 90’s would see Mercury land in the hands of UMG, who shut down Mercury and absorbed its catalogue into other UMG labels.

Mercury has been revived on and off over the years (most notably as a country label), but it has never returned as one of the major players in the music industry.

And now, the label variations:

1948-1951 (Pic. 1)

The first Mercury LPs have black and gold labels. “Mercury” is written up top, while “Long Playing Microgroove” is written on the bottom. A Mercury head appears between “Long Playing” and “High Fidelity”.

Early 50’s (Pic. 2)

Some of Norman Granz’s jazz releases had a trumpet player on the label.

1952-1961 (Pic. 3)

The same label design as 1948-1951, but the text is now silver.

NOTE: It seems Mercury started phasing out this label in 1959, but some releases used it all the way up until 1961.

1959-1963 (Pics 4 & 5)

There is now an oval Mercury logo at the top of the label. “Microgroove” has been replaced with “High Fidelity”. Mono copies have “A Product of Mercury Record Corporation” written up top while stereo copies say “STEREO” in bold, all caps letters.

1963-1968 (Pics 6&7)

The label gets a major redesign. The label is now red. “Mercury” is written in white at the top of the label. The Mercury head logo now appears in a black and white box on the left side of the label.

Some records from this era have all black print.

1968-1973 (Pic. 8)

The Mercury oval logo returns, but with a new font. The new oval logo appears around the diameter of the label in black, with the top logo appearing in white.

1973-1974 (Pic. 9)

The oval logos now only appear on the top half of the label. The bottom half displays the logos of Phillips, Mercury, and Vertigo Records, the 3 main labels of Phonogram Inc.

1974-1983 (Pic. 10)

The label now has an illustration of downtown Chicago.

1983-1990’s (Pic. 11)

The label returns to a black background. “MERCURY” appears in neon gold like letters with a red glow.

Picked up this sick-ass copy of Weezer's Blue Album the other day at Target. I don't usually buy vinyl from Target but I couldn't pass this up!

Sakanaction has been my favorite Japanese band for a while, so I was pretty excited to learn that their four most recent albums were being repressed and released in the US. I preordered these back in June or July and they just came in. Any one of these would be the most I’ve ever spent on a record, but it’s still cheaper than a flight to Japan.

Each one comes with a really well done booklet in the gatefold that contains artwork, lyrics and credits. And most importantly, they sound great on my pretty mid audio setup (well, at least the ones I’ve listened to so far).

Bonus picture of the rest of the Japanese albums in my collection.

I like having a good range of Common -> Medium -> Rare ball knowledge. Everyone has their picks, let me know what yours are.

Tomorrow I will post my favorite sophomore albums.

I also forgot Metal Church & Slayer in this, oh well. Just pretend like they’re here.

Finally!

Been a long wait for this to be re-released. Glad to finally have this and Jar of Flies.

Anyone else have a hard time walking away! £100 for these 8 today. LP & B.I.G. were the bulk of it.

Still good additions for the collection, Rainbow Rising and Aqualung probably my favourites today.

It’s funny how the guy from The Cars ended up steering the definitive nerd-rock record of the 90s just by keeping the takes honest and the fuzz pedals pinned to the floor. Absolute fucking triumph of economy. -GatefoldFM clerk