20141215

Vinyl Reissues in 2014

I keep a running vinyl wish list, as can be seen here. In 2014, the top 5 albums on that wish list I was finally  able to buy because they all got reissued. (My current #1 is now Over the Rhine's Ohio double LP. Last time I saw it on eBay it went for close to $200, and there is no way I am paying that.)

Most of these reissues' original versions were all around $100, well out of my budget. Thankfully they are now only around $20 each, and most have been remastered, have new and improved packaging and liner notes.

Top vinyl reissues of 2014:

Mineral Reissues as displayed with my turntable. Gatefold with new liner notes.

1. Mineral- The Power of Failing (1997) and EndSerenading (1998). I was fortunate to get an original pressing of The Power of Failing a few years ago, but I was never able to spend the money on EndSerenading until now. When they announced their reunion tours and these reissues, I ordered them immediately from the British label Xtra Mile. At this point the only vinyl I have ordered in Germany and have had sent to my apartment here. Going to see Mineral in Italy on Jan. 31, 2015!


2. Jimmy Eat World- Static Prevails (1996) The band also reissued other albums in their back catalog, but this is the only one I did not own the original version of.




3. Death Cab for Cutie- The Photo Album (2001) and We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes (2000).
Death Cab put out an amazing yet outrageously expensive box set a couple years ago with all of their albums. It was way out of my price range, and I already owned about half the records in it anyway. Thankfully Barsuk reissued these albums individually so that I could complete my Death Cab collection; previously it started with Transatlanticism and worked its' way forward.

4. Cursive- The Ugly Organ (2003). I haven't purchased it, because I own the original, but it looks awesome. I did by the digital version of the 8 bonus tracks that were not on the original release.

As this article in the Wall Street Journal attests, vinyl sales and production are on the rise, which makes it fun for a collector and music fan like me:
The Biggest Music Comeback of 2014: Vinyl Records



I bought lots of 7"s in the 1990's, but didn't avidly begin collecting 12" LPs until I returned to the States from Zambia in 2004.