The "too many records"-dilemma

GJ · Post by GJ » Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:53 am

A few of my reliable "classics" saving me whenever struck by the "what to play"-dilemma as indicated by Cochino and others would be:

Praying Mantis - Time tells no lies
Chevy - S/T
Pentagram . S/T
Onslaught - Power from Hell
Starz - Coliseum Rock
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
Richie Blackmore's Rainbow - S/T
Manilla Road - Crystal Logic
Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion (or Morbid Tales)

Easy listening stuff all of it (depending on mood).

I cannot really identify with the problem DaN was talking about in his original post, even though I understand him and sort of has touched upon it earlier in life. Nowadays I tend to forget to check out new obscure stuff (even within my own collection) and rely on the stuff I know I am going to enjoy - I blame work, family life (not the family) and my increasing laziness for this. The good thing is when you out of a sudden discover gems in your own collection that you'd never imagine finding - sometimes many years after buying the record...

sovdat · Post by **sovdat** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:42 am

If you don't know what to play, list your entire collection on musik-sammler and choose the Jukebox option

Die spontane Jukebox
Mal wieder keine Idee was auf dem heimischen Plattenteller aufgelegt werden soll? Die "spontane Jukebox" von Musik-Sammler.de hat Dir 5 Alben aus Deiner Sammlung per Zufall rausgesucht:

1. Sanctuary: Into The Mirror Black ( CD )
2. Paralysis: Arctic Sleep ( Mini-CD / EP )
3. Megadeth: Rust In Peace ( CD )
4. Howlin' Mad: Insanity ( CD )
5. Paradise Lost: Draconian Times ( CD )

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:50 am

sovdat wrote:If you don't know what to play, list your entire collection on musik-sammler and choose the Jukebox option

Die spontane Jukebox
Mal wieder keine Idee was auf dem heimischen Plattenteller aufgelegt werden soll? Die "spontane Jukebox" von Musik-Sammler.de hat Dir 5 Alben aus Deiner Sammlung per Zufall rausgesucht:

1. Sanctuary: Into The Mirror Black ( CD )
2. Paralysis: Arctic Sleep ( Mini-CD / EP )
3. Megadeth: Rust In Peace ( CD )
4. Howlin' Mad: Insanity ( CD )
5. Paradise Lost: Draconian Times ( CD )

I have a better idea.

Mail me #2 instead.

That way you'll have even less of a decision to make on which of those to listen to.

sovdat · Post by **sovdat** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 2:02 pm

Or you can buy that one, it's not that expensive if you consider how often it shows up for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PARALYSIS-Arctic- ... 240%3A1318

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 2:54 pm

Agree w/ Dan's original post.
Part of the problem is that I try to give everything at least 4-5 listens to make sure I get a good feel for it; sometimes 1-2 listens just isn't enough to form an opinion of an album, as some records take a little while to grow on you. Unfortunately, this takes a ton of time, so I'm constantly just playing the 'newly acquired' stuff and rarely get around to playing the old favorites.

Main way to help with this situation is to cut way back on getting new stuff!

I've cut WAy back on trading and such this year. I'm still a bit behind on listening to recently acquired stuff, but I'm slowly catching up.

Re: the collection size problem, this is one reason I don't want a gigantic collection- you simply cannot find time to listen to most of the stuff (unless you're a deadbeat or a millionaire and just spend all day every day playing records). When I culled my collection out a few years ago, I let go of a lot of decent and/or rare albums simply because I hadn't played them in years and in all honesty I wouldn't have played them for several more years. Personally, a collection size of around 2000 items seems to be a good level for me; more than that and I feel swamped and/or like I'm keeping too much mediocre stuff that I'll never play. I also want my collection to contain records that I enjoy, not just super-rare stuff or everything known to mankind, so I don't like having the mediocre albums pile up.

Khnud · Post by **Khnud** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:07 pm

Yes, I have this problem too. I feel I spend most of my time listening to records I later decide not to buy. I download a lot of albums, and listen to them in my mp3 player while at work (my job rules!). To keep track of what I like, I need to keep a database of grades assigned to each album, and focus my purchases based on this. The problem is, for each good album there are at least 15 that are mediocre, or worse.

nabel · Post by **nabel** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:15 pm

There are still stuff (not much though) in my collection that I don't listen too often/have time for them/can't understand why I bought them. But once or twice a year I'll go through my stuff just sell/trade those albums that I don't really listen to anymore.
This week I'm about to format my harddrive, I'll burn the stuff I really like to cdr's, I just don't have time to play mp3's at home. Well I like to download obscure demos, singles, albums (I can't afford to buy) and fill my mp3-player once a week with new playlist and listen to stuff I have never heard before.
There just is simply too much metal in this world.

Or then I'm just getting desperate that I can't catch 'em all!

Cochino · Post by **Cochino** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:44 pm

I don't regret checking out "new" (because I'm just meaning is new for me) music, I've discovered some cool stuff this year, even some I've heard 1-2 times and ignore it, and now I think it's great (for example, Abscess' "Tormented" and "Through The Cracks Of Death" which I thought were mediocre albums and now I regard them as some of the best Death Metal albums recorded in the past 10 years).
I think that the mp3 player is a very helpfun tool for the task of checking out new stuff. I don't think that much what I put on the mp3. I include 2 or 3 personal classics for safety and then fill the rest with stuff I haven't heard before. Then I decide what to burn and eventually purchase and what to delete.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:27 pm

Khnud wrote:To keep track of what I like, I need to keep a database of grades assigned to each album, and focus my purchases based on this. The problem is, for each good album there are at least 15 that are mediocre, or worse.

lol, I have the same kind of database set-up

Spreadsheets rule

great_knuthulhu · Post by **great_knuthulhu** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:39 pm

Some times, you do get that feeling, but in the end I just love all my little recordses too much to ever let them go. OK, I do keep a couple of CDs just so I can break them in two when I feel the world is against me.

Keir · Post by **Keir** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:58 pm

Fils Du Metal wrote:I would start the point of view from a different angle: What is mediocre stuff or crap stuff? Don't know if this only happens to me. But I have had albums I listened 2 years ago or so telling friends they are the best ever released.

Then sitting there with the friends 2 years later playing the album thinking: What a crap...

I've done this as well. Sometimes the excitement of finding something new or unknown gives me the false impression that it is really good. Then later I may give it an unbiased listen and find it to be crap. Conversely I've had albums that I've tossed straight in the trade box and later regretted getting rid of.

And not to change the subject even further, but I've been thinking about Dan's dilemma and decided that a bigger problem for me is that I put all my resources into getting rare/obscure records that I miss out on a lot of "classics". For instance, I'm embarrassed to admit it but I don’t own a single Thin Lizzy album. And I’m not saying that I should because the supposed “experts” have decided that Jailbreak is a classic or whatever, I genuinely love their music. However, I can’t seem to shake the urge to buy some obscure compilation that probably only has one good song on it rather than, say, 5 or 6 Thin Lizzy albums for the same price.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:07 pm

Keir- I had that problem especially in the early collecting years. I heard the Damascus 'Open Your Eyes' EP before I ever heard a full-length Slayer album!

It can still be a problem:

-spend $50 getting one rare item that is okay but you won't see offered again for $6-12 months OR...
-get 4 $12 albums that are probably much better musically but that you can buy any time you have $12 to spare.

I still have a few such 'common' items on my wantlist; I could buy them any time i want, yet the time I decide to is about the time something rarer on my want list shows up for sale/trade and distracts me

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:03 pm

sovdat wrote:Or you can buy that one, it's not that expensive if you consider how often it shows up for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PARALYSIS-Arctic- ... 240%3A1318

But it's not FREE...

That ends up being like $85.00 CAN with shipping.

sovdat · Post by **sovdat** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:34 am

Hey - if you paid 200%+ price for that average Decadence CD you can buy that one too

Besides, it's a buy it now / best offer auction, so you might try your luck with submitting an lower offer ...

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:57 pm

sovdat wrote:Hey - if you paid 200%+ price for that average Decadence CD you can buy that one too Besides, it's a buy it now / best offer auction, so you might try your luck with submitting an lower offer ...

Haha, how are you able to tell who wins what auctions with blocked ID's now?

That Decadence CD was part of a dealing for other CD's which were purchased outside of eBay which I may spill the beans about later on.

Keep your eyes peeled, I'm waiting for everything to arrive.