Vinyl preferred here..
for the dynamic range, cover art and all-around enjoyable (and hands-on!) experience of playing records.

I am both a music lover and ardent music collector, and I make no apologies for the latter.
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Berthold Auerbach

Collection Background
Much of my music collection has been amassed from countless urban expeditions to thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets and used record store bins since the early 1980's.
In addition to collecting records, I'm a "tikiphile" interested in all things mid-century modern, especially the Polynesian pop era.
I occasionally listen to 1950's-1960's (and some modern) space age pop, exotica, bossa-nova and other cocktail-themed music in my home tiki lounge. This listening is usually accompanied by a rum-based cocktail. :-)

Preferences
I mostly listen to rock music, especially the progressive, psychedelic and stoner subgenres.
I also enjoy reggae, funk/soul, ambient/electronica, blues, bluegrass, jazz, new age, folk and singer-songwriter music. Classical music is wonderful, but admittedly I only listen to it on rare occasions when the mood strikes.
I like to explore music from other cultures. Soukous, Taureg and Celtic music are among my favorites.

Digital
I am content with stereo (and mono) most of the time, but music in 5.1 surround sound is a fun diversion.
If a multichannel release is mixed and remastered well it can be very entertaining. I am surprised most music lovers are seemingly disinterested in the format.
I tend to avoid rbCD's due to the widespread practice of loudness remastering and brickwalling (burned too many times), but I enjoy many digitally-sourced SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-Ray and especially 5.1 stag/5.1/,multichannel surround music when possible.
Check out the QuadraphonicQuad forums for available titles and reviews on various high-resolution audio releases.

Collecting
I enjoy comparing album pressings, and spend a considerable amount of time online researching various pressings before I attempt to acquire them. To some this might seem like a waste of time, energy and expense, and
I wouldn't necessarily disagree to be honest. However, it's something I am very passionate about and enjoy.

I am a sucker for colored wax pressings, much to my wallet's chagrin.
Vinyl quality can vary, of course, especially with colored vinyl pressings, so I do my best to avoid certain labels that consistently put out noisy vinyl (Fantasy comes to mind).
I do not agree with the generally accepted idea that colored vinyl pressings are inherently noisy. Some of my best pressings are on colored vinyl. (Nirvana on Blue ORG or Beck on Pink MFSL are good examples).

I like listening to albums in their entirety, and as a result do not have much of a 7" or 12" singles collection. Perhaps if I was given another lifetime...

Finally, most of the collecting side centers around the acquisition of interesting cover art, hard to find pressings and that sort of thing.

Cover Art
I am fascinated by odd, absurd and unintentionally humorous LP cover art, especially rare private pressings released in limited numbers. stag/a1/,Here are some of my favorites.
Like most RYMers, I am passionate about the music, but searching for a record simply for its unusual cover art/design is something I do on a regular basis.
My side quest for interesting private cover art began during my college years.
Finding LP's like Joyce and discovering several websites devoted to the topic reignited this side interest about fifteen years ago, and it continues to this day.
The acquisition of more record jacket stag/kitsch/,kitsch has been the result, for good (harmless fun) or bad (my good sense being in question, not that I give a fig what others think).

Cover Lists
Many of my RYM cover art lists reflect my passion for the natural sciences, especially entomology, ornithology, herpetology and botany.

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Collection Galleries
Only titles from my collection are included in the galleries below.

I sometimes hear from fellow baby boomers that good music, especially rock, cannot be found anymore. It may appear that way on the surface, but they are wrong!
They just have to avoid all the Top 40 crap that is played in mall stores, gas stations and mainstream music stores. Dig a little!
New release vinyl acquisitions, by year. Includes new studio, live, compilation and archival albums + all EPs. Excludes reissues, 7 and 12" singles. |stag/2013/,2013| |stag/2014/,2014| |stag/2015/,2015| |stag/2016/,2016| |stag/2017/,2017|

Favorite LP covers |stag/a1/,The A1 List| Music Room |stag/exhibit/,Wall Art| More cover art standouts, spanning all genres |stag/1001covers/,LP| |stag/cdcover/,CD|

Other galleries |stag/oddball⁄strange/,Strange| |stag/tiki_lounge/,Exotica & Space Age Pop| |stag/xian/,Xian|
Genres |stag/stoner/,Stoner Rock| |stag/tuareg/,Tuareg| |stag/desertrock/,Palm Desert| |stag/reggae/,Reggae| |stag/bluegrass/,Bluegrass|

Japanese Pressings |stag/japan/,Japan LP|

Covers on my |stag/wishlist/,Wishlist|

Greatest Albums
From "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" by Robert Dimery |stag/1001/,1001 Albums|
-386 titles on his list are currently in my collection. Titles that have been removed from Dimery's most recent edition have not been deleted here.
If I were compiling a greatest album list, these titles would be considered as well |stag/1001a/,Lethrus' Picks|

I really enjoy Record Store Day. Yeah, okay I realize it's not perfect, but it's always fun, I meet lots of cool people and I have discovered several new artists that I otherwise wouldn't have.
More importantly, it's a great day to spend with my son and enjoy our mutual interest in music and vinyl.
Record Store Day acquisitions |stag/rsd2010/,2010||stag/rsd2011/,2011||stag/rsd2012/,2012||stag/rsd2013/,2013||stag/rsd2014/,2014||stag/rsd2015/,2015||stag/rsd2016/,2016||stag/rsd2017/,2017||stag/rsd/,ALL|

Great mastering! Some demo material here.
|Bob Ludwig| |stag/grundman/,Bernie Grundman| |Kevin Gray| |Stan Ricker| |Doug Sax| |Chris Bellman|

Surround SACD / DVD-A / BD-A |stag/5.1/,5.1|

Great deals on vinyl! Watch for Import CD's eBay sales. I snagged many of these titles for $6-10 (some slightly higher, but most for < $17) after a 10-40% off discount. Includes free shipping! |stag/icdeal/,Cheap Vinyl|

Yes, It's a quirky side hobby run amok...
Many of the covers illustrated in my various "oddity" galleries are by Christian artists. I am not the least bit interested in Christian music per se, but I am strangely fascinated by the album art that sometimes accompanies it.
I respect the artists and their faith, especially those who overcame disabilities through music, but many religious album covers (mostly from the '60s and '70s) are amusing or in some cases, just plain awful.
Much of the humor does not involve mocking the artists themselves (a common misconception), it lies in the oddly accepted church-going fashion styles of the time, and other factors.
Beehive hairdos, extended lapels, polyester suits and cat-eye glasses get my attention. Some of the unbelievably tasteless print designs observed on these covers would be better suited for curtains than they are for pants, shirts and skirts.
Other standout features include unintentionally humorous band names, album titles, liner notes and the frequent misuse of the term 'quartet' in band descriptions.
In some particularly extreme cases, covers adorned with ventriloquist dummies, evangelical warnings, prison references and drug paraphernalia are used in a downright bizarre fashion to presumably sell more records.
I have a particular fondness for Christian bands that proudly include their tour buses (or other modes of travel) and musical instruments, especially electric guitars, on their album covers. These covers scream, "Look, it's cool being a Jesus freak!"
As for the music...uh, no comment.

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My Ratings Scale

Ratings are submitted on the RYM 0.5 to 5 (10) star scale at half point intervals.

***** Classic / Essential (4.5-5.0)
****½ Must Listen! (4.0-4.4)
**** Splendid (3.5-3.9)
***½ Aurally Solid (3.0-3.4)
*** Worthy Effort (2.5-2.9)
**½ Yawn (2.0-2.4)
** Yikes (1.5-1.9)
*½ Good Grief (1.0-1.4)
* Avoid It! (0.5-0.9)
½ Dogshit (0.0-0.4)

Check this out [List160248]

Most of my ratings currently fall between 3.5 and 4.5, because I only rate albums that are physically a part of my collection, and like most people I typically listen to and acquire music I LIKE.
Less interesting material, and admittedly there's plenty of it in my collection (mostly tied to cover art acquisitions), will get rated eventually.
I listen to a lot of music on Spotify and YouTube, and may someday rate these listens as well. Thing is, I don't like the current RYM system that adds these ratings to my overall collection database.

To those RYM'ers who provide readers with unbiased, in-depth and/or informative reviews...Thanks!

Thanks to my RYM friends who regularly contribute suggestions to my cover art lists. You know who you are.

A thumbs up to my family for tolerating my OC collecting that has resulted in a home burgeoning with records and other music-related artifacts.

Also, thanks to sharifi for this incredibly useful website. RYM has had a profound influence in my discovery and enjoyment of all things music. Support his efforts!

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|Useful RYM Links:|
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Albums You Own With No Cover Art
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