Your favorite thing about records besides the music

[HardyGirl]

Upon hearing about Prince's death (RIP), I went looking through my 45s to find "Let's Go Crazy" (and I found "1999" as well, forgot I had that one!), and it started me thinking....

I really like looking through my records. I think records offer so much more in terms of the tactile experience instead of downloads or CDs. For instance:

1) The covers: I love album cover art and photos, especially ones I can use as posters
2) The labels: Eye catching labels are great. I used to like to look at them, even before I could read
3) Premiums: posters, book covers, iron-ons, shopping bags, and those cool mail-away offers.
4) If you had a stackable spindle, watchng the records drop!
5) Watching them spin...especially if it had a fun label!
6) Phyically turning the record over, or adjusting the arm and needle to pick your favorite track.
7) Playing w/ the speed: You know you did this!

What else do you like about records, besides the music?

[comicmike]

The cover *art*, indeed!!

[warlock664]

I love the experience of record albums: the cover art, reading the track listing on the back, and premiums included, if any. CDs just weren't the same (and forget digital downloads!).

[daz71]

i think you covered just about everything.coloured vinyl & picture discs were nice too.playing them backwards for hidden messages although i've never done that.

[MegoMark71]

For me it has to be the cover art. I loved the anticipation of waiting for the new music and the covers.

[HardyGirl]

I just thought of 3 more:

8) Cereal box records: These have always been my favorite cereal box prize. The market behind this was genius! You could promote not only the cereal, but an album or even the TV show the music came from! I still have 2 of my originals from 1971!

9) That "turn the record over" prompt from children's records. It's weird, but I like it!

10) Heart shaped records: I never had one, but I knew a guy who got a red heart shaped record from his girlfrriend one year when I was in 7th grade. (the round middle part was all that actually played) What a fabulous idea for Valentine's Day!

[Gorn Captain]

Besides the music, you get a whole visual experience, with the artwork, the photos, sometimes there's a large booklet included. I have some great picture discs, and albums in bright vinyl colors. Doctor Who in bright blue!
I have over 500 soundtrack LPs (1975-1990). I'll only buy an "upgrade" CD if it includes at least 20 minutes of additional unreleased material.
These days, when I go for an autograph, I'll bring my LP sleeve to sign. It's kind of like having the movie poster signed.
And because one side only lasts 20 minutes, you kind of stay in touch with the music, it's not an endless stream that you sometimes forget you're actually listening to.

[Mikey]

You can put a backwards secret message on a record and it's easy to playback.

On any other recording format a backwards secret message is a pain in the behind to play.

Turn Me On Dead Man

[4NDR01D]

Gatefolds are great for "the kids" to roll their doobies on I'm told.

[jimbutsu]

The sound (different than the music) - there's definitely a feel that records have to them that digital doesn't (provided you like that feel - digital sounds good too, and I'm not advocating one over the other as objectively "better"). A good pressing that's clean and crud-free on a nice system can sound jaw-droppingly immersive.

[palitoy]

I can't put it in words to where I'm satisfied but there is a certain ritual with it I enjoy. I'm currently listening to an LP after a trying day flaked out in my living room.

[Brue]

The things mentioned already plus

The cackle or tiny defects that make the music more authentic / part of the experience. Not the skips, repeats or hard clicks. I mean the small noise that gains life through the years you spent living with the music. It is that feeling that brings me back to all the times I listened to that record. I could replace a record with a new one or a digital version, but that is just a recording -not an experience.

[HardyGirl]

I personally love pop and cracks. It lets you know that a record has been there for you. Those sounds give a record character. As far as the skips, I hate repetitive skips, (sounds weird but they scare me!), but there's a skip in my Harry Simeone's Chorale Little Drummer Boy record that has been there as long as I can remember. I've had other copies, but it just doesn't sound right w/o that skip.

The things mentioned already plus

The cackle or tiny defects that make the music more authentic / part of the experience. Not the skips, repeats or hard clicks. I mean the small noise that gains life through the years you spent living with the music. It is that feeling that brings me back to all the times I listened to that record. I could replace a record with a new one or a digital version, but that is just a recording -not an experience.

[jimbutsu]

It's funny - I love the experience of vinyl right down to the ceremony of it all, as Brian pointed out.
But, I get really flustered with too much pop and crackle - possibly to a fault. I'm always questing for the cleanest sound I can get out of my records, even though for most music it really isn't necessary and really doesn't hurt the experience (people who listen to a lot of classical often get really concerned about noise because there are so many quiet passages).

Do be careful with too much crackle and noise though - you can permanently damage the grooves or, in extreme cases, the needle (which then can damage every other record you play with it).

[enyawd72]

I loved book and records growing up...they were one of my most prized possessions. I can remember every single one I had.

MOTU: The Thief of Castle Grayskull
MOTU: Caverns of Fear
101 Dalmations
Robin Hood
The Black Hole
The Empire Strikes Back
Planet of the Hoojibs
Tron
Gremlins
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom