The View From The Front: Record Store Day And Collecting, Not Hoarding

In the latest edition of The View From The Front, Alec Chillingworth weighs in on Record Store Day, music memorabilia and the fact that, for some, an mp3 just isn't enough.

You say that you love your favourite band. Do you really love them? By 'love', do you mean that you have all their albums on your iPod? Do you mean that you're willing to buy a ticket from a greasy tout just in order to see them? Or do you mean that you collect, worship and covet every single thing the band releases?

Record Store Day is looming over the UK this weekend, and it's time for the nerds to dig into their pockets and spend horrific amounts of money on exclusive records and knick-knacks. For some, this might just seem like an annual waste of money, but it really isn't.

The physical copy has been shunned in recent years, with mp3s making the market their bitch. Vinyl has started to claw its way back, but the majority prefer to receive their music digitally. But to actually have the record in your hands, to flick through the lyrics and drop the needle, press the play button, whatever, is something that cannot be replicated.

Newbie punk rockers Radkey have got the right idea. On Record Store Day, the three-piece are putting out a live album featuring their rollicking gig at the 100 Club last month – but with a twist.

"The 100 Club show in London was amazing, one of the coolest nights of our entire lives," Isaiah Radke [guitar/vocals] said in a press release. "So instead of making the obligatory 7” for Record Store Day, we wanted to do something special and put the show on a limited cassette with artwork from London skateboarder/illustrator Jack Hamilton. Selling out such a legendary place was a really big deal to us. The crowd was falling all over the stage so you can kinda hear Dee [Radke, bass/vocals] get hit by the mic and stuff!"

So, not only can you hear a sold-out show that you really should've gone to, but you can do so in all its imperfect, analogue glory. Plus it's limited to 500 copies worldwide – just a tad rare.

Releases on Record Store Day vary ludicrously from one end of the spectrum to the other and heavier bands like Machine Head and Carcass will rub shoulders with legends such as Bruce Springsteen and the Sex Pistols. However, vinyl is for life, not just for, well, Record Store Day. Bands have been bringing out rarities for ages, and there's some unreal exclusives out there.

British black metal bastards Cradle of Filth will be reissuing their infamous demo, 'Total Fucking Darkness', in May, with the original tracks plus previously unreleased tunes. Also, an ‘ultra limited’ run of 66 copies was made available for die-hard fans alongside the regular release.

The box set sold out the day it was made available and includes – take a deep breath – a hand embossed black card box, three 180gm double vinyls in orange/black, blue/grey and grey/black, three signed and numbered art prints, an exclusive poster, logo patch, t-shirt, limited booklet (with lyrics, photos and foreword), digipak CD version plus EXTRAS (we all love extras). The price-tag was just shy of £100, but for the lucky few who managed to grab one, it's going to be a sought-after item for years to come.

There will be some of you who are a bit cynical about the whole thing. You see it as a cash grab on both the artist and the label's behalf, yes? In some cases, you might be right. The vinyl releases of Marilyn Manson's 'Portrait Of An American Family' and Slipknot's self-titled debut a few years back were poorly put together, but you can't just dismiss the whole concept based on a few popular bands' duds.

For instance, Darkthrone's imminent 'Black Death And Beyond' vinyl box set has been meticulously produced. The band's main-man, Fenriz, trawled through his extensive back catalogue and critiqued every song, stating: “It took three whole days to rate all of our 16 full length albums.”

Similarly Triptykon's second album,  'Melana Chasmata', which was released this week. A crushing, skull-smashingly brilliant piece of work, the album deserves more than to just be bundled into a crap package and palmed off as 'limited'.

Thomas Gabriel Fischer, genuine legend and leader of Triptykon, explained: “Some time ago, I voiced my personal disapproval regarding the original concept for the planned Triptykon 'Melana Chasmata' box set as scheduled for release by our licensing partner, Century Media Records. It is to Century Media Records' credit that they listened and subsequently approached me to address my misgivings and create a box set that represents the group's ideas and intentions far more comprehensively.

“I am grateful for such an open and creative collaboration, and I deeply respect Century Media Records for sparing neither effort nor expenditure to please Triptykon and the band's audience. I wish record labels would have acted like this in the 1980s.”

The box set, limited to 2000 units, harbours the album, candles, a necklace and various other goodies – all for a price that won't have you selling your loved ones on Ebay. It's not just about the fans, though. Vinnie Paul, former drummer of Pantera and current sticksman of Hellyeah, recently discussed the limited release of Hellyeah's 2010 release, 'Stampede'. The album was housed in a sculpted bull's skull to go hand in hand with the album's theme and he's just as much a fan of it as anyone else.

“We wanted it to be the best thing we could do, and we wanted it to be special for the fans,” he said. “From the very beginning when the skull was being sculpted, we all got involved. There were only a thousand of them made, so it’s a very special item. I personally have two, and I’m glad to have ‘em! Any time you do something like that, the fans really appreciate it.”

Music isn't disposable. The popularity of digital media makes it seem that way, but to some, music is more than just a pastime. It's a passion, it's a desire, and it's a lifestyle. Your favourite bands need you in order to continue doing what they love doing, too.

They're not asking you to buy their entire back catalogue on gatefold vinyl or fund the entire recording process of every single one of their future records. But just think, by investing in a limited rarity such as a box set, you're not only funding the band's future – you're owning a little piece of their history.

Alec Chillingworth is a freelance music journalist. Find him on Twitter here.

Related News