Derek™

Don't quote me on this but I believe I read – more than once – that they were lost in a fire. (Maybe even the one that made headlines some years back, and destroyed a shit-ton of master tapes.) Between that and whatever legal gridlock the album has been in, they're almost better off re-recording it note for note at this point. I was always skeptical that we'd ever get Flood on vinyl, so... "never say never" and all that. But that OG Heavy is the last piece of a Boris vinyl collection that I desperately want to fill in. Hopefully someday.

Two Boris albums in one year is pretty nice. I think this will be more my speed than W was. Still wish we’d someday see a vinyl press of the 2002 Heavy Rocks, even if they allegedly lost the masters.

If I had the malice, time, energy, and access to one of those DIY cellophane re-sealers… I would legitimately sell you a “mint” copy of that Thursday album in your wantlist. Just throw it on Discogs with the option to take offers, and accept only yours. It would bring me great amusement to know someone out there would be stoked to throw down ~$100 or more for a gatefold stuffed with 12” freebie fodder, and would never be the wiser.

Okay, you got me to click this. You own 3 copies of Thursday’s Full Collapse (Live), with 2 copies being the white variant? And 4 copies of the same variant for a Christmas themed album from Train? If this isn’t a troll account – get help.

I think I read that this is a bullshit statistic.

No need to get extreme with it; no one is asking for a background check here. It’s just a weird inquiry on account of a weird approach to consuming vinyl, so you’re getting to get some weird replies. But while we’re on the subject and I can’t be the only one who’s curious… if you keep everything sealed, how do you actually know you’re getting what you ordered? And not the wrong variant? Or a black copy? Or a completely different album? Which absolutely does happen, and has been reported by VCers over the years. Or that there’s no major defect like an off-center label or a record that’s scratched to hell? Like I know you’re not playing them, but even if you’re only getting off on saying you own the vinyl, wouldn’t you want it to be playable? And potentially sellable down the road, if you decided that you didn’t want to own multiple copies of a sealed record you’d never spin? I’m just wondering what the endgame may be, assuming you’re not intending to be buried with a stack of records that may or may not contain the music you think they do.

The bigger cringe is that our man Joe could open one and - with a pretty comfortable level of assurance - determine what the remaining sealed copy contains. Unless you’re looking to flip both, why would anyone need 2 sealed copies of a NFG record? I get maybe vinyl tourists and newbie collectors wanting 1 copy to frame or gift to their better half, but I’m really wondering how one may justify 2. (Outside of eBay or Discogs resale.)

Inventions is probably my favorite Maserati record, and what got me into them to begin with. Everything after it is certainly... different. They're such distinct sounds, they could be released under different project names. The first 3 LPs feel way more rooted in post-rock and the last 4 have been some blend of 70s tinged, synth heavy, vocoder-loaded dance tunes... with a smidge of post-rock passages here and there. Quite a directional leap. More often than not I think I'll probably favor the first half of their catalog more but I can enjoy their later sound when I'm in the right mood.

This was such a good drop, alongside the Language Of Cities repress. They were the only 2 missing from my Maserati collection. I appreciate that they were only a month out from placing the order, instead of 8+. I should be getting mine sometime next week, and can’t wait to throw on 37:29:24. That I Have A Dagger, It's Shaped Like A Lightning Bolt is a top-tier Maserati track for me.

It's the one I go back to the most too, but I really enjoy everything they've done. Glad to see it's being kept in print, even if there's not a rabid demand for it.

Yeah this is a great one for sure. I’ve tried to pitch this to a few friends over the years and they seem to get hung up on the fact the vocals are in French. (Because English ones would be way more decipherable.)

I know inflation is a thing and general costs of vinyl are escalating but so much of it has to do with the labels and artists. I copped 3 records on bandcamp Friday and they were $18, $22, and $24 a piece. None over $30 after taxes and shipping were added. Granted they weren’t double LPs, that still works for me. The last 4LP box I bought was BCNR’s AFUT for $44 PPD, and that was in February of this year. Hip-hip consumed by Supreme kids, VMP, and shit like the Euphoria OST are outlier offenders with 2022 vinyl pricing. Of course I wish stuff was cheaper but I guess I’ve not yet felt the “I’m gonna’ quit this hobby” sting just yet.

To clarify: finished product in hand, I definitely won’t care enough on whether a cursor is present or absent from the cover - especially when it’s that small - but it really is an odd choice if it’s truly intentional. Not to strap on a tinfoil hat or anything, but I think it’d be super easy for them to reply “…oh, I mean, yeah, we definitely intended that.” It would be amusing (and very telling) if the “standard” art had a unique UI tooltip somewhere too. Maybe the entire border dotted, like someone hit Ctrl + A. The blue vinyl itself looks like it turned out super nice. I’m looking forward to it arriving when it may.

Yeah, quite a few variants. Didn’t they feature the same art, just at a different time of day? I’m trying to picture how many of them had intentionally visible Photoshop tool-tips and I can’t seem to recall any.

Big if true.

Who knows. But why would this “theme” not be on the main album art - used on all streaming services - and reserved only for the variants?

That is such a reach though. It’s in completely different spots on the brown vs. blue variants, and extremely subtle as tiny “+” crosshair for the former. Also absent from the standard cover / other editions… as in, only visible on the variants featuring color-corrected album art.

Glad to see the record get some love from early impressions here on VC. Reception seems to be lukewarm at best just about everywhere else. The biggest [most frequent] gripes I've read are around contrived lyrics – which aren't as bad as EN's worst ones, if you ask me – or how "boring" and "safe" the record sounds. I don't think it's overly experimental but it definitely does enough right to warrant repeat listens. I'm pretty happy with it. There's also a small crowd that is (very ironically) whining about how the band is now tailored for anthemic, arena dad rock. I imagine they're expecting the band to magically return to the same sound from 2004 and drop Funeral II. We'll just ignore the fact that a good chunk of active Arcade Fire listeners have probably become dads in the last 18 years.

Everything you’ve just shared is 100% applicable to me and my relationship with Coheed & Cambria. I dug that the story was supplemental to the music, for many years there. I can actually still throw on their first 2-3 albums – same with Dear Hunter – and enjoy what I’m hearing. [A bit of that may be weighed by nostalgia, but whatever.] Taking the time to track down the comics or graphic novels and widen your understanding of the universe depicted inside of the lyrics… that was like this icing on the cake, to get a little extra mileage out of the lyrics. For whatever reason though, I can tolerate (or even admire) that when it’s subtle. But when it’s the centerpiece and shoved down the throat of the listener, there’s something about it that I just find unabashedly cringe. I think it’s the genre too – despite enjoying early Dear Hunter, I really never had a stomach for “theatrical” progressive rock. When you couple that cheese with forced concepts being name-dropped or baked straight into every song… 🤮 I won’t keep returning to this thread to shit on everyone who’s excited for this release. It simply isn’t for me and that’s fine. It’s not like anyone asked. There are still people who hear nothing wrong at all with Coheed’s modern sound, which tells me that some demographic of TDH’s fanbase will presumably be into this new record. And good for them. It’s just wild to see how much they’ve shifted since 2006 or so, when I could confidently call them one of my favorite bands at the time.

Holy shit. Dear Hunter haven’t done a lot for me in a decade or so, and I try not to rain on parades for upcoming releases, but… what the hell happened to this band? As if it wasn’t yikes enough to LARP Midgar as a concept record, that first single is hot dog water. I know they’ve always had a theatrical flare with stories woven into their lyrics, but they’ve really become a caricature of themselves.

Did this?

Just got done inquiring about my red order with Quiet Calm, here in the US. Pre-ordered on 4/19/21; now estimated to ship (overseas) to them By 6/3/22. Probably won’t have it until September or October. Actually kind of insane.

Atta’ boy. I think there’s at least 2 pink-ish variants of that Harkonen / TAAS split, too.

You’re in too deep to go back; you may as well grab that pink Easter and have the full set.

I'm conflicted since pink fits both records pretty well, but I really don't want to have 2 pink TAAS records. (Even if one is translucent and one is marble.) I ended up going with the BV variants to save on shipping. Plus, like Juan said, coke bottle clear will always have my heart... even if it's a bit of an odd choice for Oxeneers.