Why Vinyl Records?

My father-in-law asked me recently, "Why vinyl?" He knows of my aversion to old technology. I'm all about the new digital tech and what it can do to improve our lives. I constantly upgrade the Wi-Fi, my laptop, and our TVs. You won't find a VCR, CD, or DVD player in our house. The conversation that led to his question started when he offered to lend us a movie on videocassette. My wife laughed and said, "Rick got rid of our VCR a long time ago." A few minutes later, I pulled out my iPad to show him a tube amp I wanted to add to my audio setup. My father-in-law looked confused. "If you oppose old technology like VCRs and all, why vinyl?"

It's a good question. Why vinyl?

I had to think about that. There's a lot more subjectivity to it than actual hard facts. There's also quite a bit of aesthetics, and I'll start with the aesthetics.

A Vinyl Record is an Art Form

I've never lost the excitement of admiring the artwork on an album cover. If the inner sleeve includes the lyrics, all the better. Good artwork can sell an album; great artwork adds a dash of emotion. I still remember how I felt when I first brought home Blue ?yster Cult's?Some Enchanted Evening, which depicted Death on the back of a horse. The same goes for Elvis's?In Person at the International Hotel, which I received for Christmas in 1977 and kicked off my record-collecting obsession. That obsession has never been duplicated – not with 8-tracks, cassettes, or CDs.

The purchase of an album is accompanied by a collection of art you can see, hear, and feel. This leads me to…

A Vinyl Record is Tactile

I love that I can hold a masterpiece like The Who's?Who's Next?in my hand. I own it. On top of that, it's still somewhat of a mystery to me how a flattened piece of PVC can contain and transmit the opening chords of "Behind Blue Eyes" or the keyboard intro to "Won't Get Fooled Again." I know how it works intellectually, but it's still akin to audio alchemy.

If a solar flare were to disrupt the electrical grid and wipe out our digital lives, it's all gone. Our Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Music playlists will all disappear. There's nothing to show for it. It will take a bit of engineering, but we can still enjoy a vinyl record. Centuries from now, an alien race may get to know us through old vinyl records. They'll learn how we thought, loved, lost, and what our dreams were. Our intentions will be revealed.

"Intentions." There's a good word.

Listening to a Vinyl Record is Intentional

How often have you sat down and listened to an entire album from your favorite artist on Spotify? I'm not saying you never have, but more often than not, it's a playlist or individual song that draws paying subscribers to streaming services (not to mention the abundance of availability). All you need is a pair of earbuds, and you can listen while you do dishes, exercise, mow the lawn, drive to work, or do your homework. What happens then? Your attention will wander. There's nothing wrong with that. You're intent on something else. Add to it the convenience factor. All that music is only a scroll and a tap away.

Not so with vinyl. When I want to listen to?Kind of Blue, it's a process. It involves getting up, going to the cabinet that holds my records, finding it, carefully sliding the record out of its protective plastic sleeve, setting it gently on the turntable's platter, turning it on, running an anti-static brush briefly over its surface as it spins, and gingerly lowering the stylus onto the edge.

Now compare that last long sentence to the last one of the previous paragraph. You might think, "Why bother? That sounds like a lot of work." It is, but it's worth it. To set aside an hour or two each day to perform this ritual means I'm engaged in the process of listening.?

You might shrug and say again, "Yeah, but still. Why bother? It's not like it sounds better. I can hear an occasional pop or background hiss."

A Vinyl Record is Not Perfect

Life isn't perfect. You don't need me to tell you that. There are bills to pay, deadlines to meet, unexpected auto repairs to worry about, school functions or sporting events to attend, daycare woes, etc. Life is full of background noise. That noise is the static of our lives. It changes with the environment. The noise in my backyard will differ from downtown Tokyo or at the top of a ski slope in Colorado. Imperfection is the spice of life. There's also warmth. The cool, clean, recycled air of a modern shopping mall is nothing compared to a deep breath of fresh air in the middle of a field or apple orchard. The pollen might bring a flurry of sneezes, but it's all part of the experience. And the joy of that experience.

It's not so different from the slight pop of static I hear when I first drop the needle on The Distillers'?Coral Fang.?I know the barely audible hiss will disappear within a few seconds when Brody Dalle's voice and guitar burst through the speakers.

That's "why vinyl."

#vinylrecords #vinylrecordindustry

A version of this post originally appeared at JoyofVinyl.com.