Vinyl Me Please Anthology

egoaudit said:
Merits of the box aside, this seems like a totally reasonable way of exploring new music to me. If anything, I’d be more concerned with Spotify pigeonholing music tastes and reinforcing established preferences — the whole “You listened to Radiohead? Here are 12 more artists that sound almost exactly like them” kinda thing. If someone wants to explore different styles of music, that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned, regardless of how they go about it.
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Thank you. Agreed on all counts.

I dont care how people discover new music, as long as they do discover new music. Theres so much good stuff out there, its impossible to get into everything. Ive been a been a big music fan all my life and of course I know who the grateful dead is, I just never got into them for multiple reasons. This seems like a great setup for it.

But I also realize Im in a fortunate position financially. I dont really know if its the best strategy to make a set meant for people trying to get into the grateful dead and price it at $400+ and then make 7500 of them.
 
Hogues said:
Europe 72 is great, but for me it will always be Reckoning.
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stkSUxz.gif


Years ago, I was on the website for the local Seattle weekly, The Stranger, where a writer posted about how he'd never gotten into the Dead and wanted some suggestions, because he knew that he'd avoided them over preconceptions in the past. The responses that I saw were typical. Either everyone was suggesting some incredibly accessible Sugar Mag type shit, or they were trying to get him to listen to some bugged out 45 minute space jam. One is so safe that it might still leave the listener wondering what the whole hype is about, while the other is obviously not the way to go. I told him that I'd send him Jerry's Oregon State Pen show. He listened to it and wrote back and thanked me, because he really liked it and finally understood a new dimension of what he/they had to offer. I love Reckoning for that similar sound and era. Europe 72 is another dimension. Plus, I love He's Gone and Tennesee Jed and all that shit
 
wynn72 said:
Thank you. Agreed on all counts.

I dont care how people discover new music, as long as they do discover new music. Theres so much good stuff out there, its impossible to get into everything. Ive been a been a big music fan all my life and of course I know who the grateful dead is, I just never got into them for multiple reasons. This seems like a great setup for it.

But I also realize Im in a fortunate position financially. I dont really know if its the best strategy to make a set meant for people trying to get into the grateful dead and price it at $400+ and then make 7500 of them.
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With all due respect, there’s really no band I would drop $450 to “get in to.” If anything I would get an album, or stream their stuff, but would never be able to justify $450 on someone I never could get into or haven’t listened to. And with the Dead, there’s usually a reason why people don’t like them. It’s really not for everyone.

That being said, I hope you enjoy it!
 
egoaudit said:
Merits of the box aside, this seems like a totally reasonable way of exploring new music to me. If anything, I’d be more concerned with Spotify pigeonholing music tastes and reinforcing established preferences — the whole “You listened to Radiohead? Here are 12 more artists that sound almost exactly like them” kinda thing. If someone wants to explore different styles of music, that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned, regardless of how they go about it.
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Yeah I mean- this new way of music discovery isn't all bad. There are great things: today having an eclectic musical taste is celebrated and expected- no one is going to literally kick the shit out of you anymore for liking the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan alongside Bad Brains and The Clash. People can appreciate forgotten artists like never before. On the flip side, that whole slowly built self curated musical library and knowledge and the "judge you by you CD case" culture has vanished, and maybe there is some nostalgia for that still.


But what I take the blade to is when a group acts like they are group #2 , catering to group #1 and peddling them a bunch of high end shit so they can all act like group # 2 together.
 
TheThinWhiteDuke said:
You missed my point. The Beatles Mono box is 14 albums redone to perfection with a beautiful hardbound book and is the current crown Jewel of classic rock.

This is an 8 album cash grab of nothing new or anything we won't see again.

I wasn't giving a warning not to miss out
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I didnt miss your point. I know what you meant, it wasnt subtle. I just view it a bit differently.

But I do see where youre coming from and think in terms of price and album selection it is going to be a smaller group than they think who this box will appeal to.
 
bobomac2 said:
With all due respect, there’s really no band I would drop $450 to “get in to.” If anything I would get an album, or stream their stuff, but would never be able to justify $450 on someone I never could get into or haven’t listened to. And with the Dead, there’s usually a reason why people don’t like them. It’s really not for everyone.

That being said, I hope you enjoy it!
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Fair enough. Im not going in with a blank slate. Ive heard a decent amount of dead, enough to know Ill like more of what I hear, theres just so much out there its hard to know where to start when diving in (though yes I know theres less expensive ways to find out).

I think this is a great set for people like that who want to explore more dead and have the Expendable income but that is not a 7500 pressing product. Dead heads wont want to be bothered with this material they have already dy and most beginners will just buy an album or two or check stuff out on streaming.

This should have been around 2k pressings or so but thats VMPs problem not mine. Im excited to get it.
 
bobomac2 said:
And with the Dead, there’s usually a reason why people don’t like them. It’s really not for everyone.
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I don't really agree with this point. Do a lot of people not like them, because they're not for everyone? Definitely. But the major difference with the Dead is that they are very difficult to classify or get the full scope of with a single snapshot. You can listen to a Skrillex song and determine if you're into him knowing he's a certain type of American bro-step. With the Dead, you might hear an era or a track that you're not into and falsely determine that it reflects the entirety of their catalog, when it doesn't.

That being said, I wouldn't drop $450 on this to try and "get into it" either. Still, I think you need to hear more than a single track or even a single album to determine whether or not you like them or not. While some will never be into it, I would argue that one of the reasons why a lot of people "don't like them" is because they don't actually know their music. My brother thinks he "hates" them, too. I was driving him home one night and listening to Two From The Vault, when he asked me what it was, because he was really enjoying it. I told him to Shazam it and then waiting for the "Dammit!"
 
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Just looking at the details on this. Chris Bellman did all the Rhino Remasters from 2011 at BG Mastering, which is the same thing this box set is advertising... are we to assume these are simply those same masters? But pressed at QRP instead of RTI?
 
My whole opinion of this, which doesn't matter, is that VMP is struggling financially from the COVID fallout. Expected shipping is summer 2020 with a notice about possible delays. If this sold out that's a nice 3million they just got. On top of that they offered the $50 promo code to expire in 24hrs to further strike into the hearts of FOMO, I don't recall that being done with the others, so I may be wrong on that.

I also find it funny they announced doing something with Herbie right after Zamrock and then went this direction, IMO thinking Deadheads would be more susceptible to this type of Cash-grab. And to put icing on the cake, $450 to discover a band is outrageous, I love vinyl but I can't ever get behind making music inaccessible to a certain set of people. It further confirms my beliefs that VMP is not in this for the music, they are in it only for the money. Lastly, I love Avery Tare but why do I need to have his opinion of some band other than Animal Collective? Seriously, he could talk to me all day about AC.

On that note enjoy the FOMO, and enjoy letting VMP know that they can get away with this. Especially during a pandemic, your $$$ means more than anything right now, I'd rather see you reach out to your local shop and order $450 worth of merch from them, but then again it's your money support whoever you want.



☮🕊
 
Dead C said:
I don't really agree with this point. Do a lot of people not like them, because they're not for everyone? Definitely. But the major difference with the Dead is that they are very difficult to classify or get the full scope of with a single snapshot. You can listen to a Skrillex song and determine if you're into him knowing he's a certain type of American bro-step. With the Dead, you might hear an era or a track that you're not into and falsely determine that it reflects the entirety of their catalog, when it doesn't.

That being said, I wouldn't drop $450 on this to try and "get into it" either. Still, I think you need to hear more than a single track or even a single album to determine whether or not you like them or not. While some will never be into it, I would argue that one of the reasons why a lot of people "don't like them" is because they don't actually know their music. My brother thinks he "hates" them, too. I was driving him home one night and listening to Two From The Vault, when he asked me what it was, because he was really enjoying it. I told him to Shazam it and then waiting for the "Dammit!"
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Yeah I would agree, but extended live songs aren’t always for everyone. The difference between the studio version of Ripple and Live/Dead’s Dark Star is fairly large, so I can totally see someone liking UJB and being unable to listen to a Dark Star, let alone a Drums/Space. There’s nothing wrong with that either, but being introduced to a band like the Dead this way is pretty insane. They’re a group that takes a long, long time to really explore and realize how different the eras are.
 
Dead C said:
stkSUxz.gif


Years ago, I was on the website for the local Seattle weekly, The Stranger, where a writer posted about how he'd never gotten into the Dead and wanted some suggestions, because he knew that he'd avoided them over preconceptions in the past. The responses that I saw were typical. Either everyone was suggesting some incredibly accessible Sugar Mag type shit, or they were trying to get him to listen to some bugged out 45 minute space jam. One is so safe that it might still leave the listener wondering what the whole hype is about, while the other is obviously not the way to go. I told him that I'd send him Jerry's Oregon State Pen show. He listened to it and wrote back and thanked me, because he really liked it and finally understood a new dimension of what he/they had to offer. I love Reckoning for that similar sound and era. Europe 72 is another dimension. Plus, I love He's Gone and Tennesee Jed and all that shit
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I appreciate you posting this!
 
Dead C said:
I don't really agree with this point. Do a lot of people not like them, because they're not for everyone? Definitely. But the major difference with the Dead is that they are very difficult to classify or get the full scope of with a single snapshot. You can listen to a Skrillex song and determine if you're into him knowing he's a certain type of American bro-step. With the Dead, you might hear an era or a track that you're not into and falsely determine that it reflects the entirety of their catalog, when it doesn't.

That being said, I wouldn't drop $450 on this to try and "get into it" either. Still, I think you need to hear more than a single track or even a single album to determine whether or not you like them or not. While some will never be into it, I would argue that one of the reasons why a lot of people "don't like them" is because they don't actually know their music. My brother thinks he "hates" them, too. I was driving him home one night and listening to Two From The Vault, when he asked me what it was, because he was really enjoying it. I told him to Shazam it and then waiting for the "Dammit!"
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Haha I have a friend that the story of your brother reminds me of (sort of). We call my friend Hot Take Kyle. He makes broad generalizations especially with pop culture/music, without ever knowing much about the topic. He said he absolutely hated Drake, which, fair enough. Not even 2 minutes later I see him dancing along to a song and he asked us who it was and of course it was Drake. This happens with him all the time haha.

I can definitely see how people think they won’t like Grateful Dead having only listened to one era or one album of theirs (or never having listened to it). But I’ve been in a 60’s/70’s rock listening mood lately and going through Neil Young’s catalogue. He’s another guy I was but unsure of how to approach with such a huge repertoire and number of live albums but people on here have helped point me in the right direction and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. Someone posted the Day of the Dead box set the other day as part of the May Challenge thread and I’ve been loving it. Thought the Dead would be another band to tackle after Neil and enjoying that too so far. Now I have a ton of recommendations from y’all and am excited to dig in more. I’m a bit relieved that The VMP box is so far out of reach for me. I can curate by own box of sorts and buy a mix of a few studio albums and live albums after taking the time to listen to everything.
 
NewsFedora said:
I really hope that Herbie isn’t in the $450 range :(
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I think Herbie will be similar to Blue Note or Zamrock. $300 or so with a $50 Presale discount and maybe an additional previous subscriber bonus. Zamrock was $220 I think after the discounts? And was BN $250? I kinda forget now even though it only came out a year ago.
 
blissfullychaotic said:
My whole opinion of this, which doesn't matter, is that VMP is struggling financially from the COVID fallout. Expected shipping is summer 2020 with a notice about possible delays. If this sold out that's a nice 3million they just got. On top of that they offered the $50 promo code to expire in 24hrs to further strike into the hearts of FOMO, I don't recall that being done with the others, so I may be wrong on that.

I also find it funny they announced doing something with Herbie right after Zamrock and then went this direction, IMO thinking Deadheads would be more susceptible to this type of Cash-grab. And to put icing on the cake, $450 to discover a band is outrageous, I love vinyl but I can't ever get behind making music inaccessible to a certain set of people. It further confirms my beliefs that VMP is not in this for the music, they are in it only for the money. Lastly, I love Avery Tare but why do I need to have his opinion of some band other than Animal Collective? Seriously, he could talk to me all day about AC.

On that note enjoy the FOMO, and enjoy letting VMP know that they can get away with this. Especially during a pandemic, your $$$ means more than anything right now, I'd rather see you reach out to your local shop and order $450 worth of merch from them, but then again it's your money support whoever you want.



☮🕊
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Well said and agree. I'd love to get this box if it were $100 less expensive. I'm building the box on my own with a mix of Rhinos, Mofis, and originals. Right now I found 6/8 records for about 180. I'll probably stop here and pick up the last two someday if I really want them.

Thanks to VMP for putting this box set together for me!
 
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