You gotta do what feels right. If I shared pics of my collection there would be dozens of albums everyone would say “SWIPE” that I would never part with (we’re talking Fast Food Rockers, Westlife, etc.) as I get actual replay value from them. Collectors are quirky generally speaking, but I get wanting to purge.
CDjustice
- Thread starter Dennis
- Start date
Mvnl
Staff member
The Fast Food Rockers are actually still on my wantlist!
And then there's things like me owning 3 or 5 copies of the same album (Westlife reminded me of this) where I have no intend of letting go of any of them and I know how people on the other end of the spectrum ('can't you just stream it?') would react to those.
In a way this is actually kind of an excercise in going with WHAT I WANT. Which is already proving how bad I am at that and why I need it so badly.
At the same time I'd like to give every album its shot (instead of hearing songs from them later and going 'WAIT do I want to buy this again?') but also go for a little more quality control/'what is it I actually properly enjoy' instead of 'for completists sake', and I guess I would be doing myself a favour if I start applying that right now instead of 'first making myself go through 1200 CDs where I'm meh about half of them' before I'll allow myself to just.. listen to things I like?
Also: it once was this (pic 1) for just the albums. I now only own 4 of 5 of these 6 shelves (and none from the bottom pic, all gone) and that's now including my DVDs and singles too. And frankly, looking at those pics now I get pretty overstimulated imagining having that across from me in my living room 24/7. There really is a thin line between hobby and burden here.
Like a part of me wants to let go of absolutely nothing, but at the same time it's getting in the way of enjoying the stuff I actually love? (but then, thoughts and feelings like this are precisely why I want to write and soulsearch a little to get a better idea of which (and what amount of) albums actually make me happy)
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Bottom line is most of these CDs will be available somewhere online if you change your mind in 15 years time.
Which happened to me. A lot.
So if having a bit of a streamline now is what you feel like, there won't be too much permanent damage along the line.
Which happened to me. A lot.
So if having a bit of a streamline now is what you feel like, there won't be too much permanent damage along the line.
I think the best thing to do is keep them in a box in the loft then that way still accessible, I still regret clearing my collection. All I have left is Britney, Rachel Stevens & Calvin Harris. I still want to get kaci battaglia bring it on & tempted by Lisa Scott lee physical
Mvnl
Staff member
I guess it’s mostly fear that tomorrow a song from one of those albums will pop up on shuffle and I realise ‘wait, maybe I should have given that album more of a chance’?
But I guess deep down most of it comes down to ‘fear of making a wrong decision’ and ‘being very used to having very little to spend so ‘I could always buy it again’’ isn’t really how I’m wired.
And in a few cases there’s the idea of keeping an act’s discography complete.
But say a Corinne Bailey Rae, Lucie Silvas or Ed Sheena, yeah there’s absolutely zero struggle to let go of those. (apart from ‘shouldn’t I try to sell them?’ maybe)
The majority though I got in the first place because there was at least something about it I enjoyed..
Oh and in case you meant ‘music I actually listened to just not from the cd itself’: hard to explain. The CDs just represent something I guess? Like listening to the music knowing I own a copy just feels more right, and they all represent different memories and periods, kinda like a big photo album, but more dear.
(Also: going through them one by one and reflecting on what they mean to me is kind of a way for myself to figure out why I’m so attached to them. To be continued.)
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And if not then you can login here amongst us silver haired cd collectors and we’ll have a copy!
Mvnl
Staff member
I mean they are in like… 30 boxes? But they’ve been in my basement for 3 years (which didn’t make all of them look better either) and a majority I’ve never missed. It’s just always felt like ‘something I still need to deal with’
So it’s really more about taking out/getting back the few regrets and letting the rest go.
The only downside is in the process I go through all the others too and then there’s a whole lot of ‘oh but maybe this was quite enjoyable too?’ ‘I never heard this one, should I?’ and it’s basically like one big record store where everything is free and it’s very tempting to go ‘oh I might as well keep these 800 too..’
I empathise with that, but I usually need to actually like the album to be bothered about keeping it physically. I'm a little less rational when it comes to singles though!
I think you've got to be more brutal with these CDs you've bought and stashed rather than listened to them and racked straight away. Just rip them and get rid - especially if you want to stick to keeping your collection manageable. On the other hand, if you've got a basement to keep them in, then why not keep them there, and then one day you might have the room to display them all?
And in future when you want to check out an album, try it online first, then only buy it if it becomes a fave.
Mvnl
Staff member
As for the last part: I hardly ever buy albums full price unless I already love them or the artist. The ones who are most in the ‘why did I get this again?’ category were like 1 euro at a thrift store 9 times out of 10.
And even then it didn’t come out of nowhere, it was at the very least about playing it a little (at the time.. but some of these definitely were very of its time) or loving the singles I knew from it. But at the end of the day most music just ends up in my massive library, with favourite songs and albums being played more often (because of how they’re tagged and the smart playlists are programmed) and the lesser ones.. pretty much fading out of sight aside from a song or 2 popping up on shuffle every other year or so.
And in the end even releases I do like may go unplayed for years because they get overlooked in the abundance of music, so yeah.. that’s pretty much why narrowing it down is not a bad idea.
But also why I want to start dedicating more time to one album at a time to either go ‘yeah I’m fine with this going’ or to fully embrace and appreciate it.
Of course with ones where I already feel like ‘ugh’ as soon as I see them there’s no point in doing that (although it might still be interesting to go over what made me buy them in the first place. Because there was a time I did think ‘hell yeah, a Ren Harvieu/Chipmunk/Corinne Bailey Rae album!!!’ and I do find it quite intriguing how that changes with time (while with other albums I’m still not sick of them after a good 25 years!)’
Another thing I’m realising is going through them one by one is me probably giving them more attention than I have in a long time and although I didn’t include my 100% keepers (that are still on my shelves) maybe it would not hurt to do so to:
- properly be reminded of all faves I own too
- get a better comparison of ‘oh right, this is what I feel about releases I properly love’
Cause right now I’m basically comparing the best of my least favourites to the worst of them.
This is what I do. I have major storage issues (plus some severe hoarding tendencies run in my family, so I’ve always felt like I must control myself), so having a ginormous CD collection is not really an option for me.
Basically, this means that the physicals I buy are a) albums I properly love and truly want, b) weaker albums by bands I love because I’m still a completist and c) stuff that isn’t available digitally at all. Other than that, it’s mostly iTunes downloads for me (and a ridiculous number of back-ups because I can’t bear the thought of losing anything). That way, I keep my collection largely dud-free.
I did my own replay of The Hush (haven’t actually listened to Texas in quite a while) and I still love it. I’d probably rank it second in their discography behind White On Blonde, which still wins for having stronger individual songs. The Hush is more about a vibe, though. It’s the perfect Sunday afternoon summer album for me and the Motown influences are never far away. The strongest tracks, I think, are still Saint (my 11 in their rate) and the title track.
I'm late to the part but I must say I think I know exactly how you feel. I love my CD collection but every now and then those full shelves feel like a burden in my place. But I can't part with them...
Also, I hope you're at least selling those you decided to swipe.
Mvnl
Staff member
I think for the sake of my energy bringing them to a thrift store or something like that will be a better idea than spending months selling them one by one (and potentially second guessing my decisions again). I won’t trash them obviously!
Mvnl
Staff member
It’s definitely interesting. And in an odd way extra hard because these decisions won’t affect my life in any way so it’s really just about.. feelings?
Also find it interesting how there’s certain releases that I kinda want to keep but when I imagine them standing between all the faves currently on my shelves they kinda cheapen/take down the entire collection?
(Which sometimes can just be because the artwork’s ugly or too dark or something random like that)
Also find it interesting how there’s certain releases that I kinda want to keep but when I imagine them standing between all the faves currently on my shelves they kinda cheapen/take down the entire collection?
(Which sometimes can just be because the artwork’s ugly or too dark or something random like that)
Not DISCO!