If You Could Go Back In Time and Give Yourself Advice (on music, What Would It Be?

Kinda hilarious how we all hate cassettes, but we must've all bought'em back in the day anyway.

Cassettes were kinda like the MP3s of the day. It was a very portable format.

SpectreFate wrote:

Cassettes were kinda like the MP3s of the day. It was a very portable format.

Very true and we're still sacrificing quality for portability to this day. 30 years later and we haven't learned a damn thing.

S.D. wrote:

SpectreFate wrote:

Cassettes were kinda like the MP3s of the day. It was a very portable format.

Very true and we're still sacrificing quality for portability to this day. 30 years later and we haven't learned a damn thing.

True. But I think the damage is done. Kids don't care about music quality, they just want the music. Hell, most adults are that way.

SpectreFate wrote:

S.D. wrote:

SpectreFate wrote:

Cassettes were kinda like the MP3s of the day. It was a very portable format.

Very true and we're still sacrificing quality for portability to this day. 30 years later and we haven't learned a damn thing.

True. But I think the damage is done. Kids don't care about music quality, they just want the music. Hell, most adults are that way.

A friend of mine the other day asked why I was still buying singles (iTunes) here and there? I asked what he meant and he said he uses this website that takes a youtube file/video/link and makes it into an MP3 on your computer. IT SOUNDS LIKE ABSOLUTE CRAP!!! I used it on a studio recording for an album I am dying to come out but all but given up on. It literally sounds like complete horse dung after filtering. And I'm thinking, how can people actually enjoy anything they're listening to like this? It's sad.

Because they don't know any better, they've probably never heard a high quality recording played back through a top of the line stereo system.

It's the fast food value meal mentality adopted to the consumption of music.

I'll see someone I know listening to music through the laptop speakers.

I'll tell 'em to go get some real speakers.

Response: "Why?"

Hmmm...

Around 4th grade: You know the older brother of your friend who is into Iron Maiden and has the walls plastered with their stuff? You should check them out. Also, give Judas Priest a chance as well.

Around 5th grade: Hang out with that kid from school who rocks D.R.I., Anthrax, and Megadeth shirts. And also that other kid who rocks Slayer. You're going to be a fan of theirs later in life, better get started now.

Around high school: Even though they're insanely popular, give Pearl Jam and Soundgarden another look.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I'll see someone I know listening to music through the laptop speakers.

I'll tell 'em to go get some real speakers.

Response: "Why?"

Yeah that's a painful one, although I honestly couldn't afford really fine speakers until recently. If I would have known that it would make so much difference I would have found a way to afford them sooner. I could have gone without something else- food maybe.
At least I've had a few years of prime enjoyment betwwen the era of being broke and when I go deaf. I'm enjoying it.

T-Roy wrote:

DON'T SELL ALL YOUR EXTREMELY RARE ORIGINAL CD'S TO DIMPLE RECORDS JUST BECAUSE YOUR 20 SOMETHING, EXTREMELY DUMB AND HAVE BEEN AN IDIOT WITH YOUR MONEY SO YOU NEED QUICK MONEY TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!


And yes....NEVER buy cassettes.

DITTO!! Also... Don't trade them off cuz you are bored at the moment, hold on to them for when the mood strikes you again.

DO NOT KEEP YOU CD'S IN A NOTEBOOK, IT WILL DESTROY THEM AND THE ALBUM WILL BE OOP WHEN YOU WANT TO ORDER A REPLACEMENT!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Kinda hilarious how we all hate cassettes, but we must've all bought'em back in the day anyway.

We did indeed have cases of them back in the day and now some of those cassettes have never been reissued on CD and the cassette is long gone.

Don’t buy Vengeance - Human Sacrifice on cassette….dislike the vocals….take it back to the store….decide later that you love the vocals…..buy it again AFTER they change the name to Vengeance Rising.
Would love to have still owned the original!

Keep all your vinyl...
Since you have all these cassettes KEEP your original sony walkman...the best player you ever had...
Don't marry your first wife and have all those kids...it brought nothing but misery, divorce and expensive child support..not to mention it ruined your musical career ideas.
Remember all those cool toys and books you used to have...the ones that cost a fortune now in antique shops and ebay
Keep all those cool guitars and amps and stompbox's you bought through the years. Those ones from the 80s were awesome.
Don't buy all that crappy metal on them crappy labels...especially all that crappy horrid produced christian metal

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Stay away from "metal message boards". They will waste your time and cost you money.

Damn straight. I started on this board with less than a thousand CDs and have since gone quite a bit over that. I'd also tell myself to never sell my CDs until I get a computer that could store them and to back them up twice (or to stay away from certain external hard drives **cough, Iomega**).

As for bands? there are countless ones I would tell myself about. However, one thing I would most definitely do would tell myself that after getting into Running Wild, I should complete a discography before they go out of print and prices skyrocket.

jettafiend wrote:

T-Roy wrote:

DON'T SELL ALL YOUR EXTREMELY RARE ORIGINAL CD'S TO DIMPLE RECORDS JUST BECAUSE YOUR 20 SOMETHING, EXTREMELY DUMB AND HAVE BEEN AN IDIOT WITH YOUR MONEY SO YOU NEED QUICK MONEY TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!


And yes....NEVER buy cassettes.

DITTO!! Also... Don't trade them off cuz you are bored at the moment, hold on to them for when the mood strikes you again.

DO NOT KEEP YOU CD'S IN A NOTEBOOK, IT WILL DESTROY THEM AND THE ALBUM WILL BE OOP WHEN YOU WANT TO ORDER A REPLACEMENT!

I was in such a hurry to post, I didn't read all the way through. Now seeing your post I must holeheartedly agree! I have many CDs I would easily sell without a second thought but can't because they got so scratched up in binders. I got some to still rip to my computer, but there is a constant scratch sound in the background when I play the music.

I never understood why people put CDs in binders. I can see it if one is just archiving something that they'll hardly ever play them; so they'd be tucked away and not take up much room. CDs that are played a lot; though, I would think it would soon be obvious taking them out of plastic pockets over and over isn't a good idea. I had coworkers who did that and the CDs were all scratched up. They looked terrible and would skip all the time. Plus, what about the artwork? Is it just thrown away along with the case?

SpectreFate wrote:

Cassettes were kinda like the MP3s of the day. It was a very portable format.

Also, you could dance or jog with them and it was easy to make mix tapes. Cassettes were a big part of my life. Only in the last few months, I converted most of my cassettes to mp3s and erased my old Maxell mix tapes and sold them on eBay.

And I'm one of those folks who isn't particular about quality. When I was a kid, I'd listen to music taped off the TV. I used what I had and was glad to have the music.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

I never understood why people put CDs in binders. I can see it if one is just archiving something that they'll hardly ever play them; so they'd be tucked away and not take up much room. CDs that are played a lot; though, I would think it would soon be obvious taking them out of plastic pockets over and over isn't a good idea. I had coworkers who did that and the CDs were all scratched up. They looked terrible and would skip all the time. Plus, what about the artwork? Is it just thrown away along with the case?

Well, when you have hundreds of CDs and very limited space, it is your only option. I was in the US Navy and would spend up to 6 months on an aircraft carrier and you only have a small amount of space to put your things in. So I could have more than just a handful of CDs for that long period of time, I put my CDs in a binder. This was several years before I got a computer and found out about Windows Media and even longer before I discovered MP3 players (wouldn't have mattered much as they were pretty pricey and not as readily available in the late 90s early 2000s). As for cases, I would store them in boxes.

When you grew up in the third world like me there's absolutely no way you could afford a CD let alone a vinyl on a regular basis, standard of living is just terrible, CDs were a luxury item, when I first had a job one CD would cost you worth of 2 days wage....cassette tapes were a part of me as well, sometimes I just buy the record again the moment the same album wears off (or eaten by fungus).

80s Metal Lady wrote:

SpectreFate wrote:

Cassettes were kinda like the MP3s of the day. It was a very portable format.

And I'm one of those folks who isn't particular about quality. When I was a kid, I'd listen to music taped off the TV. I used what I had and was glad to have the music.

I did this too ahh those good old days

waking up in the wee hours of the morning just to record audios off Headbanger's Ball

For traveling I burn stuff to CDR and put them in binders. Those discs are replacable and without artwork, and this way the original discs won't get damaged. Now mostly only used for stuff I haven't ripped to MP3. Otherwise no use for binders either.

I bought one of those locking briefcase-looking binders from Walmart last week to archive the videos I'm converting to DVD. I'm trying to cull out and not have a ton of stuff anymore, and it will save a lot of room. I've already thrown out about 40 VHS tapes. Still, it's mainly for archival purposes. I don't expect to watch those DVDs very often if at all. If I find I want to watch a particular DVD a lot, I'll remove it from the binder and put it in a case.

DallasBlack wrote:

Well, when you have hundreds of CDs and very limited space, it is your only option. I was in the US Navy and would spend up to 6 months on an aircraft carrier and you only have a small amount of space to put your things in. So I could have more than just a handful of CDs for that long period of time, I put my CDs in a binder.

That makes perfect sense. CD burners were expensive back then, too, so making copies would be out of the question for most. I didn't have a computer that could transfer music to a CD copy until the mid 2000s. Times are certainly better now for people who want to clear out stuff. I even have almost every Atari game on a little SD card in a "Harmony" cartridge. Later, I'm going to consider getting a few Kindles and get rid of my books.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Well, when you have hundreds of CDs and very limited space, it is your only option. I was in the US Navy and would spend up to 6 months on an aircraft carrier and you only have a small amount of space to put your things in. So I could have more than just a handful of CDs for that long period of time, I put my CDs in a binder.

That makes perfect sense. CD burners were expensive back then, too, so making copies would be out of the question for most. I didn't have a computer that could transfer music to a CD copy until the mid 2000s.

I didn't even have a computer til 2002. However, after my last six month deployment (where I was introduced to Windows Media-my supervisor had a computer on ship) I ended up getting one. One nice thing about 6 month deployments is that you save quite a bit of money (even ordering CDs on almost a weekly basis and enjoying myself at port-even getting a sword from Spain-I saved $2K). Once I did, I went crazy. I've made so many CDrs, at one point I was buying a spindle of 100 every couple of months. Of course now with MP3 players, I have over 50 blank CDrs collecting dust. Haven't made a CDr in over 2 years.

DallasBlack wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Stay away from "metal message boards". They will waste your time and cost you money.

Damn straight. I started on this board with less than a thousand CDs and have since gone quite a bit over that. I'd also tell myself to never sell my CDs until I get a computer that could store them and to back them up twice (or to stay away from certain external hard drives **cough, Iomega**).

As for bands? there are countless ones I would tell myself about. However, one thing I would most definitely do would tell myself that after getting into Running Wild, I should complete a discography before they go out of print and prices skyrocket.

*leans back leisurely and fondly thinks of the wall of RW and Rage reissues in the bookcase at home*