Cassettes may be making a comeback

http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/article22245705.html

Please God no.

It's sort of a novelty niche thing for now. Swords & Chains Records, I think, is a short run, cassette only label for Metal bands.

I have purchased several new cassettes in the past year or so - purely for the sake of novelty. That format sucked back in the day and it sucks now.

I'd be very leery of "build quality" on new cassettes. I mean, how many of the old assembly facilities are even still online? My suspicion is that these are niche, special order type jobs and the odds of those being quality aren't good.

I still need to digitize the cassette that came with my reissue of the Smashing Pumpkins' Pisces Iscariot...

This matters not to me. I don't have a working cassette player and don't plan on getting one anytime soon.

Cassettes were good for mix tapes, but I wouldn't buy an album on cassette.

Cassettes are cool but don't last long, especially if played often.

The thing that made cassettes special was that they were portable, you could dance or jog with them and they would not skip, and you could create your own mix tapes. Even when CDs became the standard format, they skipped and not a lot of people had CD burners back in the day. Plus, with a cassette deck, you could create mix tapes from vinyl, CDs, other cassettes, radio, etc.

Now with mp3s and ipods, all those benefits of cassettes are no longer exclusive to cassettes, so I don't see why they would make a comeback. I'd only buy a cassette if it was a rare album and that was the only format I could find or it was a lot less expensive.

I had cassettes but once in awhile I would see them dirt cheap and could not resist buying them, I have a Trouble self titled album in that format, but like you all said a niche market

Worst. Format. EVER.

There's a sucker (moron) born every minute.

Witchfinder wrote:

I have purchased several new cassettes in the past year or so - purely for the sake of novelty.  That format sucked back in the day and it sucks now.  

Same here. They're mostly nostalgia/collector buys.

I noticed that the death metal band Gruesome released their debut album on cassette. Even the CD printing looks like the type of printing CDs had in the late 1980s.

I probably have the majority of my collection on cassette, and while i'll still buy them if i see them at thrift stores or yard sales or flea markets, im (very slowly) starting to upgrade to mp3 or at least cd. Another thing that made cassettes cool (and im including 8-tracks in this discussion here too) is that you could buy a new album on that format and put it in your car (or if you were walking, a walkman) and listen to it before getting home, something that could obviously never be done with vinyl, where you had to wait until you got home to listen (and if you bought it while on vacation, the wait was even longer).

80s Metal Lady wrote:

The thing that made cassettes special was that they were portable, you could dance or jog with them and they would not skip, and you could create your own mix tapes. Even when CDs became the standard format, they skipped and not a lot of people had CD burners back in the day. Plus, with a cassette deck, you could create mix tapes from vinyl, CDs, other cassettes, radio, etc.

Now with mp3s and ipods, all those benefits of cassettes are no longer exclusive to cassettes, so I don't see why they would make a comeback. I'd only buy a cassette if it was a rare album and that was the only format I could find or it was a lot less expensive.

Very well said!

S.D. wrote:

There's a sucker (moron) born every minute.

I agree but mostly these cassette tapes come with FLAC downloads and are only a buck or two more than a simple download. It's just a fad but I've bought a few as a collector.

Several years ago I was tempted by a then-complete collection of Iron Maiden studio albums on cassette (unused), but I opted not to get it. I might regret it at some point though. It's not like I would ever play them. But that would seem like something a collector might want to have...

Lari wrote:

Several years ago I was tempted by a then-complete collection of Iron Maiden studio albums on cassette (unused), but I opted not to get it. I might regret it at some point though. It's not like I would ever play them. But that would seem like something a collector might want to have...

Don't regret it. I had every Maiden album on cassette from their debut (including live albums) through Somewhere In Time. When I was converting cassettes to mp3s during my big culling out period, I thought I'd convert the Maiden cassettes over the vinyl ones I had so I wouldn't get pops and scratches. I converted lots of cassettes, but the Maiden ones never played right. All of them were shot. I didn't have Maiden Japan or Live After Death on vinyl, so I was pretty bummed. I don't know what was different about their cassettes, but the quality was crap.

What about this? Cheap Trick on 8 track for only $30! Vinyl version is $20!



Or Tesla?

I say this every time cassettes come up, but I never stopped liking them.

Some genres feel right on cassette to me. I probably wouldn't buy Feist, She & Him or Sleigh Bells on cassette, but I like thrash and glam metal on cassette.

Also, demos should always be on cassette. In the early 2000s hardcore bands started doing demos on CDR and then later just as downloads. It irked me so much. I collected hardcore/punk demo tapes more than I did vinyl, and I never liked getting them on CD (though I did because I wanted the music).

It makes me happy that hardcore bands now often release their demos on cassette again, at least in limited runs, and then provide a download with it too. I can listen to the tape at home and the MP3s in my car.

I really like this but I have no interest in picking it up on cassette. Would not mind to have it on CD

Required Fields wrote:

I noticed that the death metal band Gruesome released their debut album on cassette.

Man, I did not know about this and now I want it! Discogs says it's limited (none for sale)...not on Amazon, eBay or in the Relapse store. Damn.

mikeinfla wrote:

What about this? Cheap Trick on 8 track for only $30! Vinyl version is $20!



Or Tesla?

Good god ! Who even has an 8 track player anymore ?

^^ I remember reading that when Cheap Trick wanted to release that album on 8-track, they had a hell of a time even finding a duplicator/manufacturer that had the equipment to make 8-tracks anymore! Haha.