[scop]

Good point. I didn't have that kind of money simply laying around, but I would sometimes save up and pay the $17.99. With that level of risk there was that much more reward, almost a form of gambling. It probably made my young brain give each song a lot more attention than I would have otherwise as I had to make sure I got my investment "back".

[rchaud]

That is true. When I bought an album, I listened to it front and back. Gave several chances to songs that didn't connect with me the first time. Even though that was 20 years ago, I still remember the mediocre songs better than I remember some songs from the recent past that I actually liked.