I love vinyl not for the audio quality but for the ritual and commitment of putting the needle down on a side and listening to the whole thing. It's a really nice, anti-add way to listen to music.
That's what is different. When you bought an album, brought it home and put it on, you really relished the moments listening, you put more effort in to listening, you put more effort in to experiencing the entire product... The song ordering, the album art, etc..
U2 gave away a new album last year, it has song great U2 tracks in it, it's a strong album from them. The entire discussion about it revolved around not the music but the delivery. Not about them getting old or how they've only made crap since War or any of the other slags on them, it was about the delivery. Maybe it's always been this way but it seems like the appreciation is going down. Seems like in a few years, people won't buy dedicated audio equipment, not generally at least.
Interesting that I always preferred LPs because of the random access they afforded. When I really got into music in late 70s I could deep dive my parents vast collection by moving the tone arm to different tracks and quickly assess if I was interested in hearing more.
There's a song that goes: "Revenir d'exil comporte des risques // comme planter une aiguille dans un vieux disque" (coming back from exile has its risks, like sticking a needle in an old record)
U2 gave away a new album last year, it has song great U2 tracks in it, it's a strong album from them. The entire discussion about it revolved around not the music but the delivery. Not about them getting old or how they've only made crap since War or any of the other slags on them, it was about the delivery. Maybe it's always been this way but it seems like the appreciation is going down. Seems like in a few years, people won't buy dedicated audio equipment, not generally at least.