When I first got into Queen I remember that bootlegs such as Sheetkickers, Kimomo My Place Live, and A Night at the Warehouse had an almost mythical quality. I had no clue there was a bootleg community as such and my only chance of ever getting these recordings was at Record Fairs (and I could never afford them anyway). There was and is a mystique with vinyl that cds, mp3s etc has never replaced. Now, I can get almost any bootleg by downloading them from sites like this. And I've found that the sound quality of many isn't worth the effort. There is no 'magic' in electronic bootlegs as there was with vinyl. I'm not saying we should go back to those days --the fact that anyone can now get access to Queen's live back catalog is a good thing -- but some of the magic has gone. In fact, I rarely listen twice to anything I download: it's become more of a habit than anything. Anyone else feel the same way?
Everything is more precious when you have to to put some effort into getting it. Collecting still has this "magic" when you hunt down something rare. I believe it's not the medium, it's the challenge and the unavailibility that makes a recording so precious. When you download ten concerts in a week, you won't have this pleasure listening to them.
You've nailed it in one. Stick with your vinyl, my friend. There is more mystique and atmosphere in one track of an LP than there will ever be in ten gigs of MP3 bootleg.
Bring it back I say. The ongoing regular appearances of these items on eBay would suggest there is a dedicated and thriving crowd of collectors out there who appreciate the "in-hand" value of vinyl over the virtual mp3.
well, I for one never got into vinyl, but I did used to try to track down bootlegs on cd...that was always fun......if pricey!! My most prized catch was a cd bootleg of a Rush show that I actually went to! :)
As for the sound quality....well forget mp3s and go for FLAC.....
I am (hopefully) getting a mp3 player that also plays FLACs for Xmas :D
Ah but you see, King of Rhye, you are 30. It's only 5 years behind me, but in terms of the age you were when vinyl had it's "first" phasing out, you probably weren't able to buy many LPs. Whereas the wee age difference between you and I means that LPs were still fairly commonplace when I began to buy music. I was around 12/13....you'd have been 7 or 8.