I agree regarding LP's. The whole process of acquiring the album is what I miss about being excited about music. Especially living out in the sticks of South Carolina in the 80's, you were dependent on either word of mouth or non-Rolling Stone magazine music publications to find out about music that wasn't played ad-naseum on the classic rock stations. So, without ever actually knowing what the band sounds like, you write to the indie record label they are distributed by to get ordering info. Again, this is all done based on what a writer says in an article or review - there was no other way to know what the Pixies, Dinosaur, Replacements or Sonic Youth sounded like.
The first stage of excitement was receiving the record label catalog, I used to collect catalogs from Sub-Pop, Homestead, Merge & Touch & Go into the 90's before having access to the internet or college record stores. Then mailing a check to the record store & waiting weeks for them to mail back the record, hoping that it doesn't come back warped or broken.
Then looking at the album front & back, pulling the sleeve out hoping for artist notes & not just a cheap blank white album sleeve. Fortunately, many indie labels were great about having unique art even if they didn't have a budget (some stuff was hand made - like old Lou Barlow cassette tapes). The final stage, listening to the full album, you didn't skip through songs you were bored of, you didn't skip back to relisten to songs. You listened to the full album side to side at one sitting.
There is something about that whole process that made me fully appreciate the work the band & the music label put into producing an album. I felt obligated then to listen to every note & every space between songs since it took great effort to get that far.
...just my thoughts...
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