Vinyl isn't dead, but it certainly isn't mainstream any more.
 
I have a decent collection form the first album I bought to the last, and then CD's took over followed by the MP3 and once you could buy just the one song you liked..... well, that was the end.
 
There is hope. My son in law has been asking for a "record player" and is wanting to get into vinyl.  So his Christmas gift this year is a turntable which of course has a USB port on it. If he gets into it and likes it, I may leave him my record collection in my will. After all, I won't need them.
 
I still have my old JVC turntable and on occasion spin the vinyl.
 
 
As far as ripping CD's to mp3 players..... I don't have any issues with the songs being out of order.

paulo

Old55

paulo
 
I also used to like the songs being in the "right" order. One of the things that drives me nuts with some mp3 players is the way they insist on sorting the tunes of an album into alpabetical order and then playing them in that order rather than the intended order. Grrrr !!!

I name the files--usually "00X" at the beginning--so that they are in the proper order.  I don't know if it will mess with the mp3 format, though, because I've been doing wav files. 

Yeah, putting track numbers is a workaround, it just grates having to do workarounds to solve problems that didn't used to exist until someone "improved" something.

True.  It's a trade-off between the convenience of having a file that you can move or manipulate, or the unchangeable format of an LP.  They both have advantages.  

 I don't intentionally go out and buy albums.
 
   Just this past week I happened on a new copy of Santana's Supernatural album. I am listening to it in my car now. That's the thing though, in order for an album to catch my eye it usually needs to be in the discount pile at the store. I figure that even if there are filler songs on it I'll like at least a few of the songs. For the discount price it's still a bargain.
 
 The fact that the album is in the discount area doesn't bode well for the guys marketing the  CDs. The fact that they are liquidating famous titles means the writing is probably on the wall.
 
 I don't play vinyl anymore at all. I wonder why some people are going back to it. 
 
 I think the concept behind the album is purely marketing. In many cases the band made a few really good songs and some not so good ones with the exclusion of those time honored albums that are regarded as classics.
 
 Even though over half of the songs on a lot of albums are not very good there is the perception of getting more of something for just a little more money. I'll bet there have been bands who came up short and were asked by the record company to come up with  filler songs to make it look like there is something substantial there to the end user. I like the idea of an album with only as many songs as there are.
 
 OTOH sometimes an artist puts a track on the album that they don't have much confidence in and it ends up selling more than the others.

Starise
 
 I think the concept behind the album is purely marketing. In many cases the band made a few really good songs and some not so good ones with the exclusion of those time honored albums that are regarded as classics.
 

Don't agree with this. One man's 'duff track' is another man's favourite. The thing about 'albums' is that they were/are produced and sequenced carefully to be listened to in running order. After time and repeated listens a track that seemed poor compared to the 'classic' song next to it would start to shine and reveal itself, in context.  Light and shade, tension and release, all come in to it.
 
 

During out last trip to Montreal, we had dinner with friends and while the girls were chatting outside, we went in and indulged into a vinyl album listening session.
 
The simple fact that this isn't as common as putting on a MP3 playlist already make things a bit more solemn I guess. I mean, you power up the sound system, then pick up the record, slide it out of its sleeve carefully, then place it on the turntable and then drop the needle... 
 
Then there's the sound of it - I'm not saying it's better but it brings back so many memories that it also contributes to making things special.
 
Another thing I remembered is that you don't carry that rig just any and everywhere - it's usually hooked up in a comfortable room where you'll just sit on a sofa and listen. There may be a TV screen but most likely, there isn't a computer for you to do other things and get sidetracked while you're listening.
 
I also remembered that you want to sit and be quiet, because you don't jump around on the floor while a record is playing.
 
I'm starting to think that maybe one of the reasons I was so quiet as a kid was that I loved to listen to music so much - or maybe it's the opposite and my quiet nature predisposed me to enjoying music.
 
Anyway, that was one cool evening. And listening to The Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl is just so cool...

Bristol_Jonesey
I'm more or less on the same page as Strummy here: many of my early double LP purchases were live offerings:
 
The Song Remains the Same
 
Live & Dangerous
 

 
AND, that was, btw, the worst of all the live Led Zeppelin stuff around.
 
There was a series of bootlegs at the time, that took place around California that werer far superior to those Madison Square Garden shows, and the energy was far stronger and harder, than what they did there.
 
I do believe that they recorded those shows to counter the sales of those bootlegs that were massive. There also was at the time the series at the Forum, one of which was called "Bonzo's Birthday Party".

Hi,
 
Wether it is vinyl, or cotton, or plastic, I don't think it matters much. The music still will live, anyway!
 
But there is one thing that the CD, or the Cassette, have never been able to duplicate and make it look good and show the band in a different light. The Cover, and some of the prettiest and best art created in the 20th century.
 
Check out the "Album Cover Book" that was done by Hipgnosis and Roger Dean that apparently has had a couple of updates before Storm passed away. Also wonderful, but just about Roger Dean, is his "Views", that shows a heck of a lot of work of his!
 
There are very few bands and groups that even associate themselves with artists to help create something else, a 3rd dimention, that most people enjoy seeing and while it might not be a part of the music, at least with Hipgnosis, the "head-itorial" pretty much let you know what the music was about.

Moshkiae
 
Check out the "Album Cover Book" that was done by Hipgnosis and Roger Dean that apparently has had a couple of updates before Storm passed away. Also wonderful, but just about Roger Dean, is his "Views", that shows a heck of a lot of work of his!
 

The 'Album Cover Album', yes, bought it when it came out, and keep it in good condition still, it's a beautiful book. I have 'Views' too but Roger Dean's work has paled to me over the years, it seems very 2-dimensional and formulaic now, similarly Bruce Pennington's book covers, which I loved in my teens.
 
Someone owes Dean a lot of money for the 'floating islands' in Avatar though..

I just looked and all of my LPs are still there.
Don't scare me like that!

jamesg1213
...
Someone owes Dean a lot of money for the 'floating islands' in Avatar though..

Cameron is being sued for it.
 
I refuse to see Avatar because of it. I do not support killers, rapists and thiefs of work from our best friends and fellow artists!
 
But this is just like Daevid Allen and Gong and Mike Oldfield, still suing the guy with the color balls that everyone treats like some kind of hero and he got there by ripping people off royally! I guess that's expected in England!