I’ve always been that person who still buys CDs instead of downloading music because the feeling of having a physical copy of the album to hold wasn’t something I wanted new technology to take away from me. Even now, obsessed with my Spotify premium, I still love the feeling of going out to the shops and buying a new album. Which is why, as vinyl seemed to have come back into fashion over the years, I wanted in on the hype as they are so much prettier than CDs, and I consider them more of a collection than the masses of CDs I have in my drawers.
Seven months later, I have a grand total of eleven vinyl records, which although isn’t a mighty amount, it’s enough to write a post about, without it being too overwhelming. I came to realise, as I was going through my collection, that apart from the ones I received for Christmas (or the one I got before I even got my record player), I purchased them all from HMV.
This is partly thanks to their amazing sales, which twice a year have deals on I simply can’t resist, and also becoming a member of Pure HMV this year. It cost me £3 to join, which I was a little sceptical about, as normally loyalty cards are free, but this one has come with so many benefits when building my collection, such as member-only deals (with huge savings), and building up points towards store discount. It’s definitely helped that vinyls and blu-rays have double points, and my dad uses my card a lot when he buys DVDs, but in just over half a year I have already earned a £10 discount, which I can’t wait to use towards my next vinyl purchase.
Of course, I would love to explore and support an independent record shop, but there is simply none around me so HMV is an obvious go-to. It’s definitely believed that vinyls are crazy expensive, and they can be, but the offers at HMV mean it’s easier to build your collection, and all of these albums are by artists I absolutely adore.
We will start my collection with the very first vinyl I owned, September of last year, when The Script released their Freedom Child album. We bought the CD and vinyl bundle from their website as they are both signed, and I couldn’t think of a better vinyl to start with.
Niall Horan’s Flicker album I received for Christmas from my Auntie and it’s a real good one on vinyl. I actually haven’t played it in a while, and as I write this I remember how much I love it – On The Loose, the first track, is my favourite. The Killers’ Hot Fuss vinyl is an album I wanted for a while, so while it was on sale I took the chance to purchase it on vinyl. I really wanted to listen to Mr Brightside on my record player, but I love All The These Things That I’ve Done as well.
Ed Sheeran’s first two albums, + and X, are two of my favourite albums, and two vinyls I’m very happy to own. X I received from my parents at Christmas, it has two records in it which I guess makes it better quality sound? Then + I bought later at HMV’s post-Christmas sale, making it an absolute bargain, especially as it is an orange coloured vinyl, which is why I was even more excited to own it.
Coldplay’s A Rush Of Blood To The Head is probably my most played vinyl. My collection would have seriously been lacking something without a bit of Coldplay, and I’ve fallen in love with their second album since I bought it on vinyl (again, an HMV post-Christmas sale purchase). Rush of Blood is one of those albums that sounds ten times better on vinyl, you know? I would love to own more Coldplay vinyls but they’re so expensive! A Head Full of Dreams is my dream vinyl to own, so hopefully one day it will make an appearance in the collection.
Taylor Swift’s Reputation vinyl was an exciting purchase, after months of not buying any, I suddenly found on a pureHMV offer for £12.99 and seriously couldn’t say no. I mean, how could I say no to two picture discs of Taylor? They are so pretty; it may not be my favourite Taylor album (1989 is just unbeatable), but I’m so happy to own it on vinyl now too.
When 5 Seconds Of Summer’s new album Youngblood came out, I was of course going to buy it on vinyl rather than CD format this time round. The light blue colour of the disc received a huge excited grin from myself as I opened it up. It has become one of my favourite albums since it was released lately.
Possibly the best offer HMV have ever done – both of The 1975’s vinyls for £19.75?? YES PLEASE! Especially as normally each they are about £25! I didn’t even care about the huge chore of carrying two heavy vinyls around college with me all day as it was well worth the purchase. I own their second album on CD already but not the first so I was excited to finally own that one, as well as on two clear discs each – I had no idea what colour they would be but I didn’t yet own clear so that was exciting.
My latest vinyl purchase, and hopefully the last one for a little while as I really should stop spending, is George Ezra’s latest album Staying At Tamara’s. I’ve been going on and on about this one non-stop so I had been itching to have it on vinyl, and finally picked it up on my trip to Cambridge the other month.
I know my collection isn’t the biggest, as I’ve only been buying vinyls for a few months now, but I hope to grow it more soon. Although I’m trying to stop myself from buying much more right now as I have only recently bought new ones, there are always a few I have my eye on.
I would love Harry Styles’ vinyl, as this is one of my all time favourite albums and I mean it’s Harry Styles, how could I resist? As I mentioned earlier, I’d love another Coldplay one, and perhaps Ed Sheeran’s Divide as then I would have his full collection. Besides that, I imagine all the next album releases towards the end of this year I’ll be purchasing on vinyl, so I’ll just have to wait and see who releases something soon!