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Counterparts

Waiting for Diana to get off work so we could go to dinner, I killed time the other night by browsing a nearby Movie Trading Company. If you don't have a Movie Trading Company in your town, you're probably saving a lot of money. For me, it's a goldmine worth going back to with all of their used CDs, DVDs, and games.

On my most recent trip, I struck paydirt with a CD clearance sale. Almost all of the CDs were no more than $3 and I stocked up on past bestsellers. Coming out with seven discs and $30 less than I before, I was quite happy.

There's something about a low risk factor when CDs are over half off. I keep thinking of people offloading what they once cherished simply to save space and maybe earn back half of the investment. What's even stranger is seeing CDs that I used to constantly stock at Best Buy now simply collect dust, waiting to be removed for more inventory. Hitting up the Best Buy around the corner, I see less and less CD inventory for understandable reasons. Digital is way more convenient, so why have CDs? I have my reasons and I'm glad used media stores stick around.

Two of the discs I picked up really surprised me. I knew Oasis' Be Here Now was a bloated rock record, but I've always enjoyed songs like "Don't Go Away" and "All Around the World." While I'm not about to start any arguments about this record's validity over the band's first two records, I'm happy to say it was worth the two dollars I spent.

Correcting a wrong I committed in college when I sold my original copy, I purchased Rush's Counterparts. This version was the 1997 digital remaster with slimmer liner notes which actually fit into the jewel case. Popping in "Animate" on the way home, I was struck by how good the record still sounds, especially Neil Peart's drums. Plus, despite its opening riff sounding like an Alice in Chains throwaway, I think "Stick it Out" is fantastic. Even though that was the first Rush song I ever heard, nostalgia can only go so far. I'm glad there's way more to the band all these years later.

Maybe because I fear hard drive crashes, I remain the physical archivist. Hence my continuing patronage of used record stores.

Comments

Ted said…
I agree on Counterparts. It's not one of Rush's best albums, but it was the album that effectively ended the synth years and saw Peart exploring the concept of grooving on the drums.

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