Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25:
Photo by Ryan Arnst on Unsplash
Listening to music has always been a favorite pastime of mine where I can express myself. Many people share this hobby with me. In recent years, cultivating playlists or mixtapes has become very popular. Personally, my Spotify account has close to one hundred playlists with songs spanning countless genres and time periods. As much as I love being able to access my favorite songs at the click of a button, something about listening to an album on a vinyl record cannot be topped by digital listening.
One reason I prefer records over a playlist is the storytelling aspect of an album. While this may not be true for all albums, some of them, such as David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” are meant to be listened to as a story, not as individual pieces. The album has its hits, of course. “Starman” is arguably one of Bowie’s biggest hits and is amazing on its own, but it’s so much better when put in the context of an alien rockstar smiling in the face of the imminent apocalypse.
This idea works in both concept albums and regular long-playing vinyl records as well. In any of Taylor Swift’s albums, the listener can hear themes pop up again and again in her songs. One that immediately comes to mind for me is “Red.” Being infatuated with someone who is not good for Taylor (yes, I call her Taylor, because, you know…) rings through nearly every song. No, the album doesn’t tell a single story. But, listening to all of the songs consecutively can make each piece fit better with the others.
Another huge reason I prefer records is for the physical object itself. Cover art can influence the way a person perceives the album before even listening to it. For example, the cover for the concept album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles features a collage of not only the band members but also iconic figures such as actress Marilyn Monroe and poet Edgar Allen Poe. Upon first glance, you can already tell the whimsical nature of the album. Tracks such as “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” only furthers this first perception.
Aside from the cover art, the pressing of the record is interesting too. Not every vinyl is black. Some have designs, different colors, or pictures. This adds to the collectible aspect of records that I love so much. It is not uncommon for an artist to sell multiple of the same record, the only difference being on different colored pressings.
Perhaps my reasoning for my preference for records isn’t a logical one at all, but for the sake of nostalgia. As a kid, I grew up listening to records. I would gawk at my father’s extensive record collection and stereo sitting in the living room, seemingly stuck in 1986. The turntable was always perfectly clean, with albums like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” or Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet ” in the case below. I was not allowed to touch the records, as I didn’t understand “record etiquette” yet. I could only touch the sides of the record and only with clean hands. I had to be extremely careful placing the needle, always putting the record back in the sleeve, and so on and so forth. Though these procedures have become second nature to me now, remembering all these little things brings me back to when I couldn’t even reach the turntable.
The warm and sometimes crackly sound of the record, the idea of girls fifty years ago spinning the same records I do now, and memories of myself with my family all contribute to my love for these records.
But for me, vinyl is final, so what do I know?
