What Kind Of Music Fan Are You?

1. I am a completist. While I don’t own every Rolling Stone album or ELO album, I own most of them and the list of groups that I have everything they released is long… Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Rush, Van Halen, Yes, Porcupine Tree, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Hendrix, Alice In Chains, Cheap Trick, The Doors, Dream Theater, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Genesis, Heart, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Nebula, Ozzy, Queensryche, Radiohead, Judas Priest, Paul McCartney, Muse.
   And then there are a lot more groups that I have most of their albums, like Queen, Alice Cooper, Bad Company,, and, well, that list is even longer.

2. The Beatles
   The Rolling Stones
   Bob Dylan
   The Grateful Dead
   Frank Sinatra
   Bruce Springsteen
   Rosie Flores
   Drive-by Truckers
   Kasey Chambers
   Jim Lauderdale
   Lucinda Williams
   The Neville Brothers

3. I was thinking about this very thing earlier. While I don’t see my self as obsessive (although my wife would argue otherwise), I lean toward “find everything they ever did” if it’s a group or artist I really like. The list of artists who fall into this group for me are too many to list here, but include: Todd Rundgren, King Crimson, ELP, Zeppelin, ELO, Yes, Elton John, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Three Dog Night, Procol Harum, U2, Edgar Winter, Santana, Allman Brothers, Steely Dan, Leon Russell, R.E.M. (well, up to Monster, then it’s hit or miss), Lyle Lovett, White Stripes, and tons of others. These include 12″ singles, EPs, 45s, MFSL gold discs (just some of those, though) and the occasional bootleg, but not every compilation. Then there’s that list of artists who have so much stuff out there it’s nye on impossible to truly collect everything they’ve released (and still continue to put out) – Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Dylan, Who, Deep Purple, Miles Davis, etc. While I have lots of their stuff, I don’t feel compelled to try to get it all because it never stops.
   Anyway, it’s always fun to think about these things – thanks for the post and all you do here on the site.

4. I would classify myself as a studio loyalist. There are the artist that I will by each new studio recording. At times this is difficult when the artist hits a period of questionable quality material (prime example to me is Neil Diamond’s 1990’s era output).
   However I don’t buy everything released with their name on it (repeated/repackaged hits collections or the unending live recordings). I am a sucker for the remastered disc (especially if they sweeten the deal with an unreleased track or two).The artist that I have the complete studio works are:
   The Beatles
   The Moody Blues
   Pink Floyd
   Neil Diamond
   ABBA
   Doors
   Led Zepplin
   Monkees
   ELO
   ELP
   John Lennon
   Simon amp; Garfunkel
   Chris Isaak
   CCR
   Enya
   Mamas amp; Papas

   Of coarse there are many artists which I have a large selection, but didn’t invest in the “lesser” years
   The Rolling Stones
   Queen
   U2
   Elton John
   Al Stewart
   Jefferson Airplane
   ….and hundreds of others.

5. I liked bogies4 self-definition as studio loyalist. I tend to have many groups among my favorites so I try to go first for the best of each and tend to leave the non essential live or best of albums for the end. Bootlegs or semi bootlegs only when the quality is good. Specially beatles and stones, or the Who or The Jam. All said I have more Dark side of the moon editions than necessary :). I consider myself a rock historian in that sense and I still have a long way to go luckily!

   1. But sometimes, those live albums are defining! I could not complete my Wishbone Ash collection without Live Dates as it is essential listening. The Stones’ Get Yet Ya Yas Out, and Love You Live are also essential adds to my Stones library.

      1. Please don’t get me wrong. Live albums are a definite part of my collection. Imagine no Hot August Night, No Wings Over America, no Yessongs? How many people heard of Frampton, before he came Alive? Pink Floyd’s live albums sound better than some of the studio recordings. To me though, these are companion pieces to the studio work.
         And honestly (Neil), how many life albums do I really need. How about remastering your UNI catalogue instead of a Super Duper 5th run at Hot August Night.

      2. Hi Matt! Yep that’s why I said “non essential”. Which of course may be a matter of taste as usual. I really think rock (life!) without Live At Leeds would not be the same. Or “Star Club” by Jerry Lee, Wings Over America, the amazing Get Yer Ya Ya’s (a lesser fan of Love You Live) or anything live by The Jam in any case. And I just bought “Irish Tour 74”. Rory was really amazing and I’m just discovering him.

         1. Speaking of live albums, Zep’s new live album/dvd/bluray Celebration Day is pretty awesome. I would say it is essential to any Zep fan. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Most surprising, Robert Plant does a much better job with the vocals than I expected.

6. 100% collections:

   Beatles
   Genesis
   Pink Floyd
   Yes
   Fleetwood Mac
   Steely Dan (+all Becker amp; Fagen albums)

   1. I’m massively impressed by your complete Fleetwood Mac collection. And I have to ask, which Mac era do you love best? Personally, I love Green, followed by Welch/Kerwin era. I like Buckingham/Nicks era least although they do have some great songs, “Sara” being one of them.

      1. F.Mac is another group I do enjoy in most of their eras. Though I have most material in Buckingham/Nicks years, I love Green’s output AND also the intermediate “lost years” (I collected most albums here too), where only Christine and Fleet/Mac remained every time. You may find some amazing music when a great band is in this kind of “transition from/to success”. Same happens to me with the Bee Gees 70-74 period, lots of little gems there.

         1. I love Heroes Are Hard To Find, and Bare Trees.

            1. Same here. And Mystery To Me? That’s a great one too. I’m missing in fact the first album post-Green, Kiln House, a rare rock and roll tribute that I care about. Kind of related, here’s hoping someday they reissue the Buckingham/Nicks album *and* that great debut by Christine.

7. I have over 7,000 cds, and I am a collector or rare and unreleased amp; live tracks. Here are some artists I have complete collections for: Destruction, Sodom, Journey, Judas Priest, havok, Sacrifice, Death, Death Angel, Dark Angel, Morbid Angel, machine Head, Tankard, My Dying Bride, Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Overkill, Vader, Accept, Megadeth, Pantera, Kreator, Exciter, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Flotsam amp; Jetsam, VoiVod, Napalm Death, Exodus, Helstar, Heathen, Hexen, Bonded By Blood, Aeon, Grim Reaper, Iron Maiden, Zed Yago, Type O Negative, Godflesh, God Seed, Gorgoroth, Witchery, Immolation, Cryptopsy, Graveworm, Ulver, Vile, Into Eternity, Goretopsy, Fleshcrawl, Necrophobic, Bathory, Nile, Obssession, Sanctuary, Nevermore, Nuclear Assault, Novembers Doom, Halford, Queensryche, Deeds Of Flesh, Dying Fetus, Candlemass, Birds of Prey, Bolt Thrower, Saxon, Motley Crue, Master, Motorhead, Occult, and I could go on and on. Buy and support metal!

8. My 100% collections are as followed

   Pink Floyd (plus solo efforts of David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright)
   Genesis (plus own all solo efforts from Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford (not Mike and the Mechanics))
   The Who
   Rush
   Styx (Dennis DeYoung years 1972-99, won’t touch post-1999 efforts)
   The Eagles (all from 1971-2003, I disliked Long Road Out of Eden)
   Led Zeppelin
   The Ozzy, Dio and Gillan Years of Black Sabbath (plus most of Ozzy and Dio’s solo works)
   Rainbow
   Queen (the original FOUR)
   Bruce Dickinson years of Iron Maiden
   The Beatles
   Van Halen (original lineup)
   ELP
   The Doors (well the Jim Morrison catalog including American Prayer)

   rebuilding The Rolling Stones and KISS at the moment and will rebuy all seven Cars albums in one go.

   I had all of AC/DC, Judas Priest, KISS, Metallica, Yes (from 1971-83), Jethro Tull (1970-89 discography), Boston, original Bad Company, Alice Cooper Band, Deep Purple, Triumph but had to sell due to financial depression we’ve been in since 2000.

   1. I’m sorry for your having to sell-off

      1. I always had to sell things that I know are still available (I make it a point not to sell any out of print titles as something said don’t get rid of them) if I had something come up like either a car repair (which driving is important to go do my music shopping) or money towards a collector’s box set (like Genesis’ 1976-82, Maiden’s Eddies Archive as examples) and 180 Gram vinyl.

         When I worked at a used record store, some customers would turn in their entire collections in for their NICOTINE and ALCOHOL ADDICTIONS (that is ridiculous). Luckily, in my case, I had to part for either a collectible vinyl or box set or if the car needed brakes/tires/hoses/belts

9. I tend to be an original albums completist. I really don’t bother collecting compilations in this digital age, where such things have become so dime-a-dozen and disposeable. Regarding live albums, I agree there are some classic live albums from the ’70’s and ’80’s, but beyond that most live albums don’t seem to be anything too special.

   Here are my lists:

   Bands where I actually have all of their original studio albums:
   Van Halen
   David Lee Roth
   Chickenfoot
   Led Zeppelin
   Pink Floyd
   The Beatles
   Bon Jovi
   The Police
   AC/DC
   Aerosmith
   Def Leppard
   Black Country Communion
   Foo Fighters
   Nirvana
   Twisted Sister
   Judas Priest w/Rob Halford
   Iron Maiden w/Bruce Dickinson
   Motley Crue
   Three Doors Down

   ————————-
   Bands where I have ALMOST everything:

   The Rolling Stones
   Eric Clapton
   The Who
   U2
   KISS
   Black Sabbath
   Ozzy Osbourne

10. So, let me see what we have here.. What I collected most so far:
    Kinks, Who amp; The Jam (Mods 100%!)
    Kiss (100% until they took the mask off, 1982)
    Beatles and Stones (those missing a bit here: some live ones and some after Undercover)
    Marillion, Pink Floyd, Smithereens, Police,Mc Cartney, Lennon, Simon amp; Garfunkel (100%)
    And then lots of Jethro (golden age), Petty, REM, most of Zeppelin and Purple.. I’ll need more CD Towers anytime now! :D

11. If I like an artist I will try and acquire as much studio music by them as I can.

    But, that being said I have no problem jettisoning a bunch of oods and ends by getting a compilation. For example I had a very large collection of CD singles and not-so-hot film soundtracks that were purchased to get a new song by the Cure. I bought most of these for one or two tracks and once the “Join the Dots” boxed set came out I unloaded all those discs in favor of one package. Some of the CD singles were rare and it more than paid for the box set and put it all in one place and helped save valuable shelf space. I did the same with Kate Bush, the Smiths, Siouxie, and the Banshees, U2 and many other bands as well.

    Also, CD singles that were basically the album track and 4 or 5 remixes of the same track and/or a dodgy live version of an album cut are generally a waste of time and money. I’ve learned my lesson and I stay away from those.

    I also will buy live albums if they are “definative” but I don’t buy every live album that comes down the pike from every band I like. A live record like the Stones “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out” is a necessity but their later live album “Flashpoint” is not so much. Bauhaus’ “Press Eject and Give Me the Tape” is a necessity but the Smith’s “Rank” is not.

    The same is also true of “unauthorized” recordings as well. There are some amazing bootleg recordings out there but I will never feel the need to collect every Pink Floyd or U2 show I can find simply because I don’t have it yet.

12. I want to mention how easy it is today to be a completist. The internet provides so many outlets to buy, sell and trade collectible recordings that your only restriction is your budget and/or common sense.

    And if you don’t care about physical media it is even easier to get the music you want. If you know the name of the song or album you’ll eventually be able to download it (although not always from a legal source).

13. I guess I am a completist too when it comes to bands I like. A few major ones for me are:
    The Beatles, Comsat Angels, Kate Bush, Camel, Barclay James Harvest, City Boy, The Doors, Echolyn, Family, The Future Kings of England, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Happy the Man, Van Der Graaf Generator, Hoelderlin, Izz, Jade Warrior, Jadis, Japan, Jethro Tull, Kaipa, King Crimson, Lands End, Led Zeppelin, Love, Magellan, Mahogany Frog, Man on Fire, Midnight Oil, John Miles, Phideaux, Poor Genetic Material, Porcupine Tree, Posies, Riverside, Show of Hands, The Smiths, The Tangent, TransAtlantic. U.K.

14. Excluding comps that are duplicates and an occasional obscure live recording, these are the artists I have complete on CD: Frank Zappa, You Am I, Wire, XTC, The Walkabouts, The White Stripes, Tom Verlaine, Talk Talk, David Sylvian, Seam, Pixies, Pink Floyd, Pavement, Minimal Compact, Guided By Voices, Lotion, Senseless Things, Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox, Flaming Lips, Cocteau Twins, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kate Bush, Magazine, The Band, The Beatles, Sigur Ros, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Supersilent, Jaga Jazzist, Naked City (Zorn), The Smiths, Roxy Music, The Doors, Funkadelic

15. I’m a delver. If something catches my ear I want to listen to everything I can find by that group. This often leads to getting close to complete discographies on a lot of artists in just about every genre. The trend in recent years to reissue catalogs of older bands like Genesis, King Crimson, Traffic, Zeppelin et al, has really made this easier than ever.

16. I have “EVERYTHING” by:

    Steely Dan
    Jethro Tull
    Emerson Lake and Palmer
    Yes
    Crosby, Stills, Nash
    Porcupine Tree

    Formats include: LP, Reel to Reel, Casette Tape, CD, SACD, DVD-A

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