Two vinyl holy grails

I’ve kind of tried to lay off purchasing new vinyl this year in the interest of buying experiences - the fact that I’ve been to six live concerts this year is proof of that fact. But I woke up this morning to two new presses - one a repress and the other an initial press - and I couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing what I was seeing.

The first of these is a repress of Sara Bareilles’ second major label album Kaleidoscope Heart. I’ve always been a casual fan of Sara’s, but in 2019 I really go into her with a vengeance and bought up what vinyl of hers there was available, paying a pretty penny (but less than $100) for her album Little Voice. Imagine my consternation when I discovered that the initial vinyl press of Kaleidoscope Heart sold for more than three times that on the secondary market. I knew that it would eventually get a repress and after waiting 5 long years, it finally has. I didn’t even know about it until I was looking at new releases on Discogs this morning! I always figured when it did get a repress, it would be a mega-exclusive Record Store Day thing that I would have to fight tooth and nail to get, but no! I ordered it from Amazon this morning for about $40 and it should be here by Wednesday. I’m so excited to finally add this to my collection.

The second is an album from my college years that is making its debut on vinyl after over 30 years. In 1993, just as 10,000 Maniacs were about to lose Natalie Merchant as their main vocalist, they released an an installment in the Unplugged series that would basically serve as a live greatest hits album. My roommate and I played that album to death - so much so that I could almost not bring myself to play it for a long time (that’s how burned out of it I got), but the passage of time has allowed me to reclaim that album and enjoy it again. The memories of listening to that album over and over with him while playing Sid Meier’s Civilization (the OG game!) are burned into my brain and are some of the best of my college years. I didn’t buy this one although I probably should have considering I will eventually get it, but I have also ordered a vinyl copy of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Trip The Light Fantastic that was premium priced at $85 (with shipping from the UK) as well as Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. I added it to my Christmas list so we’ll see what happens.

Overall I’d say today was a win, right? Two long sought after albums finally on vinyl (or in the case of Sara B, finally on vinyl again)? I live a charmed life and I need to try to remember that.