Either you just haven't found a copy yet or you're waiting to find an original/early pressing in great condition or you just can't afford it right now. You could name multiple records if you want. Here are some holy grails that I've yet to add to my collection. Waiting for an original or early repress: Caetano Veloso - Transa (original and reissues are too expensive) Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda (too expensive) Dün - Eros (very rare and too expensive) George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (haven't found one in great condition that fits my budget) Fela Kuti - Opposite People (super rare) Area - Arbeit Macht Frei (originals are too expensive) Ground Zero - Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver. 1.28 (never been released on vinyl)
Beatles Butcher Cover. I have a reprint, but haven't found a decent third state original that isn't being sold for an insane amount of cash.
E.L.O - Secret Messages - The full double album remastered also E.L.O - Drum Dreams, Matter Of Fact (both versions), Indian Queen (Full version), Heaven Only Knows (full alternative version), all remastered Idle Race - Fully remastered expanded albums probably a few more bits and pieces from Jeff Lynne's collection!
I'd love the full set of Bowie RCA CD's. But that's just pure greed and I cannot afford the prices they go for.
I haven't got any - not anymore. It took me a long time to get where I am now - content with what I have, appreciating my collection for what's in it, rather than agonizing over what's missing.
Wow, hardly ever hear that. I know people that've been collecting for decades and have 10,000+ records but still aren't fully satisfied with their collection.
Led Zeppelin II RL cut in at least M-/M- (or so) condition and the Led Zeppelin 45 rpm "road case" set from Classic Records, preferably in still brand new/unplayed/mint condition. Those are my grails.
Yeah I agree, when you've been collecting for that long it becomes a habit that you can't stop. Love that Jackie McLean record by the way.
I was one of those people until one day it dawned upon me to ask myself a simple question: "Am I really going to let these couple of albums that I don't have spoil it for me and prevent me from fully enjoying the thousands I have." This thought sent me on my way to recovery, so to speak, and gradually the gaping holes in my collection grew smaller and eventually they vanished altogether.
I've been wanting a genuine Love Buzz 7" for my Nirvana collection since around 1993. Not looking anywhere near a possibility. Lol. p.s.- I'm actually surprised it hasn't been reissued for Record Store Day.
Source Radio Show The Ozzy Osbourne Concert 1981 with Randy Rhoads. I`m sure it`s out there.While not the most rare,I have never seen one for sale on the open market yet.
Agreed. I don't fret about it. But, on the other hand, it's always nice to have those few "always got to look for these" items whenever you're in a record store.
REM - Monster on cd. I keep thinking that one day I'll walk into a thrift shop or used record store and there it will be, just sitting there in the stacks..... Oh to dream.
I prefer to devote my record shopping interest to what is there rather than what isn't, but I do look for an RL whenever I see Led Zeppelin II.
For me it's the CD of The Darkness - Permission to Land. If only the racks weren't now taken up with vinyl and unwanted copies of Various Artists compilations like 'Leaping With Mr Lee featuring Bunnie Lee's All Stars' with that crap looking cover; I might stand a chance.
The ones that have eluded me for decades are any of the Dr. Demento's KMET radio shows from 1977-80. They are even hard to find on CD.
The big Holy Grail for me for a while now, has been clean original Joni Mitchell LPs -- but only in ludicrously super pristine, OCD perfect condition, with ultra clean covers. And I do mean ridiculous. It has to be perfect, otherwise I reject it scornfully and send the store clerks away with a scowl. No one has been able to please me yet. I'm talking like, records that got bought and played once or twice upon release, and then the girl moved away from her parents' house to go to college and left the records behind, or at some point they got mixed in with her awful jerk boyfriend's records and he NEVER played them, and now they've been sitting on a bottom shelf with the Judy Blume books in her parents' little girl bedroom, or stashed in the collection of some insensitive brutish ex-dude of hers, untouched by anyone since 1978. I have Blue, Court & Spark in that type of super condition, and so-so play copies for the rest. But I would love to find more of those. Hard to find Ladies of the Canyon or Song To A Seagull that haven't gone all yellow. I could probably mention a bunch of other crazy things, like Randy Alvey and the Green Fuz original 7". I would love to have one of those, just to marvel at it and watch it spin around on the turntable while I listen. That song is so wild and wooly, I almost want to be skeptical and think it was fake -- it's so amazing that something that strange and wonderful could have actually happened. I want the various Howard Finster records but I never seem to see them where I live. But mostly to me though, my grails aren't individual records anymore, but collections. I used to do very well, buying records from co-workers, neighbors, friends-of-friends, yard sales, and finding people through the grapevine that were looking get rid of their records. I did very well with that tactic for a number of years, but it seems to be drying up lately. Finding any person who has an un-picked stash of records, if I can get to them before they take them to the store, I'm interested. That's how I found so many of my "grail" type items.
Im sure you can find Joni Mitchell original LPs in pristine condition on discogs or ebay if you search hard enough and have the budget to afford them. In fact I found an original 1970 copy of Ladies of the Canyon that was factory sealed on discogs: Joni Mitchell - Ladies Of The Canyon: buy LP, Album, Gat at Discogs