I remember more vinyl in my youth that had no "b sides" like Led Zep's 1,2,3,4 Floyds Dark Side,Meddle and Wish You Were Here,ZZ Tops first 6+ Eliminator,Lynryrd Skynryds had no b sides on any releases,Robin Thrower Bridge Of Sighs,Sabbaths first,Alice Coopers Love It To Death,Killer and Bilion Dollar Babies,Aerosmith Self Titled,get Your Wings,Toy's In The Attic and Rocks,Blue Oyster Cults On Your Feet Or On Your Knees,Foreigners First,Fleetwood Mac Rumours,SRV has no b sides,Allman bros Eat A Peach,Live At The Filmore.AC/DC all the releases with Bon Scott and the first with replacement Brian Johnson.Jethro Tull Aqualung,I could name about 100 more that do not have b sides and have to admit i miss the feeling of having that new record in my hand and discovering the who ,what where and why that went along with these records as well as the art work.Sonics aside,i think the cd's them selves seem colder and lord knows i do not give them the love and attention i used to give my vinyl versions.SACD may be a worthy replacement for vinyl but nothing will ever replace alblum covers.
Album Sides
Indulge me this silly topic. Sonics aside, there are two things I lament about the decline of the LP as a source of music in my life. One is the loss of the physical album cover, which we could read (without magnification) and study and relate to, if you know what I mean. I rarely know the names of songs anymore on CDs, because I don't "hang" with the cover.
The other loss is the album side. With an LP, there are two "first songs," and two sequences of songs to suck you in. Song sequencing is a whole different challenge with a CD. Do you remember records where you would listen to one side all the time and even ignore the other side or sides? The CD experience is different.
There have been some remarkable album sides. Which do you love most? A few of mine: Abbey Road side 2, Blonde on Blonde side 2, Moondance side 1, Wheels of Fire side 3, American Beauty side 1 (side 2 also).