Enjoyed every second of this! I often think about “what if”, I didn’t discover RU-vid, that RRSP might look a whole lot better, but it would of been a boring 5 years lol. I still go nuts with a few bands & that will not change, the rest I’ve slowly learn from my mistakes. Time is the biggest thing for me, I hate to “force listen” to music. Thanks again Alan 🤘
I have a few "Force listen" albums, Slayer-Christ Illusion is one of them. Every once in a while I force myself to listen to it in the hopes I'll hear something I didn't hear all the other times, and I never do. It's the same with Iron Maiden-Book of Souls and Testament-Brotherhood of the Snake.
@@anthonykeppler220 It probably does make it harder to like the album when you just feel obligated to give it another try even though you've never gotten into it
I’m not a completist by any means. Chameleon and Cold Lake are the only albums by those bands I don’t own and I’m fine with that. LOL Great video, as always.
Excellent topic, Alan. I never considered myself to be a completist, or even a collector, until 17 years ago when moving house. Multiple trips just for my CDs finally convinced me. Looking at certain albums asking why I even had them in my collection. Since then, I’ve noticed that my completist urge returns when I have more disposable income and, more recently, when I have the space. When you don’t have one or both of those, it really focuses your mind on quality over quantity.
Good point vault; limited space and money does keep collections under control. I've also noticed that I am more likely to 'impulse buy' when I find things at a record store or record show than when I'm shopping online. I would not look for certain titles online, but if the item is right in front of me in person, I'm more likely to buy it
@@letstalkmetal yeah, I would be the same if I saw a copy of something in a shop. The good/bad thing is that we have less and less bricks & mortar records stores here now. Just HMV and then a couple of 2nd hand, independent stores sadly
Nice video on an interesting issue. I know I commented already tonight but please forgive me, today is my Saturday and it's hard to call my old metalhead buds on Monday night and start a chat at 9:30 PM haha! I just wanted to say that completism comes up a lot in punk rock because so many bands have operated on such shoe-string budgets that they have to release songs piece meal in a slew of 7" e.p.'s and cassettes. As far as heavy metal, the only band that I have been a completist as far as albums go is Thin Lizzy. I did buy all of their albums because I just loved hearing their evolution as a band. Cheers!
Thanks for the info on punk completism, I didn't know how common it was in that scene. Thin Lizzy is a good example of a band that changed and improved over time so I can definitely see folks wanting to keep up with their catalog.
"Time" is a good point I don't hear people bring up. In the beginning I wanted to be a completist, but those days are long gone. Every band with longevity puts out a bad album. The one exception being Death, and if Chuck hadn't died, they probably would have eventually. I don't have the money to buy all the things I like, I'm not spending it on the things I don't.
DEATH is a good exception but you're right, the relatively short catalog (compared to Sabbath, Priest, etc etc) made it easier to avoid putting out a bad album.
This is such a wonderful video, and a really great point. I think about this a lot, and I’m with you on this one. I remember this coming to a head for me in the mid 90s with Dream Theater - as a younger me, I loved the first three records, even deciding to be a day of release buy band. For 3 more records. None of which I liked at all. Their fans loved them, and that’s cool. It wasn’t a formula for me. I’ve always have the first three, that’s all I need. It’s a good lesson for us all, and I think it’s very freeing as a fan to not feel burdened by things that don’t really matter to you.
Well said John! Same for me re: Dream Theater except I've never completely clicked w/ 'Awake'. That "6 am on a Sunday morning" snippet irks me to no end. And you're exactly right- it's nice not being burdened w/ the obligation to buy something jusst b/c it has a certain name on it.
An excellent discussion about completism. At the end of the day, our collections should represent music we love/like, not ticking boxes off on a checklist. Sometimes we lose sight of that. Great video Professor Steele!
Great topic Alan. I'm currently parting ways with 2/3's of my CD collection, selling them on Ebay due to financial issues. The 1/3 that I'm keeping is my NWOBHM collection which has taking me years to acquire from all over the world. And it's really where my musical passion lies. I have to admit that when it comes to NWOBHM even when it can be pretty bad, I can certainly be a completist. But for the life of me I still can't find NWOBHM Vol 7 and 9!!! Perhaps I never will but that is half the fun, lol!!
Good video Alan. I've always looked at collecting slightly differently than being a completist or a selectionist. Many collectors may not like admitting it, but collecting is a form of hoarding. And just like everything, there is a spectrum for collecting/hoarding. "Completing" your collection, which is impossible, satisfies that compulsion in the brain. And it always fades so you have to hit up Discogs again. But if you don't have a compulsion disorder, then people can compartmentalize their collections much better. Must be nice!!
That's a good point Matt that I didn't touch on. Some peoples' brains are wired in such a way that being completist about things is necessary; sort of beyond their control. Easy to think someone should stop hoarding but it's not a rational decision for some folks.
All great points Alan. I do think it’s not necessarily a completist thing vs non completist. I seen a ton of non completist collectors buy and own as much as me as a completist if not more. I might be over here buying 12 albums that are ones I’m missing to fill a catalog or different pressings of albums I already have but the collector next to me just bought 12 albums by 12 different bands and at the end of the day they are both 12. There are two kinds of music collectors. Band collectors and album collectors. One either leans more one way or the other. I guess I’m more of a band collector? But I’ll admit I have a bit of an obsessive compulsive personality. I like exploring artist’s entire body work. Not just their high points. If you are buying am average of even 10 to 12 or more cds/cassettes/or records a month regardless of what they are, you are an organized hoarder and have a problem, and yes, I have a problem. I’m not a completist with everything but yes, there bands I’m a fanatic on. I may have every Motörhead and MF/KD album but I’m good with just Amorphis’s first two and ep. It just depends. I do listen to a lot of band’s lesser catalogs. When I’m in the mood for Morbid Angel but I want a little variety? Time to put on Heretic or Kingdoms. To me there is no difference from owning all the Obituary discography or owning 15 different 20 Buck Spin albums. Me personally? Give me the Obituary. I have backed off a lot in the last few years…when it comes to new music. Im basically done buying new music by new bands. It’s too much to keep up on. It has to really wow me to grab it. Call me ridiculous but I’d rather buy something I haven’t heard from the past or buying a different edition on something I have that I really love. Useless Shelf space? Yes! But honestly all physical media is at this point. We could all get rid of our collections and stream. Between Spotify and youtube 85% of my collection is streamable. We are collectors. We want the physical. Marty’s dark side of collecting is a fabulous video on collecting in general and the curse of it.
Great take on the topic Neander. You're exactly right that many folks 'go wide' and buy albums by a ton of different bands, so they end up with a collection as big as (or probably bigger) than folks who stick to completing a certain number of bands' discographies. You're also right about the difficulty in keeping up. I forgot to make that point but there's always this tension where I'm pulled in three directions music-wise. First, I wanna play the old records I have and love. But I also want to check out old records I never got to hear before. And then there's interesting new stuff I want to check out too! My only conclusion is that I need more ears LOL
great topic... there are very few bands id want every release from, unless their catalog was very small... and im pk with never hearing run to the hills or number of the beast again... invaders and children of the damned were the scorchers on that album anyway... its gets tougher as time goes on, theres so much older music i still love and want to stay connected to, its hard to find time to discover newer bands.
First band I wanted to buy every single item they released was Crimson Glory. Manowar were earlier but stoped collecting their latest ones. Twisted Tower Dire and Skyclad also followed urging me in collecting everything. For the rest bands I buy all that I both like and can afford.
Good topic Alan! I know some completists, but for the most part, I’m not one with a few exceptions. Some bands I like so much I’ll buy anything they do in the studio- that doesn’t include live albums, definitely not singles. But there’s only a few of those bands. The way I see it is almost any band is capable of making crap and crap is crap. Why buy crap? Especially like you say, if you then gotta make time to listen to it.
I was a completist of certain bands, Obituary was one. I actually stopped collecting a few years ago, when I got Apple Music. Now, I just buy an occasional CD, stream everything else.
Happily, I've never been a completeist. After 45 years of collecting I still only have about 1500 albums between vinyl and cd's, but what I have is almost all stuff that I enjoy listening to, which is the only thing that matters to me.
That became my long-term approach: buy & keep the records I like. I don't think of records as investments or anything like that. If I like it, I'll do my best to get a copy of it, and I'll enjoy it whether it becomes rare and expensive or not.
@@letstalkmetal The only bands I can think of that I own virtually every studio album of are Black Sabbath, ELP, Satan, Armored Saint and....Metallica. Metallica are the only one that I question the logic of continuing to collect...ok, I don't actually own Re-load, and I'm ok with that.
@@Frank_nwobhm Everyone should be OK not owning Re-load. There are a few bands I have complete discographies of, and a couple that I tend to get everything by, but that's a topic for another video :)
I’ve tried to be complete with studio albums from a select few bands but that’s not being a true completist really. I recently completed collecting all the records depicted on the T. Kannibalet thrash speed crossover collage and that has taken me a few years 🤘
A great topic Alan and we're definitely on the same wavelength when it comes to collecting there is just no point clogging up valuable shelf space with stuff your not going to listen to a lot of holes in bands catalogues tends to be early or debut albums where they we're still finding their feet or had a different sound
Sometime I want to do a Metallurgy stream about bands who got better after their first few albums. 'The Demo Isn't Always Better' or something like that :)
I love chameleon 😁 I try to be a studio album completist when applicable , only if price allows . Usually I don’t get rid of stuff I don’t like because I’ve had countless albums that I’ve revisited years later and end up liking them a lot (including chameleon 😁) Time is very important, which is why I had to find a job I could listen to music and work to simultaneously 😂🤘
That's cool that you like Chameleon; it's just not the album for me. I have had to re-buy some albums over time. Some I got rid of before I gave them enough time, but others were sold when I needed to downsize and some cuts had to be made.
Ive got Blue Oyster Cult and Rainbows entire discography on vinyl and cd because i dig 'em . Not right into being a completist either big Al . Too much music and not enough time ..... that's why i don't delve too far into the newer bands , except for Ghost of course lol 👻 Rock on mate .
CHeers Rod! those are two pretty cool bands to have the whole discography for. I've picked up a few more BOC albums since Marty and I did the HM stream with Craig Zahler. Lots of good stuff on their 80s albums.
For me, there are some bands I'm a completionist for. I own just about everything from Blind Guardian, Death, Woods of Ypres, and Ghost, but most bands I just buy the physical albums of the studio albums I like. I've never really listened to live albums and aside from black metal and some more underground subgenres, demos are usually just worse versions of what is on the studio albums. I'll usually get EPs if they are worth the time but lots of EPs end of being songs that are included on the studio album, a selection of cover songs, or remixes and alternative versions.
Agreed; being completist means you can convince yourself that you have to buy some items that don't offer much in terms of music quality like certain EPs, really raw demos, etc.
This is a great discussion man. I’ve have a similar trajectory with my collecting. I used to want everything by every band I liked, but now adays it’s limited to a certain bunch of bands. I’ll buy all the sabbath, all the savatage, all the enslaved, all the summoning, all the agalloch, all the opeth, etc. but bands like megadeth and anthrax really opened my eyes. Why do I own anything past youthenasia? Or past persistence? i never liked it nor listened to it. So why own it? I have an 8’x8’ wall of CDs and still have limited space so it’s hard to justify keeping sub par albums. Especially cuz I can sell 4 records I don’t listen to to buy 1 expensive album. 🍻
Those mid-90s thrash albums can really test one's resolve when it comes to completing the collection! :) Selling stuff i didn't like to afford stuff I did like was often the only way I could afford to get the records I wanted, especially when I was in college.
Great video Alan , I agree with you on buy what you want , its your money BUT I i cant help but be baffled by someone owning albums they hate. Ive watched a number of RU-vidrs do the 10 albums they hate by favorite bands and are actually able to show them. But hey , have at it hoss , its your money. Im a huge Metallica fan , have been since 83. Was told St Anger was really good by a co worker, picked it up and hated it. The only Metallica cd that went to the pawn shop ( fan of the Loads though, sue me ha ) Love the Riot's Rhett Forrester years. Saw them open for Kiss in Knoxville Tn. Was stoked when i got there and saw them on the bill. I do like Fire Down Under even more though. Kiss is a band that i do have a couple of albums that i think are just ok ( Monster and Sonic Boom) they were given to me by a family member so its been hard to get rid of them. That said, they may also grow on me one day. They are the band that started it all for me I love Running Wild and like you , i own everything except the 2 you mentioned. I do really like their latest and so its in the collection I came very close to buying the Iron Maiden singles collection. The artwork is just so cool but i know i wont listen to them. Im just too lazy for singles. I had to remind myself of that as I was starting to buy them. A lot of money to spend on something that won't get played.
Thanks for the comment Wendy. I really like the other Rhett-era RIOT album, there's just something about Restless Breed that never clicks with me. I started collecting that Maiden singles set too but I only got a couple of them before deciding it wasn't a project to pursue :)
This is a neat topic. I have a lot of completed discographies in my collection and all of them have at least one stinker in them. But I put these together over time so I don’t feel like I wasted time and money. I also put a lot of them together from used bins.
I try my best to really digest and spend time with anything I buy, so sometimes I end up kinda liking those dog albums in a discography. Or at least finding aspects that are interesting
I love Chamaleon and Pink Bubbles and a few months ago I got 7 Sinners which I had it in the hunt for a long time and completed their discography ,except Unarmed which really sucks. Being completist for me I don't think is necessary anymore. Except for Iron Maiden. I'm missing last 3 Saxon albums. I'm not sure if that will be impeding for my Saxon collection or not. And I still don't have Destiny. I totally agree on your sports' team opinion. Some fans are just sick and their favorite team never do wrong. I like sports too but I prefer music over sports. If I see a game , I know it's 50/50. They can win or lose. But if I lose , it's pointless to get upset about it , that's the chance 50/50. While if I hear a bad album from any of my favorite bands , I still enjoy it.
so I try to trim the collection from time to time. This becomes its own form of anxiety though of what should stay and what should go. Some are obvious. Some like, say, the last Gamma Ray album which I recently got rid of, are a tougher call. It's a solid enough album but it doesn't do anything the previous albums (before To the Metal) do way better so screw it, it's gone.
Very good point Michael- it's very easy to hear stuff these days that you don't own. So if you just need to hear that particular song once in awhile, you don't really have to keep a physical copy of the album. And yeah, deciding what albums are not quite good enough to keep can be stressful. That last GR is a good example
I'm only a completist when it comes to North American hard rock/metal 45s. And that's not even for me personally but rather for my review project. It's for science, and for the good of mankind. Or so I try to tell myself. 🙂
Great Video & Topic Alan! I would not consider myself a completist except for one exception and that would be Death, thankfully they don't have a large discography but when you have to have all the different variants for each album it does tend to take up alot of shelf space, even picked up the live analog series albums( which are unlistenable) but they are in my collection, I guess that's the sick little monkey in me? Enjoyed Professor, Take Care
Thanks Overkill, glad you enjoyed the video! Something I noticed is that it seems to be a bit easier to be completist about some death and black metal bands b/c their discography isn't so long. DEATH is a good example. Those genres aren't as old as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, etc, and perhaps many of those 'extreme' bands don't stick around as long either. Hmm, might have to research that a bit for another video!
Maiden would be a really hard one to be completist about on any budget. There are so many singles, EPs, variants from other countries, live records, bootlegs, etc etc etc
I found myself nodding along throughout this video. The fact that there's a virtually unlimited amount of new music to explore and a limited amount of resources (both money and time) with which to enjoy them has compelled me to become less and less completist over time. I'm continuously working to whittle my physical collection down to what I consider the essentials at that point in time. Like, do I really need to have the 10th best album by some past-its prime legacy band in my collection, or the best album to date by a new band that still has a lot of road ahead of it, when both cost the same to buy? And frankly, if I have the disposable income, I'd much rather upgrade a cd of an album I love to vinyl (if it's available) than buy a lesser piece of music. The other big question that haunts all my purchasing decisions is, "Does this album give me a reason to keep coming back?" And as time goes on, that becomes more and more of a concern. Way too much stuff these days sounds nice on first listen, but on 2nd, 3rd and 4th go-around I realize that it's just not all that interesting. Those quintessential 6/10 albums are the ones I really try to avoid because they seem to comprise the bulk of what gets released these days.
I did that to my collection about 10-15 years ago. Let go of a lot of stuff that I just never played, wasn't in collectible condition, etc. And I have the same issue with newer releases. There are a lot of 'good' ones (grade of 'B' or yeah, 6-7 out of 10) but those tend to get put on the shelf and forgotten pretty quickly.... so how many of them do i need to hang onto?
It’s costly, and can be very stressful to be a completist. I found it to be more fun when narrowing it down to certain releases. I’ve also applied the same to my film collections.
'Stressful' is a good point. I know there were times when I used to try to be completist that something would come out and I felt obliged to buy it even though I didn't have the money or necessarily think the item was very interesting.
I was completionist mindset too when I was young. Became successful with it for smaller catalog bands like Fifth Angel, Kreyson, and Holy Soldier. Trying to do it with Carcass was way more daunting. Into adulthood with life kicking my ass, I just cared less and less about it, and it dwindled down to only caring about making sure I got Japanese pressings so that I don't miss out on bonus tracks, for the albums I really care about. Had OCD tendencies though when making sure that my Blind Guardian CD's from Battalions Of Fear thru Nightfall In Middle Earth were the Virgin Records pressings and not the Century Media licenses. Okay I was ALWAYS ALWAYS black sheep for liking Vanderbilt era Kamelot more than Khan era. Just really enjoyed the consistency of the songwriting on Eternity and Dominion more than anything that followed! For me Mark belongs in Kamelot and Roy belongs in Conception 🤣 For the aberration that it is, I really enjoy Chameleon for its dreary ambience/reverb that it has in its production. But I'm weird like that. 😆 Them sounding a little bit of a mix between House Of Lords and Blue Murder on a track like "I Don't Wanna Cry No More" made me think cool experimentation!. "Windmill" is so soft yet endearing because it gave a glimpse of Kiske's range and the tenderness he possesses underneath those power metal scorchers of yore. And "Giants" for me with its melancholy atmosphere, hooks, slower tempo, and his wails reaching to the heavens, sits alongside "Guardians" and "March Of Time" as one of my favorite Helloween tracks. I butted heads in a similar way with others when I liked Strange And Beautiful from Crimson Glory even though it deviated so much from their s/t and Transcendence, with its hard rock/AOR tendencies. 😁Same thing with me really loving the Insight album from Chroming Rose! I recall locating The Privilege Of Power in the bargain bin for $5.99. It just couldn't top Thundersteel for me, that record just carried the 80's Mad Max dystopian imagery in the mind's eye with Tony Moore's shrill vocals and just the perfect level of drench/reverb in the sound engineering. Its post-apocalyptic atmosphere was only rivaled by an album like Mental Reservation by Scanner!
I never heard 'Insight'. I had a couple of CHroming Rose albums (one was 'Louis XiV') but they're long gone :( 'Privilege of Power' has some weirdness to it, but it has some tracks that are worthy of the Thundersteel era. Few records top Thundersteel; it's probably one of my top 10 albums of all time. I never got into 'Strange & Beautiful' overall but I remember liking some of the songs from it. Maybe someday I'll revisit those first two Kamelot records. I just remember being pretty disappointed when I got one of them back in the mid 90s. Roy is one of my favorite vocalists; loved his work in both Conception and Kamelot. Great points, thanks for posting!
Not a completist at all. In fact I 've sold 'Gods of War' by Manowar a couple of months ago. Didn't like the album and saw no point in keeping it. Also, I think that completist attitude comes from pre-internet, pre-mp3 era. Back then, the only way to check out an album was buying it (or taping it from a friend's copy). If you wanted to revisit a song at a later date, you had to have it in your personal collection. Nowadays there's no need for that.
Very good point! We don't actually need physical copies in order to hear the music anymore, and that is a huge difference from just 15 years ago. I sold my copy of 'Gods of War' about a month after it came out LOL One of the most disappointing new releases i ever bought.
As a music collector in general I`m more of an album/EP/single collector than a "band" collector. It does happen with some bands that I consider are very collectable both from a musical and artistic point of view and I like collecting all sorts of pressings/editions etc (ie King Diamond/Mercyful Fate or Judas Priest as examples in the rock/metal world) and I like everything and no problem, everything has to be in my collection. With other bands that I just like a fraction of their catalogue musically, those albums will do, not interested in the rest, waste of space and energy. Cheers!
I get that, I have multiple copies of certain albums I love ('Death Penalty', 'Friends of Hell', 'Ample Destruction') and I have a soft spot for Mercyful Fate bootlegs featuring shows from the early 80s. But I don't collect everything by these bands.
Space to fill and lack of money are my two big issues. If I love a band I will go for everything and watching YT collection videos by people along with discovering Discogs reinforced this. There are a handful of bands that have that one studio album that I don't like so I'll get almost the entire discography for example Cannibal Corpse-Gore Obsessed or Judas Priest-Demolition. As far as live albums by bands I love, I'll go for everyone of them like with Slayer and Kreator. The fact Song X is on all five live albums doesn't discourage me. Good point about not calling someone a poser because you have two more CDs by this or that band than they have.
Space was a huge issue for me for a long time. I had to move about 20 times over a 20 year period in the 1990s-2010s, so dragging a big collection from apartment to apartment was a major issue. And money is always an issue for most of us. I only know 5-6 collectors who really don't have to worry about money.
There’s too many albums that I love that I don’t own so to waste time and money buying “hole fillers” is pointless for me. And yes you do need mercenary 😉
LOL I will give Mercenary another try since it's been so long and I didn't hate it. You make a really good point Devon about wanting to spend time with the albums you love (or at least checking out stuff you haven't heard yet) to spend a lot of resources on albums you just don't like.
If I find a cheap copy of Chameleon and send it to you as a VCLT, will we still be friends? 😃 Seriously, thanks for doing this video, I knew you would have a reasoned and well thought out opinion on this. For my absolute favorites I am happy being a completist. For example, Discogs says I have 147 Marillion releases and they only have 20 studio albums. I'm always excited for a new live record and I play them regularly. It's those "Obituary" type bands that I struggle with. I'm making progress, I finally quit buying Arch Enemy albums a few years ago and got rid of most that I had. I realized I was just acquiring them because I liked the first few so much. Maybe there is hope for this sick little monkey!
If you send me a copy of 'Chameleon' I am not responsible for the record that you receive in return :) And I think many people do drift away from completism over time as they realize, like you did, that for some bands they're just buying albums by a group they no longer care for. I get that some folks never give up on bands; I guess I'm just a fickle jerk LOL
That sounds like a good approach. Even if there's a band that we want to recommend to someone, there is probably a good album that works as a 'starting point' that we should name rather than saying 'check out the band'.
The only band i have every album from is Kiss. I've never been a completist. I love Priest maybe have half the catalog. Testament the first five are all i want to listen too. I have tried tje others. Meh just dont need or want them. Same with Metallica etc.
I didn't hate the new Metallica album but it's not worth buying for me- I would hardly ever play it. Things that stood out: the production is ultra-clean sounding, the drums are pretty loud in the mix, and Hammet's solos are energetic but rather basic and samey from song to song. Hope that helps.
