There are so many albums from before i could afford CDs that i keep meaning to pick up. One of the most recent was "Sweet Oblivion" from the Screaming Trees. And its pure quality. Released in 1992, and id heard a good bit of it around the time but never got around to picking it up. What with the Queens of the Stone Age and Mark Lanegan doing the rounds i decided to pick it up and it sounds suprisingly fresh.

Sweet Oblivion is such a terrific album. Everyone at my workplace has different taste in music, but whenever that album comes on the changer, *everyone* is singing along. Van Conner has a band now called Valis. http://www.valisnet.net They're really good and are going to be touring down the west coast of the US starting next week. As for finally buying albums I should've had ages ago, I just picked up a copy of the Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk...my brother had it when we were teens but I never got my own copy. Also recently got some Billy Bragg I've wanted forever, and Stoner Witch by the Melvins. Just saw the Melvins live, btw, w/Mudhoney opening, and it was an insane show.

Man there are loads of albums that I do not own have been meaning to buy, loads of really old ones, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, George Harrison, The Jam etc... I have had mates who have had these and I listened to recoreded them years ago but do mean to pick them up again Most recently I got an album by Alfie from about 3/4 years ago and it is soo good, defo pik it up.

an album that i've loved for years but only got around to buying when i was in london last week was the piper at the gates of dawn by pink floyd. its the 1st one, with syd barrett as frontman my god that guy is such a crazy genius!

A friend of mine who is old enough to actually have bought piper at the gates of dawn the when it came out (shes gonna kill me for this hehe) introduced me to some early syd barrett era Pink Floyd. I can't say that it changed my opinion of the Floyd. I'm still not a fan, but it definitely sounds different to 'stadium gig with light show and inflatable pig' band of later years.

yeah i'm not really a fan of pink floyd at all, dark side of the moon is the only one that i can really listen to (the odd time) syd barrett is the ultimate genius, however some of his solo stuff is not really that good at all, i think he must have been really f**ked up at that time piper at the gates of dawn was his time in the sun though!

I picked up Evil Empire by RATM recently. Excellent album pity they broke up. Meant to get it years ago and bought it on impulse while in a record store. Only €12 too - I love Zhivago...

Brain of G, €12 for Evil Empire by RATM?!?!? Ye were robbed. Completely. The average price that 'Evil Empire' has been sold on Ebay.co.uk during the last month is £3.50. Throw in about £2 post'n'packaging and you’re talking in and around €8 at current exchange rates. Since I have discovered eBay I have saved a fortune on music. I repeat: a fortune. I'd say I've bought over 50 CDs via EBay at an average price of 8 Euros each I guess, and that's including the shipping costs. And before you ask - I have not had a single problem with any of the transactions, the goods always arrived quickly. And in good nick. And I know there are many other regulars on this board who swear by eBay for satisfying their music needs. Here’s a few auctions ongoing on eBay for ‘Evil Empire’ to give you a flavour. http://tinyurl.com/2ku3r eoghan

Another good place to get music cheap is www.half.com, which is now owned by eBay. I use it more than anything. People sell stuff there similar to eBay, but they just name an asking price, you don't have to bother with the whole auction thing. (Not sure if there's a European option on it, though.)

I was listening to Piper at the gates of dawn the other night - some of it is great - i.e. Interstellar Overdrive, Astronomy Domine, the Gnome and Bike, that is if you can manage to suspend your cynical, critical faculties while listening to it and go along with the nursery rhyme nonsense of the lyrics - "his name was Grimble Gromble"! It is really a historical artefact that reflects the cultural mood of the time. Its often compared to Sgt. Peppers but I think its more subversive and arty then that so called "classic". At least you don't get Mc Cartney's horrible sentimentality as on She's leaving home and When i'm sixty four. On the subject of forgotten gems, I recently bought Heaven up here by Echo and the Bunnymen on remastered CD - a great discovery. Ian Mc Culloch's voice sounds great on it. Haven't a clue what the lyrics are about but as with Piper.... its all about the overall sound.

Echo and the Bunnymen are such a great band! I bought "Ocean Rain" a few months ago after hearing the song "Killing Moon" at the start of Donny Darko reminded me how great they are. I've really got to get around to buying "Porcupine" as well, "Back of Love" is such an incredible and intense song. I know this might sound a bit unpatriotic, but their 80s output easily kicks the arse of any U2 record with the exception of Achtung Baby or Zooropa.

What a great album - Screaming Trees, sweet oblivion. I lost that about 6 years ago, must buy it again. I've been into Tom Waits for a good while but only really listened to 'Closing time' and 'Blue Valentine'. Bought 'Heart of Sat night' last month - what an album! Lyrics, melodies... on every song are incredible... 'Maxwell eyes, marmalade thighs and scrambled yellow hair!'

I picked up a copy of "Exile on Main street" by the Stones recently and find it very hard to press the stop button....... Took me an awful long time to get around to buyin it, but it's my current favourite. Damn fine album and a long one too..

Thanks for the advice eoghan. I really need to get myself a credit card...

I always wanted to get White Zombie-La Sexorcisto Devil Music Volume 1 and now that i have i cant believe i wait all this time and ever since Lynn Strait died i needed to get all of the Snot albums(and tributes)

Just about anything by the Talking Heads. Picked up 'More Songs about Buildings and Food' last weekend, totally infectious melodies, thumping bass, and Mr Byrnes 'cat being choked' vocal...postmodern angst never sounded so danceable!

Couldn't agree more Thin Man, I went through phase about two years ago of buying Talking Heads albums, I have most of their albums but I still don't have "More Songs about Buildings and food" though. I really should get, its worth it for the title alone! There's never been a better time to get into them, with all the current interest in post punk. The amazing thing is these guys were essentially doing post punk in 1977, when the rest of the world was getting to grips with the whole punk thing. The Rapture may have got the indie kids dancing again, but Talking Heads were way ahead of the curve.

I'm sure you have a copy of it already, but there's a really interesting album David Byrne cut with Brian Eno in the couple of weeks that followed their work on 'Remain In Light'. It's called 'In the Bush of Ghosts', and it's clearly underpinned the work of David Holmes, Unkle etc, in a huge way. CUrious radio samples, African instrumentation, rambling street singers, all mishmashed together. Can't recommend it highly enough.

"My Life In The Bush of Ghosts". 77 is also stunning, as is Fear of Music. Pretty much all of the LPs to be honest, with possible exception of "Speaking In Tongues". And, of course, if you haven't seen "Stop Making Sense" do so immediately:it's by far the best concert movie I've ever seen.