Oakland's Vinyl Vault

I'm back! It is looking like I won't be sitting around doing nothing all day at my new job, and thus I will actually have to do posts here on my own free time. So, expect a drastic decline in the number of posts in the future. But the good news is that I enjoyed the first week at my new job. I'm still in that warm, fuzzy period where everything is new and exciting and it doesn't feel like work yet. I'm sure that will end pretty quickly, but I'm happy to be out of the legal profession, and doing something that I can envision myself having a future in. With that in mind, this week, to celebrate, the randomizer spit out an album that is a legit contender for best album of all time. The only difficult thing is that, well, it doesn't exactly have a name. Yes, it is Led Zeppelin's untitled masterpiece, most often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV.

Release date: November 8, 1971
Singles: Black Dog, Rock and Roll

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Ooh, what a lucky reader you are! This week, you get the self-titled debut album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer!

Release date: October 1970
Singles: Take a Pebble, Lucky Man

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Sometimes bands take a sharp left turn. This week, we take a look at one classic example of that, with the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

Release date:August 30, 1968
Singles: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, I am a Pilgrim

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Animals

Last week we recklessly dove into the mid-80s. This week, the randomizer has been much kinder to us. It's Pink Floyd's Animals.

Release date: January 23, 1977
Singles: (None)

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Reckless

Time to get back into the vinyl vault. This week, we look at one of the biggest album of the 1980s. Well, one of the biggest Canadian albums. It's Reckless, by Bryan Adams.

Release date: November 5, 1984
Singles: Run to You, Kids Wanna Rock, Somebody, Heaven, Summer of '69, One Night Love Affair, It's Only Love

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - After the Gold Rush

Important news update: the vault now contains over 200 albums! To commemorate this great achievement, let's go to our old friend, Neil Young, and After the Gold Rush.

Release date: August 31, 1970
Singles: Only Love Can Break Your Heart, When You Dance I Can Really Love, Oh Lonesome Me

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Songs For Beginners

Let's break out the vinyl for the first time in 2014. Since this is the first time going to the vault in the new year, let's take it slow. Something nice and easy, that novices can handle. Oh good, it's Songs For Beginners, by Graham Nash.

Release date: May 28, 1971
Singles: Chicago, Military Madness, I Used to be a King

Santa's Vinyl Vault

Ho ho ho, everybody! Today is a special edition of the vinyl vault! This being Christmas Eve and all, I've randomly selected one of the handful of Christmas albums I have to listen to. This year it's the most popular Christmas album of all-time, Elvis' Christmas album!

Release date: October 15, 1957 (RCA Camden reissue: November 1970)
Singles: Santa Claus is Back in Town, Blue Christmas, Mama Liked the Roses

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Rush

Work has finally gotten less busy, so it's time once again to reach into the vault. The randomizer once again spit out an appropriate album for the occasion: it's Rush, with their self-titled debut album.

Release date: March 1, 1974
Singles: Finding My Way, In the Mood

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Harvest

Hello again, friend. I've been at trial in Southern California for the past two weeks and haven't had any time to post (the courthouse doesn't have free wifi, which is total bullshit. What are my taxes even paying for?) Being away from home also means that I'm away from my records, so I haven't really listened to any in a while. Luckily, the randomizer spit out an album that I'm very familiar with, so I really didn't have to listen to it to review it (though of course I did). The Vinyl Vault returns with Neil Young's Harvest.

Release date: February 14, 1972
Singles: Heart of Gold, Old Man

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Against the Wind

"Just take those old records off the shelf/I'll sit and listen to them by myself." Wise words from this week's artist, Bob Seger. Crazy Pat's uncle's look-alike gets us going this week with Against The Wind.

Release Date: February 25, 1980
Singles: Fire Lake, Against The Wind, You'll Accomp'ny Me, The Horizontal Bop, Her Strut

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Brain Salad Surgery

It's time once again to reach into the vault. With the press of a button, the gears of the randomizer spin, and out pops Brain Salad Surgery, by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Release date: November 19, 1973
Singles: Jerusalem

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - This Is Johnny Cash

Hello again, gang! Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but it's been a crazy couple of weeks for me. Anyway, this time the randomizer has spit out a rare compilation album: it's This is Johnny Cash.

Release date: 1969
Singles: N/A

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Morrison Hotel

It's time to reach into the vault again! Today, we're going to book a room at the Morrison Hotel, by the Doors.

Release Date: February 9, 1970

Singles: You Make Me Real

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Quadrophenia

The randomizer's love of Simon & Garfunkel has been well documented, so it was no surprise that last time it spit out the pair's swan song, Bridge Over Troubled Water. But here's some insider information: the next album the randomizer had queued up was yet another Paul Simon work. When a situation like that arises, I usually go record shopping, so that I can reshuffle the deck (so that the new albums are not just at the end of the list) and avoid listening to back to back albums from the same artist. I did that. And now I can confirm with relative certainty: the randomizer is fucking with me. No, it's not Paul Simon. It's the Who. Again. With a rock opera. Again. It's Quadrophenia.

Release date: October 19, 1973
Singles: 5.15; Love, Reign O'er Me; The Real Me

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Bridge Over Troubled Water

The randomizer is at it again. Sometimes, you just have to give it what it wants. And what it wants this week: Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel.

Release date: January 26, 1970
Singles: The Boxer, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cecilia, El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Tommy

Today we head to the opera! Don't worry if you don't have any ornate, gilded binoculars-on-a-stick, because they won't be needed for this opera. You see, this is a rock opera. In fact, it is the first rock opera ever made! It's Tommy, by the Who.

Release date: May 23, 1969
Singles: Pinball Wizard; Go to the Mirror!; I'm Free; Christmas; See Me, Feel Me

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Deja Vu

Another week, another album. I'm now getting a sense for the randomizer's taste in music. It is decidedly in favor of folk rock. I've mentioned its preference for Simon and Garfunkel before, but I overlooked the other signs. The Band, Buffalo Springfield, CSN(Y), and Mumford and Sons have all had their turns despite their relative scarcity in the Vault. So it should be no surprise today, then, that the randomizer has gone into the Vault and returned with some familiar faces. Four, to be precise: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. It's Deja Vu, in more ways than one.

Release date: March 11, 1970
Singles: Woodstock, Teach Your Children, Our House, Carry On

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Sigh No More

The second week in a row where I actually publish something! We're on a roll, baby! But don't get too excited, it's still the same old shit. Anyway, this week the ol' randomizer spit out something you kids these days may actually have heard of: it's Sigh No More, by Mumford & Sons.

Release date: October 2, 2009
Singles: Little Lion Man, Winter Winds, The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - The Cars

It's time again to reach back into the vinyl vault! Today we take a break from Simon & Garfunkel, and hit the road with the debut, self-titled album from The Cars!

Release date: June 6, 1978
Singles: Just What I Needed, My Best Friend's Girl, Good Times Roll