https://www.discogs.com/Gandalf-The-Universal-Play/release/718948
- Not a bad cover: check
- Should I put this on the wall maybe? Check
- Bought September 5 1987. Check
- Wow… black vinyl. Did I ever play this? Check
In 1987 I had a friend that worked for what was then CBS. Nothing fancy, he just worked for the logistics. In other words, he worked between the stacks of records, probably driving a forklift. Still, it gave me unlimited buying powerrrr!!!
Okay, it meant that I could buy one record every now and then, for 5 guilders, what is now around 2,5 euro. A bargain, sure. So I bought this record. I knew Gandalf already (oh my god, I’m prog-rocking again!!! Somebody stop me!), because of the name of course. I taped them before, from a record borrowed from my local library. Ah… tape, thank you Lou Ottens.
This record is not even that bad. Sure it is dated, but hey, who is not, coming from this time? And wow… it uses very slow fade outs. It is still an enjoyable recording. Don’t fall asleep Arjan!
Later CBS was acquired by Sony, and the location where my friend used to work was the main Sony record plant for western Europe. Now it is an Ikea shop. But at the back of that is still a record factory. If you buy vinyl nowadays, chances are it is pressed here. They have an awesome website that I can recommend if you like vinyl and are interested in what it takes to make them: https://www.recordindustry.com.