I was going through my non-VGM music and started to think about “types” of releases - but not in the literal since (live, studio, compilation, single.) Rather those "personal" categories we all end up putting the albums in our collections into whether we know it or not. I thought this would be fun to dissect: here are a few of mine - good, bad and neutral (those filthy neutrals):

Bad:

The "I listened to it too much before buying it" album:
You either DL’ed the album or received a dub to check out the album before purchasing it but you can't stop listening to it even though you know you should. Ironically, when you purchase the real thing you're sick of it and don't want to have anything to do with it. The original gathers dust while the play count on your media player stays at 0. You question what the problem was and eventually you may sell it off - all you know is you screwed yourself.

The "something else that grabbed my attention was out at the same time" album:
Basically the same as above but you ignore what you see as a good album because something else has grabbed your attention for the time being. You may make an effort to go back and absorb it later but it's futile.

The "there are only a few good tracks but I want it anyway" album:
You know that you dislike 70% of what's on the album, but that 30% you do like is worth buying it for. When you put in on your HD or mp3 player you only keep the songs you like while the rest go in the recycle bin.

The "Loved it, now I'm sick of it, but can’t sell it because of a few classic songs” album:
A variation of the above, you liked the whole album to begin with but over time you realize 70% of the album is take or leave it filler while the remaining 30% is definitely worth keeping. You try to convince yourself the album is not worth keeping but you can't part with it out of fear you'll want to hear that solid 30% again at some point.

The "I had the money and I just had to spend/buy it" album:
That "ok" album you bought just because you had the money but never dig into... later you question your impulse and wish you had your money back.

The "if I listen to it enough and pound it into my brain I'll eventually like it" album:
Even though you know you don't like what is presented you think if you listen to it enough you'll have some kind of miraculous breakthrough and understand why you couldn't get into it before. Unfortunately, this never happens.

In the Middle:

The "every rose has its thorn" album:
An awesome album that has one horrifically bad song on it - and it's never the last song; thus you are prevented from listening to the whole album without using the skip forward button.

The "it's better when you pump it directly into your brain" album:
That album that just sounds better though headphones for some unknown reason - until you get a headache that is.

The "original is better" album:
That inevitable sequel to a band's breakthrough record that no one asked for or expected +10 yrs later. It could be bad or fair - all you know is that it makes you appreciate the original that much more.

The "I gotta get the import because it actually has an awesome bonus track this time" album:
Most of the time the bonus tracks on imports can be passed up because they're not worth the extra green. Every once in a while a track you just have appears and you can’t live without. Bad part is you're going to pay through the nose for it.

The "I was too impatient to wait for the domestic release" album:
You got the import because you couldn't wait for a domestic release. Once the domestic release comes out - and if those extras weren't too great - you'll wish you had waited even if the album is good.

The "full album? blah! give me the single with non-album material anyday" album:
When that single a band released to promote the upcoming album has more material you enjoy on it than the full album.

Good:

The "aged wine" album:
An old album that has really rough production values but in an odd way it adds to the overall experience.

The "its strength's lies in its deficiencies" album:
An album that you acknowledge is flawed but it hardly seems to matter as you'd swear under oath it's awesome even while others raise their eyebrows.

The "it grew on me" album:
That album you bought that was ok/good at first but it's not too soon before it takes over your frontal lobe.

The "can't believe I understood the concept without reading the liners" album:
That concept album you listen to and have an idea of what the band is trying to convey from the lyrics; however, once you read the story/liners you discover your interpretation was so close it's scary.

Can anyone think of any other personal categories?

I have:

"Beginning to End, No Problems...Pwesome A+++!!!! Cornerstone of my listening habits" (rare and coveted)

"Generally excellent songs with several mega-hits and I like the performers/sounds enough to even tolerate the average/bad ones" (basically the kind I try to build my listening habits around and find more of)

"Generally excellent, but a couple wretched songs that can be removed and the album is better off for it" (vast majority)

"Gut the filler and save the goodness" (nearly every lengthy OST I own...Different from the above because I expect to remove stuff ahead of time, whereas on the above, I expect every track to be good)

"Nothing special, but I like the style enough to keep it" (one of the first to go when I run low on iPod space, but many come to mind)

"....Different, but will grow on me because I like how it sounds and/or I can get used to it." (Thinking Pantera/Freezepop right about now)

"...Different, but it won't grow on me because I don't feel it's worth the effort to listen to and it's value is questionable even if I do get used to" (the kind of albums I try to phase out)

"1-2 good songs that'll end up in a single tracks directory, everything else is dogshit" (thankfully, not many)

"Dogshit" (self-explanatory)

There's also:

"Greatest Hits: The 'OMFG-MUST-GET-THE-REST!' type"
"Greatest Hits: The 'Eh, just this'll do fine' type"
"Greatest Hits: The 'Wasn't worth the $6.99 for the Greatest Hits Disc Itself' type"

The "I listened to it too much before buying it" album:

Impossible.

The "something else that grabbed my attention was out at the same time" album:

Annoying. Hello, Amazon Marketplace.

The "there are only a few good tracks but I want it anyway" album:

That's what eMusic.com is for, if they have it

The "Loved it, now I'm sick of it, but can’t sell it because of a few classic songs” album:

....eh, see above.

The "I had the money and I just had to spend/buy it" album:

I find things to enjoy....

The "if I listen to it enough and pound it into my brain I'll eventually like it" album:

Sometimes it works, sometimes not...

In the Middle:

The "every rose has its thorn" album:

Yeah -_-

The "it's better when you pump it directly into your brain" album:

Well I always use headphones, so....

The "original is better" album:

N/A?

The "I gotta get the import because it actually has an awesome bonus track this time" album:

N/A, except for Princess Mononke, that I can think of.

The "I was too impatient to wait for the domestic release" album:

Other way around, usually.

Good:

The "aged wine" album:

It's good to go back to favorites

The "its strength's lies in its deficiencies" album:

Eh....

The "it grew on me" album:

Yeah.

Others?  Hmmm.

I often have music where I just love the whole thing. And other times, theres a LOT of 'peaks' where a lot of it is somewhat 'meh' -- but as a whole, the meh actually ADDS to it.

-Joshua

Bingo.  I hate it when this happens!  It also doesn't help that most the music I want to buy comes from Norway or Sweden, so it seems like the downloads are going to happen way before the actual CD comes stateside.  Case in point:  Sybreed - Antares.  The CD will hopefully be here in January, but I've already listened to it several times over.  I'll still pick it up, but like you said, the play count will remain in the single digits.

Maybe it'll sound better coming out my car than the ipod.

The "there are only a few good tracks but I want it anyway" album:
I used to have a bunch of albums like this. Now the category is "there are only a few good tracks so I'm going to sell it and then put that money toward an album that is more consistent". Hence my abundance of sales.

The "I had the money and I just had to spend/buy it" album:
Oh yeah. Most of my early VGM purchases were like this. I bought some stuff because it had a cool cover, or because I wanted to get free shipping from GMO (which was stupid because I ended up spending *more* that way), or because it was just there and I purchased it impulsively. Needless to say, I've cut those types of purchases from my buying habits.

The "if I listen to it enough and pound it into my brain I'll eventually like it" album:
Gungrave O.S.T. After hours of forcing myself to listen to it, things clicked and now it's one of my favorite CDs. I think that goes for Imahori in general. I felt a twinge of the same when I picked up his two Gungrave anime CDs, but within a few hours I was totally psyched on them. Great stuff.

The "every rose has its thorn" album:
I have a couple of albums like that, namely Mr. Bones and Black Mages II. But, ironically enough, I warmed up to the awful vocals in "Skies Above" and the really bizarre "Icy Lake", so now they don't bother me anymore. I'd also say that the Rez Gamer's Guide has a couple; those two Oval tunes are nothing but white noise and ruin the flow of the album.

The "it's better when you pump it directly into your brain" album:
Silent Hill OST. No matter how many times I hear that album in the dark with headphones it still manages to surprise me and scare the bejeezus out of me when I don't expect it. Same goes for some of the early Shadow Hearts tunes - there's a lot of depth in the compositions that come out more clearly when heard through headphones. I find that it's easier to get familiar with new music through headphones as well.

The "original is better" album:
Katamari Damacy OST. 'Nuff said.

The "I gotta get the import because it actually has an awesome bonus track this time" album:
I imported the Silent Hill 3 OST for the "Rain of Brass Petals" remix, even though I had the full OST from the SH3 PS2 pack-in. That remix totally rules, too, so it was worth the $30 to import.

The "aged wine" album:
I'm not sure if synth sound can be called "production", but the FFVI OST's classic SNES sound adds to the experience. I don't think I would enjoy it as much if it had PSX-era synth. Same goes for the Akumajo Dracula Best 2 and FM Sound Module Maniax (even though that's a recent album release).

The "it grew on me" album:
I have a bunch of these. FFX PC, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ecco SOT, iFuturelist, Viewtiful Joe 2...

Helloween falls into this category for me... I bought the 2 disc Treasure Chest comp in 2002 but found there were many (too many to count) good songs not accounted for. When they re-released the first 8 albums w/all the bonuses in 2006 I completely pigged out. Seriously glad I waited and hadn't bought any of those albums prior.

Rhapsody (now "Rhapsody of Fire" due to a trademark dispute) falls in this category. The first two albums have only a few songs I wanted and they're on the Greatest Hits album. The only problem? I bought the limited edition digipak of the GH album with extras when the less expensive standard edition would have been fine (not to mention easier to store and maintain it's condition.)

I really botched this category up by being too specific... I was using "production" as an example of an album that has an element - be it a instrument or quality - that draws you to it or couldn't imagine/want it any other way.

Have to add:

"The Boxset" - What better way to decorate your room than with a bulky tribute to your favorite franchises, on top of quality (often remastered) music and extras. I don't own many (Rockman 1-6, Rockman X1-X6 and Motley Crue "Music to Crash Your Car To" Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), but there are a lot I wish they'd come out with or at least ones I don't have most of the individual albums for.

"Artist Variety Compilation" - There are some good ones out there and I'm pretty happy with the ones I have (the Vice City "Rock" one, Top Gun's Soundtrack, Best of Anime and the "World's Greatest Air Guitar Album"...And I guess Guitar Hero unintentionally doubles as one). As long as they introduce me to new stuff, I'm happy.

"Remastered Stuff!" - I need stuff to be recorded LOUD! Albums printed in the 80's and even the early 90's just lack that punch the more recent stuff does (there's no reason those early Metallica prints should be littering store shelves when they're begging for a quality remaster job) and I admit I'm much more likely to buy albums I like that have been remastered VS ones that haven't. I wish they'd start doing this seriously with more early VGM albums, where it's poor mixing on top of the volume issue...I boost the volume in iTunes by a little bit and I actually hear new instruments on some!

Ashley: Helloween's one of those bands...I know eventually I'll end up with all of their CD's, so I just try to pick stuff up from different points in their existence. "Keeper of the Seven Keys" (the track) was what got me interested in them, but my favorite album of theirs is "The Dark Ride" (which is totally unlike Keeper). Iron Maiden's the same way...I favor their earlier stuff, but I also like the later ones, so I own 3 from the classic Dickinson era and 2 from the recent progressive era (file "Dance of Death" with the ones that need to grow on you). I'll get 'em all eventually, so it won't matter six months from now. On the other hand...I can live with the two Van Hagar songs I like as mp3's and feel content with Van Halen's first six albums. ;p

As far as aged wine...I like game music that sounds "gamey". I gave up on a lot of the new stuff because it was stuff I didn't care about anyway (no nostalgia + no musical preference = WTF am I doing with this? OUT!), but the sound of older synthesizers and chiptunes sounds better nowadays than it did before, plus I'm more aware of it and its' uniqueness, so it's like gold right now. Even the soundtracks of that ilk I don't actively listen to, I'm much less likely to sell and will impulsively purchase just to have. And I've always grown up with 80's stuff, so it was the right time to give Poison, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, etc their due as opposed to just being radio fodder. Growing up with "Here I Go Again" or "Talk Dirty to Me" and actively listening to them are two different things. Thrash metal is like beating my head against the wall and feeling better the more I do it...Filed under "grower". And the European power metal and classic stuff (Priest/Maiden) is the best of both worlds.

Seriously, you don't know how glad it makes me to hear you say you like that album; I honestly get pissed when I read interviews where the band members say they don't like that album... sure the band almost imploded during the recording of that album (not like it's the first time things in Helloween EXPLODED) and after it two members left but I hate how they treat it like a dark horse - almost like it never happened.

If you like The Dark Ride check out "Deliver Us from Temptation" on the "If I Could Fly" single and "The Madness of the Crowds" from the Just a Little Sign single - those are two killer b-sides that are from the Dark Ride recording sessions.

I didn't know that, but it's not uncommon...Pantera had 4 indie albums out before "Cowboys from Hell" that they're not even trying to reprint and almost never acknowledge because of the new harder image/sound they took on afterwards. Quiet Riot hated Slade, yet ended up known because a producer wanted them to do "Cum On Feel the Noize". Guns'N Roses were always at odds (Slash considers the Sweet Child riff a complete accident and hates the song, no one but Axl wanted to do "November Rain", Axl didn't want to do the cover album, etc) Mitsuda feels embarrassed by Chrono Trigger because it's not as developed musically as his later works, but a lot of people think it's his best work (myself included). Kind of interesting when you ask the artists how they feel about their own works.

wow... I didn't know that, but it's funny you should mention that track as I was listening to the cassette single of it in my car - yeah, you heard right - "cassette single" with the original sleeve, lol with "Sweet Child of Mine" on the other side.

Artists tend to be the hardest on themselves in a certain respect... there were graphics pieces I did in school that I absolutely hated but everyone else said they loved, there were other pieces were I could tear apart what I did - this could have been better, should have done this instead - much to the surprise of everyone else, even professors that thought it was fine. Of course, I think any artist fears the day when they stop expecting more of themselves in pushing the envelope forward.

As for Chrono Trigger that is amazing... I think most composers would KILL to have such a wonderful score accredited to them. Still, I don't think music has to be that complex... in the case of CT I think what Mitsuda sees as undeveloped is acutally a example of simplicity being an asset more than a curse.

I'm guilty of importing CD's because of bonus tracks.  Such as,  I had to get the Japanese import of Dragonland's Holy War album because I wanted the bonus track "The Neverending Story" a cover song they did.  And it was worth it.

Now if I only new about the bonus tracks that came with their Japanese release of Starfall I would have gotten it instead of the original release.  Which I might do anyways later on down the road because it's such a stellar album.

Man, how could you not acknowledge something like this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pant … rmetal.PNG

Yeah, real tough, Phil.

They need to suck it up and be real men about it...Um, like this these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_What_ … Dragged_In

Worst thing about "Power Metal" is it's an excellent album.

Wagener, who mixed the record in five days, would later describe his involvement in the project as "one of the big mistakes of my life".

- LOL

I like these:

"Browde and sound engineer Michael Wagener found recording with Poison to be a difficult process. According to Browde, percussionist Rikki Rockett appeared unable to maintain a steady beat, while Michaels had difficulty in singing in key. Browde resorted to splicing multiple takes together in order to obtain a workable recording, resulting in what Wagener described as the "zebra tape"."

"The record's production would later fuel a public feud between the band and producer Ric Browde, who stated that Poison was a "triumph of image over substance" and that DeVille was the only member of the band who had any musical talent."

LOL, but...ouch.