Author: Mark Alexander

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My Latest Acquisition

Kind of disappointed with this one too. The seller rated the media as NM/NM+ (near mint, meaning it essentially plays and sounds like a new record). It most definitely is not. Of the two disk set, Disk One Side One is, indeed, nearly flawless. Disk One Side Two skips on one song (it’s not a piece of gunk on the disk; I already ran a fingernail to verify). Disk Two Side One is horrific pops and clicks from beginning to end. Disk Two Side Two is good until about halfway and then it’s as bad as the other side. I think that the seller either (a) did a visual inspection and didn’t see any scratches so decided it was all good, or (b) listened to only the first side and assumed the entire album was that same condition.

I’ve notified him of my concerns. He’s got a 100% satisfaction rating, so I’m  waiting to see what he has to say.

And yes, it came from overseas again, this time from the UK, so—like True Blue—it wasn’t cheap.

I haven’t heard this record in years, yet it was my go-to Elton John album when I was in high school (at least until Captain Fantastic came out). At the time the depth of the misogyny in most of Bernie Taupin’s lyrics here was unapparent because no one was “woke,” but now…oh my god, they scream off the vinyl and make half the songs on this record cringe-worthy at best and nearly unlistenable at worst.

UPDATE: The seller refunded the purchase price. Didn’t even ask that the record be returned.

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