10 Rare Classic Rock Releases for Record Store Day 2012 You Must Have [VIDEO]

The Digital Generation has certainly taken hold with iTunes, Pandora, Slacker and the like, but many of us old dogs lament for the comforting clickity-pop sound of  well-listened to vinyl. It may come as a surprise to you that they still make 'records'... Actual vinyl LP's that are meant to be played on a turntable (clockwise only please) with a needle.

For an entire generation, the thought of getting up off your ass after only 6 or so songs to 'flip the disc' or more likely, pick a new album, is a completely foreign concept. In fact, even listening to more than ONE SONG in a row by ONE artist is a stretch.  But many young people have discovered what we already knew; that music on a well-pressed slab of vinyl can really change the sound, and, more importantly,  feel of the tunes.

I've asked my old cronies who still have thousands of albums, and the new collectors I know who happen to appreciate the past;  'What draws you so emotionally to the spinning black grooves?' The answer? The adjective overwhelmingly mentioned is; WARM. The music has a warm sound.  A warm feeling. It's also the consensus of the group that Jazz, Classical and most Art-Rock just sounds better in HD Digital, we're talking CD or DVD/Blu-Ray. MP3 is just too tinny for those forms. But, for good old Arena/Classic Rock, Punk/Alternative and Heavy Metal, vinyl brings a thickness and full quality to the bottom, meaning thicker sounding guitars, booming bass and thundering drums. Vocals seem more life like as well. That may be on account of the recording process of the time -  as analog tape captured that warm, live sound so well.

All this pontificating is not without it's ulterior motive: on Saturday April 21st it's Record Store Day all over the world. It's a day to celebrate, patronize and embrace this fading art-form we call LP/EP/45.  And I want you to go and experience it.

There was a day that you could frequent 5 or 6 record stores in a city the size of St. Cloud. But alas, Napster and later, Steve Jobs killed off most of them. Now only one true 'Record Store' remains in St. Cloud; The Electric Fetus. The Fetus reminds me of an ancient hangout in Mankato called 'The Lost Chord'. It was a record shop that did the same thing Fetus does now, sold records, new and used... and other stuff.

The Fetus not only sells the more popular CD format, but they also have a wide selection of vinyl. They are also a full fledged participant in Record Store Day. On Saturday, they'll be offering limited quantities of several RSD only releases.  We sent our Web Producer Abby down to the Fetus to talk to Record Store Day planner and vinyl buyer John Pederson, about the events, atmosphere and idea behind RSD.

Now there's over 400 total releases for this year, and many of them, while interesting, may not be enough to lure you in. Fortunately I have a PhD in Rockology, and I've been able to slim down the list to 10 must haves for this year. I've chosen them mostly because of their cool factor and because they rep my favorite genre: Classic Rock. They range from the uber-interesting concept of T. Rex reissuing the original album as a boxed set of 45's, to a spine-tingling 2nd collection of Who Quadrophenia demos to the very shiny distracting object that is the Metallica SILVER vinyl pressing of Beyond Magnetic.