I gave my CD collection a haircut (long and rambling..)

[jasn]

My collection is once again filling up a rack I bought a few years ago, and I'm honestly getting tired of buying bigger ones and trying to manage this beast. (By standards around here I am sure it is puny at about 1000 titles). There's only so much room I can give it, and with DVD's butting in on the bottom shelves and the whole IPOD thing looming heavy over the industry, I have for the first time started to feel like I am no longer on a quest to grow this collection into an icon of my personality.

Well...that's a load of cr*p! I needed to do something! I had already peeled out my Jazz, Country, Classical and Holiday titles and parked them out of the way years ago. It occurred to me that I had to make room for new purchases by weeding out the chaff.

If I find an artist I like, I will usually try at least one more title from them. Many times I wind up with several titles, and many times again I realize that a lot of those earlier or later titles don't cut it and get much attention from me (think Gomez, for example, or some King's X).

So I dug into the rack and started pulling out the CDs that I am truly, truly not listening to. Even the ones that I have in there to impress friends with how "well-balanced" it is (like the Robert Johnson compilation I listened to once). I am also finally giving up on some bands that I know are heralded as great, but I just can't stand to try yet again to like (now think the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev). In all, I boxed about 100 titles, or 10% of the collection, and put it aside to see if I miss any of them. I am not planning to trade them, at least not yet. I've come to regret some of my past trades and know that you really don't get much in return anyway.

So now I have room to grow again, for another year or so anyway, but without the pain of buying another expensive rack. And, to make the point that prompted this whole post, I see the collection much better now. As I scan the rows to pick out the 20-30 CDs I take in the car, I'm not distracted by the clunkers. I'm seeing the gems stick out without being tainted by the failures of the same artist, and realize why I loved the good title(s) in the first place.

So, my ramble is over. Anybody else ever go through this? Is it a regular event for you? Is it heresy? And what is it that makes you like The Flaming Lips anyway?