I Bought a New Album on Compact Cassette...
and I'm digging it!
Ah, cassette tapes. Specifically compact cassette tapes. There is just something delightfully nostalgic about them. You see, while I hold that CDs are far superior in terms of sound quality and that music playback peaked with MP3 players, I still love tapes. I grew up with them in the early 90s. My first tapes I owned as a kid were What’s the Story Morning Glory by Oasis, Dookie by Green Day, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and History box set.
Compact cassettes have a long and storied history, even preceding their use as a medium for melodic musings. Their iconic two-spindle design has been a universal sign of retro and throwback designs for over two decades now. They harken back to a time when things seemed simpler.
However, when it comes to a listening experience, tapes do leave much to be desired. For one thing, have you ever tried to jump to a particular track? It’s such a pain — I mean, sure, some tape decks were “smart” enough to find the start of each song, but they were definitely the exception. They were also really fragile. Someone could damage the tape’s shell. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many times I had to use a pencil to wind a tape back up to avoid jamming, and then of course there was the possibility of your tape getting eaten by the tape deck itself!
Perhaps most notably, the nature of the magnetic tape the music was recorded to led to this constant “hiss” when you would play your tapes. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but if you’re coming from a world of lossless digital music or CD quality sound, it’s VERY noticeable. However, despite all of the negatives when it comes to cassette tapes, I still like them.
A New Album
Last year my wife and kids got me into this young artist named Forrest Frank. He’s part of this group of social media-driven musicians that seem to release a new track every few days and I thought it sounded really good! So in July of 2024, we caught wind that many of his songs were being compiled into an actual album and me — being the way I am — decided to see if he was selling it on CD, or if it was a digital only release. I was glad to see that he was offering it on CD, and it was only $5.00 USD, so I got it.
He was also selling it on vinyl which wasn’t all that surprising. However, what was surprising, was that I also spotted a copy of the album on cassette. Now it was three times the price of the CD, but come on… how many more chances am I going to have buy a brand new album on cassette? So I checked out, and two months (and multiple supply and shipping delays) later I received my order.
First Impressions
I was mildly disappointed in the packaging. Rather than coming in a nice clear plastic case, the tape was housed in a card stock sleeve. The print quality wasn’t great either. The image and text were blurry (on both the CD and tape cover art), but I’m pretty sure this was an independently produced project, so I’d definitely say there’s grace to be had.
The tape itself is also not like what I remember. The plastic looks and feels less premium (compared to some of the old tapes I still have laying around in boxes), and it was this bright orange shell which I actually kind of like. The tape is designed to look like an old mixtape with a handwriting-styled font for the title. While I understand the design choices that were made, I really wish the tracks for each side were printed on the shell itself… or at least a “Side A” and “Side B” indicator. I eventually ended up just writing A and B on either side with a marker to keep things straight.
I’m not trying to sound negative, though I know it probably sounds that way. I think it’s genuinely cool that the younger generations are embracing the tech of our youth and childhood. I like that they are appreciating the analog tech and aesthetic nostalgia of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Frankly these are more just observations than criticisms. But what really matters here, is how does it sound? Now, I’m no audiophile, but I think it sounds really good! Check it out for yourself with this video from the janky, stock, sound system of my 2004 Toyota Corolla.
Do I think we are going to get a revival of albums on cassette like we saw with vinyl over the last decade? No, probably not. Frankly, the way vinyl records — or even CDs — are produced are so vastly different that I just don’t see tapes as being financially viable these days. There is a reason why the CD was $5, and the tape was $15. The time alone that is required to record each album in real or near-real time at such a low volume for the people who would actually want audio tapes wouldn’t be worth trying to mass produce them. Still, I would love to see more artists release their work as limited run novelty tapes.
I’m still going to opt for a CD every time, but listening to music on tapes again has actually been kind of fun. I’m even planning to replace the belt on my old Walkman to get that working again. I’ve even thought about recording my own mixtapes once again to use with it. But even with all of that, I think that the era of tapes is over. Regardless, I think we can all admit this is a pretty cool find.
