Of the metal issue...

No Motley Crue or Anthrax albums please. I might, MIGHT, allow one Metallica CD on the basis of youthful folly, and it would probably only be that black one.

Better if it's not there.

T-shirts are a different story, but only if they are obviously vintage recycle and completely cut up and reassembled with other fabrics (such as Harris Tweed).

mmm... Nice!

Jazz. To some a terrible, terrible word. To some, a big heap of shite. Yet, to some, soothing. The thinking man's classical music. I think the employment of the Miles Davis age coefficient is in order. To wit:

If one is under 20, no jazz may be possessed, not even on burned CD. One is allowed five jazz CDs (including Blue Note and Verve samplers, and also bossa nova, Hiroko) per decade beyond the teens they are in. i.e. 20-29=5 jazz CDs or less. 30-39=10 jazz CDs or less.

Can't you see the inherit sense? Can't you see that we wish to save you from unnecessary beret and goatee combinations? Can't you?

The "triphop" issue

No more than three Tricky albums. And I would prefer to see two. There isn't a need for more.

Same goes for Massive Attack. Choose the two you want and if you need more get burnt copies.

If there is Portishead and Massive Attack AND Tricky then the ratio should be about 2:1:2 or 2:2:1 unless you want a truly unsexy CD collection.

Back catalogues

I don't want to see too many back catalogues. For a time I violated this principle with Nick Drake, U2 and Beth Orton, but since the new U2 album I no longer have the back catalogue.

So it's safe to say that there should be no more than two full back catalogues in a CD collection. More than that suggests undue obsession, which just isn't attractive.

As per usual, burnt CDs don't count. If a full back catalogue is completed with a couple of burnt CDs, it is ok because it suggests a rather lackadaisical approach to the gathering of one band's albums. I bought the latest U2 CD in Vietnam; it was a dodgy copy so does not render my collection unattractive.

Much as I love Joni Mitchell, I don't want to see a full back catalogue. At least one CD from the 1980s should be missing. Anything from the 60s or 70s is ok, although Marc would argue that a person should have no more than four of her CDs, which I think is ridiculously limiting.

I can't remember what Hiroko thought about this matter.

Back catalogues of mid-nineties drum'n'bass producers are never ok. Never.

Greatest Hits CD ownership

Actually, there are get-out clauses with greatest hits compilations.

1. Alternative mixes only available on the compilation. e.g. Best of Bjork has the Fluke Single Remix version of Big Time Sensuality. Also...

2. Previously Unreleased Tracks. This is a pet peeve. e.g. on The Best of Bjork - It's In Our Hands. This is a pretence of value for money but makes the nigh on useless greatest hits CD an essential purchase for the avid fan.

3. Extra CD or DVD. This is actually *real* value for money e.g. Intergalactic Sonic 7"s by Ash has a B-sides/previously hard to find songs on its supplementary Cosmic Debris disc.
4. If It's Live. e.g. Portishead Live in NYC. This is essentially a best of.

This may spark a ton of comments on the blog. Please make sure that nobody else has passed similar comment or what have you.