HMV and Prog

Never found out of London  HMV or Virgin stores, particular good at stocking my sort of music - although surprised to find a Godspeed CD in the Leicester branch over the new year - as an expensively priced import. Instead learned that other stockists are around locally, who being less of a bureaucracy are more efficient  when you have to order much of this stuff, and usually cheaper.

Here in Loughborough a Virgin has just opened but some CDs are 6 quid (30 to 40%) more expensive than can be found the two local indies who have been here a long time - and when one of the indies also has a 2nd hand department, Virgin can be extremely expensive. So if I can't find it I might order it locally, but nowadays more likely order it cheaply from Amazon.UK or have a friend in the USA get it there - strip away the packaging - and ship it across, on a CD for CD exchange basis to avoid money moving through banks and across the Atlantic.

I dont even bother looking in HMV now, if its prog I'm after. Always buy on line.

The only Branches of HMV that have come up with the goods for me have been in New York, Toronto & London, and I'm not hauling my arse up to London every week to buy CD's!

Big branches of HMV in city centres can be surprisingly good for prog, especially during the sales. Over the last couple of years I've picked up remastered versions of all my favourite Tull albums for about a fiver each, and you'll usually find some of the better known Genesis and Yes albums as well (though rarely King Crimson for some reason). The big HMV in Oxford Street has a good selection of prog, and also has well stocked Jazz and World sections as well if that kind of thing floats your boat. If you're there, however, about 10 minutes walk away in Berwick Street (darkest Soho) there is Selectadisc, which is good for all manner of weirdness (they're the only central London stockists of Ruins that I know of, f'rinstance) and also often has some remakable bargains.

Regular high street branches are usually badly stocked, but can be worth checking. Chasrity shops are also worth checking out, but obviously they're very hit and miss. Happy hunting!

chopper wrote: I've recently started listening to Gentle Giant and I have an urge to pick up one of their CDs at the weekend. A quick rummage around 2 local branches of HMV and 1 of Virgin revealed an almost complete lack of Gentle Giant and other prog CDs - I found 1 . A quick check round other major prog bands showed a fair selection of Genesis, but most other bands such as Yes, Rush and ELP had only 2 or 3 CDs each, whereas HMV have a whole section on Metal featuring all sorts of bands I've never heard of. I know you can order them over the Web, but this doesn't beat rummaging through the racks in a shop. Is this a local Essex thing or is it more widespread?

In the West Edmonton Mall (the largest mall in the world) there is a massive two floor HMV with a very impressive selection of prog.  There are some bands which are missing or understocked (King Crimson, curiously enough), but for the most part they have a very good selection, especially of Zappa.