Top 10 sellers of 2008--on vinyl

From Nielsen Soundscan by way of the LA Weekly and Rolling Stone, here are the top 10 vinyl sellers in 2008. I've added the years they were originally released, and what I imagine was going through the mind of vinylphiles when they bought it.

I haven't seen that poster since high school.

10. Radiohead, OK Computer, 1997. Great production, trippy artwork looks great under the lava lamp.
9. Metallica, Death Magnetic, 2008. Maybe the vinyl version won't be overcompressed to death.
8. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes, 2008. Pitchfork likes it, it must be good.
7. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, 1973. Remember those posters?
6. Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, 1998. With the LP, I can pretend I was hip to this record when it originally came out.
5. Portishead, Third, 2008. See number 8.
4. B-52s, Funplex, 2008. Remember that all-night dance party we had back in '82?
3. Guns 'n' Roses, Chinese Democracy, 2008. This will be a collectors' item someday.
2. The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969. Now I can replace the copy my daughter stole when she went off to college.
1. Radiohead, In Rainbows, 2008. I feel kind of guilty about paying one cent for the download.

Overall, vinyl accounted for a whopping 0.1 of all music sales last year! How long before preloaded microSD cards surpass vinyl to become the third-most-popular music format?

[kcotham]

Vinyl still has a warmer sound. It is very good at reproducing crisp attacks too. It'll be a sad day when this format finally dies. Analog is organic.

[blablabla2009]

Is that 0.1 percent total volume? I don't know how they tap into the figures for stores on corners of places like Urbana or Olympia, but I guess what they say about statistics are true. I won't argue with the selection offered by places like iTunes, but what I will argue with is their price. I can buy entire albums for the price of a few songs on the web AND get intrinsic value, like album artwork for my pad. I don't walk around with a record player like I do with an mp3 player, but I also haven't had to buy four in the past six years.

[ark_v2]

I personally prefer CDs. Vinyls do sound warmer but there are some humps and small distortions every once in a while. A lot of people say it's pleasing; well..not for me :P

[Notoapplefanbois]

Can't wait for Uncompressed audio on Blu-Ray! :p

[piquenique]

Vinyl is the BEST way to hear music. I love that you made a 2008 hot list...