I hope this hasn't been done but I thought it might be a worthwhile thread for those who want to investigate good music stores in case anyone here happens to be in the area. Independent and chain stors.

Hereford is hardly the greatest place regarding this sort of thing but nevertheless I will still mention what IS here:

The Dinosaw Market: Basically an odds and sods store, however tucked away in the corner there is an OK selection of vinyls, which has in the past included bands such as Raven, Hawkwind, Thin Lizzy, Diamond Head, Sham 69, Black Sabbath to name a few. If anyone visits this humble town then its worth a look.

Zavvi/Virgin: Why the name change, I don't know. The metal selection here is pretty shite but nevertheless you can find some stuff here as long as you're not trying to find something too obscure. I tend to go in there for Classic and Prog Rock.

Powerplay: Directly opposite Zavvi/Virgin with a slightly better selection of metal. Managed to find the new Revenge album in there once, but they have had stuff like Iron Fire, Iced Earth, Entombed, Darkthrone, you know, not overly obscure but better than Virgin at least!!!

Anyway please contribute your own. If you live in a large city, like London, maybe list record shops in your own area instead as I'm sure there are a tonne of them down there!

The HMV in Manchester has an excellent metal section.
It's the only metal section I've been to that stocks actual Motorhead albums, instead of most places which just sell greatest hits, live albums and The Ace of Spades.

Also, why the fuck do some metal sections have about 10 different slots for 1 band, but fill it up with just 1 album. Like the Iron Maiden sections are massive, but it's just full of "Eddie the Great".

Hell Raiser used to be awesome in Liverpool which was run by a couple. They closed down because my brother was shagging the girl that worked there, and her boyfriend found out. What a twat!

how about people put the name, address, rating (e,g 5/5) and a description of the shop so we can get a proper directory going

Haywards Heath

Name:St Catherine's Hospice: 26 The Broadway, Haywards Heath, RH16 3AL

Rating: 4/5

Description: Charity shop with a great selection of vinyl. A woman running the shop told me that they get the "first choice" of vinyls in the area. I have picked up LPs from the likes of Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Bulldozer, Yes, Lynyrd Skynyrd in there.

Zavvi/Virgin: Why the name change, I don't know. The metal selection here is pretty shite but nevertheless you can find some stuff here as long as you're not trying to find something too obscure. I tend to go in there for Classic and Prog Rock.

The name changed because Virgin sold the stores. I don't understand it to be honest... I can't see why someone as wealthy as Richard Branson would have to sell an entire chain of successful music shops.

MartinC wrote:

Zavvi/Virgin: Why the name change, I don't know. The metal selection here is pretty shite but nevertheless you can find some stuff here as long as you're not trying to find something too obscure. I tend to go in there for Classic and Prog Rock.

The name changed because Virgin sold the stores. I don't understand it to be honest... I can't see why someone as wealthy as Richard Branson would have to sell an entire chain of successful music shops.

Bah, that rich bastard probably did it as a bet. Normal people like us say stuff like, "I bet you a fiver that you won't shave your head".
Richard Branson says stuff like, "Hey, I bet you my Virgin Music Shops that I can throw this piece of paper in that bin from here"......"Fuck, I missed".

Rich twats!

Zavvi - Expensive, with fuck all.
HMV - Less expensive, but still expensive, with more, but still fuck all.

HMV - The Headrow, Leeds

Good selection of metal. What amuses me is they have about 20 copies of Morbid Angel's Blessed Are The Sick on the shelves for about 16 quid a copy, and everytime I go they don't seem to shift!

Hellraiser - Somewhere near Leeds Bus Station

I hardly venture into here unless it's for gig tickets, where they sell them for face value + 50p, which is good. CD's are a bit dear though

Personally I'd rather buy from HMV's web site unless CD's are cheap in-store

Branson sold Virgin to a couple of his senior directors of the chain to streamline his holdings. That's why very little has changed apart from the name, they just wanted to make it theirs.

As for the main chain stores, why pay £13 for a small selection when you can pay seven online (to a range of tens of thousands) and have it delivered? No commute, no parking fees, no petrol, no snotty person saying 'store credit only' if the CD is shit.

Vinyl exchange is great in Manchester for cheap second hand CD's (just outside Afleks Palace). You get good rates on your stuff to if you are buying more with the money to get off them. I'd prefer it if you didn't go there though as I want first dibbs!

There are loads of independant record stores knocking around too just up the road but they are often expensive and cliquey, to the point of me having an anxiety attack while im in there so I stay out. I'm just not cool enough.

I fucking hate going into a small used record shop and the guy behind the counter just looks at you and it so quiet....so quiet...

Oh yeah, and Music Box.

Second hand vinyls and CDs. I got a load of classic vinyls from there the other day, £1 a pop. Good stuff.

I fucking hate going into a small used record shop and the guy behind the counter just looks at you and it so quiet....so quiet...

THAT'S THE FUCKING ONE!!!!!111

Where you can either
A. Hear a pin drop and you feel his eyes burning your hair follicles as you browse, or
B. The music is so uber-cool, expensive and unique that only he has a copy, and righfully so because it's fucking shit.
C. Have an over-familiar assistant asking you what you're into then you freeze up, then blush and say something stupid like 'erm.... y' know, like, erm, Heavy Metal stuff'

Whenever I visit my friend in Cheshire we go to Music Mania in Hanley; it's not just a metal shop, but it never fails to produce a few unexpected second hand CDs, and I've always come away with 4 or 5; reasonably priced too at around a fiver each.

The website is occasionally worth a browse too, in the Second Hand >> Heavy Metal section: http://www.musicmaniauk.com/

They post within a day or two.

\m/Steve\m/ wrote:HMV - The Headrow, Leeds

Good selection of metal. What amuses me is they have about 20 copies of Morbid Angel's Blessed Are The Sick on the shelves for about 16 quid a copy, and everytime I go they don't seem to shift!

Hellraiser - Somewhere near Leeds Bus Station

I hardly venture into here unless it's for gig tickets, where they sell them for face value + 50p, which is good. CD's are a bit dear though

Personally I'd rather buy from HMV's web site unless CD's are cheap in-store

Crash Records isn't bad, you can get tickets over the counter, the actual CD selection is a bit mehhh though. Leeds HMV is ok, Manchester's, as Gorebastard said, shits on it.

Cool. Manchester shops are pretty handy to know as I go there every now and again due to having friends there. I remember Vinyl Exchange from when I was living round there and there was some good stuff.

Quite a few Northerners on this forum then it seems!

How about some more people giving the South a shout!!!