Have you ever dug out an old album and found it was not as good as you remembered it?

Absolutely, simon.

Coincidentally, "News of the World" on vinyl is one I was disappointed with upon hearing for the first time on my Naim gear. Clarity, sure, but a bit dead in dynamics.

When we bought these, back in the day, we had bass/treble/loudness contours to compensate. The Naim gear just plays music as recorded.

Thats probably the case ith a large percentage of music, where your tastes as a teenager appear somewhat questionable when you achieve a More mature age !!

There are many albums i am niw replaying from my early years of purchasing that are absolutely cringeworthy

May I ask if it is the musical content or recording quality that you find cringeworthy?

I tend to find (as I've mentioned before) that the exposure of poor quality recordings is a bit of a menace to the enjoyment of music that I remember hearing in a particular way and I crave my old german radiogram.

 Sometimes  with 'hi-fi' , I feel the tail is wagging the dog .

I can't agree totally with comments regarding recording quality of old records. More often than not the recording quality was far superior to that of most recordings available today. I'm currently playing an original LP from 1968 (Brian Auger) and the SQ is superb. Now cringeworthy content, well that's another matter. 

For me its the music rather than the pressings, etc.

And to be honest, irs probably my bad taste in my youth, such as "the associates", blancmange, living on the ceiling, etc

Nuf said

I even bought a turntable to enjoy my old albums--- oh dear

Not a problem with which I was afflicted in my youth

Back in the late '80s and early '90s I was really into stuff like Front 242, Frontline Assembly etc.

Can't listen to it now. Bloody awful.

They've all gone on Discogs.

My music collection has grown with me and very few discs fall into the 'cringeworthy' category fortunately.

Which is nice.

G

I think its  a question of tastes changing as you get older,in some cases you have heard the same songs so many times they are not going to  keep you interested for long , there are exceptions of course but just walk through any shopping centre in December without wishing you were deaf.

 A case in point , In my youth i had a few U2 albums which i played constantly , recently found a copy of unforgettable fire on CD in a charity shop for £2.00 , i now know why unforgettable is in the title, pretentious tosh which will be going back, .

In the context of the OP, I can relate. But it's not a universal given. I have plenty of rough old stuff that now sounds rougher than ever, but more honest, tight and emotional. I've also got historically bland sounding stuff which has turned out to be more carefully and cleverly produced, arranged and played than I could have guessed. Then there's the stuff which was the meat in my music sandwich in the 60s, 70s and 80s which now sounds so compressed and distorted that I wonder how I ever put up with it. But that's OK, I can still play it in the car.

In terms of the music itself, we like what we like. Right up until we don't like it any more. And at some point we might like it again. Very little of my stuff going back to the 60s has been abandoned on shifting taste grounds, although I hear very little new stuff that I like nowadays, regardless of sound quality, which for the most part seems pretty awful. A lot of Rock and Pop stuff remains appealing in the context of its era. There are exceptions of course - from timeless to good grief! What was I thinking?! Not many of the latter for me though.

Do it all the time and thats why I sell them or give the discs away to friends.

Derek and the Dominos;Layla

that double album, in the new remastered version, was not at all as I remembered it.

Now it sounds like one album would have been enough,and the rumor of significant substance abuse during tracking ,is a proven fact, because of the  remastered version..

Maybe I HAVE TO FIND MY OLD CASSETTE TAPE with dolby b and the Teac deck I used,to do the music justice,(and one puff of Golden Leaf Columbian vintage 1978,,,?)

I still have "Tyrrany >For You<", last track Soul Manager still sounds menacing as hell. As for music in general I have a purge once or twice a year, keeping my collection to manageable proportions (can't stand bloat!) so my collection 'matures' with me. Interestingly I've just re-bought an album I jettisoned 10 years ago and am really loving it (Rush - Power Windows). Caress Of Steel has never left my collection, but it took me a few years to realise just how good it is!

The first proper album I bought, other than the Top of the Pops albums by cover bands, was the debut Black Sabbath album. Oh dear, I could never listen to it now. Fast forward to the 80s, and I loved The Passage. But now, it sounds, well, I won't be too dismissive of something I loved then. We move on, tastes change, and only the fittest survives. As in life, as in music. It would be wrong for a 50 year old to still like the Bay City Rollers.

Well - I don't know. Bye Bye Baby and Shang-A-Lang are pretty much classics 

Now if you had mentioned Gary Glitter I would have agreed - but for different reasons

Chris,

How do the Bay City Rollers stand the time against your collection of Steps and One Direction? 

Steve

Who are One Direction?

Why are One Direction would be more pertinent a question.

Best. Band. Ever.

So not - best banned forever then?

Sorry Chris, I mean't to put S Club 7 instead of One Direction. 

No way are they as good as Steps or Blazin' Squad.

I liked S Club 7 until I found out that Rachel was an Arsenal supporter - talk about no taste 

You are not alone in this.