I have that on cassette in a box somewhere at home, had it on vinyl twice and on CD in Japanese import due to it not being available in the UK at the time, on UK release at mid price, on UK release in remastered form and in a CD boxset of the entire Jam's output. 7 times I've bought that album!!!

Vinyl x 2 (1st one worn out), CD, US import CD with "Elephant Stone" slotted in at track 3, US import CD with Fools Gold tacked to the end and Elephant Stone slotted as before and the bumper bolts and braces re-issue from 2010. I also have the cassette copy too but that was purchased by the FPO before we got together. 6 purchased by myself and 1 by the FPO.

God I'm a sucker.

Have 3 versions of The Holy Bible and London Calling too thanks to Columbia's enticing/money grabbing re-issue programmes.

...Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

The original vinyl. The cassette version for the car. The gatefold vinyl reissue with bonus tracks. The Rykodisc CD reissue with bonus tracks. The 30th anniversary 2-CD reissue with bonus tracks.

I think that's five. Also four versions of the other Bowie studio albums from Space Oddity through to Diamond Dogs, and three of each from Young Americans to Scary Monsters.

Cassette, vinyl,vinyl copy for girlfriend, who became wife and brought it back with her, CD, remastered CD, SACD and new "Experience" remaster and live package last year. - 7 so far, but still a favorite.

Todd Rundgren:
2 vinyl (1 UK, 1 US), 4 CD (original Castle UK, Rhino US, Japanese replica LP cover, new Edsel UK edition) + USB memory stick of the live gig in Hammersmith in 2010. I think it's fair to say I like the record!

I think the most I have is three:-

The Beatles - The Beatles (Stereo CD; mono LP; mono CD)

De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising (LP; CD; 2CD)

Suede - Suede (UK CD; Japanese CD; 2CD+DVD)

Suede - A New Morning (CD; CD with slipcase(!); 2CD+DVD)

I'm really not that bad compared to you obsessional nutjobs ;-)

I was guilty of this is a big way. I had multiple copies of most of the Zappa albums for example, the worst (or best) example being Hot Rats.

At one point it reached eight different vinyl copies and four versions of the CD. Oh, and the cassette you see on the "Send us your cassette pictures" thread.

That's 13 copies of the same album.

I'm now down to two copies of the LP and one CD. And a cassette. That's some kind of improvement, isn't it doctor?

Five vinyl copies of Revolver (original mono, later mono, another later mono, orignal stereo, later stereo) and two CDs.

I have six vinyl copies of the first Ramones lp. (If I try really hard I can explain how they all sound subtly different.) And two on CD.

And I just counted five copies of Blonde on Blonde.

Oh dear.

For some reason, I appear to have four vinyl copies of Elvis Costello's Armed Forces. One copy is a completely bog standard Radar issue, one has no outer cover, one copy has the fancy fold-out cover, and another copy is the US issue on Columbia with a different cover altogether. I can't remember there being any sort of pattern at all to this acquisition – it just happened, probably because I saw them cheap and/or I'd forgotten that I already had a copy or two (or three) at home.

Curiously, I also appear to have two identical copies of Get Happy. That's a bit of a mystery too.

by Love. Got the cheap reissue vinyl edition from the 80s, original CD, remastered with bonus tracks CD, the concert DVD and the double CD live edition.
As for the Smiths 1st album ... original UK vinyl, Australian vinyl, Polish vinyl (was on holiday there a few years back, it was cheap - couldn't leave it there!), the Troy Tate mix bootleg vinyl and the recently remastered CD.
This feels more like a self help session than it should :)

..did my wife start this thread? - 'How many copies of this do you actually PLAY/NEED?' comes up quite often.

Probably worst/best example is Pet Sounds - Original LP, first CD re-issue, DVD-Audio, Box Set (which, I think, has 4 versions - stereo, mono, Backing Only, Vocals only), second CD re-issue (with mono/stereo.

Off the top of my head, others would include several Beatles serial offenders....
Sgt. Pepper - (Original Mono - yes, 1967 copy with all the inserts etc), Stereo copy bought in the 70's, 1987 Stereo CD, 2009 Stereo CD, 2009 Mono CD.
Magical Mystery Tour - original 1967 Mono EPs, Stereo US LP, Stereo EPs in EP box set, 1987 Stereo CD, 2009 Stereo CD, 2009 Mono CD....and VHS tape, but not sure that counts!?

As above - Forever Changes too! Stereo LP, 2 x CD versions, Live CD, Live DVD.

Have EoMS on
Original Vinyl
Cassette
2 x original CD (first copy was perminantly borrowed by person or persons unknown).
Remaster 2-disk set 2010.

I alas am not in league with above posters.

Also have Donald Fagen Nightfly
on Vinyl, cassette and CD + remaster on digital.

Oh dear.
Pick any of them:
Blonde on Blonde: original LP (2 copies, different photos on the inner sleeves); original CD release (with faded "Sad Eyed Lady"; later CD release (full length "SAL"); some sort of gold plated, luxury issue CD; the SACD reissue CD; the mono reissue CD; er, that's it: running total: 7.
Repeat for pretty much all the rest of his stuff.
Then we can move on to Elvis Costello's massed armies of reissues...

of My Aim Is True

Original LP
re-issue of lp in box with booklet
1st cd issue
extended cd issue
Deluxe cd issue (with extra disc)

80s vinyl version
1990 CD
LP from the double with Carl and the Passions (1970s)
Mono CD version (from box set)
Remixed Stereo CD version (from box set)
DVD Audio version
Green vinyl mono re-release
Yellow vinyl stereo re-release
Gold CD
Brian Wilson live CD
Brian Wilson live DVD

Oh dear.

It's a good album though!

I have multiple copies of dozens and dozens of albums, dating right back to a time where I would buy a vinyl copy on day of release and a cassette copy in the sale a bit later, for walkman use.

Lots of Manics and R.E.M. over again. Pulp and Placebo. Mansun. All the Suede albums, including the first four on vinyl and the first three on cassette. At least five copies of "Head Music", one of which is a MiniDisc. At least three copies of each of the first eight Ultravox albums, up to a whacking *ten* copies of "Rage In Eden".

I need help.

D x

I still own 3 copies of Only Forever

I absolutely love this album & whilst on holiday in Devon years ago I saw about 20 copies in a local CD shop for 50p each!! I got 12 of them & then dished them out amongst friends who I thought might enjoy it. I'm happy to say that most of them were in agreement so it was well worth the funny looks from the guy in the shop!

I also have a lot of James albums 2 or 3 times over - they are buggers for fleecing fans with remastered & added bonus track versions!

plus 2 copies on CD, just in case, like

As I'm a bit of a Duffy completist, I have numerous versions of a few of his albums.

I have 6 versions of Paradise Circus, 5 of Astronauts and 5 different CD versions of I Love My Friends, but the winner is The Lilac Time's self-titled debut - 8 versions (Swordfish LP, Swordfish white label test pressing, Fontana LP, Fontana cassette, Swordfish CD, Fontana CD, reissue CD, reissue promo CD).

If we're talking singles, I have 17 different versions of Kiss Me by Duffy.

buying multiple Joni Mitchell albums.

On my way round the world in 1988/9, I taped Hejira off friends in Boston, fell for it, found a pre-recorded 'twofer' cassette backed with Hissing of Summer Lawns in Melbourne. It nailed every emotion of 18 months of travel. So I bought the vinyl when I got home. CD purchase inevitably followed. So that's four.

Which isn't as many as for Apple Venus
I have the original. I have the demos entitled 'Homespun'. But better still, I have Instruvenus, the instrumental version, which means I can karaoke my heart out to one of my favourite albums in the comfort of my own home. But that's only three. Ah, but I always have copies 'in stock' ready to thrust into visitor's hands. I proselytise about this album, you see. I have given it as a present to so many friends. If ever I see it going cheap, I snap it up for the next evangelical XTC opportunity.

...of this for a number of turns.

Bowie - several copies of each, especially of the 70s output: RCA vinyl, RCA CD, Ryko CD, EMI CD, some with multiples of each.

Kraftwerk - preposterous number of copies of each, especially of foreign editions, often with differences to the artwork. Favourite is a Mexican edition of Autobahn, the only version ever issued in gatefold vinyl. The photo on the inside - of a motorway! - was never used anywhere else. Then there's the 2004 remasters that didn't appear commercially until 2009, except in a promo box set (four copies of that) and an awful lot of foreign 7"s and 12"s.

Zappa - daft numbers of Zappa output, trying to pull together each of the legitimate US and UK editions of LP and CD on multiple labels.

Six copies.

Vinyl twice, second one to replace a very well played first copy.
Cassette to get the Carnage Visors soundtrack.
CD when I decided it would be a good idea to replace my vinyl with cds. Not my best idea.
Deluxe cd edition when it came out.
Deluxe cd edition again, shortly after it came out. Late night online purchase. Alcohol related, forgot I already had it.

Original vinyl bought in 1966
Re-issue twofer (with Carl & Passions - So Tough)
CD
Pet Sounds Sessions Box Set
T-Shirt bought at RFH gig (sat there throughout with tears in my eyes)

Classic! All-time favourite.

...probably doesn't count - only the sleeves are different - but nonetheless I have 17 variants of that (you can see some of them in the Barney Bubbles book).

And i have several versions of Pink Floyd's 'The Division Bell', all with different pictures of the sculptures on the front:
- vinyl LP
- European CD
- US CD
- Cassette
- MiniDisc
(Can't wait for the 'Division Bell - Immersion Box Set'...)

In various versions:
Blue Label (12 Track Version, Blank Rear Sleeve)
Blue Label (12 Track Version with Tracks on Rear Sleeve)
Blue Label (11 Track Version + One Sided Single (Submission))
Green & Red Labels (11 Tracks on Rear, including "Liar" printed twice & "Belsen Was A Gas)
Green & Red Labels - OVED Mid Price Re-Issue
Pink Vinyl Version (from 1998 (I think?))
Single CD
Double CD (NMTB plus Spunk/This Is Crap)

8 Versions

According to http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/pistols_news.html,
there are 16 Vinyl variants - a bit more searching, and I will hopefully accumulate the lot

Top That!

Long forgotten Terry Hall album, bought a box of them at an auction in Amersham for a pound!

I hope someone is keeping score...

I think extra points should be awarded for obscure formats... ( mini-disc ! )

It doesn't appear that anyone has been ill enough to add downloading Mp3 formats to their vinyl, cassettes and Cd versions.... or have they ?

Cassette
US Cassette
Vinyl
CD
Reissue 2CD
Picture Disc

Not entirely sure I should be admitting this, but I have 5 copies of FGTH's moment in the sun in a variety of formats:

Cassette (purchased on day of release - I rushed out during the school lunch-hour)
Vinyl (when I bought a turntable about a year later)
Vinyl - Picture Disc (never played, but I couldn't resist it)
CD
CD - re-issued / expanded version (released last year)

Well, I feel better for having got that off my chest...

Original 60s reel to reel
Original 60s mono vinyl
70's stereo vinyl
Cassette
1980's CD
2nd 1980's CD contained in 'breadbox' set
Mono remaster
Stereo remaster
... and a rug.

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/once-again-the-massive-we-need-you

Delighted to see this one has taken off. I'd just like to make a last call for submissions on this thread and, as requested, I'll tally up the final score.

The Specials -Specials
white label version-sent to New York radio station (5 dollars in a Junk shop.) with Letter attached .
Original vinyl UK edition -blagged from rep in a record shop a week before its release.
2 US vinyl versions -one Has long version of "Too much too young" the other has much shorter version
Australian Vinyl-different running order
Cassette
CD
Enhanced Digitally remastered CD
grand total
8
p.s make that 9
forgot
Japanese Vinyl

2 copies of original release
Reissue from 2000 on vinyl and CD
Remaster on vinyl 2011

As the Discovery boxset was £56 on Amazon yesterday (and has now gone up again) there will be another copy to open on my birthday.

Seven copies of Cream's 1967 psych/blues/rock classic Disraeli Gears.

Four copies of the original LP, plus the Japanese card sleeve CD, the Deluxe Edition 2CD and the Cream Box Set, which contains the full album again.

Hang on, that's only six. Where's the fourth LP? We can only see three in that picture.

Oh yeah, it's here. In a frame. On the wall.

You rock fans are as nothing compared with classical obsessives. There are people who have 60+ recordings of Beethoven's Eroica, and they really can't be all that different... (I have only seven).

I have 5 of Wagner's Ring, but that doesn't even make me a Wagnerian. I have more than 20 of Terry Riley's In C, but since that is almost infinitely flexible, they are all very different.

Three examples.
"Never Mind The Bollocks.."
UK blue label, blank back sleeve
UK blue label
UK pic disc
UK pink vinyl 21st anniversary edition
Uk 30th anniversary edition with 7" and poster
Original Spanish ("virgins" label)
French with blank back
German second pressing
US edition with pink cover and "submission" sticker
Canadian edition with pink cover
Russian edition (has to be seen to be believed)

"The Smiths"
UK first press with thin inner and sticker on sleeve)
Signed copy of the above (Morrissey only)
UK later edition with firmer inner cover
German promo on multi coloured vinyl
French Virgin copy
Spanish copy
Polish copy
Japanese first pressing with interview flexi disc
Rhino 2008 180 gram version
Rhino 2011 copy in new complete box set (CD and vinyl)
(i could compile a similar list for all Smiths releases)

"Welcome To The Pleasuredome"
UK original with uncensored inner cover x2
UK second pressing with censored inner covers x2
UK picture disc
US original copy
Spanish original with sleevenotes in Castillian
Japanese first pressing with stickers, inserts et al
UK deluxe edition CD 2010

I told you i was ill.

... I don't have any copies of any Silver Seas album.

Mrs Newbos says that I buy them from theysawyoucoming.com

Vinyl
Original CD
Virgin CD in mini album replica in lovely box from Vinyl Experience (remember them? Great shop)
Another copy of the same CD
Recent super deluxe box set (CD and vinyl included)
Yet another CD copy in a bonzer Japanese box set with all their albums from Sticky Fingers onwards
.....and an eight track copy, that I can't play.

That's eight. Oh dear.

Seven copies of Bob's 1962 debut album.

You really need two copies of the CD because, strangely, one of them uses a different cover picture taken at the same photo session. No, I don't know why, either. If something like this happened to a Beatles' album, no doubt there would be questions asked in Parliament.

I have failed to learn from the past and so am doomed to endlessly reprise a distant moment in my adolescence with repeated purchases of L.A. Woman - the last decent record by The Doors.

The acquisition of this album has become so ingrained in my muscle memory that if I ever father children they too will find themselves biologically compelled to seek out tweaked and repackaged versions Jim Morrison’s swansong, which includes such cast iron classics as The Wasp and L’America.

One day the human race will be wiped out by a terrible plague or a huge asteroid will strike the earth exterminating all sentient life. The only thing left will be 1000s of copies of L.A. Woman. Upon finding several in one place, alien archaeologists will speculate that they were used as a form of currency.

I left my first cassette copy of L.A. Woman on the dashboard of my car where the sun warped the plastic casing, freeing the spools from their fixed positions. I was thrilled that a Doors album could mutate into a piece modern art and displayed the mangled album prominently in my room as a symbol of The Doors' superiority over all other bands. Also, because it would no longer fit inside my cassette player, I was forced to buy another copy on tape. About a year later I gave up on the format altogether and purchased the album on CD.

A CD box set of the first six albums Doors followed. As with many of The Doors reissues, an air of unintended farce surrounded the project. An unfortunate design flaw meant that the replica vinyl sleeves were a very snug fit. I found the only way to remove a disc was to wrap a doubled-over piece of kitchen towel around the edge and then carefully pull it out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers, in the same way that one might delicately extract a bullet from an artery.

A better designed digi-pack version of the L.A. Woman appeared a few years later. Some love and care had gone into this; the yellow television screen on the front cover was made from tinted Perspex and it was a beautiful object. Finally, I had a decent copy of the original album in some nice packaging.

This is where a sensible person would have stopped. However, it is questionable whether the term “sensible” can be applied to fan of a band whose lead singer can deliver lines such as “mute nostril agony,” “smug with semen” with no trace of irony, while keeping a straight face.

A few years ago, radical new mixes of the Doors’ albums made their way onto the racks of record shops across the UK. My local HMV, being cognisant of the value of such things, immediately began selling them off at £6 a piece. These so-called 40th Anniversary reissues were released with the blessings of the three surviving Doors, however the project bore the overbearing hallmarks of their keyboard player - Ray Manzarek - the meddling George Lucas figure in the group; a man endlessly tinkering with the music he had created in his youth. I dismissed the addition of new verses and instrumental passages, previously left on the cutting room floor, as the actions of old men second-guessing the artistic decisions they had made in the moment, when all four members of the band were still alive. That said I still bought the lot, there-by endorsing this pointless revisionism with cold hard cash.

Last year, on my birthday, a well-meaning relative, unaware that they were enabling a long-term mental illness, presented me with a slender box containing the first six Doors albums. This of course included L.A. Woman in it’s 40th anniversary incarnation, minus the tagged-on bonus tracks.

Finally, last Monday, despite my reservations, and because nobody loves me enough to stage an intervention, I again purchased the 40th anniversary edition of L.A. woman as a double disc set. A silver sticker on the front arbitrarily pronounced 2011-2012 to be “the year of the Doors,” even though that is technically two years. The selling point of this utterly superfluous reissue is an unreleased track - one of those by the numbers blues songs that must have cluttered band rehearsals, and which they seem to be able to dredge up at will whenever they have new product to sell. I also bought a DVD documentary describing the making of the album.

Jesus Christ, I need help. Why will nobody help me? L.A. Woman isn’t even my favourite Doors album and yet I own 8 copies of it. I’ll buy it again if no one stops me. It’s a good thing that I’m not married because this is exactly the kind of unreasonable behaviour that gets cited in divorce papers .

*Note-If you don't directly reply to comment, I can edit this if there's anything to add/change... cheers.

Here's the full list so far then. Also of note, the most common albums named were Blonde On Blonde, Pet Sounds, Never Mind The Bollocks, Exile On Main Street, The Smiths and Welcome To The Pleasuredome.

22
-apend01: Terry Hall (Terry, Blair and Anouchka)
20+
-PeteWingrave: Terry Riley’s In C
17
-Mychael: Ian Dury & The Blockheads ‘Do It Yourself’
-Paul Wadd: Stephen Duffy ‘Kiss Me’ (single)
13
-mojoworking: Frank Zappa ‘Hot Rats’
11
-drilltime: The Sex Pistols ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’
10
-Dai: The Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’
-deejsaint: Ultravox ‘Rage In Eden’
-drilltime: The Smiths S/T
9
-Sour Crout: The Specials S/T
-drilltime: Frankie Goes To Hollywood ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’
8
-fat bob: The Ramones S/T
-Paul Wadd: The Lilac Time S/T
-Rigid Digit: The Sex Pistols ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’
-Steven C: The Beatles ‘With The Beatles’
-Newbos: The Rolling Stones ‘Exile On Main Street’
-backwards7: The Doors ‘LA Woman’
7
-Simon L: The Jam ‘Sound Affects’
-Six Dog: The Stone Roses S/T
-Edwardian Fred: Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’
-garyt: Todd Rundgren ‘A Wizard A True Star’
-mojoworking: Bob Dylan ‘Blonde On Blonde’
-Nigel T: The Beatles ‘Magical Mystery Tour’
-Nigel T: Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’
-Tiernan: Bob Dylan ‘Blonde On Blonde’
-mojoworking: Cream ‘Disraeli Gears’
-mojoworking: Bob Dylan S/T
6
-SpaceBoy: ‘2001’ (film)
-latenighttellyvision: Bruce Springsteen ‘Greetings From Asbury Park NJ’
-Paul Wadd: The Lilac Time ‘Paradise Circus’
-Resting Place: The Cure ‘Faith’
-pompeygeorge: various Marillion
-RS65: Pink Floyd ‘Wish You Were Here’
5
-madfox: David Bowie ‘The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust’
-fat bob: The Beatles ‘Revolver’
-fat bob: Bob Dylan ‘Blonde On Blonde’
-WholeHogg: Love ‘Forever Changes’
-WholeHogg: The Smiths S/T
-Nigel T: The Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
-Nigel T: Love ‘Forever Changes’
-Ger The Boptist: The Rolling Stones ‘Exile On Main Street’
-Neil Dyson: Elvis Costello ‘My Aim Is True’
-deejsaint: Suede ‘Head Music’
-Paul Wadd: The Lilac Time ‘Astronaughts’
-Paul Wadd: Stephen Duffy ‘I Love My Friends’
-SpaceBoy: Joni Mitchell ‘Shadows And Light’
-thecheshirecat: Mike Oldfield ‘Hergest Ridge’
-Mychael: Pink Floyd ‘The Division Bell’
-robduns: Frankie Goes To Hollywood ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’
-PeteWingrave: Wagner’s Ring
-Spaceboy: Beethoven’s 9th
4
-Yorkio: Elvis Costello & The Attractions ‘Armed Forces’
-Ger The Boptist: Donald Fagen ‘The Nightfly’
-thecheshirecat: Joni Mitchell ‘Hejira’
-SpaceBoy: Joni Mitchell ‘Don Juan’
-cuffby: The Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’
-SpaceBoy: Gerald Finzi ‘Dies Natalis’
-kidpresentable: Neil Young ‘Greendale’
3+
-thecheshirecat: XTC ‘Apple Venus’
3
-Paolo Meccano: The Beatles S/T
-Paolo Meccano: De La Soul ‘3 Feet High & Rising’
-Paolo Meccano: Suede ‘Suede’
-Paolo Meccano: Suede ‘A New Morning’
-deejsaint: Ultravox (3x each of the first 8 albums)
-seanioio: Puressence ‘Only Forever’

Let me know if there are any errors. Owners of the 'Pet Sounds' boxset will note that I've just counted the set itself once as a single item, in the same way as my double versions of Greendale.

*pocket.calculator – if you wanted to count your Bowies and Zappas I’ll add them.

But surely the terry Hall album doesn't really count? Getting a box of the same album super cheap isn't the same as buying the same album in different formats is it? I expect a few of us on here who have done a bit of record dealing have ended up with some strange things: like the half a dozen copies of the anita Dobson album I am pretty sure lurk in my basement.

For me-cheers

Viva Dead Ponies.

2x cassette
1x vinyl
1x US CD
1x reissue CD

I didn't know we could include singles!!
"Two Tribes"
UK 7" x 2
UK 7" Pic Disc
German 7"
Japanese 7"
UK Annihilation 12" in cover
UK annihilation 12" in black die-cast cover
UK Carnage 12"
UK War(hidden)/Carnage 12"
UK War(hidden)/Carnage 12" Pic Disc
UK Hibakusha 12"
Spanish 12"
UK Singlette Cassette
German 1986 Annihilation CD Single.

That's off the top of my head!

"Shoplifters Of The World Unite"
UK 7" X2
German 7" Blue vinyl
7" in Complete Box Set
UK White Label 12"
UK 12" in Promo Plastic Bag
UK 12" Mispress (Plays "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby") in Promo Plastic Bag
UK 12"
German 12" Green Splatter Vinyl
German 12" Pink Splatter Vinyl

I'm still in the market for a US promo 12" with orange cover..

Here's a post I prepared earlier http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/have-i-already-got

So my answer is - The Saints - (I'm) Stranded - 5 copies.

I met Chris Bailey a few weeks ago, and told him how much that album meant to me, and that I had 5 copies of it. He looked politely baffled, and told me that is 5 more than he owns.

you bought something you already owned, *accidentally* ?

For me it was a book, one of the Hitchiker's series, and I was a mere 21 or so ...