Welcome to The Cassettes Thread!

A general discussion thread for Cassette tapes (or really any other audio tape format)!

 

 

 

 

Popular sites to buy Cassettes online:

Discogs

Ebay

Urban Outfitters

Depop

 

 

here's the list of Cassettes i have in my posession! (anything in re3d have been ordered online and am waiting for their arrival)

Spoiler

YYYY-MM-DD	Coloured text key: (blue means i never received my preorder - red means its a pre-order)	ID # = catalogue number, barcode, or any disc matrix	Country Code, Version	Blank = missing info
1967-01-01	Bob Dylan	Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits	US	JCT 00220
1972-09-10	Liza Minnelli	Liza with a "Z"	US, Reissue, Dolby B NR	PCT 31762
1979-08-27	Pat Benatar	In the Heat of the Night	FR	ZCHR 1236
1980-03-15	Frank Sinatra	Come Fly with Me	US	4XL-9190
1981-07-06	Pat Benatar	Precious Time	FR	ZCHR 1346
1982-01-01	Patti LaBelle	Best Of Patti LaBelle	US	PET 36997
1982-05-28	Cher	I Paralyze	US	PCT 38096
1983-01-01	Eartha Kitt	The Best of Eartha Kitt	US	MCAC-1554
1983-06-10	Stevie Nicks	The Wild Heart	US	7 90084-4
1983-11-25	Patti LaBelle	I'm in Love Again	US, Dolby	FZT 38539
1984-01-01	Bing Crosby	Merry Christmas	US	MCAC-15024
1984-01-23	Dolly Parton	The Great Pretender	US	AHK1-4940
1984-04-02	Reba McEntire	Just a Little Love	US	MCAC-957
1985-01-01	Eartha Kitt	That Bad Eartha	UK/EU	NK 89439
1985-04-29	Queen (Freddie Mercury)	Mr. Bad Guy	EU	40-86312
1985-07-03	Patti LaBelle	Patti	US	FZT 40020
1985-11-18	Stevie Nicks	Rock a Little	US, Club Edition	90479-4-E
1986-02-10	Reba McEntire	Whoever's In New England	US	MCAC-5691
1986-04-07	Bonnie Tyler	Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire	UK	40 86319
1986-04-28	Patti LaBelle	Winner in You	US, Dolby HX Pro, B NR, Clear Shell	MCAC-5737
1986-06-30	Madonna	True Blue	US	9 25442-4
1986-09-15	Cyndi Lauper	True Colors	US	ORT 40313
1987-11-10	Cher	Cher	US	M5G 24164
1988-01-01	Helloween	Keeper of the Keys Part II	DE	N 0117-2
1988-01-01	Judy Garland	A Star is Born	US	JST 44389
1989-01-01	Liza Minnelli	Results	US	OET45098
1989-01-01	Stevie Nicks	The Other Side of the Mirror	US	91245-4
1989-07-10	Cher	Heart of Stone	US, Skull Cover	M5G 24239
1989-07-10	Cher	Heart of Stone	US, Reissue	M5G 24239
1989-08-29	Elton John	Sleeping with the Past	US	MCAC-6321
1990-07-17	Mariah Carey	Mariah Carey	US	CT 45202
1991-01-01	Cher	Love Hurts	EU	GEC 24427
1991-01-01	Moody Blues, The	Keys of the Kingdom	US	849 433-4
1991-06-18	Cher	Love Hurts	US	GEFC-24369
1991-09-23	Harry Connick Jr.	Blue Light, Red Light	US	CT 48685
1991-10-22	The Platters	The Very Best of the Platters	US, Club Edition	P4 10317
1991-11-11	Lisa Stansfield	Real Love	US, BASF Chrome	07822 18679-4
1992-01-01	Freddie Mercury	The Great Pretender	US	HR-61402-4
1992-09-02	Tony Bennett	Perfectly Frank	US	CT 52965
1994-07-19	Marilyn Manson	Portrait of an American Family	US	INTC-92344
1994-07-26	Rolling Stones, The	Sticky Fingers	US	7243-8-39525-4-0
1994-09-08	Various Artists	The Adventures Of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	US, Promo, Sampler	PRCS 6861-4
1994-10-25	Madonna	Bedtime Stories	US	9 45767-4
1995-09-25	AC/DC	Ballbreaker	US	61780-4
1995-10-03	Reba McEntire	Starting Over	US	MCAC-11264
1996-10-07	Marilyn Manson	Antichrist Superstar	SK, Misprint	IND-90086
1998-09-29	Various	Miracle On 34th Street	US, Remastered	4158
2000-01-01	Marilyn Manson	Holy Wood	UA	490 850-4
2013-11-01	Treasure Mammal	10 Years of Cumming Full Circle	US	RRT-005
2016-05-20	Issues	Headspace	US, Blue Transparent	RISE 323-4
2016-07-08	Gone is Gone	Gone is Gone	US	RISE 328-3
2016-07-15	Cane Hill	Smile	US	RISE 324-3
2020-04-01	Kaatayra	Só Quem Viu O Relâmpago À Sua Direita Sabe	BR	n/a
2020-06-05	Mattachine	Isolation As A Form Of Torture	US/CA, Pink Triangle	ZBR 204
2020-12-04	Belted Sweater	I'm ******* Delightful	US	LDA-016
2021-01-01	N.	Exhausted	US	n/a
2021-03-19	Bastard Noise	The Skull Scriptures	US	n/a
2021-03-26	Evanescence	The Bitter Truth	US/EU, Box Set, Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition, Cassette	19439789162
2021-07-30	Billie Eilish	Happier Than Ever	WW	B0033922-04
2021-10-01	Altered States	Dark Crossroads	US	n/a
2021-12-11	Simply Sausage II	Cylindrical Meats	CA	Oh-Bo-04
2022-01-01	Edley ODowd	F[our]-Ward	US	n/a
2022-01-01	Jay Randall & Scum	Nails Into The Skull	US	n/a
2022-06-25	Terminal Nation	Holocene Extinction	WW	SPIN131
2022-07-22	Misery Engine / XLV	Misery Engine / XLV	US	n/a
2022-10-07	SKUUL	The Status Of Machines	US	n/a
2022-10-14	Nothing More	Spirits	US	BNM-112-4
2023-01-01	Body Plan	Neuroperverse	US	n/a
2023-01-01	Lana Del Rey (Lana Del Ray)	Lana Del Ray	WW	n/a
2023-01-01	Lana Del Rey (May Jailer)	Sirens	WW	n/a
2023-01-01	Maligna Cerebra	Bloodletting Rituals	US	n/a
2023-02-03	Belted Sweater	Health Goth	US	LDA-025
2023-03-10	Toothpuller	Shoplifting Part II	WW	n/a
2023-08-25	Asking Alexandria	Where Do We Go From Here?	US	BNM-538-4
2023-09-08	Laufey	Bewitched	WW	n/a
2023-10-06	Naraka	Symphony of Hell	WW	n/a
2024-01-01	Chappell Roan	The Midwest Princess Demos	EU	n/a
2024-01-01	Chappell Roan	Live at Lollapalooza	EU	n/a
2024-01-01	Exclusion Zone	Black Rain	US	n/a
2024-03-01	****** Front / Gay Death / Straight Panic	Proud Boys	WW	n/a
2024-06-28	Nothing More	Carnal	US	BNM-690-4
2024-08-02	Chappell Roan	The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess	UK/EU/US, Green Transparent	602475050469
2024-09-13	Funeral Portrait, The	Greetings From Suffocate City	WW	BNM-739-4
2024-10-04	1349	The Wolf & the King	EU	SOM 807T
2024-11-08	Mariah Carey	Merry Christmas	WW	19658891444
2024-11-22	Marilyn Manson	One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1	US, Red	NBR 7342-5
2024-12-06	Mariah Carey	All I Want for Christmas is You	WW	19658891424
2025-02-13	Belted Sweater	Belted Sweater	US, Red Foil	SVR-044
2025-10-31	Florence + the Machine	Everybody Scream	US, Bloodywood Edition

 

Edited October 1, 2025Oct 1 by Vixen Eyes

It probably has been like 15 years since I last listened to music with cassettes. Maybe I should buy some cassettes to remember the old times

17 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

bought a few mint sealed Cassettes originally released in 1989 and 1992 and the two 1989 releases look to be in some point of degradation. the tapes are turning white/grey. and the sound comes in and out at parts

That's very interesting. 

i have a couple of tape players i keep running, a hifi one i got for about 60 quid a couple of years back and a walkman i've had sat about since about 2009 that i got just before they stopped making them.

 

i have a bunch of old tapes (some i owned, some donated to me by people chucking stuff out.  my take is that 90s tapes either sound great or they go wobbly and unplayable, not much inbetween. 70s/80s tapes are often bad, esp 70s tapes which leave brown gunk all over yr tape heads.

 

new tapes are also not very good, i'll buy one every so often if i see them very cheap but they're mainly just for the collectors market and some are absolutely dire, last one i got was rina 'hold the girl' which if i play it on headphones you can hear a little click in the quiet bits everytime the wheels go around (cost me two quid but is indicative of quality in general)

 

i like to play them tho! i got the first tate mcrae album on tape for £4 earlier this year and it greatly increased my appreciation of the album!

15 minutes ago, SoldierofLove said:

That's very interesting. 

turns out, despite the white stuff, its not the tapes. i just had to replace the batteries in my portable player and they play fine.

23 minutes ago, makeawish said:

i have a couple of tape players i keep running, a hifi one i got for about 60 quid a couple of years back and a walkman i've had sat about since about 2009 that i got just before they stopped making them.

 

i have a bunch of old tapes (some i owned, some donated to me by people chucking stuff out.  my take is that 90s tapes either sound great or they go wobbly and unplayable, not much inbetween. 70s/80s tapes are often bad, esp 70s tapes which leave brown gunk all over yr tape heads.

 

new tapes are also not very good, i'll buy one every so often if i see them very cheap but they're mainly just for the collectors market and some are absolutely dire, last one i got was rina 'hold the girl' which if i play it on headphones you can hear a little click in the quiet bits everytime the wheels go around (cost me two quid but is indicative of quality in general)

 

i like to play them tho! i got the first tate mcrae album on tape for £4 earlier this year and it greatly increased my appreciation of the album!

i have a 1985 copy of Freddie's solo album and it sounds absolutely fantastic!

https://www.discogs.com/release/8013903-Freddie-Mercury-Mr-Bad-Guy

 

and ive bought a few new albums too, im right now listening to this album and i have to say it sounds amazing too. it sounds just like my CD copy.

https://www.discogs.com/release/9608177-Cane-Hill-Smile-

What a great idea for a thread

I have to say I haven't listened to music on cassette in about 15 years (I haven't had a player since) but it's the format that made me a fan of physical releases so I'll always have a soft spot for them, and seeing them making a comeback fills me with joy. I usually still pick up cassettes formats of albums I really want to support.

30 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

turns out, despite the white stuff, its not the tapes. i just had to replace the batteries in my portable player and they play fine.

Sis 
 

So there was no degradation? They're perfectly fine after all these years? 

18 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

i have a 1985 copy of Freddie's solo album and it sounds absolutely fantastic!

https://www.discogs.com/release/8013903-Freddie-Mercury-Mr-Bad-Guy

 

and ive bought a few new albums too, im right now listening to this album and i have to say it sounds amazing too. it sounds just like my CD copy.

https://www.discogs.com/release/9608177-Cane-Hill-Smile-

it's variable but they definitely get ropier the further you go back. i've got a few really good 90s ones tho, reissues of joni mitchell blue and the beatles revolver, and orbital in sides are really good, haven't deteriorated at all.

 

re new tapes, some are def better than others but the best i've found (the aforementioned tate tape, the last florence and the machine album) were very listenable but weren't really cd quality, they have funny little patches of distortion in them. otoh some have just sucked, i got wednesday "twin plagues" and it sounded genuinely horrible

13 minutes ago, SoldierofLove said:

Sis 
 

So there was no degradation? They're perfectly fine after all these years? 

i didnt know whether it was degradation or just mold lol

 

 

another perfect almost true-to-digital sounding cassette is Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever (i have the grey version)! Oxytocin is so beautiful in this format.

I've been wanting to start a little cassette collection and even make my own customs but I always end up busy with something else  maybe this will motivate me to finally purchase that Indonesian copy of GGGB

13 minutes ago, nostalgic said:

I've been wanting to start a little cassette collection and even make my own customs but I always end up busy with something else  maybe this will motivate me to finally purchase that Indonesian copy of GGGB

i didnt know there were any Rih cassettes!! im looking on discogs now 

boo flop thread