This is a review of only the VINYL LP selections at this store...
Growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I learned to roll my eyes and not want to shop at places like Sam Goody or Musicland. The places always seemed lame to me, in the way that Jack Black's character in High Fidelity makes clear in that movie, when mocking the father who wanted to buy his daughter Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You." I would much rather have shopped at Tower or Rose than those places, and then, Virgin, once Rose closed.
Of course, the days where that would have been the case have now long passed, and, although Sam Goody and Musicland have now also passed on--Fye has taken over that market, and they now function as our modern day Musicland/Sam Goody. In today's world, I still roll my eyes when I come here, but the fact is, Fye has become a "necessary evil" for record buyers today in many of Chicago's suburban areas, as it's either the case that you aren't being served by anyone else, or even if you are, can you really pass up one more place willing to offer you new vinyl in an actual brick and mortar store?
This is the perspective I bring to shopping here, and you can call me a "sell out" for discussing Fye as a place for *music buyers* in Capital Letters in that Jack Black way to shop at, but I do stand by this perspective. See my other 50+ reviews of music sellers throughout Chicagoland--I make the stand I do on strong ground as a MUSIC BUYER...
The pros to Fye are that, depending on which store you go to, the selection of new LPs can actually be pretty decent. There does seem to be variation by location, even though it's a chain though. For instance, the Bloomingdale one I would say has a decent selection of new stuff, but it is no where near as extensive as here at the Fox Valley Mall location, which is surprisingly good for a chain store.
The cons to Fye are the prices and the fact that it's a chain store. The prices tend to be higher on new LPs than places like Reckless or Dusty Groove, and they are also higher than buying new LPs online at Amazon. In addition, since its a chain store, there are limits to what they are willing to carry in stock, even at locations where the selection is better. Thus, well-selling classic rock and pop are well stocked, but more esoteric fare (say, new LPs by Brian Eno) will not be found.
Given the convergence of pros and cons, I give Fye a 3. If you live in a "record store desert" in the suburbs, and you don't want to just rely on Amazon, Ebay, or Discogs for LP buying, you might want to consider coming to a Fye for your vinyl, if one is close enough by. You may find yourself surprised at just what they can have in the store in stock... read more