> Now, here's a question: has anyone's most recent album purchase been
better  than their first purchase?

Dave!
What a great question. :)

The only purchase that's even come close to rivaling my first purchase
wasn't even one I made on my own.

On my 31st birthday, my wife (who was then "just" my girlfriend at the time)
bought me The Pet Sounds boxed set.

Brian Wilson junkie that I am, it was truly relevatory to hear those songs
in their most raw forms. I spent hours listening to that set, trying to
figure out how the songs were put together, picking apart the harmonies,
trying, fruitlessly, to divine how Brian was able to put together a work of
such staggering beauty.

It's about as close as I've come to the epiphany of that first U2 EP, which
opened my eyes to world outside what was then pop radio, inspired me to
start playing music and basically sparked an addiction that has endured to
this day (20 years down the line).

Like I said, though the Pet Sounds box had a tremendous impact on me, it
couldn't possibly equal or rival that first record purchase.

John Micek