I buy a lot of vinyl. Sometimes A LOT of vinyl. There have been months when I've spent more on wax than I have on rent. And that's in addition to the CDs I'll pick up at any given time.

There are plenty of albums that I have on vinyl that I also have on CD. And then I digitize them and listen to them as mp3s. So that's three different versions of the same album right there. And I like the vinyl the best. I am totally hooked on what is, by most accounts, an obsolete format.

I listen to a lot of lo fi, underground, DIY type stuff so for the most part vinyl is the easiest and cheapest way for a band to get their music out into the world. You can record on a four track in your basement and press 500 7" singles for a few hundred bucks, screen print your own covers and hit the road. I dig that.

The real problem (as if none of the aforementioned was problematic) is the fact that I collect multiple copies of the same piece of vinyl. For those gifted among you who are not afflicted by this "vinyl collector's madness" I'll do my best to explain. A band will press maybe 500-1000 copies of any given 7" but they'll sometimes press them on different colors. Maybe 300 on clear vinyl, and 700 on solid black. Sometimes they go all out and do as many as a half a dozen different colors, and you can also get a hold of all sorts or weird variations where the color of the vinyl can be splattered, swirled, split between two colors etc. It's the same music on every record, but the vinyl looks different. And I have to have them all.

And that's just the vinyl. Sometimes bands will do alternate covers for specific tours or record release shows. There can be a variation in the inserts, bonus stickers and patches included with certain releases, hand numbered sleeves, etc ad infinitum. I have to have all those too. It's a sickness.

There are some records that I have 20 times over. Same songs on every record. But one of them will be on orange vinyl. One of them will be a tour press hand stamped and numbered by the band. One of them has a red center label instead of the standard white. It's the collector in me, and I can't help myself.

If any of you have any experience battling Vinyl Madness, or if it has affected you or one of your loved ones in any way, please help me and share any information you may have. Is this slavish devotion to a format nearly 30 years beyond its prime unhealthy, or just another harmless novelty on par with stamp collecting? Will I eventually grow out of this retro throwback mentality or will I die crushed under the weight of milk crates full of brightly colored lps? Send help.