Reckless Records: Wicker Park

went here on a recent trip to the area along with a few other similar shops. This one seemed cool and had a lot of inventory but the used titles are all closed with a sitcker over the bag....so you cant check the record condition or anything inside. Sure there is a grade on the sticker but ...LOL if i cant look at the disc i aint buying it. Many of the grades said "very good". Okay...I'm willing to buy some records in that condition but i would like to look at them first. Dumb policy that limits sales for them. I bought a few new sealed titles and one of them had a crushed corner that i noticed while paying. I went back to grab the other copy they had and i only realized later that one had a crushed corner too. My bad I guess. Let us look at the records, what are you afraid of lol.

Definitely not the place for OG hip hop fans, and I am in my 20s, not my 60s. This was my first time visiting a record store, and everyone told me this was the go to spot. It is a cool store overall, but the hip hop section is honestly pretty embarrassing for a record store. No Tupac, no Gang Starr, and no Mobb Deep. Even for the OG artists they did have, like Nas, MF DOOM, and Biggie, they were missing the core albums. They didn’t even have Illmatic…lol The few classics they carried, like Enter the Wu Tang and Liquid Swords, were just the basic generic LPs you can easily find at Walmart or Target. They did not have a single special or limited edition or unique variant for any core hip hop album. On top of that, the entire time I was there they were blasting some pretty ear grating heavy metal and hard rock and did not play a single hip hop track. I drove an hour to get here, and it was my first and last visit.

I was just checking out the store and believe me when I say it is massive. They have extended collection of records, vinyls and cds. As I went around I have seen huge selection of heavy metal, rock, and electronic music records. Further they have posters keeping you updated on what to come in Chi or new concerts and so on. There were merchandise such as t shirt and pins as well. I can’t speak as to price point as I don’t know much about it. However I did see the price tags between $7 and $100+ I assume it has to do a lot with how rare the record is.

Walked in the door, what did I see? A vinyl treasure trove staring back at me! Disco, hip-hop, and old-school rap, Rock ‘n’ roll legends, every groove intact! Reckless Records, turn it up loud, Crates so deep, they could shake the ground! From disco beats to Zeppelin’s roar, Spin that record, give me more! CDs and tapes stacked up high, A blast from the past, a music-lover’s sky. The poster wall—man, what a sight, Movies, concerts, icons bright! Ohh, posters lining up the walls, Legends framed, standing tall! From rockstars wild to silver screen, A pop art dream, a vinyl scene! So if you need that classic sound, Reckless Records—best shop in town! Stack up your albums, don’t be shy, Drop the needle, let it fly!

This is a much better location than their downtown store. While I still feel that way too much of the store is taken up by DVDs they do have lots of great CDs and tons of solid, used vinyl. I definitely need to return when I’ve gotten more time to search through the bargain bins as there was a ton of cheap vinyl if you’ve got the patience to dig. I found some great jazz and blues at this location. Definitely worth a stop when you’re record hopping on Milwaukee Avenue.