Listen Up

Deep selection and knowledgeable owner. Prices are reasonable too. Nice that there are Used DVDs & Vinyl too. Glad I don’t have to walk through aisles of cheap keychains, bobble heads and kids crap. It’s about the music here.
Yes, the hours are somewhat limited but it beats the drive to & parking in Cambridge.
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Occasionally you may find something in these picked over bins. And sometimes the shop keepers are rude. And sometimes their hours say they’re open but when you get there the store is closed.
But their «I’m doing you a service by being here» thing, well that keeps me coming back… Oh wait, I think I’m done with this place.

I get the whole «I’ve been buying, trading, selling records since before you were born» thing… BUT we were basically ran out the door by an employee who seemed annoyed that we were in the building for more than 10 minutes. Everything from a rude tone and shitty comments, to telling us the records on the $ 1 wall weren’t a dollar. Oh, also the records basically thrown in boxes on the floor? Yeah, those aren’t for sale. They are in fact back stock.
It’s like these dudes don’t wanna make money? We walked out spending a couple dollars instead of the amount we had set aside for this specific little shopping trip. Places like this are few and far between these days. Little gems if you will, and it’s a shame that the owners/​employees are turning collectors off from their establishments. Guess going forward this place will be taken off the shopping list. Armageddon in Cambridge isn’t that far anyway…

If you live in or near Boston, it’s worth the drive to Natick to go to Listen Up. It’s a great store with new and used CDs, vinyl, DVDs, VHS tapes, cassettes and more. I found some great used CDs (3 for 10 dollars) and an import vinyl copy of Sandinista by the Clash for 8.99; make sure you take a couple of quarters with you as parking is on the street and it’s metered. At least you get an hour for 25 cents. Don’t be afraid to put two quarters in, because you’ll want to spend two hours there. I will definitely be going back.

I’m going to be nice and leave a 3 star here, because I haven’t spent as much time at Listen Up as I’d like. The reason behind that is because I always get a «get the hell out of my store» vibe from the staff (the owner?). My gf and I have gone in a few times on separate occasions, and we both agree they’re pretty unwelcoming. They’re def a bit brusque with their «can I help you with something? (no? then wtf are you doing here?).» Maybe I’m misreading here (which is why this isn’t a 1 star review), and I’d like to say that I’ll update this after giving it one more shot, but I don’t really plan on going back.

This is a great store. I always go and buy my records from here. All the stuff here is extremely well priced. I was in there and found an almost new copy of Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son for $ 5.99 and he told me that he had only seen 5 records like that enter the store ever. What a find!

Listen up is a rare gem. It’s a mix between awesome Empire-​records super hip coolness (minus the high degree of pretension) and an allergy-​inducing yard sale. The disorganized merchandise reeks of true, uncontrived quirkiness as well as ability to provide all the necessary staples for any music collection. Props to the adorable hand written signs that look like they were created by some punk junior high girl.
If you’re into vinyl and classic rock, this is the place to go. Of course you can find any new top 40 you want and the wide selection of cheap used DVDs and VHS are all in great condition, but it’s the music that sets this hole in the wall apart.
Russ, the owner, is a savant when it comes to the classics. He may seem a little rough around the edges, but once you get him going you’ll be glad you made the effort. Come with $ 10 bucks and an hour to browse the disorganized dollar LPs while chatting up the old man and you’ll leave with something awesome you’ve never heard before.

I’m always looking for local independent brick-​and-​mortar record shops. This isn’t usually much of a challenge since there are so few left, so I was surprised to find this place on my way home from Newbury Comics today.
Listen Up is a bit of a hole-​in-​the-​wall, and because I’d never heard of it before, I had no idea what to expect. I was pleased to see that the back wall had a large rack of $ 1 LP’s. They seem to have a respectable selection of CD’s, but I didn’t check them very closely since I was only really looking for vinyl. Unlike many record shops that have cheapo bins and discount sections, the $ 1 wall had some deals on recognizable albums/​artists. There are bins along the back right wall that have more «choice» albums at higher prices, anywhere from $ 3 on up. I grabbed a copy of «Rattle and Hum» for $ 9 in really nice shape. There was a pile of 45’s on a table for $ 1 each. Be sure to check the «new arrivals» bin at your feet in front of the register — there were quite a few great albums in there.
This place gets 4 stars from me because there were many bins of unsorted random LP’s under the CD racks and I felt it could be organized better. However, it has a really decent selection of music. If you’re into the vinyl thing, be sure to check it out. I’ll probably become a regular.