Gallery of Sound
Laurel Mall - Hazleton, PA
There were three record stores in Hazleton in the 90's - Camelot, The Wall and Joe Nardone's Gallery of Sound. The latter was by far the best of the three, and it lasted the longest. I've been buying music there since they were at Valmont Plaza when I was a teenager. It was the only place that I ever found the Smashing Pumpkins Black Sessions and Nirvana Outcesticide albums in the days before music downloading; when buying things over the internet was a subject for documentaries about future technologies. It's where I went to pre-order albums and to complete my George Carlin collection. They had the best selection of guitar magazines and they were only place to find vinyl outside of a pawn shop.
The chain hasn't gone out of business. There are still at least two Gallery of Sound shops still in operation, and both are within driving distance of Hazleton, but it represents the end of an era. There are no more record stores in town.
