I generally like aligning tape machines, it was always a zen moment for me - but only if I was there alone before the session. Trying to do it in a room full of people under a time constraint, no fun. Of course, you have to calibrate digital systems too, but I guess we don't talk about that so much and it's not the same.
There are convenient things about tape too - like, when the track is done it's done, no playing a bunch of crap and then editing. And yes, you maybe made a safety, but it wasn't the same as making a backup where the next day you were in a bind because you couldn't find "Snare_57.027.dup." But we all know this.
I used to have a program called SoundEdit 16, sounded completely gritty and I daresay, in a cool way. But only for funking things up, not for "pure" recording.