HUMAN TOUCH / LUCKY TOWN Japanese collectibles (not on vinyl): On the 25th anniversary of the twin album releases

This year marks the 25th anniversary of HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN, simultaneously released here in Japan on April 8th, 1992 (about a week behind the US release date). I remember that his new moves (recording without the E Street Band and touring with "the other" band) were highly criticized by many, especially those who saw themselves as old-guard and long-time fans. In this regard, I was rather in a minority because several of the performances they played during 1992-1993 were (and still are) my favorites, including uptempo rocking Atlantic City (as mentioned before), the 1992 version of If I Should Fall Behind performed in the original folk-rock arrangement, and the 1993 rendition of Lucky Town with the extended guitar outro. 

Moreover, I was in the audience at the Madison Square Garden show on June 26th, 1993, one of the two benefit concerts along with the Meadowlands show right after the completion of the HT/LT tour, which makes these albums something special to me. I well remember a spontaneous audience sing-along on Bobby Jean without Bruce's vocal as he failed to grip and dropped a handheld microphone shortly after singing the first line of this penultimate encore song. Having recognized the audience singing, he refrained from resuming to sing immediately and let the audience sing further for the whole first verse, a memorable incident of the night (bootlegged on an excellent NEW YORK CITY NIGHT CD released by Crystal Cat Records). The MSG concert has been much better known for another incident: Terence Trent D'Arby, one of the special guests, got booed by a certain fraction of the audience, against whom Bruce expressed his fury. Thus, this concert is often referred to as the "Rude Motherfucker Show," quoting what he spitted out on stage.

HUMAN TOUCH/LUCKY TOWN, for the first time, delivers a variety of promo-only and
limited edition CD albums of Springsteen, as noted in the text, including the gorgeous 

wooden casket set (before these, there was only one compilation promo CD entitled
THE FUTURE OF ROCK'N ROLL released in Japan). The bottom two are impossibly rare,
recalled Japanese 
regular 1999 paper sleeve copies (SONY JAPAN SRCS 9472 and 9473).

Back in the early 1990s, compact discs already became the standard medium for distributing music, which led to the release of various promotion-only CDs (pressed, not burned CD-Rs frequently used with the release of TRACKS and after that). Regarding the album format, the U.K., Sweden (two issues), Canada, and Japan have released their versions of greatest-hit type, promo-only CD compilations that differ from one another in the track listing and sleeve design. Moreover, 2,000 copies of the regular twin CDs are numbered and housed in a special wooden case to issue the promo-only package in European countries. The limited picture CD editions are also available commercially in the U.K.
 
Still, despite the rise of CD releases, LP, 12" and 7" discs continue to be manufactured in the U.S. and Europe. Sony Japan, however, has stopped pressing Springsteen's vinyl discs in any formats since the release of the 1992 twin albums. TUNNEL OF LOVE LP and One Step Up 7" single are his last vinyl discs pressed here, and disappointedly, the Japanese vinyl edition of CHAPTER & VERSE released late last year uses the European pressing and package as reported previously. So, my focus on rare Japanese collectibles from these albums is mostly limited to custom promo-only CD and cassette tape releases.

Mine is still sealed, wrapped with polyethylene plastic that has become tightly shrunk now.
The labels on the cassette are orange-colored, just like those of the promo-only LIVE cassette.

Released in 1992, A WHOLE BUNCH OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (SONY XCTS 92005) is one of my three selections on rare Japanese collectibles from this era (I don't include hastily withdrawn, regular CD copies for the 1999 miniature LP paper sleeve series because the two CDs are reissues but not released in 1992-1993). If my memory is correct, CBS/SONY, and SONY, after taking over Columbia Records, had continued to issue promotional album cassettes until the release of DEVIL & DUST in 2005, containing an identical set of tracks from each album and usually with simplified text-only paper sleeves. However, some titles come in ordinary plastic holders like multi-disc albums such as TRACKS and LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY. To my knowledge, only a few are made of custom promo-only cassettes in Japan up to 2005.

The folded insert has one side for track listing and discography, and the other for
biography and a liner note by a music critic who also pens that of NEBRASKA
(not from my copy as it is sealed; the image quality is not good).

This 12-track cassette tape certainly pales compared to another custom promo-only THE "LIVE": The Legend Comes Alive cassette at least in terms of its packaging and appearance. However, this item might appeal to collectors for some points, such as the unique track listing (different from that of the self-titled Japanese promo-only CD compilation [SONY XDDP 93084] as seen in an above image) and packaging (though a rather simple paper holder sleeve), and an accompanying folded, two-sided insert. In addition, it's a rare Japanese release. I had not seen this promo cassette in the domestic market for years until last March's Yahoo! JAPAN auction, for which someone put up a sealed copy. Beginning with a starting bid of 5,000 JPY, the auction ended with the winning bid fetching 20,500 JPY (= approximately US $180 with the exchange rate as of today) with a cumulative bid of nine.