Mar 4, 2018

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations:
A repressing with an erroneous lyric sheet

The custom Zippo lighter used as a paper weight is serially numbered
(#026/200) and distributed for promoting the Hungry Heart Berlin '95
single in France. Though not shown, it comes in a black plastic holder.
Based on the dead-wax matrix information, US-pressing copies of the vinyl DARKNESS album are roughly classified into two groups, one with and another without a machine-stamped TML marking (either TML-M or TML-S), a proof for the early pressing issues that were mastered by Mike Reese at The Mastering Lab, Inc., Los Angeles, California. So, any vinyl copies lacking this stamp on both Sides 1 and 2 are instantly excluded from the list of my "variation" analysis on the U.S. version of this classic album (A series on this subject starts here).

Having checked such out-of-list copies in my collection, I found an interesting printing error on the lyric insert sheet that is included in an old copy. As shown here, one side of the sheet is upside down compared to the other side. Although I have owned the copy for a long time, until very recently, I was not aware of this error mainly because it's a reissue to which I usually don't pay particular attention. Wrote this just as a quick note for the record.

This one is certainly a later pressing (though no barcodes on the rear sleeve), as it comes with the thin inner sleeve with the lesser-quality image. In addition, the record label has a triangle-in-circle symbol on the left of the center hole (Side 1 only). This symbol is generally seen with the Columbia LP, 12-inch and CD releases issued in 1980s to 1990s. Interestingly, what the symbol means has been still in debate (for example, see here on this blog, or here for lengthy discussion on Steve Hoffman Music Forums since 2006).

The hand-etched matrix numbers read P <JXMP> AL35318 G2H on Side 1 (shown above) and P <J-MP> BL-35318 G1F on Side 2. Neither TML-M nor TML-S is stamped on each side. This one is a New Jersey's Pitman pressing.