Two DARKNESS sticker variations with the U.S. release. The purple version is rarer than the red one. |
*One of the essential features of the early copies is to have either TML-M or TML-S stamped on each side's trail-off dead wax.
Generally, uniquely designed hype stickers on shrink wrap are also associated with early or original pressings (although such labels usually have no specific relationship to particular pressing plants). As I wrote in the last post (08/24/2020), however, the U.S. DARKNESS LP seems to be unusual in this respect. My points are summarized as follows:
- The DARKNESS sticker is almost exclusively available on one variant of the album sleeve with the "small tracklist" on the rear side (either with or without barcodes). However, as far as I've seen, this variant was NOT used for the very first pressing of the album release and delayed slightly than another sleeve variant featuring the "large tracklist" (w/o barcodes). In contrast, the "large tracklist" sleeve is much more common to the white-label promo release as well as early copies pressed at several pressing plants owned by other than Columbia Records, such as MCA, NAMI, and Keel (11/19/2018).
- The sticker only mentions Badlands, the second single, among the featured 10-album tracks, and disregards the first single Prove It All Night.
To my surprise, the 8th stickered copy was a white-label promotional release with a typical Columbia's time strip that is glued on the front side of the "large tracklist" sleeve. Although this copy is the only example I've ever seen, the presence itself instantly denies my thoughts on the sticker, provided that it is really one of the advanced circulation copy. That being said, I think there still is the possibility that this particular one was manufactured as a usual promo but once stocked, and later distributed after labeled with the sticker when it became available.
Finally, although much less common, there is yet another sticker with purple letter printing. I've seen most of the sticker is printed in red and the purple version is minor in number. I don't know why the latter is rarer, but at least to my eyes, the red sticker stands out more than the purple prints. So, I just guessed the purple sticker could be a short-lived version, or result from a printing error. No evidence for either, though. The table below shows the updated list of stickered copies in my collection (Nos. 1 to 7, see 08/24/2020; Nos. 8 and 9, this post).
— Back to Part1.