The Early November – The Acoustic EP & For All Of This (Collector’s Edition Wooden Box Set)

One of the best packages of the year goes to Enjoy The Ride Records with their collector’s edition wooden box set of The Early November’s two EPs, The Acoustic EP and For All Of This.

Each EP had 500 total copies pressed as a 10″ spread across three colors, with a special collector’s edition package that included both EP’s in a screen-printed wood box. This box set was limited to 100 copies, each being hand numbered on the back, and had an exclusive color that could only be found with this special edition set. The box set also included two inserts, one with the liner notes, lyrics and old press photos, and the other featuring a special note from both Ace Enders and Jeff Kumer. These inserts could also only be found with this box set. The lid slides off of the box and slides back into grooves notched for it. The reverse side of the lid is also printed with some production credits. The entire box is stained, which adds a nice touch. It’s not just bare wood and the color of stain is just right; it’s not too dark and overpowering or too light and appears like a simple lacquer. From that you might tell I have a decent amount of woodworking experience.

The pressing info for The Acoustic EP is as follows: 100 copies on ultra clear, which was the collector’s edition box set color, 200 copies on blue/bronze swirl with bone splatter and 200 copies on tri-color blue/bronze/bone. There is also a special variant for The Acoustic EP, which Enjoy The Ride calls a “bizarro” pressing. I’m not sure how it came about, but it was not available to the public. I was lucky enough to get one after talking back and forth with Ross (Enjoy The Ride owner) about some things and buying a complete set of variants for these releases(only way I could get the wooden box set), including test presses (which I have since sold off). This “bizarro” pressing is pressed on half bone/half clear vinyl and comes in special screen printed sleeve with alternate artwork of sorts (colors switched around). It’s limited to 50 copies.  The pressing info for For All Of This is as follows; 100 copies on ultra clear, which was the collector’s edition color, 200 copies on ultra clear with aqua and baby pink splatter and 200 copies on aqua/bronze swirl with baby pink splatter. Probably the longest and most complicated color schemes to spit out, but they turned out great in my opinion.

*** 1/8/15 Update – I’ve noticed a huge surge in views of this entry after it was linked to on a message board, in a thread calling out Ross from Enjoy The Ride for shady business practices. To be perfectly honest since there is a ton of dirty laundry airing going on, Ross did tell me not to publicize the “bizarro” variant, but it did not come with a note saying such. He told me directly via email when I made the deal for the box set after it sold out. He sold me the wooden box set (plus complete set of variants & test pressings for both EP’s), after it sold out, for cost (minus test press cost. But I later sold them and made up the difference) only because I write this blog and it would get him publicity. So it was a mutual deal, I get something sold out that I wanted without paying ebay prices to flippers, and Ross/Enjoy The Ride gets some free press of sorts. He told me, without exact quoting, simply paraphrasing; don’t post pics or anything about the half bone/half clear record because I want to keep it a secret, so I could sell them later on and keep it a surprise. I may have the email exchange saved in my account, but I would have to do some digging. He also didn’t charge me for the half bone/half clear /50 variant, he included it as a bonus without telling me, but hinted at it in email exchanges that the package would have a nice surprise. I only got the pressing info and more info in general about that variant after emailing Ross about it, which is when he emphasized don’t post it on your blog, mention it anywhere or post pics anywhere. I complied with the request, but later, at least three years (February 2014) after initially writing the entry for these Early November EP’s, I went ahead and posted all the pics and info I had about the half/bone/half clear /50 secret variant. So the secret “bizarro” variant addition to this entry fell under the radar for the most part, until the link was posted on a message board. I did not post about the secret half/bone/half clear variant today, yesterday or any day this week. It has been sitting here quietly for almost a year, until today ( Jan. 8, 2015). This may seem long winded to some, but I wanted to completely spell out how I came into this specific variant to leave nothing open to interpretation. I’m not trying to cover my ass, protect or defend Ross/Enjoy The Ride in any way, hide anything or prove anyone wrong. ***

The Early November has a much more rabid fan base than I ever imagined and the label’s webstore host, Storenvy, crapped out with the volume of traffic. Lots of people added copies to their cart, but in the short amount of time it took for the checkout process to complete, the collector’s edition sold out. In well under 10 minutes. The remaining copies of the pressing sold out in a few weeks.

Overall the sound quality of both EP’s is pretty good. Not great but far from garbage. I typically don’t go into sound quality on my blog because it varies so much depending on your set up and equipment you are running, but in this case I felt the need to since sound is one of the knocking points on ETR. So fear not, these sound just fine with no glaring flaws or issues on a modest set up.

Gatsbys American Dream – Ribbons & Sugar (1st Press)

The story for Ribbons & Sugar is exactly the same as with Why We Fight. Rather than type out the same story or try to be creative and spin the story a different way, please read the entry for Why We Fight, which is directly below this or at the top of the next page. You could also do a search for it. I Should add that the label, Overdue Collection Agency Records, is planning on releasing Gatsbys American Dram’s other EP, In The Land Of Monsters, sometime in the future. This was already announced, but there was the possibility the release would be scrapped after the vast amount of criticism and logistical and financial problems the label ran into with their first two releases.

There were 1,000 total copies pressed for Ribbons & Sugar with all the same details as Why We Fight; 180 gram vinyl, gatefold jackets, individually numbered, and booklet with interviews and liner notes. There were 200 copies on half pink marble/half blue marble, which was initially a Kickstarter pledge exclusive, 300 copies on pink marble and 500 copies on pink/blue splatter.

Gatsbys American Dream – Why We Fight

Why We Fight by Gatsbys American Dream is the first release by yet another upstart label Overdue Collection Agency Records. The label also released Ribbons & Sugar by Gatsbys American Dream at the same exact time at Why We Fight, and worked on each release simultaneously, which was a poor decision on the label’s part. The label ran into countless problems and turned into a joke on message boards, but in the end the final product turned out great all around. The record sound much better than I expected and the finer points of the packaging, which were strongly emphasized by the label, also turned out fantastic. There were 1,000 total copies pressed spread across three variants all pressed on 180 gram vinyl and come housed in a gatefold jacket. There were 200 copies pressed on “army/camo green,” which is green with black and grey marble and was a Kickstarter pledge exclusive initially but was later sold to the public, 300 copies on blue marble and 500 copies on clear with white splatter. But to better understand the variants some background info needs to be given on this label.

Overdue Collection Agency was greatly funded by Kickstarter, but still ran into financial problems and hardships. For those who do not know, Kickstarter is a funding website where interested parties or people pledge, or donate a certain amount of money to the founder of the project in order to get the project off the ground. In return for their donation or pledge, each person is promised a wide range of prizes of incentives based on the amount they donate. For this release the incentives ranged from a complete collection of all three variants of the record, test presses, free downloads and download of video from an entire live show. The biggest incentive, but also one of the cheaper ones in terms of monetary donation was there was a Kickstarter exclusive variant, which was only available to people who pledged a certain amount or higher. This project met it’s kickstarter goal production was set to take place. But as with most vinyl releases there were delays and more delays.

Since the guy who runs Overdue Collection Agency Records decided to pull out all the stops with this release and splurge to no end, he hit more delays than normal. There were the typical manufacturing delays, which were only compounded by the fact that the owner did not have enough money to complete each step of the manufacturing process. This was a high frills release, the high cost details included 180 gram, multi-colored vinyl, gatefold jackets and a huge full color, muli-page booklet. Each record was also individually numbered, but rather than just hand numbering each record, the owner decided to print up stickers for each record, only adding to the production costs a bit. Inside the booklet are the liner notes as well as a long, in-depth interview with the band, which the owner of the label conducted himself. All copies also come with a download code, but for very low quality 128 kbps mp3’s. In the end the owner of the label spent far more than a typical release runs most labels, and for the final cost could have pressed at least three records with no frills.

New Found Glory – Nothing Gold Can Stay (2nd press)

New Found Glory, or should I say A New Found Glory’s debut album was recently re-pressed by upstart label Company Ink Records. There were 2,000 total copies pressed, 1500 on gold marble and 500 on “faded gold” which is just white with hints of yellow/gold around the edges. The gold marble copies are a Hot Topic exclusive and the “faded gold” are an indie retail exclusive. There are some major difference though between this pressing and the original pressing done by Drive Thru Records.

On the OG press, just ‘New Found Glory’ is printed on the cover, but for this re-press ‘A New Found Glory’ is printed on the cover. For those that may be confused and unaware, the band originally was known as A New Found Glory before dropping the A and simply going by New Found Glory. The jackets of both pressings are diecut, but you may notice that the diecut portion of the jacket for this pressing is much larger, almost like a picture frame. The photo showing through the diecut is the same between both pressings. Another difference that ties into the jacket is that there is printed dust sleeve that shows through the jacket for this second pressing rather than having the center label of the record show through the diecut in the jacket with the first pressing.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that the album was remastered for this pressing, and this pressing sounds much better than the first pressing of the album. It sounds cleaner and crisper, with a better balance between highs and lows. Of course a lot depends on your set up and the stereo equipment you have, but if you don’t have the first pressing of this album you are not missing too much in terms of sound.

Nirvana – Total F*cking Godhead 7″

Another Nirvana bootleg. I don’t make too much of a concerted effort to go after bootlegs, but Nirvana is one of the few exceptions. The main reason to track down Nirvana bootlegs is that they are unlike most bootlegs in that they typically have studio out takes or demo versions of various songs instead of just various live versions recording at a random show in Europe or Japan. These bootlegs give fans a chance to hear some rarities and versions of songs that have never been heard before, at least for most people.

For this 7″, “Total F*cking Godhead,” the tracks names are purposely mislabeled to try and throw off any copyright infringement suits. But I guess my blog will let the cat further out of the bag. There are three songs on this 7″, one on the a-side and two on the b-side. Track 1 is labeled “Broken Mirrors,” which is actually a outtake of “Lithium.” Track 2 is labeled “The Rocker” but is actually “Sappy,” and track 3 is labeled “The Eagle Has Landed” but is actually “Polly.”

This 7″ also had a few different variants, both in color of the record and the jacket. It was pressed on white vinyl and black vinyl, and there is an all white jacket and a jacket that has a portion with a red background. The all white cover has two photos of the band, one on each side, while the partly red jacket has just one photo, the photo that appears on the back of the all white cover. The back of the partly red cover is solid red. I do not know how many copies were pressed in total or per each cover or color.

Foo Fighters – Generator 7″

Foo Fighters – Generator 7″

Foo Fighters – All My Life 7″ (U.S. Pressing)

There is a U.S. version and a UK version of the 7″ single for “All My Life.” The main difference between the two version is that the UK version is individually numbered, which appears in a small white box on the front cover. The U.S. version is not numbered.

Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench 7″

Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench 7″

Foo Fighters – Learn To Fly 7″

Foo Fighters – Learn To Fly 7″

Foo Fighters – My Hero

The 7″ single for “My Hero” comes in a picture disc sleeve, despite the fact it is not a picture disc. All copies were pressed on red vinyl, but there is also a jukebox version of this 7″ that is hard to come by.