The Gaslight Anthem released a new album in August 2014, their fourth studio album overall and easily their worst effort to date. Had this been the band’s debut album they would not be nearly as popular as they are now. The album, entitled Get Hurt, received a U.S. and Euro/German pressing, as well as a deluxe and regular edition on top of it. There are many nuances that can help you tell the difference between pressings and the deluxe and regular editions.
To start with, the regular edition of the U.S. pressing has several different variants; a possible tour exclusive limited to 300 copies pressed on half red/half clear, an Infinite Merch (Gaslight’s exclusive merch store host) pressed on red and white splatter (appearance is white with red splatter), which is limited but to an unknown amount and lastly the standard variants which is 180 gram black vinyl. The regular edition was pressed as single LP in a standard single pocket jacket and has the regular album artwork, which is a white background with a red heart.
The pressing info for the possible tour variant (half red/half clear) may not be accurate, as the numbers were never officially announced from a credible source. The info was first posted on a message board, which was relayed from someone who bought the tour variant and either saw a sign at the merch booth/table saying “limited to 300 copies” or he was told by the merch guy. The same person also said there was nothing noting that the half red/half clear was in fact a tour exclusive, he was just assuming it was. Yet another reason why you can’t trust what anyone says on a message board or other sites where all the info is user submitted without any sort of proof required. The pressing info for the Infinite Merch exclusive variant (red and white splatter) was also never officially announced, but rumors floated around that there were 10,000 copies pressed. Those rumors are completely unfounded and are based on another rumor that The Gaslight Anthem’s previous album, Handwritten, had 10,000 copies pressed. The red and white splatter copies were delayed by a couple of months. The album was released in August and the red and white splatter copies did not ship until October. It was the only variant that had a delay, which is very odd. Considering Infinite Merch’s less than stellar reputation and terrible track record with actually shipping orders, I’m betting the delay was on their end and not the pressing plant’s. Another note about the regular U.S. Pressing is that people speculated as to whether or not the black copies would all be pressed on 180 gram vinyl, or if 180 gram vinyl would be an additional variant. Once the record started shipping it was confirmed that all black copies are pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
The deluxe edition is a U.S. exclusive but could be bought online by overseas folks should they be willing to pay the exorbitant international shipping rates being charged. The deluxe edition was also a Sony Records exclusive and could only be bought through their MyPlayDirect website/store. The deluxe edition is much different from the regular edition. It has alternate artwork, which has reverse coloring from the regular edition of the album (all format versions), which is a red background with a white heart. The deluxe edition is also a double LP instead of a single LP and has three exclusive bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are not exclusive solely to the vinyl version, they are exclusive to deluxe editions of the album on all formats (CD, MP3/Digital and Vinyl). The three bonus tracks are tacked onto the end of the album and are therefore found on Side D. The songs are (in order) “Sweet Morphine,” “Mama’s Boys” and “Halloween.”
The deluxe edition is pressed as a picture disc and comes housed in a gatefold jacket, another difference between the regular and deluxe editions as the regular edition comes in a standard single pocket jacket. The picture discs feature the heart and color scheme of the album artwork; disc 1 is the deluxe edition art and disc 2 is the regular edition art. The insert is basically the same as the one found with the regular edition, aside from small layout changes. Inserts with both versions feature the lyrics and some promo photos of the band. The only difference with the deluxe edition, aside from the fact that it’s a fold out insert, is that one side of the insert features exclusive promo photos done in a collage on one side of the fold out. So the lyrics and same photos that are with the regular edition insert are on one side, and the opposite side has the exclusive photos. The gatefold jacket is one of the most pointless ones I have ever seen and it would be completely acceptable if they just jammed both records into an enlarged single pocket jacket after seeing it. Inside the gatefold it’s simply all red; no pictures, liner notes or any sort of imagery or writing anywhere.
The price point on the deluxe edition was also on the high side. To entice people to buy it, there was a pre-order incentive attached to it, which was an autographed “poster.” Originally the deluxe edition cost $36 before shipping, but around Black Friday 2014 MyPlayDirect drastically lowered the cost by more than $10 to $25 before shipping. This was obviously due to dramatically low sales of the deluxe edition, as the former pre-order incentive was still available well after the album’s release date. During this Black Friday sale I picked up the deluxe edition along with the autographed “poster.” The autographed “poster,” as it was advertised as, turned out to be the exclusive insert that came with the deluxe edition, with only one panel of the foldout insert being autographed. During the sale you had a choice of a bundle with the autographed “poster” at no additional cost or the record by itself. At some point during the sale the bundle with the autographed “poster” sold out.
The Euro/German pressing is much simpler to understand. There is only one edition available; the regular one. The artwork is the same and the only vinyl color available is 180 gram black. Everything about the Euro/German pressing, visually and audibly, is identical to the regular edition of the U.S. pressing. There are technical differences though, which will help you differentiate between the U.S. and Euro/German pressings. First off the Euro/German pressing is released by Virgin Records instead of Island Records.
The catalog, bar code and matrix numbers/run out for the Euro/German pressing are as followed:
Catalog #: 3791185
Bar code: 6 02537 91185 1
Matrix/run-out (Side A): 3791185 – A 122378E1/B http://www.gzvinyl.com
Matrix/run-out (Side B): 3791185 – B 122378E2/B
The catalog, bar code and matrix numbers/run out for the U.S. pressing (regular edition) are as followed:
Catalog #: B0021185-01
Bar code (Printed): 602537911851
Matrix/run-out (A Side): B0021185-01A RJ STERLING
Matrix/run-out (B Side): B0021185-01B RJ STERLING
I include German pressing with the Euro pressing because there is a significant inclusion with copies sold in Germany, which is an exclusive bonus 7″ limited to 700 copies. Only the 7″, which is pressed on red vinyl, is limited to 700 copies. The album itself is not limited to 700 copies. The 7″ has two songs, with the b-side being exclusive to the 7″ in terms that it’s not found anywhere else on vinyl. Side A has “Rollin’ And Tumblin'” and Side B has “Anywhere I Lay My Head.” “Anywhere I Lay My Head” is a Tom Waits cover. To import the German pressing cost a fair bit of money, more than it should really even after the exchange rate and international/overseas shipping, coming out to very close to $50. Prices on the secondary market post release date are not much better due to flippers who want double (if not more than double in some cases) what it originally cost and refuse to lower their price even though it hasn’t sold in over four months. But if you’re patient you can find a copy at close to the original price. I picked up a copy from a German seller on Discogs where my out-of-pocket expense on the record was $34 USD, which I am perfectly happy spending all things considered.
None of the copies of this record come with a download code (despite it being advertised as being included) or CD version of the album, which is complete BS in this day and age. So if you want high quality MP3’s of the you will have to legitimately buy a digital download or the CD version of the album instead of getting it for free with your purchase of the vinyl version; either way counts as a sale for the album that gets reported to Soundscan for charting purposes, but by forcing people to actually buy an additional copy the label (Island Records) makes more money.
Stitches and Grooves 