I finally grabbed a copy of this LP online, listed as the original 1999 pressing, Black vinyl. Yay? Not so much... I am hoping that some of you AT fans may be able to help me solve this issue.
The main aspects that are killing me:
1) It sounds pretty bad - strange background tone all the way through, highly noticed in between each song, into/outro, etc - sounds like a really janky unprofessional cut. Could this be normal??!
2) Strange defects, one per side - they appear white - as if the "vinyl" was a coating over some other material - the white parts are definitely indented, as is material is missing. Never seen this in my life (and I'm a pretty serious nerd)
3) Referring to #1, the mastering was supposed to be done by John Golden - but he is actually really really good, and this cut is pretty bad. As well, his famous GOLDEN stamp is not in the wax
4) The matrix numbers/etchings do not match what's on Discogs for the original pressing ( but no other pressings have their numbers entered on Discogs)
5) The cover art, esp noticed on the back cover, is pretty fuzzy - the text & logos specifically - and the labels are kind of fuzzy and dark. But looking at photos, this may not be far from the normal release. Usually fuzzy print is how I would spot a bootleg
The record contains the inner sheet, which would be over the top for a bootleg... And I've never heard of a bootleg of this LP.
So it's super weird and I need to get to the bottom of this so I can return it or figure out what to do. If this is truly the first pressing, then yikes! It's pretty funky.
Here are the Side 1 etchings in the wax, I would seriously appreciate it if anyone with any Black vinyl pressing of any year, could please check your etchings, so I can figure out what I'm holding here. I really would like to figure out if this an official pressing of some kind, or something unofficial.
1089-AM055-1A 5 S-65692, and an unintelligible squiggle
Does this match any pressing? Even if you have a colored pressing, your comment would be helpful. For instance, do these etchings match the Orange version of the first pressing? Any other pressing at all?
Please help Vinyl Wan Collective, you're my only hope! :-) THANK YOU!