The Kick Inside - Japan First Issue Pressing

The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that the Japanese release of The Kick Inside was issued twice. The first pressing, which is the one featured here, has the Obi-Strip placed vertically along the spine area of the record jacket. The reissue has the Obi-Strip placed horizontally along the top edge - so basically the strip of paper is cutting off the top part of Kate's head.

Since both the first issue and the reissue use the same artwork on the front of the record jacket, there are really only two ways to tell them apart. The obi-strip is one way as they are completely different from one another. The first pressing obi-strip has a predominantly black strip with pink Japanese text, whereas the reissue version is predominantly white and blue and says "Break Out 2000" on it in English. If the obi-strip is missing, both issues can also be identified by their catalogue numbers, which are completely different. The first issue pressing has the catalogue number EMS-81042, and the reissue is EMS-63026. I always advise against buying a Japanese pressing that no longer has its original obi-strip as it devalues the record in most cases.

The back of the album jacket is the same as UK release, which is pretty much the case with most of the releases. There's also a double-sided insert included, which is written in Japanese text. Side one has a small photo of Kate, followed by what appears to be a huge write up - the other side has song lyrics in Japanese.

The record labels are similar to the UK ones at the time and feature English titles.