Wednesday, May 29, 2013

On Stage - Canadian Cassette (Second Issue)


This is the second issue Canadian cassette for On Stage. The biggest difference between the second and the first issue cassettes is the insert. There's also one very interesting thing about the insert, which I'll mention in a little while.


On the second issue insert the tracks aren’t listed on the front portion of the insert like they are on the first issue, and the ‘Super Dynamic Range’ logo has also been removed completely and replaced with '4 Songs – Special Price' English/French advertising, which was originally at the top of the first issue cassette.

The spine of the cassette is completely different. The background is white, instead of black. The typeset here is copied from the front of the insert, whereas on the original it’s completely different altogether with yellow printing. The Harvest logo is gone and there’s no logo for ‘Super Dynamic Range’. The reversed side of the insert is also completely blank.

The back flap of the cassette insert completely differs as well. The background is white with the tracks listed in black lettering.  There’s no mention of Harvest or Super Dynamic Range. Instead, there’s a Capital Records logo and a lot less manufacturing gibberish. The layout is much less crammed here and looks much cleaner.



The cassette shell is completely the same in all ways, except for the minor change with the catalogue number of course. All four tracks do repeat on both sides, just like on the original release.


As I mentioned earlier, there's also one very interesting thing about the second issue insert - which is almost easy enough to miss if you aren't looking for it. Apparently, Canada pulled the same thing here that they did in the UK, when they wanted to save a bit of money on The Single File box set and simply copied a first issue sleeve for The Man With The Child In His Eyes. They simply copied the photo portion of a first issue cassette insert and reused that here for the reissue. How do I know? Glad you asked. Below I've placed copies of the front original and reissues photos. The original is at the top, and if you take a look at it next to the letter H (I've even lightly circled it), you can see the catalogue number has been printed in very tiny letters and numbers. Now look at the reissue front below it. The photo portion is simply a reissue of the original. Not only has the solid black area at the top been increased, but it's also been dropped down a fraction and is hitting the edge of the letters in a sad attempt to hide the catalogue number next to the letter H. The background has also been slightly darkened to hide this fact even more. Unfortunately it's not enough as the original catalogue number is still partially showing. Clearly this was done to save a bit of money on the reissue as the catalogue numbers on both releases slightly differ to each other.


If you want to check out the original release of this cassette to see how it differs to this one, you can check that out right here

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.