The Sensual World - Australia 7" Single

The artwork on the Australian 7" sleeve is virtually identical to the UK release front to back The only real difference is the distribution information on the back near the bottom, 'Manufactured and distributed by the EMI Music Group Australasia'.

The other differences with this sleeve is how it was put together. If you look at the top of the sleeve, you will see there is an overhang area - this is where the record slots in and out of the sleeve. The sleeve is also made from a thicker card stock type material, which is similar to earlier UK releases. If you want to check out the UK version, you can do so right here.

The record labels are actually quite yellow, which are a complete contrast to the UK ones. If it wasn't for the catalogue number on this, or the red circular writing around the labels, you really wouldn't have a clue where this was made.

This is one of the very few Australian pressings that I personally own. I was never big on collecting Australian pressings of any kind for two main reasons: 1. They were always difficult to come by, due to the fact that they were pressed in smaller quantities. 2. Australian pressings have always been more expensive as a given.

The Sensual World - Canadian 7" Single

As far as I remember, The Sensual World was the only single that got a 7" vinyl release in Canada back in '89. Vinyl was starting to be phased out at that time in favour of the stupid cassette-single. And no, I was not a fan of cassette singles.

Although the front and back cover art of the sleeve is exactly the same to the UK release, which you can see here, the Canadian release does vary slightly in colour. It's something that you wouldn't really notice unless you had a side by side comparison. The Canadian release has more of a solid black and white finish to the photo, but the UK one has a hint of brown in it, which warms up the picture entirely and looks better in my opinion. The colour variation is probably more noticeable on the back of each sleeve.

Also, the UK picture sleeve is made with a much thicker card stock, whereas the Canadian one is more of a cheap paper quality. The openings are also different. For the UK release, the record comes out at the side, but on the Canadian release the record comes out from the top.

Cheap paper labels are used on the Canadian release. They're actually more faint than they probably appear in my scans because I darkened them up a bit so that they would show better. They aren't even nice paper labels either. They almost look like they were made out of homemade pressed recycled paper. No joke.

The Sensual World - UK 7" Single

There really isn't loads to say about this one. Practically every other worldwide release of this single uses the same artwork as the UK release.

This is also one of Kate's few UK singles that doesn't have an inscription etched into the run off vinyl.