This is one of the best albums ever recorded. I cannot be swayed from this opinion. Released in 1996, Sub Pop had the U.S. rights to the original vinyl release; it was released as SP353 on black vinyl. The UK version was on Mute Records (STUMM143-1), also on black vinyl. There was also a German release on Elektra Records. As with Gentlemen, the German version seems to be the rarest. In 2014, Music on Vinyl released a 180g re-press, which is pretty easy to find.
In 2016, Black Love was re-pressed as a giant 3 LP set, complete with previously unreleased demos and rough takes. Very interesting to hear after all of these years (particularly the bones of "Crime Scene Part Two", which many of us had wondered about for years). The sleeves for the re-presses were modified slightly. On the U.S. and German ones, all the graphics and lettering were colored gold. On the UK one, the entire sleeve was gold colored, with the graphics faded (ha) into the background and black lettering. All of the re-presses can be found readily.
Now...pricing. This is a mess. The price for the U.S. and UK originals fluctuated wildly for a number of years. The average price for the U.S. one came down after the 2016 re-pressing was released, but it was still going for a fair amount. That is, of course, until someone flooded the market with sealed U.S. originals, starting in 2018. As a result, the price came way down, and only started really rising again in 2021. The spread for the original UK version in 2017 was insane: it went for anywhere from $15 to $90. No idea. It is occasionally sold for a high price, but is usually pretty affordable these days.
| Version | Value ($) | Scarcity | Price Trending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub Pop SP353 | 45-65 | 3 | Up |
| Elektra 7559-61896-1 | 30-50 | 5 | Stable |
| Mute STUMM143-1 | 30-45 | 4 | Stable |
| Music on Vinyl MOVLP821 | 20-30 | 1 | Stable |
| Rhino/Elektra R1 557151 3xLP (U.S.) | 25-40 | 1 | Stable |
| Elektra 081227942892 3xLP (Germany) | 30-40 | 1 | Stable |
| Mute XLSTUMM143 3xLP (UK) | 25-35 | 2 | Stable |
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| Credits: | Mike: SP353 image |
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This page was last updated on February 1, 2022.
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