This 1992 album was the band's greatest commercial success. It's a fantastic album, and one of my favorite albums by anyone, ever. It was released on the heels of the extremely successful Singles soundtrack, which contained what became the band's best known song, "Nearly Lost You" (also released on Sweet Oblivion). There were many different versions of this record, and even more CDs and cassettes. It was a major label release with good label support, and as a result, it was released in a bunch of countries. For the original release, there were four vinyl versions: U.S., Dutch, Korean, and Brazilian. I thought more might appear, but those are still the only four that have surfaced from the original run.
The U.S. LP was called the "One Foot in the Grave Limited Vinyl Version." It came in a plain black sleeve with a label slapped on the front and another on the back, and was sealed in plastic along with a CD booklet. Maximum effort by the label here. I mean, I guess I can't blame them. CD was king in 1992, especially for major label releases. The other versions came with proper sleeves and artwork. The prices have been all over the place on these. They dropped a lot after the reissues came out, but all original pressings have gone way up. The U.S. version is generally selling for a ton now.
Of the CDs and cassettes, the notable one was the Japanese CD, which came with three bonus tracks: "Song of a Baker" (a Small Faces cover), "E.S.K.", and "Van's New One", which was later titled "Maybe". The first two ended up on the Nearly Lost You single, and the last one was on the Shadow of the Season CD single. "E.S.K." was also later included on the Ocean of Confusion anthology.
There have been several new vinyl pressings of Sweet Oblivion over the past few years. First, Music on Vinyl put out a 180g version in 2010. Newbury Comics pressed an exclusive gold (yellow) vinyl version in 2015, limited to 1,000 numbered copies. Music on Vinyl did another in 2017; this one on orange marble vinyl. Then, Epic got in on the fun in 2018 with its own re-press, on black vinyl (pressed separately in the U.S. and Europe). The Music on Vinyl and Newbury Comics pressing prices have gone nuts, but the 2018 Epic ones are still reasonable.
In 2019, HNE Recordings put out a deluxe double CD, which contained a lot of the b-sides from the Sweet Oblivion era: the second disc had the three bonus tracks from the Nearly Lost You, Dollar Bill, and Shadow of the Season singles.
| Version | Value ($) | Scarcity | Price Trending |
|---|---|---|---|
| E48996 Black (U.S.) | 70-120 | 6 | Up / Volatile |
| 471724 1 Black (Europe) | 50-80 | 4 | Up / Volatile |
| 188.291/1-471724 Black (Brazil) | 40-60 | 5 | Up |
| CPL-1313 (CK-48996) Black (South Korea) | 50-70 | 6 | Up |
| Music on Vinyl MOVLP101 Black | 40-55 | 1 | Up |
| Epic 88875086351 Gold | 60-70 | 2 | Up |
| Music on Vinyl MOVLP101 Orange Marble | 70-85 | 2 | Up |
| Epic 19075844091 Black (U.S.) | 25-35 | 1 | Stable |
| Epic 19075844091 Black (Europe) | 25-35 | 1 | Stable |
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 Gold Vinyl |
 Orange Marble |
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This page was last updated on February 25, 2022.