A Record Collector's Guide

I guess it's about time I got around to finishing this page up.  This page has been the most requested of those who have contacted me.  I was missing a lot of the images, so it took me a little longer than planned. Here we go, though...Sub Pop LPs. Many thanks go to Matt Mona for providing a large number of pictures for this page. If you happen to have any of the other missing images, please .

SP10 V/A

Sub Pop 100

Sub Pop SP10 LP, released July 1986 (U.S.)

The first piece of Sub Pop vinyl ever. A compilation of all sorts of bands that never really made subsequent appearances on Sub Pop (except for Sonic Youth, of course...). All copies were on black vinyl. It also comes with a nice insert giving some details on the bands. Limited to 5,000 copies. I don't know what to do with the valuation for this one. The sale prices continue to be all over the place.

Insert

This page was last updated on October 27, 2019.

SP11 Green River

Dry as a Bone

Sub Pop SP11 LP, released June 1987 (U.S.)

Tupelo TUPLP17 / TUPCD17, released June 1990 (Europe)

Sub Pop SP1261 2xLP, released January 2019 (U.S./Europe)

Dry as a Bone/Rehab Doll

Sub Pop SP11b CD / SP11a Cassette, released 1990 (U.S.)

Sub Pop SPCD 11 CD, released 1990 (UK)

Sub Pop SPCD 72/239 CD, released 1990 (Germany)

Sony SRCS 5862 CD, released 1992 (Japan)

This one basically qualifies as legendary at this point. Green River's first on Sub Pop. These are all on black vinyl, but the inserts varied a bit. The first pressing of 2,000 came with yellow inserts. The next batch came with pink inserts. I once heard that there were only 500 with pink inserts, but I don't really believe that, as the pink ones do seem to be more common than the yellow ones. Regardless, the yellow ones sell for more. There were also additional copies on the market with no inserts. The prices for the yellow insert ones have been quite volatile in recent years.

In 2019, Sub Pop repressed this one as a deluxe edition double LP, including a whole bunch of rarities as bonus tracks. The Loser Edition of the deluxe edition is on green vinyl, the color of which varies quite a bit: it can be opaque or translucent, and the opaque one varies from a light lime green to a dark green.

Yellow Insert

Pink Insert

This page was last updated on October 27, 2019.

SP12 Soundgarden

Screaming Life

Sub Pop SP12 LP, released October 1987 (U.S.)

Sub Pop SP1065 2xLP, released November 2013 (U.S.)

What to do with this one...the first several Sub Pop releases all have their grand places in history. This was Soundgarden's debut EP. There are many colors to account for here. The first pressing is still the big one: 500 on orange vinyl (some discographies say 600). There were several subsequent pressings due to the popularity of the album, and they were on many colors due to Erika Records' involvement. To complicate the situation, there were also several important sleeve variations. Alright, let's get to it. Here's what Matt Mona (of KA-CHUNK Records, who provided many of the images) and I have pieced together:

1. 1st pressing: 500-600 on orange vinyl. Black & white sleeve, "Screaming Life" in orange print on the spine.

2. Black vinyl, black & white sleeve, "Screaming Life" in orange print on the spine.

3. Black vinyl, sepia tone sleeve, no bar code, "Screaming Life" in red print on the spine.

4. Erika pressings...known colors: I have seen blue marble (these vary in amount of marbling and darkness of the blue color), red, purple marble, pink marble, and mint green marble, which is by far the rarest of the bunch. This one was unconfirmed for a long time before a collector got ahold of a copy. Right. Sepia tone sleeve, small bar code on the upper left of the back of the sleeve.

5. Black vinyl, black & white sleeve, "Screaming Life" in red print on the spine, bar code on the bottom right of the back of the sleeve, www.subpop.com on the bottom of the sleeve.

6. 2013 re-press: This is a double LP re-press (the second LP is a re-press of the Fopp EP). The limited Loser Edition of this pressing has a clear blue Screaming Life record and a clear vinyl Fopp EP. The regular edition has both discs on black.

All original color copies are somewhat rare, while the black ones are not. The blue, purple, and red versions all appear with similar frequency. The mint green one is a really tough find - easily the hardest of this batch. The pink marble is fairly close behind.

7. Finally (so far), in 2018, Newbury Comics released a special version of the double LP re-press. This one was limited to 400 copies, and both discs were on blue and black swirl vinyl.

Now...pricing. The orange one has been absolutely all over the place in the past few years. If you get lucky, you can still get one for around $100. It has gone for up to $600. There has been zero consistency from one sale to the next. The mint green one has come down a bit in price, but I have only seen it sold once in the past three years. The pink marble one has gotten fairly expensive, while the other early colors have stabilized.

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP15 Green River

Rehab Doll

Sub Pop SP15 LP/Cassette, released May 1988 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0031 LP (Germany)

Sub Pop SP1262 2xLP/CD, released 2019 (U.S./Europe)

Dry as a Bone/Rehab Doll

Sub Pop SP11b CD / SP11a Cassette, released 1990 (U.S.)

Sub Pop SPCD 11 CD, released 1990 (UK)

Sub Pop SPCD 72/239 CD, released 1990 (Germany)

Sony SRCS 5862 CD, released 1992 (Japan)

Another instant legend. The first 1,000 of these were on green vinyl. There were also black ones pressed in this first batch. These green and black copies contained printed inner sleeves that served as inserts (one side of this sleeve contained lyrics). Later, there was another black batch made, but these had different labels and contained no inner sleeve insert. As far as I am aware, the original black labels (the ones that came with the printed inner sleeve) had one label that was a picture of the band. In place of this label was an image of a six-pack of cans on the later pressing. Also released in Germany on Glitterhouse.

In 2019, Sub Pop released a deluxe edition double LP version of Rehab Doll, which included demos and rarities. The Loser Edition was on lime green marble vinyl in the U.S. and a translucent green vinyl in Europe. It was also released on black vinyl. Then, there was a special translucent lime green version, which was exclusive to the Ten Club and East Street Records in Seattle. This has proven to be the most difficult find of the batch of re-presses.

Inner Sleeve	Test Pressing

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP16 The Fluid

Clear Black Paper

Glitterhouse GR0026 LP, released 1988 (Germany)

Sub Pop SP16 LP, released 1988 (U.S.)

Fluid Album #2. The Glitterhouse version came first for this one, all on black vinyl. The Fluid then signed to Sub Pop back in the label's very early days. There are a number of sources that cite the Afghan Whigs as the first non-Seattle Sub Pop signing, but..nope. It was The Fluid. F'real. Anyway, Sub Pop took the album, replaced four of the tracks (all of the replacement songs were available on the Freak Magnet EP), changed the sleeve, and put it out in 1988. The first pressing was on blue vinyl and limited to 500 copies. Later versions were on pink marble and black. On the sleeves for the later pressings, the shaded areas appear to be darker. It's significant enough to where I can eyeball the difference easily in a record store. The first pressing came with Sub Pop's first catalogue, a double-sided full page detailing SP10 through SP19.

Insert - Side 1	Insert - Side 2	Test Pressing
GR0026	SP16 Blue	SP16 Pink Marble	SP16 Black

This page was last updated on November 16, 2019.

SP17 Soundgarden

Fopp

Sub Pop SP17 12", released August 1988 (U.S.)

Many of the releases of this era in Sub Pop's history can be described as legendary. No difference here. Later lumped in with Screaming Life for cassette and CD versions, this one is still a classic collectible. It came in a die-cut sleeve, and was limited to 2000 copies, all on black vinyl. It came in a die-cut sleeve that was black on the front with some black, difficult to read print on it. The value dropped a lot after being consistently high for many years. In recent years, it has spiked again.

Fopp was re-pressed in 2013 and included with the deluxe edition of Screaming Life. In that deluxe set, the Loser Edition of Fopp was on clear vinyl (it was also pressed on black, and in the later Newbury Comics version, blue/black swirl). See the Screaming Life page

Insert

2013 Loser Edition Re-press

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP20 Girl Trouble

Hit It or Quit It

K/Sub Pop SP20 LP, released September 1988 (U.S.)

K KLP229 LP/CD, released 2013 (U.S.)

This was a joint release between Sub Pop and K Records. Girl Trouble was never really a Sub Pop band. They had to make their appearance, though. The first pressing was on black vinyl, and can be recognized by the insert. The yellow marble version showed up a little later on and is rarer. There may have been a later black pressing concurrent with the yellow marble, but this is unconfirmed. The later pressings contained no inserts. K redid it in 2013 on vinyl and CD.

Insert

This page was last updated on April 4, 2020.

SP21 Mudhoney

Superfuzz Bigmuff

Sub Pop SP21 LP, released October 1988 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0034 LP / GRCD 34 (Germany)

Au Go Go ANDA 101 LP (Austraila)

Well, it doesn't get much more iconic than this (until we get to Bleach...). Mudhoney's first album. The first pressing was of 1,000 on black vinyl and came with a poster. After this first press, some other colors surfaced, including blue marble, purple marble, red, and grey marble. The grey one is the rarest of these, but the red is close behind. The blue and purple ones range in color from light to dark. At this time, there were also pressings in Germany and Australia - the German one was on Glitterhouse (black vinyl) and the Australian one was on Au Go Go (on both black and orange vinyl).

Then, there were later black pressings; there is one version in which the sleeve contained a bar code, and a later one in which the sleeve had a bar code plus the Sub Pop URL on the back.

In 2009, Sub Pop repressed this album for the 20th anniversary of its original release. This version was on a dark grey marble vinyl. It came with a poster, similar to that of the original release, and a download coupon. The labels were a darker yellow than on the earlier pressings. The grey re-press seemed to devalue the original grey version a bit.

Newbury Comics struck again here, releasing a version of Superfuzz Bigmuff on clear vinyl with black swirls in 2017. There were 300 of those.

		2009 Edition

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP22 Blood Circus

Primal Rock Therapy

Sub Pop SP22 LP, released January 1989 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0038 LP, releaased 1989 (Germany)

This band flopped. Sub Pop used to tout them in their catalogs as only having been liked by the people working at the label. I thought they were solid, actually. They had one album and one single. The single gets a lot more attention. The first 1,000 copies of this LP were on red vinyl. Sub Pop says 1,649 total were pressed, which indicates that there are 649 black copies floating around. Neither black nor red will break the bank. Also released in Germany on Glitterhouse.

Sub Pop Insert

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP24 Swallow

Tupelo TUPLP1 / Sub Pop SP24 LP, released March 1989 (U.S./UK)

Swallow. Forever linked to Blood Circus. This one drove me crazy for a little while, as I could get no definitive opinion on whether there were separate Sub Pop and Tupelo pressings. There aren't. It just says Tupelo. Black vinyl.

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP25 V/A

Sub Pop 200

Sub Pop SP25 3xLP Box Set / SP25b CD, released December 1988 (U.S.)

Tupelo TUPCD 4 CD, released 1989 (UK)

Sub Pop SPCD 71/238 CD, released 1991 (Germany)

Sony SRCS 5923 CD, released 1992 (Japan)

Sub Pop SP25-2 CD, released 1995 (U.S.)

WEA Japan ‎WPCR-1616 CD, released 1997 (Japan)

Traffic TRCP 55 CD, released 2009 (Japan)

Sub Pop SPCD-25J CD, released 2017 (Japan)

Sub Pop Rock City

Glitterhouse GR 0052 LP, released 1988 (Germany)

"It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black." Sub Pop hit the jackpot with unnecessary marketing on this set. It contained three records in a big, fancy box with a big, fancy booklet full of Charles Peterson photos. It was limited to 5,000 copies. Total overkill - all of the tracks would probably have fit on a single record. Ya gotta love it. It is only as expensive as it is now because of the Nirvana collectors (it has the only studio version of "Spank Thru" on it). There are 5,000...shouldn't cost that much. But it does. The Fluid song on here is a different version from the one released on the Roadmouth album (and, as it so happens, this track is what originally got me into The Fluid).

Track Listing:

• Tad - Sex God Missy
• The Fluid - Is It Day I'm Seeing?
• Nirvana - Spank Thru
• Steven J. Bernstein - Come Out Tonight
• Mudhoney - The Rose
• The Walkabouts - Got No Chains
• Terry Lee Hale - Dead Is Dead
• Soundgarden - Sub Pop Rock City
• Green River - Hangin' Tree
• Fastbacks - Swallow My Pride
• Blood Circus - The Outback
• Swallow - Zoo
• Chemistry Set - Underground
• Girl Trouble - Gonna Find a Cave
• The Nights and Days - Split
• Cat Butt - Big Cigar
• Beat Happening - Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive
• Screaming Trees - Love or Confusion
• Steve Fisk - Untitled
• The Thrown Ups - You Lost It

I've also included the Glitterhouse Sub Pop Rock City compilation in this entry. This was released in Germany, and was effectively a single-disc version of Sub Pop 200, featuring 11 tracks of the 20 on the larger set. It seems like they chose what they considered to be the best of Sub Pop 200, really. (Side note: they almost nailed it... if only they'd included the Chemistry Set and Screaming Trees tracks.) The sleeve photo was also a fantastic live shot from a Fluid show.

Sub Pop 200 Side A

Sub Pop 200 Side C

Sub Pop 200 Side E

Sub Pop Rock City

This page was last updated on November 18, 2019.

SP27 Tad

God's Balls

Sub Pop SP27 LP, released March 1989 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0051 / GRCD 51 CD, released 1989 (Germany)

Sub Pop SP1177, released 2016 (U.S.)

Tad, you are a classy bastard. This was Tad's first full-length. The first 2,000 copies came on black vinyl in gatefold sleeves. 500 of these came with a "Manzine." No, really. Look - there's a picture. There were additional black copies, along with some blue marble copies, released later in normal sleeves. It was also released in Germany on Glitterhouse.

So there may have been 500 Manzine copies originally, but I have seen so few of those sold over the years that I have to believe not that many survived. It's crazy rare. I haven't seen one sold in many years. The gatefold sleeve and poster are not too difficult to find, but have gotten much more expensive. The blue version had gotten really expensive, but came back down.

In 2016, Sub Pop re-pressed God's Balls. The Loser Edition was on orange vinyl - for the U.S. version, it was an orange marble, while the European version was a clear orange. It was also on black. Sub Pop put out a promo version as well - it was the black vinyl version in a plain white sleeve, sealed in plastic with a promo sticker on the front.

Manzine

Gatefold Sleeve

This page was last updated on October 29, 2019.

SP31 Walkabouts

Cataract

Sub Pop SP31 LP, released March 1989 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0073 LP, released 1989 (Germany)

Shortly after the Walkabouts made a mildly-out-of-place folksy appearance on Sub Pop 200, their first Sub Pop LP came out. According to Sub Pop, the first 3,000 copies contained a lyric sheet. Apparently, when they ran out of lyric sheets to include (or just in later pressings), they started putting in giant letter-size Singles Club subscription forms (we saw this again with Bleach). I found the following in a sealed copy. Also released on black vinyl on Glitterhouse in Germany.

Insert

This page was last updated on October 30, 2019.

SP34 Nirvana

Bleach

What can I say about Bleach? This album means everything in the realm of Sub Pop. A fabulous album that, in the end, led to the salvation of the label. There are many, many editions of Bleach. I've tried to hit on all of the major vinyl editions above, but there are just way too many variants to get all of the CDs and cassettes, not to mention the unofficial versions. Initially, I only focused on the U.S. Sub Pop pressings for this page, but as I finally dove in and tackled a more complete Nirvana discography, I had to expand the Bleach page a bit as well. I am going to do this one a little differently than others. Rather than go chronologically with the vinyl pressings, I will break it into Sub Pop, Tupelo, Waterfront, and then, the ever-popular "other".

Sub Pop

The first pressing of Bleach was of 1,000 on white vinyl. Some of these came with posters. It has been expensive forever, but the price of this pressing was stable in the $400 range for many years. It has been really unpredictable lately, though. I have seen three different copies sell for more than $900.

The second Sub Pop pressing was of 2,000 on black vinyl. Most of these came with posters. Those that didn't came with giant letter-size Singles Club ads. You will often see this referred to as the "A4" insert...it's not A4, silly Europeans. It's U.S. letter size. It's different, dammit. There were at least two different Singles Club forms that were used in this capacity: one started with Lazy Cowgirls and another started with Sister Ray. The first time I saw one of the Sister Ray copies, I thought someone had swapped out a form from another record, but I have since seen three or four more of these, so I am now fairly sure they are legit. Presumably, Sub Pop had some copies in stock for several months, and the Singles Club was a monthly thing, so they presumably updated the insert used as time went on. Anyway, the black ones with posters generally go for more than those with inserts - lately, a lot more. Copies with posters have shot up in price - I have seen several copies sell in the $350-$500 range, which I find completely insane. The copies that come with neither poster nor insert are much less expensive.

The 3rd generation pressings, manufactured by Erika Records, were on a variety of colors (pink, pink marble, purple marble, green marble, yellow-green marble, and blue marble). Some are much rarer than others, and this is reflected in the pricing. Pink is most common. Red, pink marble, purple marble, and green marble are all roughly even in scarcity. The yellow-green marble one is rarer. Blue marble has always been the rarest and most expensive of this group. For some reason, the price of the purple one has taken off in recent years, while most of the others have stayed more or less stable. The yellow-green marble one has gotten a bit more expensive.

There is one specific standout edition from the third generation era: 500 copies on red & white swirled vinyl. Most of these came sealed in plastic along with a blue vinyl Sliver 7". They were also numbered. All of these things combined to make this a very expensive edition. Some copies have surfaced with no numbers and no 7" - these go for much less than the full sets. The price of any version of the red & white copy has been all over the map in recent years.

There was also one pressing that does not fit with the rest: the so-called "iceberg" pressing. As the story goes, the color didn't come out as intended, and they were not used by the label because they were too similar to the original white pressing. I don't know how true this is. They aren't really similar. Anyway, not many of these were made, and there is a definite possibility that most copies ended up in the dumpster. As you might imagine, it sells for an obscene amount of money. I haven't seen one for sale in many years.

Next, we had the fourth generation pressings. These are pretty straightforward. They were on black vinyl, but were easily distinguished from the earlier black pressing. First, there was a bar code and the Sub Pop URL on the back of the sleeve (I could have sworn there was one with the bar code but without the URL as well, but I can't fully recall). Next, the Nirvana logo on the front of the sleeve was in a different position. On all earlier pressings, the logo butted right up against the top edge of the sleeve. On these later editions, it was evenly spaced between the top edge and the picture.

Generation 5: In 2009, Sub Pop reissued Bleach again. This new version ("Deluxe Edition") was a double LP, and carried a different catalogue number (SP834). The second record contained the band's live performance from February 9, 1990, in Portland, OR (the original source of the live version of "Molly's Lips" on the Fluid/Nirvana Split 7"). The first 10,000 copies of the Deluxe Edition were on white vinyl. Some copies had some dark streaks running through them. Sub Pop used heavyweight vinyl for this pressing. There have been some reports of these records not playing very well on some people's turntables. I cannot confirm this. Sub Pop also did black vinyl copies. The deluxe release came with a download coupon. In addition, there was a Japanese version of the white vinyl deluxe edition, which was just the U.S. version with an extra sticker on the outside of the sleeve. It's not super common, and sells for more than the U.S. one.

But why stop there? In 2014, Sub Pop and Newbury Comics collaborated to release two more versions of Bleach, one on maroon vinyl and one on clear vinyl with white mixed in. Each of these was limited to 750 copies.

Somewhere in here (2015), Sub Pop did another single disc black vinyl edition. This was the remastered version that they did for the deluxe edition, but without the second record.

Done? Nope. There were two more Newbury Comics exclusives released, this time of the double LP deluxe edition. There were 1,400 copies each of blue vinyl with black swirl and clear vinyl with black swirl.

Things stayed quiet-ish for a couple of years with Bleach, but 2020 brought a whole bunch of annoying exclusive pressings, all carrying the Sub Pop SP34 catalogue number. First, there was a blue-green marble edition (they called it "blew vinyl"...ha) exclusive to Zia, a record store chain in Arizona. It was limited to 500 copies and totally caught me off guard. I missed it completely until it was sold out (which did not take long). Prices spiked immediately on the secondary market, consistently in the $75-85 range for a month or two. The frenzy died down, and it can now be found in the $45-50 range fairly reliably. Next, we had the neon yellow one done in June for something called "Love Record Stores Day" in the UK and Ireland, which is apparently something that exists that is not Record Store Day. I don't know. Anyway, it was limited to 1,000 copies. Same story: an initial big price spike. This one has not fully settled down, though. I've seen it sold for $40 and $85 within the space of two weeks. Very volatile, but most often in the $50-65 range.

Why stop there? Australia had to get in on this. They did an Australia exclusive tri-color pressing (black/white/silver) that looked exceptionally cool, and it was limited to 500 copies. Unfortunately, some of the stores selling it unofficially decided not to sell it overseas, so they cancelled all orders from outside of Australia. Very annoying. The price for this one skyrocketed and has not come down yet. It's going consistently in the $90-100 range right now. We'll see how that plays out over time. Then, we got yet another pair of U.S. pressings, each limited to 2,500. These were red/black marble and blue/black marble. They are common as of now, easily purchased new for $20-25.

Tupelo

Tupelo had the original UK pressings covered. This would have been a simple section, if not for the damn counterfeiters. The Tupelo pressings changed up the tracks slightly from the U.S. version - they contained "Big Cheese" where "Love Buzz" appeared on the U.S. one. There were three official colors: white, which was limited to 300 copies, dark green, limited to 2,000, and black. The labels were a light blue-ish/green-ish grey. The white vinyl version, as you might imagine, is very valuable. Unfortunately, there are fakes on the market, and some are very convincing. I would bet the value of the white Tupelo pressing would be a lot higher if not for the high-quality fakes. This one is a minefield for that reason. There are a couple of ways to tell real and fake apart, but most are difficult if you are not looking at both at the same time. The best way is still the matrix codes. Real ones have matrix codes that say MPO TUPLP 6 A1 / MPO TUPLP 6 B1. The fakes are missing the the MPO part. This is not fool-proof, though, as some copies have surfaced with this part added by hand. One big thing is that the fakes play "Love Buzz" as track 5 instead of "Big Cheese". Not helpful if you are looking at one in a store, but a useful check after the fact. Also, the trail-off wax area is larger on the fake than on the original. And I am pretty sure the labels on the fake are a little more on the blue side than the originals. Not positive on that one.

There was also a counterfeit made of the green version. The real green one is a mostly opaque, darker olive green. The fake is a brighter, mostly transparent green. It has the same matrix codes as the white fake, missing the MPO piece. The black version was not initially counterfeited, but one of those came along later. It is easily recognizable as fake by the matrix codes, which just say Bleach A / Bleach B.

So then, later, all sorts of other colors stated popping up. We had red, pink, yellow, clear, purple, clear with blue splatter, and even a picture disc. These are all fakes. Ignore anything other than the first three legitimate colors above. Really, the overall message here is be careful when purchasing any Tupelo variant.

Waterfront

Oboy...these are tough. The Waterfront variants are the real reason I never wanted to go beyond the Sub Pop pressings. These all came out in Australia. There were a bunch of color variants right at the beginning, in 1989. Not just vinyl colors; the sleeves varied as well (the sleeves more or less matched the vinyl colors). Here's a quick rundown of the different versions:

• Black vinyl, black sleeve, silver font
• Blue vinyl, black sleeve, blue font
• Blue vinyl, black sleeve, silver font
• Light blue vinyl, light blue sleeve
• Purple vinyl, purple/magenta sleeve
• Red vinyl, red sleeve
• Red/Orange-red vinyl, black sleeve, silver font
• Yellow vinyl, black sleeve, yellow font
• Green vinyl, green sleeve, with poster and additional outer fabric sleeve

That wasn't so bad, right? The different versions vary a bit in scarcity. The blue one with the standard sleeve seems to be the most common. The red/orangey-red one in the standard sleeve and the blue one in the black sleeve with blue font are the next tier - both comparably common. I realize the orange-red one in the pics below looks exactly like the red one. I promise there's a difference. Anyway, the versions with the full-color sleeve variants are next in line. The red vinyl/red sleeve and light blue vinyl/blue sleeve versions are in the same general scarcity tier. The green one was a 1992 tour pressing of 500 copies - it seems to be roughly as rare as the red sleeve and blue sleeve variants, but sells for a lot more. An intact one with poster and outer sleeve is a very pricy item. The yellow one in the black sleeve with yellow font is slightly more scarce, but its price has never seemed to fully reflect how uncommon it is (this could be due to the counterfeits, which we'll get to, or it could be because people like the pretty full-color sleeves of the other versions). The purple one in the purple/magenta sleeve is rarer, and has commanded a high price for many years. And then, there's the black one, which you might expect to be common. 'Tis not. In fact, it seems to be the rarest of the bunch. It's very rare, and its price has not caught up to its scarcity. However, it is not quite as rare as some would have you believe - I have seen that some think there were as few as 30 copies made, and there's zero chance that is true. It is sold often enough that I would be shocked if it were anywhere close to that. 150-200 I would believe. Even 100. Maybe.

Right. Now, let's discuss the dirty-bastard counterfeits. It was a long time before any of these started to surface. As far as I know, the first was a copy of the yellow vinyl version. I have seen little agreement over when this first surfaced. A tidal wave of other colors then followed in 2013, though: we had blue, green, green marble, yellow-green, neon yellow, orange, red, white, purple, and yellow w/ orange marble. Many of these had varying degrees of marbling, and they came with a huge variety of sleeves with different accent colors. Fortunately, they are easy to spot. First, the matrix codes are different. On the originals, the matrix codes read DMX 71211 ®2AC / DMX 71211 ®2C or DMX 71211 ®2B / DMX 71211 ®2C. The fakes all have matrix codes that say DAMP 114-A1 / DAMP 114-B1. See? Easy. Even easier: the labels are different. The originals have white borders around the labels, while on the fakes, they are black.

Other International Versions

Now that we have covered Sub Pop, Tupelo, and Waterfront, we have a few other pressings to discuss. Let's start with the 1992 European pressing. There were two variants of this one: one had the Geffen Records logo on the labels with no text, and the other said "GEFFEN RECORDS" on the labels underneath the logos. Both were on black vinyl and remain common. Next up, the 1992 Brazilian pressing: This one was on black vinyl, but for some reason, they changed the sleeve font to dark green. I guess Australia made them feel left out. This one is still relatively available and affordable. There was a Colombian pressing in 1993 on black vinyl. It is pretty easy to find, but it can command a few bucks. In 1994, a South Korean version came out on Geffen. It is fairly rare and not the cheapest. The Japanese Geffen pressing was released in 1996. It was on black vinyl, and the sleeve came with a purple obi strip. It is easy to find, but has gotten way more expensive in the past few years. It was always pretty affordable, but all of the Japanese Nirvana pressings from that era seem to have appreciated recently.

In 2002, there were some UK reissues. I guess these were technically on Sub Pop, but they felt like major label versions. The catalogue number for these variants was 9878400341, which doesn't follow Sub Pop's catalogue numbers - those are Warner numbers. Sub Pop sold a 49% stake in the label to Warner in the mid-'90s, so...yeah, these were Warner pressings. Anyway, it came out on white marble vinyl, clear vinyl, and black vinyl. The first run of white vinyl was reportedly limited to 2,500 copies. This one came with 13 tracks, so it included all of the tracks from the CD version. It's still affordable and easy to find. There was a second white marble pressing, this time as the original 11-track version of the album. It is even more common and affordable than the first. The other two colors also contained 11 tracks. The black one is fairly common and quite cheap. The clear one is much rarer than the others. It can sell for a decent amount now. And that, friends, wraps it up for Bleach for the moment.

Sub Pop: First, Second, and Test Pressings
Test Pressing (1st)	Test Pressing (3rd)	1st Pressing - White	2nd Pressing - Black
Sub Pop: Third Generation Pressings
Iceberg	Red & White Swirl	Yellow-Green Marble	Green Marble
Red	Purple Marble	Pink	Pink Marble
Blue Marble
Sub Pop: Fifth Generation Pressings
Maroon - Newbury Comics	Clear/White - Newbury Comics	Blue-green Marble - Zia	Neon Yellow
Black/White/Silver Tri-color	Red/Black Marble	Blue/Black Marble
Sub Pop: Deluxe Pressings
2xLP White	2xLP Black	2xLP Blue/Black Swirl - Newbury Comics	2xLP Clear/Black Swirl - Newbury Comics
Tupelo Pressings
White	Green	Black
Waterfront Pressings
Black	Blue	Light Blue	Purple
Red	Red/Orange-red	Yellow	Green

This page was last updated on December 2, 2020.

SP36 The Fluid

Roadmouth

Sub Pop SP36 LP, released June 1989 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0055 LP / GRCD 55, released 1989 (Germany)

Glue/Roadmouth

Sub Pop SP64b CD / SP64a Cassette, released 1990 (U.S.)

Sony SRCS 6574 CD, released 1992 (Japan)

Released concurrently on Sub Pop and Glitterhouse in 1989. The sleeve was the same for both except for the coloring. The Glitterhouse one had an olive green tint, while the Sub Pop one was more pink. As with all others, the Glitterhouse version was on black vinyl. The Sub Pop version...not so much. A member of the band told me that the first pressing was of equal numbers of pink marble and red marble copies, and believed it was a total press run of 1,000. The grey marble and black copies were later pressings.

I knew that other colors might exist, but imagine my surprise when one of the original Sub Pop discographers wrote to me a few years ago to tell me of two others - a clear red and a clear green copy. Supposedly, these were pressed in quantities of about 50 each. I had seen a clear red one advertised for years, but assumed that it was the red marble one and moved on with my life. As soon as I got that message, I bought that copy...sure enough, clear red. Who knew? The difference is a little hard to tell in the pictures, but I promise...one is clear red and the other is solid red marble. I have never been able to verify the clear green one, so for the time being, it remains in the rumors section. I actually don't think that one exists. It would have appeared by now.

For reasons I do not understand, the red marble version has consistently sold for more than the pink marble version in recent years, despite (theoretically) equal quantities. My guess is that people are more drawn to the red marble one because of the clear red version, but who knows. The clear red one has been going for more then either of those, but that makes sense.

The only CD version of the full Roadmouth album was on Glitterhouse. It contained a version of "Saccharine Rejection" (probably the best version, for what it's worth) that was otherwise only available on the Motor City Madness compilation. Most of the album was later released on a single CD with the Glue EP by Sub Pop. Two songs were left off the combined CD: "Big Brother" and "Leave It". "Big Brother" is a cover of "Hey Big Brother" by Rare Earth - not sure if there was a rights issue for the CD release or something, or if it was just coincidental that this particular track was left off of the CD.

Glitterhouse	Pink Marble	Red Marble
Clear Red	Grey Marble	Black

This page was last updated on November 16, 2019.

SP38 Les Thugs

Electric Troubles

Sub Pop SP38 LP, released August 1989

Vinyl Solution SOL-5 LP, released 1987 (UK)

Closer CL 0078 LP, released 1987 (France)

Glitterhouse GR0039 LP, released 1987/1988 (Germany)

La Fabrica Magnetica 886FM4, released 1988 (Spain)

Houlala HH K7 9238 Cassette, released 1992 (France)

Crash Disques CRASH CD 64 CD, released 2004 (France)

Nineteen Something NS02LP2, released 2018 (France)

Electric Troubles was originally an EP on the UK label Vinyl Solution (SOL-5). It was also released on Glitterhouse in Germany, as well as Closer Records and Nineteen Something in France.

Then it was packaged with the Dirty White Race single and re-released for Sub Pop on black vinyl. At that point, it was also released on Glitterhouse in Germany and on La Fabrica Magnetica in Spain. Annoyingly, the expanded Glitterhouse version looked the same as the earlier EP version and had the same catalogue number, so you just have to pay attention to the track listing. All of the above are pretty common and seem to fall into the same general price range.

This page was last updated on April 5, 2020.

SP41 Cat Butt

Journey To the Center of...

Sub Pop SP41 LP, released August 1989 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0067 LP, released 1989 (Germany)

Exists on green and black vinyl. The first 1,000 were on green. Plus, the album is called "Journey to the Center of...Cat Butt", so how can you go wrong? Also released on Glitterhouse in Germany.

This page was last updated on October 30, 2019.

SP42 Cosmic Psychos

Go the Hack

Sub Pop SP42 LP/Cassette / SP42b CD, released December 1989 (U.S.)

Survival 465782 1 LP / 465782 4 Cassette, released 1989 (Australia)

Normal 111 LP/CD, released 1989 (UK, Germany)

Romilar-D 021, released 1989 (Spain)

Survival SUR 531 CD, released 1989 (Belgium)

Shagpile SHAGCD2033 CD, released 1996 (Australia)

Aarght! AARGHT028/Goner 98GONE, released 2013 (U.S./Australia)

Cosmic Psychos. Released on Sub Pop on red (1,000) and black vinyl, which, interestingly, seem to go for similar prices. Also released on a whole bunch of other labels in different countries. The Australian one (which, I assume, is the original) is the most expensive. The German one existed on brownish-red vinyl and black vinyl (the black one had a bonus 7"). It was reissued in 2013 as a joint release on Aarght! and Goner Records on both blue/yellow split and black vinyl.

This page was last updated on November 1, 2019.

SP44 Mudhoney

Sub Pop SP44 LP, released 1989/1992/2009 (U.S.)

Sub Pop SP44 CD / SP44a Cassette, released 1989 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0069 LP / GRCD 69, released 1989 (Germany)

Au Go GO ANDA 110 LP, released 1989 (Australia)

Sony SRCS 5920 CD, released 1992 (Japan)

Traffic TRCP 56 CD, released 2009 (Japan)

Sub Pop SP44 Cassette, released 2016 (U.S.)

OK, there are a bunch of these. The 1st 3,000 on Sub Pop were on black vinyl in gatefold sleeves with posters. These sold for minimal sums for many years, but the prices have been rising. It's very unpredictable now.

At this point, it was also released in Germany on Glitterhouse and in Australia on Au Go Go. The Au Go Go one can sell for a few bucks, but the Glitterhouse one is super common.

Later (1992-ish) pressings exist on many colors. Known colors are: yellow marble, green, clear, grey marble (varies from light to dark), blue marble (varies from light to dark), lavender marble, and black. There is also (theoretically) a pink pressing from this time period, but I think this was just what some people were calling the lavender marble one. I have also seen references to a tan marble version, but no pictures. That may just be the yellow marble one. The prices on the color vinyl versions of this era have stayed mostly stable. A couple of them (green, lavender marble, in particular) have been a little more volatile.

In 2009, Sub Pop released a 20th anniversary edition of this record, which was pressed on both pink and black vinyl. Variations have surfaced for the pink one - solid pink, light pink marble, and hot pink marble have all shown up. These reissue copies have very different labels and sleeves from the originals. The reissues came with posters and download coupons.

Test Pressing
		2009 Pressing

This page was last updated on November 1, 2019.

SP49 Tad

Salt Lick

Sub Pop SP49 LP, released February 1990 (U.S.)

Glitterhouse GR0076 LP / GRCD 76, released 1990 (Germany)

Sub Pop SP1178 LP/CD, released 2016 (U.S./Europe)

Tad's back, on black vinyl. This record came with a large letter-size Singles Club insert. It was concurrently released on Glitterhouse in Germany, also on black vinyl. In 2016, Sub Pop re-pressed Salt Lick in the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. color vinyl version was on opaque yellow vinyl with red splatter. The European one was a clear yellow with red splatter. It was additionally on black vinyl, and Sub Pop also released a promo version, which was the black vinyl copy in a plain white sleeve, with a promotional label. These should be more valuable than they are. I suspect they will start to creep upward in value over time.

Insert

Test Pressing

This page was last updated on November 1, 2019.