My Shame Is Pink and Blue

I said something about doing more Alkaline Trio posts. Some people seemed keen. Here's another Alkaline Trio post. Sometimes it's that easy!

Do you still get that feeling when one of your favourite bands slips in a pre-order without much warning? That last minute rush to get to a computer and refresh to death in the vague hopes of scoring something on the more limited end of things? Just that satisfaction of getting in and out, then watching the chaos ensue. Although not the worst checkout experience I've had, this definitely got a little tense! 

Alkaline Trio - My Shame Is True - Epitaph Records // Heart & Skull - 1st Press - Pink /1000 (Pre-order exclusive) 

From what I remember this went fairly quick, and on the physical release date there was a bunch of people putting the feelers out for trading or buying a copy. I mean, this wasn't even the most limited colour. That privilege went to a Dark Green /500 that was part of a pre-order only box set that looked super cool (it came with exclusive colourways, a flag, a t-shirt, a Ouija Board, the usual...) but was a killer with shipping. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

I like the matching text to the variant. Also, the artwork on this one is a little more removed from the norm of Alkaline Trio stuff, but it definitely suits the theme of the album. For anyone who doesn't know, Matt Skiba's ex-girlfriend graces the cover on this one and most of his contributions to this one are about their breakup. It's actually a fairly upbeat offering all things considered! 

Printed Inner Sleeve

Again with the colour matching on the heartskull, I'm a fan. 

Since 'This Addiction' came out I have noticed Skiba getting on more of a thing with Motorbikes. Here is no exception, singing about bikes, bikes on the cover, bikes on the inner sleeve. I guess it comes with a girl in leather too so that's something maybe? On a less weird note, the photography on this LP is great and lends itself to this classic black and white look. 

Other Side

The other side of this printed inner is all lyrics and thanks. Sadly there is a bunch of 'em and the font isn't particularly forgiving on a camera lens, but I'm sure you get the idea. 

As I nabbed this at pre-order, I also got this pretty neat poster of the cover art slipped inside the mailer. Three guesses where this poster is right now? 

The bonus of grabbing this album at when I did was the option to add the PO exclusive EP to your cart. 

Alkaline Trio - Broken Wing - Epitaph Records // Heart & Skull - 1st Press - Light Blue /1500

This is a vinyl exclusive EP that coincided with the release of My Shame Is True to showcase some songs that didn't make the album, but still needed to be heard. This is a bit of an unusual turn for Alkaline Trio nowadays, as the norm is a bonus // special edition CD to accommodate these tracks. I guess the whole vinyl resurgence thing is paying off well for Epitaph. Here's why: 

• Crimson had a deluxe CD edition with a whole album of demos and the like. 
• Agony and Irony had a deluxe CD edition with bonus tracks and acoustic bits and bobs. 
• This Addiction had a deluxe CD edition with bonus tracks and a live DVD. 

Now, most of these bonus tracks are 'Dan' songs, and on This Addiction I was super happy to have these songs on CD, as they were great (definitely better than some album cuts!) and I could have them on my iPod. Now, this is a cool vinyl only thing. But I have no download of it, and these songs fall into the same deal as This Addiction. Some of these songs are better than the LP tracks. But I'm getting carried away...

Back Cover

As these two came as a package, I do like that the layouts and general feel of the records is fairly similar; and since when did Blue and Pink not match well? Again, there was a /500 (Tan) variant for the box set. But this still limits this release to 2000. For most bands, that's probably enough nowadays. However, I'm sure there are Trio fans still trying to hunt this one down... 

Printed Inner Sleeve

More bikes, more Heartskulls. I do like the slight colour scheme change though; kind of different but kind of the same. 

Finally, the other side of the printed inner. Sticking to the same kind of layout as MSIT, and it's again not particularly easy on the eyes. Not to worry though, if anyone really wants a read of what is going on, I'm more than happy to send photos over. 

As I was writing this, I had the S/T LP on in the background. Although both releases are worlds away from one another, I could hang with any section of this band's discography any day. 

Cheers!