Metallica-Ride The Lightning Sealed OG 1984 Black/White Label?-Banzai LP RARE
C$
1,499
$
1,087
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Description
*****Keep in mind, that at this store you are buying sealed records/promo records/Unplayed promo records/lightly used personal records that came directly from A&M, Polygram/Vertigo record label. We are not thrift store cowboys/cowgirls that are buying other peoples junk to sell. We know the history of our items, everything has been properly stored/looked after with care, sanitized/cleaned/no fingerprints/smudges lol. Buying sealed records from thrift store/yard sale flippers is so risky. Where has the vinyl been? Has the vinyl been exposed to heat, cold, stored properly to prevent the record from warping.*****
Hello, and thank you for viewing my listing. ********PLEASE READ Yes, I'm 99% sure that this 1984 record is a Black label Banzai Records as I bought two of these along with a copy of Kill Em All, and both records were Black label editions, and also based upon the time of the year of purchasing. *****Again, 99% sure as the 1st run of these were the white label and the second run were black. However, either way this is a great find and this sale is final regardless of what color it is. It's a sealed album, so I can't say for sure, however, it makes sense that it would be a black label*****
These are rare as, you know. This one is sealed with no flaws and is a must have for a Metallica completist. No disrespect to my American friends, as I have many life-long US friends :). However, Banzai Records pressings are just "as rare", and a even rarer than a USA 1st edition So, yes. it's a rare find like an 1984 1st run USA press. All the big boys of the Metal scene know that the Banzai Records label are sought after, and one of the coolest Metal record labels ever.
Anyway, you know what this is! Thanks, for looking and enjoy!
Banzai Records was a Canadian record label that was founded in late 1983. They were mainly licensing heavy metal albums that weren't domestically available in Canada. So most of what was on Metal Blade / Megaforce Records, Neat Records, Noise Records, Roadrunner, etc, would be released in Canada thru Banzai Records, via Polygram distribution. Michel Meese, founder and president of Banzai Records, had an immense knowledge of the metal scene, and a great feel for the Canadian market. By seeing which imported albums were good sellers, the ones he chose to release on Banzai were always well received.
Artists represented by Banzai Records included Venom, Anthrax, Metallica, Voivod, Raven and Slayer, to name a few. First pressed at 1000 copies, re-prints were ordered depending on popularity. Very few ever made it past 10,000 copies. But many of them were sold as cassettes, since it was the medium of choice back then, in the golden age of the Walkman!Banzai's business address, 1238 Crescent Street, Montreal, was also the home of the biggest heavy metal record store in Montreal called Rock en Stock. Banzai stopped their activities at the end of the '80s, and Rock en Stock closed shop at the end of the '90s, after a raid on bootlegged CDs.
Artwork The particularity of the Banzai releases was that the artwork of the albums was identical to the worldwide copies, but the labels on the vinyl were Banzai standardized! The typical Banzai "A" side's label had the whole album's track list written on it. And the sides were identified as being "This Side" for the A side, and "That Side" for the B side. The B side, or That Side's label was always the same Banzai Records samurai fight over a sunrise image. That logo was designed by Paul Bellemare of Les Frères à Ch'val and '70s punk band Danger. He was a friend of Mr. Meese and an avid fan of Japanese culture. The A side, or This Side's label was either white or black, with red lettering. The first pressings of lps up to at least BRC 1912 had the white label. The rest had the black label, including later pressings of the first releases. It is believed that some second pressings (black labels) are more rare than the first pressings (white labels). Some ep releases have a red label with black lettering. The only other distinction was the addition of a speed metal swirl logo on the front sleeve of the more aggressive releases, like albums by Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Possessed. It was a marketing idea to target a specific audience. It still has an impact today since those versions are sought after by many collectors. The design was from Polygram's in-house graphic designer Gunther Woschank. He also had the task of modifying album artwork for the Canadian market, by adding Banzai's address and Polygram info, sometimes using an alternate front cover, and in a few occasions, censoring offensive covers!
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