Alkaline Trio - 'My Shame Is True' Pre-Order
Its that time again when a highly anticipated album goes up for pre-order and I break it down to see is it worth it. This time around we are talking about the new album by Alkaline Trio. From what I have heard from a few people on the inside who have heard the album already and have been long time fans is to expect an album on par with 'This Addiction.' For some that is great news and for others that means disappointment. Some AK3 fans have hard times accepting new works by Matt, Dan, and the rest of the AK3 crew due to how strong their back catalog is. Common story.
In my opinion 'This Addiction' was a fun punk rock record that was not as ambitious as Crimson or as poppy as Agony and Irony. It paid homage to their earlier works with a more polished sleek but a major criticism is that it felt like the songs had been done before. This is common for punk bands.
For the first single you have "I Wanna Be A Warhol"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEiGG4XCTWI
Fairly standard Alkaline Trio track. Vocal differences are noticeable but it follows pretty much their standard format and would not been out of place of 'This Addiction.' If you like it get excited for a new album and if you don't check it out anyways when it drops as every AK3 album has at least a few songs all fans can enjoy.
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Currently you can buy this from Kings Road Merch (Epitaph Records) accessible from the Epitaph records website or better yet the Alkaline Trio webstore. I recommend the webstore as you can buy the vinyl separately from t-shirts. Unless you need another band shirt, which you can still get at the AK3 webstore, than this is the destination for just the music.
http://kingsroadmerch.com/alkaline-trio/
First pressing of 'My Shame Is True' comes in Pink (ltd. 1000), an ongoing pressing of Black, and Green which comes in the limited edition box set (ltd. 500)
The Boxset comes with the album (12" green exclusive) as well as an EP (on a 12"). The special additions are that the EP is on Tan Vinyl exclusive to the box, a flag, a ouija board, and a big wooden box. This totals in at 80 dollars with shipping bringing it close to 100. For new music I would jump the gun on this even if you were a variant collector. Likely if the bundle does not sell out they will sell the EP and LP variants separably
The Pink and Black variants of the LP are 15.99 each with 4 dollar media male shipping. This is pretty fair deal all things considered. The EP standalone on Blue (ltd. 1500) is blue ad will feature 4 bonus tracks that did not make the album. This is also 15.99. You will end up paying about 34 dollars for both 12"s and receive 16 tracks on ltd. colored wax and digital downloads before the release.
Is it worth it? --> I would bite the bullet and buy these two together to save on shipping. The EP is probably more than it should be considering the number of tracks. 34 is on the high end for a pre-order but 16 tracks is a lot, getting the tracks early is nice, you get immediate download of the new single, and their is no information of an ongoing pressing of the EP like their is the LP. Skip on the boxset unless you want every fetish item 'Alkaline Trio' can offer. If your heart is set on the boxset you will be getting the special variants, the ouija board, the flag, and the box for double the price of just all the new music.
Finally! Don't worry if you are on the fence about this release or wanna wait to hear how it ends up sounding. AK3 is known for keeping their albums in stock on both vinyl and cd at one place or another and their previous effort 'This Addiction' is still currently available (just not colored).
Enjoy 2013 as all these new releases roll out and expect more updates on new music, pre-orders, and represses.
