The Afghan Whigs
Black Love
Sub Pop SP353, released 1996
Elektra 7559-61896-1 (Germany)
Mute STUMM143-1 (UK)
Music on Vinyl MOVLP821, released 2014
Elektra/Rhino R1 557151 3xLP, released 2016
Elektra 081227942892 3xLP, released 2016 (Germany)
Mute XLSTUMM143 3xLP, released 2016 (UK)
This is one of the best albums ever recorded. I cannot be swayed from this opinion. Released in 1996, Sub Pop had the U.S. rights to the original vinyl release; it was released as SP353 on black vinyl. The UK version was on Mute Records (STUMM143-1), also on black vinyl. There was also a German release on Elektra Records. As with Gentlemen, the German version seems to be the rarest. In 2014, Music on Vinyl released a 180g re-press, which is pretty easy to find.
In 2016, Black Love was re-pressed as a giant 3 LP set, complete with previously unreleased demos and rough takes. Very interesting to hear after all of these years (particularly the bones of "Crime Scene Part Two", which many of us had wondered about for years). The sleeves for the re-presses were modified slightly. On the U.S. and German ones, all the graphics and lettering were colored gold. On the UK one, the entire sleeve was gold colored, with the graphics faded (ha) into the background and black lettering. All of the re-presses can be found readily.
Now...pricing. I don't know what to say. The price for the U.S. and UK originals fluctuated wildly for several years. I'm really not sure what to do with it. The average price for the U.S. one came down after the 2016 re-pressing was released, but it was still going for a fair amount. That is, of course, until someone flooded the market with sealed U.S. originals in 2018. As a result, the price came down, and has been in a a stable range since. The spread for the original UK version in 2017 was insane: it went for anywhere from $15 to $90. No idea.
| Version | Value ($) | Scarcity | Price Trending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub Pop SP353 | 20-40 | 3 | Down |
| Elektra 7559-61896-1 | 25-45 | 5 | Down |
| Mute STUMM143-1 | 20-40 | 4 | Down |
| Music on Vinyl MOVLP821 | 15-25 | 1 | Stable |
| Rhino/Elektra R1 557151 3xLP (U.S.) | 20-30 | 1 | Stable |
| Elektra 081227942892 3xLP (Germany) | 25-40 | 1 | Stable |
| Mute XLSTUMM143 3xLP (UK) | 25-40 | 2 | Down |
 Sub Pop |
 Elektra |
 Mute |
 Music on Vinyl |
 Rhino/Elektra Re-press |
 Mute Re-press |
| Credits | Mike: SP353 image |
|---|
Recent Sales Data: Original Sub Pop LP:
| Year Sold | Quantity | Median Price ($) | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 13 | 38 | Discogs, eBay |
| 2018 | 16 | 33 | eBay |
| 2017 | 17 | 38 | Discogs, eBay |
Recent Sales Data: Original Elektra LP:
| Year Sold | Quantity | Median Price ($) | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3 | 41 | Discogs |
| 2018 | 2 | 17 | Discogs, eBay |
| 2017 | 3 | 48 | Discogs, eBay |
Recent Sales Data: Original Mute LP:
| Year Sold | Quantity | Median Price ($) | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2 | 26 | eBay |
| 2018 | 4 | 25 | Discogs, eBay |
| 2017 | 7 | 50 | Discogs |
This page was last updated on October 10, 2019.
