The Joker

Most years there is some kind of Integrity release made for Halloween, none of which I think have ever been actually ready or available on Halloween itself. Last year's pre-order was possibly the best one yet, and quite a smart choice, and I finally got hold of my copy last week. It pays homage to the first Integrity release and makes it available to the masses for the first time.

For as long as I can remember I was aware of the Integrity 7" with the Joker sleeve. It became a somewhat legendary record amongst collectors, with everybody knowing that it existed, but nobody really knew what it looked like. Even with the arrival of the internet, information is scarce and photos of it even more rare. There were 5 copies made, and I believe that they are stamped on the back with the Victory logo and numbered. But I don't know enough about it to recognise an original from a bootleg, and the odd bootleg does exist. I know someone who bought one for a large amount of money and got ripped off with a fake.

This limited replica features the same artwork on the front, and is stamped and numbered on the inner paper sleeve out of 225 copies. It also comes on baby blue vinyl, which in my mind is a slightly odd choice because this repress 7" was pressed on baby blue vinyl previously (and numbered out of 116 copies). I believe that the original five 7"s in the Joker sleeves were on red vinyl, so I kinda feel that this should have been pressed on red too. But these are just small details. Either way, this pressing is all about the cover, which looks pretty rad. The sleeve is also a 'hard' cover (i.e. folded & glued, as opposed to being just a folded piece of paper) which feels like a quality job.

This one also comes with a little insert written by guitarist Aaron Melnick where he talks about his memory of making the original Joker sleeve, which is a nice little extra.