Tracklisting:
Still
Candyland
Mock-up
Dirt
Bottle Rocket
Blackout
Stray
Can't Be Touched
Cannibal
Don't Look Down
Sands Hotel
Lowlife
Buick
Dead Air
*Stray and Can't Be Touched are different versions than the ones on the Stray 7"
Release Date: April 27, 1993
From the liner notes of the CD pressing of Dead Air:
- Produced by Heatmiser and Thee Slayer Hippy
- Engineered and mixed by Tony Lash
- Lowlife and Bottle Rocket basic tracks recorded by Bob Stark
- Recorded at Sound Impressions Milwaukee, Oregon
- Mixed at Whitehorse Studios Portland, Oregon
- Assistant mix engineer: Bob Stark
- Digitally edited at Super Duper
- Mastered at K-Disc by John Golden
- Art direction by the band
- Photos by JJ Gonson
- Front cover photo by Gustavo del Chucho Bravo
USA LP [Frontier 01866 31057-1; black vinyl]
Dead Air was released on several different colored vinyl editions by Frontier but this one is the black vinyl pressing that appears to have come out in 1993 when it was first released. Album notes state that the front cover photo is by Gustavo del Chucho Bravo. Other photos by JJ Gonson and art direction was by the band. No matrix info listed on Discogs for this pressing. None of the LP pressings of Dead Air appear to have come with any insert. However, the back cover lists most of the information from the CD booklet. The back cover also has two photos. One is the same one of the band that is in the CD booklet. The other has the background from that photo but with the band missing.
Some photos taken from discogs.com.
USA LP [Frontier 01866 31057-1; clear vinyl]
This is the clear vinyl pressing of Dead Air. According to punkvinyl.com (which has quite a bit of info on different Heatmiser colored vinyl pressings), this clear vinyl came out in 2007. Everything about this pressing seems to be the same as the original black vinyl pressing other than the vinyl being clear. See the black vinyl entry above for more details on the packaging.
USA LP [Frontier 01866 31057-1; green vinyl]
This is the green vinyl pressing that came out in 2009 according to punkvinyl.com. The back cover has most of the information that is in the CD booklet, credits and thank you's, etc. Copies I've seen of the LP don't have any sort of insert. The back cover also has two photos. One of the band and then a photo with the same background but with the band not there (see photos below). Matrix info is listed for this version on Discogs as:
- Barcode: 0 1866-31057-1 0
- Matrix / Runout (Side a): S-27556 FLP-31057-A kdisc JG
- Matrix / Runout (Side b ): S-27557 FLP-31057-B kdisc JG
USA LP [Frontier 01866 31057-1; translucent blue vinyl]
This translucent blue vinyl pressing of Dead Air came out in 2014 according to punkvinyl.com. All packaging appears to be exactly the same as previous colors/pressings. The photo on Discogs doesn't appear to have any black streaks in it (or maybe very minimal or faint ones) but my copy has some black streaks in the blue so perhaps it's pretty random as far as how each one looks exactly. Barcode and matrix info according to Discogs:
- Barcode (Scanned): 018663105727
- Matrix / Runout: 018 6631 0572 01! A
Photo on left taken from discogs.com
USA LP [Frontier 31057-1; pink solid white marbled vinyl]
This is another colored vinyl pressing, this time on pink solid white marbled vinyl. According to punkvinyl.com, this pressing came out in 2017. The back cover has many minor differences from the original pressings. The actual barcode number is the same but the rectangle that holds the barcode is a different size. The back cover on this one has one less photo than original pressings also. In addition, the Frontier Records logo is very different than the original pressings. The spine also has minor differences. The catalog number 31057-1 is listed but not the additional number 01866 that is on original pressings. The word “frontier” on the spine is printed a tiny bit smaller on this pressing too. Like the original pressings, the copies I’ve seen of this pressing don’t have any insert. The front of the shrink wrap has a sticker that says “Special Colored Vinyl!”. Barcode according to Discogs is 0 1866-31057-1 0.
USA LP [Frontier 31057-1; 2022 leaf green vinyl reissue]
Dead Air was reissued again by Frontier in 2022 on this leaf green vinyl pressing (that was the color description on the Frontier bandcamp page). There had previously been a transparent (see through) green but this one is different. Actually, there are a lot of interesting differences between this reissue and all the previous pressings. All past pressings that I've seen all had the same matrix numbers as each other but this one is different which should mean it's an actual repressing using a new stamper (if my terminology and understanding is correct). The matrix on the a-side is 31057-1-A 37888.1(3)... GOLDEN. The b-side is 31057-1-B 37888.2(3)...GOLDEN. All previous pressings had quite different matrix numbers from these. Another difference is the hype sticker on the front of the shrink wrap. Past pressings (other than the black vinyl) all had a very small circle sticker that said "Special Colored Vinyl!" but this one has a much bigger circle sticker that says "Colored Vinyl" with the word vinyl in white but the word color in multiple colors. Finally, all past pressings had a paper inner sleeve while this one has a clear inner sleeve. There is no mention of the year (2022) of this pressing. The back cover and spine have the same minor differences listed in the pink vinyl version above that the earliest pressings didn't have. Please see photos below for some of the differences.
USA LP [Frontier 31057-1; 2024 blue ice vinyl reissue]
Dead Air was reissued again by Frontier in 2024 (possibly late 2023 but I first saw this on their bandcamp in January 2024) on this blue ice vinyl pressing. That was the color description on the Frontier bandcamp page. There had previously been a translucent blue but this one is different. The matrix appears to be the same as the 2022 leaf green pressing. The matrix on the a-side is 31057-1-A 37888.1(3)... GOLDEN. The b-side is 31057-1-B 37888.2(3)...GOLDEN. However, the hype sticker on the front has reverted back to the old version that is a small sticker that simply says "Special Colored Vinyl!" (not the bigger circle sticker that says "Colored Vinyl" with the word vinyl in white but the word color in multiple colors). The back cover and spine have the same minor differences listed in the pink vinyl version above that the earliest pressings didn't have. Please see photos below for some of the differences.
USA CD [Frontier 01866 31057-2]
The CD pressing of Dead Air comes in a standard jewel case and uses the same front artwork as the LP. It comes with a four panel booklet. The inside pages of the booklet are simple white pages with song info and credits. See photo below for the back page of the booklet. Two entries are on Discogs with the same barcode and same catalog numbers. They appear to only differ in their matrix info.
Version 1 matrix info:
Matrix / Runout: 018 6631 0572 01! A
Version 2 matrix info:
Matrix / Runout: DISQUE AMERIC 05RN2<1127>310572
USA Cassette [Frontier 01866 31057-4]
This is the original cassette pressing (it was reissued on cassette in 2014). Compared to the later reissue, the wording on the spine is smaller and the album title is toward the middle of the spine, while it's toward the bottom of the spine on the reissue. The shade of green used for the album title is also different than the reissue. The photos used on the cover for this original pressing are smaller than the reissue. The back area of the insert is much different from the reissue also. This one has the song titles unnumbered and listed on both sides of the barcode. The reissue has the songs numbered and are just a straight up and down list. The cassette itself has many differences from the reissue also, including this version having the song titles listed on the cassette. The insert has a lot of the same information as the reissue but laid out differently. Please see photos on the two entries for some of the differences. Barcode according to Discogs is 0 1866-31057-4 1.
Some photos taken from discogs.com
USA Promo Cassette [Frontier no catalog number]
This is a promo cassette of Dead Air used to promote the album. It comes in plain white packaging with tracklisting and record label information. It lists the street date for the album as April 27, 1993. However, most places on the internet list the actual release date as September 6, 1993 so the release date was likely delayed.
Photos taken from discogs.com
USA Cassette [Frontier/Burger 31057-4/BRGR655; 2014 reissue]
In 2014, Dead Air was reissued on cassette by Burger and Frontier Records. It was a Record Store Day exclusive release and limited to 500 copies. The cassette is clear red. The inside of the packaging has the same band photo that is on the back of the CD booklet. A lot of the packaging is similar to the original pressing but there are some significant differences. Please see the description on the original pressing and the photos on both entries for some of the differences. Barcode according to Discogs is 634457649644.
Some photos taken from discogs.com.
