There are 2 kinds of bootlegs.
1. The "It was never officially released" bootleg. Live recordings from fans who were there, albums that were shelved, unofficial remixes, shady white labels of compiled tracks that never were intended to be compiled in that manor, etc. These kind of bootlegs I don't mind paying for if it's decent sounding and impossible to get any other way. Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Devo, to name a few have bootlegs worth seeking.
2. It WAS officially released but it's in high demand and hard to find so it is counterfeited for the benefit of lining the wallets of the guy who presses and distributes the records. A lot of times it sounds horrible, looks horrible, it has tell tale flaws that can be spotted. Even if I know I'll never ever find it in legit format I avoid these. I feel dirty and shady just talking about it
and I don't want this shit polluting my collection of real records. Granted, I probably have a few of these I don't know about somewhere but if I can help it I avoid these and just wait for the real thing to get repressed officially or I pay an arm and a leg to the one guy online who has it.
I must be slipping because yesterday I bought 2 boots of the second kind, horrible counterfeits and I shoulda known better. I was star struck seeing them so I didn't pay close enough attention to the red flags before buying them.
The records in questions are ones I have been seeking for WAY too long so I jumped at the chance. Luckily I know the store owner well and was able to get a full refund but this situation reminded me to share what specific bootleg information I ran into.
Bad Bootlegs (counterfeits) Red Flags
- If it seems too good to be true it probably is. Why is this suddenly here when I cant find it anywhere else for under 100 bones?
- Records that sound like CDs are usually boots - They were literally mastered from a compact disc so it sounds like a compact disc only quieter.
- Records that say ADD (Analog, Digital, Digital) mastering on them. That makes no sense and it was never done for records.
- Records that actually say Compact Disc on the back of them. (NO DUHHH!)
- the artwork on the record looks cheap, pixelated, the print isn't overlapping properly.
- The cover looks like it was greatly enlarged (zoomed in)
- Wrong run-out groove when compared to discogs
- no UPC code, or bar code of any kind
- Misspellings, acronyms instead of the full name of the band
- way too cheaply priced for how rare it is
- quieter or muffled sounding audio
- cheaply made sleeves coming unglued, glued on cover pics, cheap paper sleeves, flimsy floppy wax.
- Off centered record labels
- plain black and white labels instead of colored labels
- colored pressings (not always but a lot of bootlegs are red)
- anything from Brazil that isn't a Brazilian artist. They have no laws against counterfeiting records down there so buyer beware of Brazilian pressings!
Add on if you have other examples of red flags...
These are the boots, one is identified as counterfeit at Discogs one is so new that it's not even on discogs yet.
Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
^Oh how I wish this was the real deal but it sounds as bad as it looks... The real vinyl is a green vinyl import this is black.
^How did I miss that Compact Disc and ADD logos on the back!?!?
^Those numbers are on the CD release at discogs, not on the vinyl release. Whoever did this literally photocopied the CD cover insert, blew it up to record cover size and never even bothered hiding the Compact Disc logo. He (or she I guess) then recorded it directly from the CD to the vinyl, which by the way sounds way worse than the CD as the end result.
and...
Faith No More - Angel Dust (Import Counterfeit)
Discogs link
This one looks more real and sounds much better but it still has the tell tale off kilter print, wrong colors on the back and front. When you look at the actual text on the back cover it has a subtle smeared effect almost like a small shadow from the print being done by a shyster.
Instead of saying Faith No More the label says "FNM". Notice the stark black and white print, no special fonts, no color whatsoever.
I just returned these, I was tempted to keep the FNM but I can find a legit copy if I am patient and I'll appreciate the way it sounds 100 times better. I'm not holding my breath about finding that Temple of the Dog though, that is genuinely HTF because there were not too many records of that type being pressed back in those years.
“Lesser artists borrow... great artists steal.” - Igor Stravinsky
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