Shiner - The Egg LP - Green Vinyl (/150)

BCore (2018, Reissue)

This is the second time that The Egg has been reissued and is also the second time I've written about it here on this site. You may (or may not) remember that Shiner is my wife's favorite band.  I dig them too, but the only reason I know about them is because of her.  While my wife isn't really a record collector, we've decided that it is important to have all of the Shiner records in the collection.  We're up for some variants as well.

This variant came out in Spain on BCore discs.  The music is the same as the US version, featuring sprawling, but surprisingly catchy rock that is similar in scope to what Jawbox is known for.  BCore decided the change things up with the artwork, opting for greens where there used to be oranges.  I think it looks good, though it is somewhat jarring having seen everything in orange for so long.  Still, I always say that I'm in favor of substantial artwork changes when something gets rereleased.  I like being able to tell it apart from the original.

In addition to the artwork change, 150 copies were also pressed on green vinyl.  Shiner sold a handful of them directly here in the US, but they sold out in a blink of an eye with no real warning that they had gone up on sale.  Luckily, BCore still had copies available, so we imported this one from Spain.  It wasn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time I pay some extra postage for a variant. Records like this need to be in the collection.

Shiner - The Truth About Cows:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdVYpkjaPo

Shiner - Play Dead:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKnEwyf5RE

Shiner - Pills:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACKE7M2bj4A

Shiner - The Egg LP - White & Orange Split Vinyl (/100), Orange Vinyl(/200) & Black Vinyl (/700)

Shiner - The Egg LP - White & Orange Split Vinyl (/100), Orange Vinyl (/200) & Black Vinyl (/700), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Son Of Man NYC (2012)

Shiner was a band that, quite frankly, I didn't know anything about until I met my wife. When we first met 9 years ago she had told me her favorite band was Shiner. I don't think I'd ever even heard of them to be honest. She insisted that I listen to the Egg. Now, since we had just started dating, I was going to be polite regardless of what she gave me, but from the first few seconds of The Truth About Cows, I was shocked. Here was a band with huge, thick guitars, a melodic, but powerful energy and strong vocals that I wasn't totally prepared for. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I genuinely liked these guys.

Fast forward 9 years. We're married, Shiner has been broken up for ages, my copy of the Egg on CD has gone missing, but Shiner steps up to the plate and announces a handful of reunion shows and the Egg on vinyl with 3 limited variants! We were in line before the venue doors even opened. We were standing at the merch booth before everything was even unpacked. There was no way we were not going to get all 3 versions of this record. I helped the merch guy (who I think was a venue guy not someone the band had brought along) find all 3 versions and we were set.

Let's be clear, these are my wife's records, but I'm happy to take pictures, tell a little story about them and add them too the family collection. The vinyl came out great, the 2 colored versions are just beautiful to look out and I'm always impressed when a band is able to match cover art and vinyl colors so close. This is a record we're thrilled to have in the house and now I don't even mind that my CD went missing.

Shiner - The Truth About Cows:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdVYpkjaPo

Shiner - Play Dead:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKnEwyf5RE

Shiner - Pills:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACKE7M2bj4A