Black Sunday: King Diamond - No Presents for Christmas (2012)

No Presents for Christmas? I disagree. Christmas is already complete. Black Friday was turning out to be a total loss as, out of town, I was limited to one mediocre record store (the type that stocks only faux-hipster vinyl, i.e., the complete White Stripes and little else) as my only possibility for the limited reissue of King Diamond's very first solo foray. I busted their doors at their 11:00 AM opening to find only a Reservoir Dogs soundtrack and, surprise, a White Stripes 7" stocked for Record Store Day's Black Friday release. By the time I had returned home the following day my beloved Omega Music had sold the two copies they had received. Mailorder still works, though, and it wasn't impossible to find this glorious picture disc at the $13.99 list price and, a few days later, the object of my desire sits snugly under the family tree.

Originally released on Christmas day in 1985, the A-side has not been difficult to find, appearing on compilations as well as later pressings of Fatal Portrait (where flipside "Charon" has existed since early on). In single form, however, if you didn't get it then, you could expect to hand over about thirty bucks to get a copy. Roadrunner's 25th Anniversary reissue is a welcome return and a perfect example of the type of fun one-off that is tailor-made for the picture disc format. As these new pressings flood eBay right now, they appear to be running at about that same thirty-dollar price point.

While No Presents for Christmas is marketed as a "limited edition," I have no idea how many copies were actually pressed. It's a fantastic-looking disc with the iconic photo of King and a reindeer on front and the garish European sleeve artwork adorning the b-side. While I have both tracks in great digital editions, this is a record that will solely be used for display purposes but I can confirm after its single play on the turntable that, for a picture disc, it sounds damn good with relatively minimal surface noise.

I got mine from J&R Electronics. As of this writing - and I bet not for long - they still have copies listed in stock for $13.99. Grab one quickly if you haven't already because if there's no presents, you know, they don't give a damn.