Every Word Handwritten

So I got into the Gaslight Anthem right when Sink or Swim came out.  I thought it was a great album.  The 2 albums after that I didnt really pay attention to, I bought the 59 sound and didnt even realize American Slang came out.  When I saw that their new record, Handwritten, was up for preorder I felt it was time to catch up.  I put in an order about a week before they were to begin shipping.

This is a fucking great album, hands down.  Its different from Sink or Swim and you can really hear how the band has matured since that record.  It might even be one of the best albums of the year in my opinion, yea its that good.

The physical album itself is super high quality. The vinyl is crystal clear blue and very heavy, feeling great in hand. The sleeve is a heavy duty gatefold with lyrics on the inside. That big paragraph to the left in the off white color.....a short little essay about how great the Gaslight Anthem is written by Nick Hornby! Yea the guy who wrote High Fidelity! How cool is that!

The dust sleeve is unlike any other dust sleeve I've ever gotten with a record. It's heavy cardboard to the point where it is higher quality than some record sleeves! I love the contrast of the tan color w/ the blue/black colorway of the rest of the record.  But my favorite thing about the sleeve is the little quote on the right side "...every word handwritten".  Its a really nice touch.

Finally, the coolest thing about the record and something I almost missed and I'm sure others did miss.. Inside the sleeve where the record goes is printed black with a white picture of someone. I cant tell who it is, but when would you ever expect there to be something printed inside the sleeve!!! So fucking awesome. Anyway, Mercury did an excellent job with this record. It's great to see that a major label actually put effort and money into a record instead of just pressing something cookie cutter just to make a quick buck.  This record is well worth the almost 30 bucks it cost.