Jack White hasn’t just been pressing records lately; he’s also been setting them.
In April, the Detroit-born rocker announced and released the “World’s Fastest Released Record,” a direct-to-acetate live version of the title track from his sophomore solo album, Lazaretto, which was completed in under four hours. Then, when the album proper itself — packaged as an Ultra LP complete with hidden tracks and a hologram — arrived, it broke first-week sales records for vinyl LPs by moving 40,000 units.
Now, Lazaretto has reached another milestone: having sold over 60,000 copies, not only is it the best-selling vinyl LP of 2014, but it’s also the best-selling one of any year since Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy, released in 1994.
The story of Lazaretto doesn’t end there, however, as the next chapter for this album takes things back to the beginning. As part of the Third Man Records Vault collection, two demos of songs from the album — “Alone in My Home” and “Entitlement” — have been released on 7-inch vinyl. The former has been drained of its berserk energy, with the acoustic version substituting low-level worry for all-out fury.
The early version of “Entitlement” keeps things brash, with new lyrics serving as counterpoint to the ones heard on the final rendition. Although physical copies of this limited edition release are officially sold out, there are a few floating around online, no doubt hoping to catch a record sales price.
Listen to “Entitlement” below: