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Original LP Release (1979)
The B-52's were signed to Island Records in the UK and Warners in the US, and the kind of audio experience you enjoyed when playing the band's eponymous debut LP turned out to depend on which side of the Atlantic you bought it. The cover may claim 'High Fidelity' on all releases, but results varied.

On purchasing the LP catalogued BSK 3355, American pop-pickers were served up with pressings that audiophiles down the years have insisted are inferior to their British counterparts [Island, ILPS 9580, pictured below], sounding less well-defined and tinnier.

One theory for this disparity is that the album's producer Chris Blackwell used the original master tapes for the UK release and kept them there, meaning the US label didn't have access to the original source.

The first pressings had the words 'Play Loud' emblazoned on the label, resulting in the album being catalogued under that name in some countries, such as Germany. Meanwhile, some editions of the UK release [incl. ILPS 9580] came with a bonus 7in of 'Rock Lobster' backed with '52 Girls', and a few rare examples were supplied with a yellow plastic carrier bag and a red B-52's logo. Good luck finding one of those, 43 years on, though…

Original CD Release (1987)
The difference between UK and US source materials seems to have come into play again when the album was reissued on the silver disc format in the late 1980s, with later online commentators bemoaning the 'ear-piercing upper midrange' of the original Warner Brothers US CD, comparing it unfavourably with the UK incarnation [Island CID 9580, pictured below]. Island's pressing still stands up well, but within a couple of years the label reissued The B-52's on its Island Masters series [IMCD1], which saw the album benefitting from a remastering.

Special Editions
Unlike other much-loved B-52's albums such as 1989's Cosmic Thing, their debut has never been reissued in expanded form with extra tracks. However, the nine that were always there have been given occasional audio overhauls on CD.

The Japanese remastering in 2017 [Island, UICY 78472] is a fine example, but it was a limited edition release and now won't give you much change out of £100 should you track it down, particularly if you want the perennially coveted obi strip on the package.

Audiophile Vinyl
There have been a couple of attempts to repackage this album in the weightier form that vinyl fetishists love, and both have done the record justice. The MoFi Silver Series US reissue on 140g vinyl from 2010 [MOFI 1-004, pictured above] is a significant improvement on the original LP, as is Music On Vinyl's 180g reissue of the album from 2015 [MOVLP1420], and the latter can still be picked up for the same price as a regular LP.