Wow, what a final album. So much to say about Blackstar, recorded more or less in secret in New York with Tony Visconti and some local jazz musicians, and released two days before his death.

My copy, like many I’ve seen in the used market, has a tear in the die cut cover which is in the shape of a star, with the b-side label (all black) showing through. The rear jacket tracklist and the credits in the insert are all basically black on black, with a kind of gloss treatment making them visible.

180g pressing at RTI, via Worcester Record Riot.