Vinyl:  VG++ Play Graded. Sounds Great!  Atlantic Labels are Clean and Bright.   This is the 1987 Atlantic 1ST PRESSING!  81796-1.  This is the audiophile acclaimed pressing, Mastered by Tim Young at Air Studios, London and Pressed at Specialty Record Corp., Olyphant, PA!! A Tour de Force of '80s Dance Pop Funk Rock!  INXS' Finest Hour!   allmusic gives it 4 1/2 stars!!

See Review Below!
In the Dead Wax:  Side 1:  ST-A-876609A  1-1   TY1 ((Mastered by Tim Young at Air Studios, London))  SRC  ((Specialty Records Mfg. Corp, Olyphant, PA))
Side 2:  ST-A-876610-B  1-4   TY1 ((Mastered by Tim Young at Air Studios, London))  SRC  ((Specialty Records Mfg. Corp, Olyphant, PA))  
Cover:  VG++ (see photos)  Includes the photo collage/lyric/credits sheet insert!  Nice high gloss on cover. Front and back of cover artwork and text are rich, clear and bright, with a couple marks and a small stain on the top right corner of the front. Seams, corners and spine are solid and clean with some minor wear.  No splits. No bumps.  A couple tiny creases.  Spine print is crystal clear.

Goldmine Standards.   I play grade every record that I sell on eBay as I have found you can't rate a record accurately by just visually inspecting it.  I wipe the dust off of every cover with clean, unscented baby wipes.  I professionally clean the vinyl.  (I also operate a Vinyl Record Cleaning business for your dusty/dirty records--if interested, send me a message).

U.S. Shipping:  $3.99 Media Mail.  Tracking included.   50 cents additional shipping per additional item, when the shipment is combined.   If you wish to take advantage of my COMBINED SHIPPING deal, simply select your items by clicking on "ADD TO CART" on the main listing page.  Do this for all of your selections and then go to your cart to checkout. Your combined shipping discount will be computed automatically.  Free domestic shipping if you spend $100 or more!  
All records are packaged securely with the vinyl outside the jacket (to avoid seam split in transit). The vinyl and jacket are sandwiched between two cardboard stiffeners and shipped in a custom cardboard record mailer box. 
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS!  EBAY'S PLATFORM DOESN'T ACCOMMODATE FOR COMBINED SHIPPING FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS---BUT DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU!!!---I CAN COMBINE SHIP FOR YOU AND MINIMIZE SHIPPING COSTS!!!  TELL ME WHICH ITEMS YOU WANT TO BUY, AND I WILL WEIGH THEM AND THE SHIPPING BOX TOGETHER AND THEN I WILL CREATE A "LOT OF 2..." OR "LOT OF 3...", OR "LOT OF 4...", ETC WITH THE ITEMS YOU WANT, AND CREATE A LISTING WITH THE EXACT WEIGHT OF YOUR LOT.   THIS WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY!!!  IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THIS, SEND ME A MESSAGE TELLING ME WHICH ITEMS YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE.  OR, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS.
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Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album? 

First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm. 

First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.  

 On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.     

AllMusic Review by Steve Huey 

"What You Need" had taken  from college radio into the American Top Five, but there was little indication that the group would follow it with a multi-platinum blockbuster like . Where the follow-ups to "What You Need" made barely a ripple on the pop charts,  spun off four Top Ten singles, including the band's only American number one, "Need You Tonight."  crystallized all of the band's influences --  rock & roll, pop, funk, contemporary dance-pop -- into a cool, stylish dance/rock hybrid. It was perfectly suited to lead singer 's feline sexuality, which certainly didn't hurt the band's already inventive videos. But it wasn't just image that provided their breakthrough. For the first (and really only) time,  made a consistently solid album that had no weak moments from top to bottom. More than that, really,  is an impeccably crafted pop tour de force, the band succeeding at everything they try. Every track has at least a subtly different feel from what came before it;  freely incorporates tense guitar riffs, rock & roll anthems, swing-tinged pop/rock, string-laden balladry, danceable pop-funk, horn-driven '60s soul, '80s R&B, and even a bit of the new wave-ish sound they'd started out with. More to the point, every song is catchy and memorable, branded with indelible hooks. Even without the band's sense of style, the flawless songcraft is intoxicating, and it's what makes  one of the best mainstream pop albums of the '80s.