Unboxing: Endless Forms Most Beautiful

I ordered two versions of the album: the Nuclear Blast exclusive silver Earbook, and the picture disc vinyl from RecordStore. Unfortunately, I had issues with both orders - the shipping company altered my address on the Earbook, resulting in a lot of hassle for me and receiving it several days later than everyone else.

The RecordStore order which was advertised repeatedly on many different sites as having a signed insert with "all pre-orders", did not actually come with a signed insert. It seems they'd sold out of the signed versions early on, but hadn't notified Nightwish or Nuclear Blast, who were still advertising it as recently as a few days ago. Nuclear Blast have very kindly offered to send me something to make up for it, but so far RecordStore have been unhelpful. Having now seen others complain on Facebook that they were expecting a signed insert too, I'm hoping one or both of the companies will post a correction or apology soon.

But thankfully, all that is over and done with. I now have both editions, and they're ready to meet the camera!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL - PICTURE DISC

This one comes in a typical record sleeve - these are of course a bit flimsy, so you need to be careful not to bend them. It's great to be able to see the artwork up close, it really does need to be big to be appreciated.

The inside of the sleeve is decorated with a collage of the artworks for each song, along with some band pictures. This does look a bit busy, and it's hard to really appreciate them when they're so small. The covers for the vinyl LPs themselves are really nice though - a large ammonite surrounded by stars. The backs of these covers feature all the lyrics.

The picture discs themselves are stunning! I'm looking forward to displaying them on the wall. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL - NUCLEAR BLAST LIMITED EDITION EARBOOK

This one came in sturdy packaging with a free copy of the Nuclear Blast magazine - only in German though, unfortunately for me.

The presentation of this hardback earbook is really wonderful. It looks so shiny and high quality, and I find the finish much nicer than on the LP sleeve. This was the silver edition, and I feel that the cover has a bit of a silvery tinge to it.

The three CDs - the album, the instrumental tracks and the orchestral tracks, are all slotted neatly into the front of the book.

The large booklet is filled by high quality artwork from ToxicAngel, as well as the lyrics for each song.

There's a page for the portraits of each of the band members, as well as a collage of photos from the summer camp and recordings.

There are quotes from scientists and writers throughout the booklet.

Finally, there's a nice surprise in the back of the earbook: the bonus silver vinyl. This vinyl includes the alternative versions of the singles Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Élan.

The earbook is totally worth the expense in my opinion - a great presentation for a great album.