The Velvet Underground & Nico — The Velvet Underground & Nico: How to Identify a First Pressing

• Cover: The famous banana cover designed by Andy Warhol: early pressings came with a peelable banana sticker printed with the words 'Peel slowly and see'; peeling it back reveals a flesh-pink 'banana flesh' image underneath.
• Cover: Because a specially designed machine was needed to produce this peelable-sticker cover, this was one of the reasons the album's release was delayed.
• Other: The 1996 remastered CD reissue removed some alterations present in earlier editions, restored the original cover artwork, and retained the double-tracked overdub mix of 'All Tomorrow's Parties' found on the vinyl edition.

• Because manufacturing the peelable banana sticker was complex, later reissues generally print the banana image directly (no longer as a physically peelable sticker structure), so whether the sticker can actually be peeled off, and whether the flesh-pink 'flesh' image appears underneath, is a direct tactile clue for identifying an early pressing.

discogs.com returned a 403 this time and could not be accessed; the English Wikipedia entry was used instead. Details of the matrix etching and the specific differences between the mono and stereo mixes could not be verified against a citable verbatim source this time.

• Read the runout (the smooth area between the last groove and the label) with the disc tilted under a lamp: matrix numbers, stamper codes and mastering initials are the strongest evidence.
• Label details change between pressing plants and years: rim text, logo style, address, "Manufactured by" wording.
• Cover printing shows the plant and era: printer credit, catalog number position, barcode presence.
• Match all three. A first-press disc in a later cover, or the reverse, is common.

Shoot the label straight on in even light, then the runout with the disc tilted so the etched text catches the light (a phone torch from the side works). Add the front and back cover, the spine, and any inner sleeve or insert. The app reads the label and cover; the runout photo is what confirms the pressing.