Casanova – UK / Ireland
- 1. Something For The Weekend
- 4:19
- 2. Becoming More Like Alfie
- 2:59
- 3. Middle-Class Heroes
- 5:25
- 4. In And Out In Paris And London
- 3:23
- 5. Charge
- 5:30
- 6. Songs Of Love
- 3:23
- 7. The Frog Princess
- 5:12
- 8. A Woman Of The World
- 4:11
- 9. Through A Long And Sleepless Night
- 6:13
- 10. Theme From Casanova
- 5:51
- 11. The Dogs And The Horses
- 5:12
- Promo VHS
- 1. The Frog Princess [Promo video]
- 4:11
- 2. Something For The Weekend [Promo video]
- 4:30
- 3. Becoming More Like Alfie [Promo video]
- 3:13
- Formats (editor / manufacturer / distributor, date)
- CD (Setanta / Nimbus / Vital ?, 29/04/1996):
- 5 024545 021127 (SET CD 025)
- CD (Setanta / Nimbus / Vital, 1999):
- 5 024545 021127 (SET CD 025)
- CD (Setanta / Key Productions / Vital, 2002):
- 5 024545 021127 (SET CD 025)
- 12" (Setanta):
- 5 024545 021110 (SET LP 025)
- MC (Setanta):
- 5 024545 021141 (SET MC 025)
- Promo CD (Setanta / Nimbus):
- SET PRCD 025
- Promo VHS (Setanta / Vanderquest):
- Letterbox: PAL
- Items
The Casanova album has been issued quite a few times in UK due to its success. The idea was never to make several changes to the album with bonus etc. (that would come far later with the Divine Comedy Records 2020 reissue, but just new prints to handle the huge demand when success came to The Divine Comedy.
The album Casanova was first issued in 1996. The album cover has a gold writing and behind the CD the inlay has a red velvet artwork.
The back cover is the original template which has been edited for all the foreign prints of the album (see France, Japan and US) mainly because of a different bar code. Here the bar code number is 5 024545 021127.
Unlike the previous Liberation and Promenade albums and the other foreign versions, the paper is not glossy, but uses a matte paper which is said to be more expensive. Unfortunately, it results that the whole printed artwork and texts are a bit blurred, and so it doesn’t really give them justice. The reason of such a paper may have been driven by the use of gold printing on the cover.
Some of the copies feature a sticker listing the singles on the front case. It is likely that it went after the releases of those singles, when the distribution had changed. These copies also include a subscription card to the newsletter, identical to the one that came within The Frog Princess CD single.
It is unsure how the album was first distributed in UK when Setanta released it, however – unlike later albums – the disc does not feature any mention to Vital Distribution. But later in the year Setanta had a distribution deal with Vital which led to the inclusion of a track into their compilation of the year 1996. It is likely that the album was then redistributed through Vital. However, despite the inclusion on many listings of a later Vital release in July 1996 with the serial number 5 021289 702527; the physical CDs were the same as the stocks were probably already printed, and all copies has the printed number 5 024545 021127.
Regarding the CD, around the centre of that release is engraved: C0248 SETCD 025 IFPI L123 MASTERED BY NIMBUS IFPI L123
which is the same as the promo CD of the album, and so may be the original print.
An almost identical reprint of the first release exists. It has a major difference though, instead of having a heavy matte paper, it has a thinner glossy paper similar to the foreign versions of the album. Therefore, the print quality is sharper and brighter.
On the other hand the booklet and back/inlay designs are exactly the same, with the same bar code, and the same elements at the same exact position.
The CD has the same design too, but on the other side, the engraved matrix is: C0548 SETCD 025 IFPI L123 ^ViW4Z IFPI L123 (^ViW4Z being the Nimbus logo).
The other DC release having such a matrix with the Nimbus logo are Fin de Siècle, A Secret History and singles from that era. Therefore, it is likely those Casanova CDs were printed at that time, after the success of Fin de Siècle.
In the early 2000’s the album was re-printed again, this time with a different manufacturer. According to some listings it may have been in 2002, but it could have been earlier. Actually, it is unsure if it was following the release of Regeneration that Setanta decided to reprint the album because they started to run out of stock. Or, if at that point Divine Comedy Records had already taken over the rights of the back catalogue, and decided to reprint a stock to make some sales. After all, they inherited the Vital distributing deal, and so it would not make a big difference. Anyway, the artwork still states Setanta Records and has the same barcode number as the original pressing (despite Vital was still distributing the album under a different number).
Despite it was meant to be the same, this release is easy to track because of some printing/design differences. First the front cover features a red ‘Casanova’ title instead of the usual silver one. Probably because silver ink was too expensive / not possible for the reprints. The paper used for the booklet and the back cover of this release is also glossy.
The back cover is interesting too. First the barcode typeface is bigger and different from the previous release. On the bottom-left corner, the Setanta logo is still there, but bigger and without their address this time. The other side of the back cover under the CD tray is plain red instead of featuring the velvet artwork. Why? We don’t really know. Perhaps the people who redid the artwork couldn’t manage to find the original one.
Inside, the content is the same as the original release, but the lyrics of ‘In And Out In Paris And London’ are misprinted and unreadable. Note also a white frame on the top-left corner of this page.
Finally, the CD features the same artwork as the original release, but with a different print quality. Also on the CD centre more artwork is printed than on the original edition. On the other side we can read: KEY SETCD25, which means the CD was manufactured by Key Production and not Nimbus.
The Casanova LP has a quite similar artwork : the front cover has the same design, and the back cover too, with the elements at the same place.
What is more interesting is that it comes with a red sheet with the lyrics and the credits.
You can read on the A-side: A FOR FUCKS SAKE SET LP 025 - A1 and a strange little logo.
And the B-side: C SET LP 025 - B1 and the same logo.
The design of the MC sleeve has the red background used for the CD and the LP lyrics sheet. The front has the album and band titles in a black box under the front cover of Neil with a cigarette stuck in his mouth. The folding part is made of 5 pages with on one side photos from the CD sleeve and credits, and on the other side all the lyrics printed in black on white with the Casanova font. It is thus similar to the Liberation one (that was released in 1996 with the reissue). The cassette is nothing special: just the title, reference number, copyright and face number (1 and 2 instead of A and B).
It’s a black CD. The letters are golden and the font is different from that of the album with the exception of the title ‘casanova’, which here has a lower-case ‘c’.
In the centre of the CD, we can read the same as on the regular release: C0248 SETCD 025 IFPI L123 MASTERED BY NIMBUS IFPI L123
The videos of the three singles, ‘Something For The Weekend’, ‘Becoming More Like Alfie’ and ‘The Frog Princess’ were available on this promotional video tape.
A postcard and a few promotional pictures were edited by Setanta for the promo of the album. A sticker was stuck on it when it was shared out, different to each era.
The original CD
The album Casanova was first issued in 1996. The album cover has a gold writing and behind the CD the inlay has a red velvet artwork.
The back cover is the original template which has been edited for all the foreign prints of the album (see France, Japan and US) mainly because of a different bar code. Here the bar code number is 5 024545 021127.
Unlike the previous Liberation and Promenade albums and the other foreign versions, the paper is not glossy, but uses a matte paper which is said to be more expensive. Unfortunately, it results that the whole printed artwork and texts are a bit blurred, and so it doesn’t really give them justice. The reason of such a paper may have been driven by the use of gold printing on the cover.
Some of the copies feature a sticker listing the singles on the front case. It is likely that it went after the releases of those singles, when the distribution had changed. These copies also include a subscription card to the newsletter, identical to the one that came within The Frog Princess CD single.It is unsure how the album was first distributed in UK when Setanta released it, however – unlike later albums – the disc does not feature any mention to Vital Distribution. But later in the year Setanta had a distribution deal with Vital which led to the inclusion of a track into their compilation of the year 1996. It is likely that the album was then redistributed through Vital. However, despite the inclusion on many listings of a later Vital release in July 1996 with the serial number 5 021289 702527; the physical CDs were the same as the stocks were probably already printed, and all copies has the printed number 5 024545 021127.
Regarding the CD, around the centre of that release is engraved: C0248 SETCD 025 IFPI L123 MASTERED BY NIMBUS IFPI L123
which is the same as the promo CD of the album, and so may be the original print.
The reprint
An almost identical reprint of the first release exists. It has a major difference though, instead of having a heavy matte paper, it has a thinner glossy paper similar to the foreign versions of the album. Therefore, the print quality is sharper and brighter.On the other hand the booklet and back/inlay designs are exactly the same, with the same bar code, and the same elements at the same exact position.
The CD has the same design too, but on the other side, the engraved matrix is: C0548 SETCD 025 IFPI L123 ^ViW4Z IFPI L123 (^ViW4Z being the Nimbus logo).
The other DC release having such a matrix with the Nimbus logo are Fin de Siècle, A Secret History and singles from that era. Therefore, it is likely those Casanova CDs were printed at that time, after the success of Fin de Siècle.
The ‘red’ re-issue
In the early 2000’s the album was re-printed again, this time with a different manufacturer. According to some listings it may have been in 2002, but it could have been earlier. Actually, it is unsure if it was following the release of Regeneration that Setanta decided to reprint the album because they started to run out of stock. Or, if at that point Divine Comedy Records had already taken over the rights of the back catalogue, and decided to reprint a stock to make some sales. After all, they inherited the Vital distributing deal, and so it would not make a big difference. Anyway, the artwork still states Setanta Records and has the same barcode number as the original pressing (despite Vital was still distributing the album under a different number).Despite it was meant to be the same, this release is easy to track because of some printing/design differences. First the front cover features a red ‘Casanova’ title instead of the usual silver one. Probably because silver ink was too expensive / not possible for the reprints. The paper used for the booklet and the back cover of this release is also glossy.
The back cover is interesting too. First the barcode typeface is bigger and different from the previous release. On the bottom-left corner, the Setanta logo is still there, but bigger and without their address this time. The other side of the back cover under the CD tray is plain red instead of featuring the velvet artwork. Why? We don’t really know. Perhaps the people who redid the artwork couldn’t manage to find the original one.
Inside, the content is the same as the original release, but the lyrics of ‘In And Out In Paris And London’ are misprinted and unreadable. Note also a white frame on the top-left corner of this page.
Original release 2002 re-issue
Finally, the CD features the same artwork as the original release, but with a different print quality. Also on the CD centre more artwork is printed than on the original edition. On the other side we can read: KEY SETCD25, which means the CD was manufactured by Key Production and not Nimbus.
The LP
The Casanova LP has a quite similar artwork : the front cover has the same design, and the back cover too, with the elements at the same place.
What is more interesting is that it comes with a red sheet with the lyrics and the credits.
You can read on the A-side: A FOR FUCKS SAKE SET LP 025 - A1 and a strange little logo.
And the B-side: C SET LP 025 - B1 and the same logo.
The MC
The design of the MC sleeve has the red background used for the CD and the LP lyrics sheet. The front has the album and band titles in a black box under the front cover of Neil with a cigarette stuck in his mouth. The folding part is made of 5 pages with on one side photos from the CD sleeve and credits, and on the other side all the lyrics printed in black on white with the Casanova font. It is thus similar to the Liberation one (that was released in 1996 with the reissue). The cassette is nothing special: just the title, reference number, copyright and face number (1 and 2 instead of A and B).
The Promo
It’s a black CD. The letters are golden and the font is different from that of the album with the exception of the title ‘casanova’, which here has a lower-case ‘c’.In the centre of the CD, we can read the same as on the regular release: C0248 SETCD 025 IFPI L123 MASTERED BY NIMBUS IFPI L123
Promo VHS
The videos of the three singles, ‘Something For The Weekend’, ‘Becoming More Like Alfie’ and ‘The Frog Princess’ were available on this promotional video tape.
The Postcard
A postcard and a few promotional pictures were edited by Setanta for the promo of the album. A sticker was stuck on it when it was shared out, different to each era.
The Promo Pictures
Adverts & Posters
