Talk:Love It to Death

Release date? What the sources say
What was the release date of the album? Sources are not in agreement. The earliest versions of this article say 1971, then February 1971.

(Someone in Nashville using the IP range Special:Contributions/2600:1700:5D53:260:0:0:0:0/64 has been changing the dates on various albums, using less reliable sources such as a blog and rateyourmusic.)


 * March 8: The FA version of the article in 2015 said the release date was March 8, 1971, cited to page 27 in the Sherman book, The Illustrated Collector's Guide to Alice Cooper, ISBN 978-1-894959-93-3. In early April 1971, Billboard said the album had been released "several weeks" previously, but they had to be recalled because the record company name was spelled wrong. The time frame agrees with early March, but the source also says this is the second time the album was pulled from shelves. An earlier release is implied. The first time March 8 was stated in the article was in December 2014 when was working the article up to GA level.


 * February 1: The RIAA certification page says Feb 1. This reference should be cited in the article for Gold and Platinum dates.


 * January: The All Music Guide to Rock printed January 1971 as the release date. This book was printed in 2002, so it's not influenced by Wikipedia. The AllMusic website continues this date. A supporting source is Marky Ramone writing in his book about how his album Dust was released in January 1971, followed shortly by Love It to Death, "released just after ours..." This statement could also support an early Feb release.


 * January 12: Classic Rock Review. This is essentially a self-published blog on the Wordpress platform, posted with a 2011 date. The writer could have picked up this date from Wikipedia, for instance this version of the article from 2008 in which January 12 was added without a citation. I just so happens that Wikipedia said January 12 right before this person posted their review. (See circular reporting.)

I think we should go with RIAA's date, unless somebody can quote me what Dale Sherman says in the cited book. Lots of authors confuse first chart entry date with release date. Binksternet (talk) 16:46, 28 July 2021 (UTC)