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U2 have reportedly released limited copies of their latest album Songs of Innocence early on vinyl, making them eligible to qualify for this year's Grammy Awards.
According to fan-site @U2, a small number of black vinyl copies of the record have been quietly sent to various independent retailers ahead of its official release next month, in order to adhere to The Grammy's nomination rules which state an album must be bought commercially before 30 September.
Songs of Innocence was previously released at the beginning of September after being announced at an Apple Keynote, however by making the record appear on people's iTunes without their consent it was revealed it wouldn't qualify for the award until it went onsale physically.
Different to the official release, which is set to be on white vinyl, the few copies that were reportedly sent out to retailers including Amoeba Music in Los Angeles and Looney Tunes in New York are in fact on black vinyl and reportedly a test pressing, indicated by pictures the latter uploaded to their website.
See the pictures of the reportedly released vinyl below:
Songs of Innocence will be officially released physically on 14 October 2014, and the record is still available to download for free on iTunes, it is unknown how many test pressings were sent out beforehand.
Earlier this week Bono expressed his interest to play venues such as The O2 Arena in London when the band get around to touring the album, however no dates have been announced yet.
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