ZEX — an Ottawa hardcore quartet whose songs include “Child Soldier” and “Burn the Flag” — posted on Facebook a yellow record labeled as Beyonce’s “Lemonade” playing on a turntable, but the sound was guitar power chords and shouted vocals.
Columbia Records in a statement acknowledged a manufacturing mistake, blaming unspecified “human error” at a plant in Germany.
Rejecting any notion that it was an artistic decision, the label said: “Beyonce and ZEX were not aware of or responsible for the mispress.”
The mistake was only on the A-side of “Lemonade” on a small number of records, said the label, which promised refunds and exchanges.
ZEX — who have 8,000 likes on Facebook, compared with Beyonce’s 64 million — on Monday were directing the curious to a new website to buy the music.
“Lemonade,” which came out last year, was considered the most musically adventurous album of the pop superstar’s career as she branched into hip-hop, country — and hard rock, with Jack White and Led Zeppelin members among the credited songwriters.
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