Folder 6
Europe
Rear cover 064 against the rivals' 038, France: PM 264, plain GEMA/STEMRA on side B and a printed inner - four tells, one release.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
No run-out groove photograph exists in this folder.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 368980. Green: in my collection (0 of 4). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 1) | 7902581-A-01 "VERY DIRECT METAL" Sterling 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 1) | 7902581-B-01 "IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT BOLLOCKS" Sterling 2 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 2) | 7902581-A-01 "VERY DIRECT METAL" Sterling 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 2) | 7902581-B-01 "IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT BOLLOCKS" Sterling 1 |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 11 of them
Rear cover: 064 and France: PM 264, each beside a boxed 7 90258 1
IMG_0618
Rear cover barcode: 0 77779 02581 7, with 7 90258 4 and 7 90258 2 boxed below
IMG_0618
Rear cover: DMM is a trademark of TELDEC
IMG_0618
Inner sleeve: printed both sides - blue lyrics, credits and a band photograph on one, the seer-and-crystal-ball painting on the other
IMG_0619, IMG_0620
Label: 064-79 0258 1
IMG_0621
Label: GEMA/STEMRA
IMG_0621
Label: LC 0542 in a rounded box
IMG_0621
Label: DMM logo (Direct Metal Mastering)
IMG_0621
Label: track times printed after every title - MOONCHILD (Smith / Dickinson) 5:38, INFINITE DREAMS (Harris) 6:08, CAN I PLAY WITH MADNESS (Smith / Dickinson / Harris) 3:30, THE EVIL THAT MEN DO (Smith / Dickinson / Harris) 4:33, SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON (Harris) 9:52, THE PROPHECY (Murray / Harris) 5:04, THE CLAIRVOYANT (Harris) 4:26, ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (Harris / Dickinson) 4:40
IMG_0621
Label rim, German: KEINE UNERLAUBTE VERVIELFÄLTIGUNG, VERMIETUNG, KEIN VERLEIH! ALLE URHEBER- UND LEISTUNGSSCHUTZRECHTE VORBEHALTEN and MADE IN … (remainder not legible in this frame)
IMG_0621
Label rim, English: …PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND BROADCASTING OF THE RECORD…
IMG_0621
The photographs
IMG_0617.jpg1 of 6READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Outer sleeve - single, standard artwork.
- Inner sleeve - the standard printed one, both sides: blue lyrics and credits with a band photograph, and the seer-and-crystal-ball painting on the reverse. Not the generic white inner one of the rival candidates was issued with.
- Labels - the EMI globe design with a European text block:
LC 0542, the catalogue number,GEMA/STEMRAand theDMMmark.
What distinguishes this pressing
064on the rear cover, not038. The one code that separates the original European issue from the three editions that share its label setting - all of which print038on the sleeve while printing064on the label.- Track times printed on the label, for both sides. Among the non-European copies here nothing prints durations, so it is the quickest way to spot this European setting at a glance - though folders 9, 30 and 34 are the same release and print it identically.
DMM- Direct Metal Mastering, marked on the label.LC 0542- the EMI label code, a European convention absent from the UK, Israeli and South American copies here.GEMA/STEMRA- the German and Dutch societies together, indicating a pressing for the wider European market rather than for one country.
Eight tracks, two sides, and the recording credits
Side A
- A1Moonchild
- A2Infinite Dreams
- A3Can I Play With Madness
- A4The Evil That Men Do
Side B
- B1Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
- B2The Prophecy
- B3The Clairvoyant
- B4Only The Good Die Young
Bruce Dickinson - vocals · Dave Murray - lead and rhythm guitar · Adrian Smith - lead and rhythm guitar, synth · Steve Harris - bass, string synth · Nicko McBrain - drums.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Martin Birch. Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York. Recorded at Musicland Studios, Munich. Sleeve illustration, concept and design by Derek Riggs (with Rod Smallwood). Inner-sleeve photograph by Ross Halfin. Published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd.
Personnel and studio credits are sourced from Discogs release 576952, the UK original, and apply to the recording rather than to this pressing. The producer, publisher and copyright lines are independently corroborated by this copy's own label, quoted above.
Condition, from the photographs
A photograph cannot grade a record - this is a description of what is visible, not a grade.
- Sleeve: general handling wear with some edge and corner softening; no splits or seam separation visible in these shots.
- Vinyl: light surface marks and handling sheen catch the light. No visible deep scratches, warping or edge damage in these photographs. The labels are clean and unmarked.
Nothing on this page comes from playing the record. No Goldmine grade is claimed for it, or any other. I have no record of where this copy came from.
What is settled, and what is not
Confirmed, and settled without new photography. This entry was Narrowed (4) because the back-cover code and the side-B label had not been read. Both were in the folder all along - the rear cover is IMG_0618 and the label photographed in IMG_0621 is side B, which the earlier pass did not notice.
Four things now separate this copy from the three rivals, and they agree:
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Tell | This copy | 368980 | 4025140 | 11104240 | 25979638 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rear-cover code | 064 | not recorded | 038 | 038 | 038 |
| French price code | PM 264 | PM 264 | not recorded | PM 211 | PM 211 |
| Side B rights society | GEMA/STEMRA, plain | GEMA / STEMRA | GEMA / STEMRA | overprinted BIEM/GEMA | a black bar |
| Inner sleeve | printed both sides | printed inner | generic white | standard | standard |
Read that table as elimination, not as a match. Discogs records no back-cover code for 368980 at all - the cell is empty because nobody entered one, not because it says 064. What the notes for 4025140, 11104240 and 25979638 each do say is “038 code on back cover”, and this sleeve reads 064. So the code excludes all three rivals and leaves 368980 standing; it does not positively confirm it. The other three rows corroborate it from three independent directions - the price code and the side-B rights society each exclude the two repressses, and the printed inner excludes 4025140, whose note specifies a generic white one.
The barcode is useless here and always was: Discogs records the same 0 77779 02581 7 against all four.
Folder 9 is the same release. Its rear cover reads 064 and PM 264, its side B carries a plain GEMA/STEMRA, and its inner is printed - identical on every tell. So the two copies are one edition, not two, which is the question this pair was flagged for.
Standing caveat: this method cannot exclude a pressing absent from Discogs.