Folder 101
US
DIDX 3093 - the discriminator. Sony's DADC mastering identifier, printed here on two separate components, and recorded on one row in this master.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
Read by the owner directly off the disc on 2026-09-27 - this supersedes any earlier reading below: back (mirror) CDP 7 90258 2 AR. @ 3, front 2-5 CAPITOL JAX 5 C.
The disc's mirror ring is photographed in IMG_1836 but cannot be read to a variant. Only CDP 7 90258 2 and a fragment of the stamper digits resolve at native resolution, and the trailing group that would name the variant does not. Discogs records twelve matrix variants for 3152234, all beginning CDP 7 90258 2 AR and ending in a CAPITOL JAX stamper number; those are named from Discogs, not read here. Folders 103 and 104 do read theirs.
CDP 7 90258 2 AR. @ 3 + 2-5 CAPITOL JAX 5 C — this copy's ring IS Variant 10 of the 12 matrix entries Discogs records.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 3152234. Green: in my collection (3 of 12). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 1) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @ 3 + 3 2 13 CAPITOL JAX 14 C |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 2) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @ 3 + 3-2-3 CAPITOL JAX 3 C — copy 102 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 3) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @ 3 + 3-2-1 CAPITOL JAX 1 C |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 4) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @ 3 + 3-2-16 CAPITOL JAX 17 C |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 5) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @3 + 3-2-10 CAPITOL JAX 10 C — copy 103, copy 104 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 6) | (Mirror:) CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @ 3 + (Normal:) 3-2-2 CAPITOL JAX 2 C |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 7) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @ 2:1:6 . + 2 1 6 CAPITOL JAX 13 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 8) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @3 + 2 7 CAPITOL JAX 7 C |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 9) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR . @3 + 3 2 14 CAPITOL JAX 15 C |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 10) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR. @ 3 + 2-5 CAPITOL JAX 5 C — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 11) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR. @ 3 + 2 6 CAPITOL JAX 6 C |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 12) | CDP 7 90258 2 AR. @ 3 + 2-8 CAPITOL JAX 8 C |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 6 of them
Rear inlay: DIDX 3093 at the top left, the eight titles, PRODUCED, ENGINEERED AND MIXED BY MARTIN BIRCH, ℗ 1988 Original Sound Recordings made by EMI Records Ltd, © 1988 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd. and the Capitol and EMI devices
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Rear inlay, barcode corner: a white sticker carrying 7777-90258-2
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Disc face: CDP 7 90258 2, a boxed STEREO / DIDX 3093, UK: CDEMD 1006, the Capitol and EMI devices and PRINTED IN U.S.A. in the rim text
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Booklet, back cover: CDP 7 90258 2 with the Capitol and EMI devices
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Disc in the open case, showing the tray and booklet together
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Front of the case with the album artwork and no sticker
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The photographs
IMG_1830.jpg1 of 7READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Standard jewel case, opened, with the booklet present.
- The barcode is on a sticker, reading
7777-90258-2, applied to the rear inlay corner. 3152234 records this same string asBarcode | 7777-90258-2 | Printed. DIDX 3093is printed on the inlay and on the disc, not applied.PRINTED IN U.S.A.in the disc's rim text.- Folder 102 is a second copy of the same release, and folders 103 and 104 are two more that add a promotional sticker.
What distinguishes this pressing
DIDX 3093- the discriminator. Sony's DADC mastering identifier, printed here on two separate components, and recorded on one row in this master.PRINTED IN U.S.A.and theCapitoldevice - what reduce twenty-twoCDP 7 90258 2rows to the American ones before the DIDX is applied.UK: CDEMD 1006on the disc - the UK catalogue number printed on an American disc, which is how the 1988 Capitol issue was made. Shared with 3152234 and with several European rows; it does not discriminate by itself.- Barcode
7777-90258-2on a sticker - recorded by 3152234 as printed. The value matches; that it arrived on a label rather than in the print is a fact about this copy. - Not evidence: the artwork. Every pressing of this album carries the same cover, and the front of this case carries nothing else.
Eight tracks, and the recording credits
Tracks 1-4
- 1Moonchild
- 2Infinite Dreams
- 3Can I Play With Madness
- 4The Evil That Men Do
Tracks 5-8
- 5Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
- 6The Prophecy
- 7The Clairvoyant
- 8Only 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. Where this copy's own packaging carries the producer, publisher or copyright lines, they are quoted in the evidence above.
Condition, from the photographs
A photograph cannot grade a record - this is a description of what is visible, not a grade.
- Case/inlay: general handling wear with some edge and corner softening; no cracks or splits visible in these shots.
- Disc: light surface marks and handling sheen catch the light. No visible deep scratches or disc-face damage in these photographs.
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
Settled on a mastering code that only one row records. The catalogue number is worthless here on its own - twenty-two rows carry it - but DIDX 3093 is not a catalogue number: it is the DADC identifier for one American mastering, printed on this inlay and this disc, and 3152234 is the only row in this master that records it. The other US Capitol row is the longbox C2 90258 issue, which records no DIDX, carries a different catalogue number, and is described in its own notes as Sleeve printed in England. Manufactured in England. against this disc's PRINTED IN U.S.A.
3152234's own notes settle any residual doubt by quoting the disc block this copy carries verbatim, CDP 7 90258 2 / DIDX 3093 / UK: CDEMD 1006 / PRINTED IN U.S.A.
What is not established is which stamper. 3152234 documents twelve matrix variants and this copy's ring is photographed but not legible. Folders 103 and 104 both read theirs as variant 5; a raking-light frame of this hub would say whether this copy is a third of the same or something else.
Standing caveat: the version list is incomplete by construction.