Folder 106
Japan
Japan, with obi. Toshiba EMI first pressing: the obi's white box promises the poster, and neither label carries the promo overprint.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
Run-out photographed, both sides. Side A reads EJ-2402001-TA followed by 1S; side B reads EJ-2402001-TB followed by 1S. The stamper characters after 1S are not resolved in any frame - one further character is visible on each side and neither is legible enough to quote. That matters less than it looks: Discogs records EJ-2402001 - TA 1S 8 4-9 for this release and EJ-2402001 - TA 1S 2 2 4-9Z for the standard issue, so the trailing digits vary by stamper rather than by edition, and all three Japanese candidates share the EJ-2402001-TA/TB root. The obi and the labels are what decide this copy; the run-out corroborates the family.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 1689409. Green: in my collection (3 of 4). Red: missing.
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 15 of them
Obi, front panel: EMS-91091 · ¥2,800 · ロック
IMG_1928
Obi: アイアン・メイデン and パワースレイヴ - the artist and title in katakana
IMG_1928
Obi, white box: 初回のみポスター付!! - poster included with this first pressing only
IMG_1928
Obi, blue subtitle: 死界の王・オシリスの謎
IMG_1928
Obi: アイアン・メイデン第5作が遂に全貌を現わした!
IMG_1928
Obi credits: ●プロデュース／マーティン・バーチ, 解説／伊藤政則, ●対訳／渡辺 淳
IMG_1928
Obi, foot: STEREO · ⊡ ZR28-1218 · boxed EMI - the cassette number carried alongside
IMG_1928
Label, side one: EMS-91091 over (EJ-2402001-TA), with the JASRAC oval beside them
IMG_1935
Label, side one: 33⅓ R.P.M. Stereo, boxed EMI, THIS SIDE / OTHER SIDE tracklists with writer credits
IMG_1935
Label rim: MFD. BY TOSHIBA EMI LTD. IN JAPAN UNDER LICENSE FROM CAPITOL RECORDS, INC.
IMG_1935
Label, side two: SIDE TWO / EMS-91091 / (EJ-2402001-TB), on the eye-in-sand artwork
IMG_1937
Label, both sides: no 見本 (非売品) overprint and no 9/21 release date - the promotional copy carries both
IMG_1935, IMG_1937
Run-out, side A, etched: EJ-2402001-TA … 1S (one further character unresolved)
IMG_1942, IMG_1943
Run-out, side B, etched: EJ-2402001-TB … 1S (one further character unresolved)
IMG_1940, IMG_1941
Insert, colour band photograph, printed along the edge: ●EMS-91091 ⊡ ZR28-1218
IMG_1974
The photographs
IMG_1927.jpg1 of 21READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Obi strip - present, with the white campaign box at one end. This is the component that identifies the release, and the first thing lost from a Japanese copy.
- Outer sleeve - single, standard Powerslave artwork. Discogs notes this pressing's “outer sleeve has unique texture”.
- Inserts - the four-page booklet Discogs describes, with colour outer pages (one the eye/lyrics image, one a colour band photograph carrying the catalogue numbers) and Japanese liner notes, lyric transcriptions and a photo discography inside.
- Labels - the international sand design: side one carries the text and tracklist, side two the eye-in-sand image. Both are clean, with no promotional marking.
- Vinyl - black.
What distinguishes this pressing
- The obi's white
初回のみポスター付!!box. Discogs states that only the initial first pressing came with it, and that the subsequent standard issue had “an obi without this indication as well as no poster inside”. - Clean labels. The promotional copy of the same catalogue number carries a
見本 (非売品)overprint and a printed9/21; neither is here. MFD. BY TOSHIBA EMI LTD. IN JAPAN UNDER LICENSE FROM CAPITOL RECORDS, INC.- the Japanese manufacturing statement, absent from every European copy on this shelf.- The retained EMI international matrix. The labels print
(EJ-2402001-TA)/(EJ-2402001-TB)beside the JapaneseEMS-91091, and the run-out carries the same root - the same string the European copy in folder 108 and the Argentine copy in folder 109 carry. - Folder 107 is a second copy of this same release, identified on the same two marks. The two are recorded as duplicates rather than differentiated, because nothing legible in either set of photographs separates them.
Eight tracks, two sides, and the recording credits
Side A
- A1Aces High
- A22 Minutes To Midnight
- A3Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
- A4Flash Of The Blade
- A5The Duellists
Side B
- B1Back In The Village
- B2Powerslave
- B3Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Bruce Dickinson - vocals · Dave Murray - lead and rhythm guitar · Adrian Smith - lead and rhythm guitar · Steve Harris - bass · Nicko McBrain - drums.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Martin Birch, assisted by Bruce Buchhalter and Frank Gibson. Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound. Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau; mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York. Sleeve illustration by Derek Riggs; sleeve and design concept by Derek Riggs, Iron Maiden and Rod Smallwood. Photography by Moshe Brakha. Published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd.
Personnel and studio credits are sourced from Discogs release 1846534, 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. Japan and catalogue EMS-91091 are certain from the obi and both labels. Discogs lists three 1984 Japanese vinyl editions under that one number, and two marks on this copy separate all three:
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Candidate | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 1689409 - initial first pressing | Matches. Discogs: “Comes with an obi with a vertical white box in the lower left hand side with text 初回のみポスター付！！”. The box is present and every character of 初回のみポスター付!! is legible in it. Its labels carry no promotional marking, and these do not either. |
| 10765463 - Regular Edition | Ruled out by the obi. Discogs: “NO poster (only included in first issue with slightly different obi)”, and “Different from [r1689409] because it came with obi without the lower left hand vertical white box indicating ‘with poster’”. This obi has that box. |
| 10240413 - Promo | Ruled out by the labels. Discogs records that its labels carry “見本(非売品）… as well as the release date 9/21 printed on them”. Both labels here are clean: no overprint, no date. |
Standing caveat: this method cannot exclude a pressing absent from Discogs. The version list is incomplete by construction, so a single surviving candidate is a best match, not a proof of uniqueness.
Open, and about completeness rather than identity: the poster. The obi announces one, and Discogs describes this pressing as including “the large giant color poster”. The twenty-one photographs of this folder show the four-page booklet, the eye/lyrics sheet and a colour band photograph that is one of the booklet's own outer pages - they carry the printed catalogue numbers along the edge, which a poster would not. No frame shows a folded poster, and no frame rules one out either. Whether this copy still has its poster is a question for the shelf, not for these photographs.