Folder 115
Brazil
Brazil, EMI-Odeon. The mispress is out -- I played it, and it is Maiden on both sides. That leaves one catalogued candidate, though the run-out still does not match it.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photo named beside it, except where the source column says otherwise - those rows come from the record itself, by reading it or by playing it, and each says which.
Run-out photographed, both sides, across a dozen macro frames, all shot at a shallow angle with heavy glare -- no single frame resolves the full string cleanly, so this reading is built from overlapping fragments rather than one clean photograph, and a second look at the same frames (prompted by external review) changed the reading. Side one (the Aces High label) shows a leading 1-1-1, then digits reading 240200, then further fragments elsewhere on the same side showing A and, separately, R I. Side two shows 240 clearly and, in an earlier frame, digits consistent with a B-rooted continuation. The prefix and the trailing digits point at different candidates: 1-1-1 is 10076100's own recorded prefix, not 7281083's (2-1-3); 240200 (not 240220) is the digit that is specific to 7281083 and to every other Brazilian pressing except 10076100. Neither candidate's fully recorded matrix is 1-1-1 = 240 200-... -- what is on this record does not match either one completely.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 7281083. Green: in my collection (0 of 4). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 1) | 2-1-3 = 240 200-ARI |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runount side B, variant 2) | 2-1-2 = 240 200-BRI |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 2) | 2-1-2=9 240200 - ARI |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 2) | 2-1-1=26 240200 - BRI |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 14 of them
I played it on 2026-09-12: Iron Maiden on both sides. That is what I heard, and it is the one observation that separates the two surviving candidates. 10076100 is a mispress whose A side carries Queensryche's The Warning; this copy's A side plays Powerslave, which excludes it and leaves 7281083. Not photographed and not photographable -- the difference is in the grooves; see the confidence section
played by the owner, not a photograph
Front cover, top left: a black-and-silver HEAVY METAL Attack EMI sticker over the pyramid artwork
IMG_2263, IMG_2264
Rear cover, foot: EMI-ODEON, FONOGRÁFICA, INDUSTRIAL E ELETRÔNICA LTDA. INDÚSTRIA BRASILEIRA CGC 33.249.640/0001-99 ℗ 1984 DISCO É CULTURA, alongside TAMBÉM EM CASSETE
IMG_2265, IMG_2269
Rear cover, top left: boxed 31C 1064 240200 SUPER LUXO
IMG_2265
Rear cover: EMI Records Ltd. Hayes Middlesex England -- Country of manufacture of record as stated on record label -- the standard English sleeve boilerplate, retained despite Brazilian manufacture
IMG_2266
Spine: boxed 31C / 064 / 240200 / SUPER LUXO
IMG_2267
Rear cover: Made by EMI Records Ltd. (c) 1984 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd., PLAYING TIME: 51.20
IMG_2268
Inner sleeve, printed both faces: the band photographed in the tomb set, and the eye/lyrics sheet repeating 31C 064 240200 SUPER LUXO
IMG_2270, IMG_2271, IMG_2272
Label, side one: IRON MAIDEN / POWERSLAVE in blue outline lettering, boxed 31C 064 240200, ESTEREO / SUPER LUXO, both tracklists with a distinct matrix-style number printed beside each track (e.g. (62.479.725), (62.479.733))
IMG_2273, IMG_2274, IMG_2275
Label, side one rim: (P) 1984 Original Sound Recordings · Made By EMI Records Ltd. and, in smaller print, EMI-ODEON FONOG. INDL. E ELETRÔNICA LTDA · RUA ODEON, 150 · S.B. DO CAMPO · SP · CGC 33.249.640/0004-51
IMG_2275
Label, side two: the eye-in-sand artwork overlaid with worms, not the plain eye the UK/international pressings carry -- a Brazil-specific label variant -- with the same RUA ODEON, 150 address on the rim
IMG_2276
Run-out, side one, etched, read across several frames: 1-1-1 then 240200, then separately A and R/I
IMG_2277, IMG_2278, IMG_2279, IMG_2282, IMG_2283, IMG_2284, IMG_2285, IMG_2295, IMG_2296
Run-out, side two, etched, read across several frames: 240 and further digits
IMG_2290, IMG_2291
Run-out, side one, further fragment reading R/I
IMG_2294
The photographs
IMG_2263.jpg1 of 34READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Outer sleeve -- standard Powerslave artwork, with a black-and-silver
HEAVY METAL Attack EMIsticker applied over the pyramid artwork on the front, not documented on either surviving Discogs entry for this release -- read here as a retailer or promotional sticker rather than evidence of a distinct pressing. - Inner sleeve -- printed both faces: the tomb band photograph on one side, the eye/lyrics sheet (repeating the catalogue number) on the other.
- Labels -- the international sand design, printed in blue. Side one carries the text and both tracklists, each track additionally numbered with what appears to be a Brazilian mechanical/matrix reference distinct from the run-out etching. Side two carries the eye-in-sand image reworked with worms, a variant not seen on the UK/international labels on this shelf.
- Vinyl -- black.
What distinguishes this pressing
- Blue label text. The only other same-catalogue candidate documented with a colour variant, 25123651, is recorded as "Green Text" / "Greenish Writings on label" -- this copy's lettering is unambiguously blue. This is a clean discriminator against 25123651 alone; it says nothing about 10076100, which carries no colour variant of its own.
EMI-ODEON... RUA ODEON, 150 - S.B. DO CAMPO - SPon the label rim andCGC 33.249.640/...on the rear cover -- the Brazilian manufacturer's registration, absent from every European, American or Japanese copy on this shelf. Shared by all three Brazilian candidates, so it establishes the country and family, not which of the two survivors this is.- The worm-eaten eye label art on side two -- a Brazil-specific variant of the international sand design, not carried by any other pressing catalogued so far, and again shared by all three Brazilian candidates.
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.
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
The mispress is out. Country (Brazil) and catalogue (31C 064 240200) were certain from the rear cover and both labels, and the blue label text ruled out one of the three 1984 vinyl LPs Discogs lists under that number. That left two, and the difference between them was never going to show in a photograph: 10076100 is a mispress carrying Queensryche's The Warning on its A side under Iron Maiden's cover and labels, identical to the correct pressing everywhere a camera can look.
I played it on 2026-09-12. Both sides play Iron Maiden. That excludes 10076100 and leaves 7281083, the standard Brazilian issue. It is the negative that does the work -- the absence of Queensryche -- rather than a track-by-track match with the printed sleeve.
The run-out anomaly stands, and is not quietly dropped. This copy's etching reads a leading 1-1-1, which is 10076100's own recorded prefix, not 7281083's 2-1-3; the trailing digits read 240200, which is 7281083's, not 10076100's 240220. Neither candidate's fully recorded matrix matches this record. The audio does not explain that. What it does is remove the only reading under which the prefix was evidence for the mispress: with 10076100 excluded, the 1-1-1 is either a stamper Discogs has not catalogued against 7281083 or an uncatalogued repress of the same catalogue number.
Which is why this stops at Probable rather than Confirmed. Playing the record excluded a candidate; it did not identify one. 7281083 is the only catalogued release left standing, and a sole survivor on this shelf is a best match rather than a proof of uniqueness -- the rule every other grade here is held to. The usual way to lift a copy the last step is a second, independent detail agreeing with the chosen release, and the one available here, the run-out, disagrees with it. Both external reviewers called the stronger grade an over-claim on 2026-09-12 and they were right. A flatter, better-lit photograph of the full run-out is still worth having -- and now it is the only thing that would settle this, since the audio has done all it can.
The three candidates as they stood before the record was played:
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Candidate | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 7281083 | Not excluded. No colour variant noted (plain "LP, Album"). Its own recorded run-out is 2-1-3 = 240 200-ARI / 2-1-2 = 240 200-BRI -- a 2-1- prefix. This copy's run-out shows a 1-1-1 prefix, which does not match, but its trailing 240200 digits do. |
| 25123651 | Ruled out on the label. Discogs: "Greenish Writings on label", format text Green Text. This copy's label text is blue. |
| 10076100 | Not excluded. Discogs: "The A Side has songs from Queensryche - The Warning" -- a mispress indistinguishable from the correct pressing by cover or label. Its own recorded matrix is 1-1-1 = 240 220-A, and this copy's run-out shows exactly that 1-1-1 prefix. Its trailing digits read 240220, where this copy's own trailing digits read 240200, which argues against it -- but the prefix argues for it. |
Standing caveat: Discogs lists what collectors have catalogued, and nobody has catalogued every pressing ever made, so a Brazilian pressing that was never listed cannot be excluded by any of this.
This grade has moved twice, and both moves are on the record. It was first written up as Confirmed on the run-out alone; a second, closer read of the same photographs -- prompted by external review -- found that the 1-1-1 prefix quoted in support of 7281083 is in fact 10076100's own recorded prefix, and the grade dropped to Narrowed. What closed it was neither photograph nor argument but the record itself, played. The dossier said at the time that "audibly checking side A against the album's own tracklist would settle it in seconds, faster than a better photograph". That is what happened.
The HEAVY METAL Attack EMI sticker on the front cover remains unresolved either way: it is not mentioned on either surviving Discogs entry for this release, and nothing here identifies what campaign or retailer it belonged to.