Folder 118
Russia
Russia, Gala Records. A licensed 1993 EMI reissue pressed at the Aprelevka plant near Moscow - three catalogue numbers, both run-out matrices and a quoted etched phrase all match one Discogs release exactly.
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, across several frames. Side A reads, in two separate etched groups, 746 045 1A (Discogs' own "Matrix Side A": 746 045 1A 2402001-A-01) and, further round, the hand-scored phrase …ONLY ONE UM. - Discogs quotes this release's matrix as literally THERES ONLY ONE UM., and what is legible here matches it word for word for the three words the frame actually shows; THERES itself is off every frame's edge and is not claimed as photographed. The 2402001-A-01 half of the matrix is not independently confirmed in these photographs - the frames that catch it are too close to the label edge to read cleanly - but it is printed in full at the foot of the Side A label itself. Side B's run-out is clearer: EJ 2402001 TB-1-1 is etched plainly (matching Discogs' "Runout Side B: EJ 2402001 TB-1-1-"), immediately followed by a single etched D (Discogs' "Matrix Side B: D"). Both sides' etchings duplicate what is already printed at the foot of their own paper labels - Side A's label reads EJ 2402001-A-01, Side B's EJ 2402001 TB-1-1 - which is itself unusual and specific enough to be worth recording as a trait of this pressing rather than of Powerslave pressings generally
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 2325457. Green: in my collection (5 of 8). Red: missing.
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A) | EJ 2402001-A-01 — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B) | EJ 2402001 TB-1-1- — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Matrix Side A) | 746 045 1A 2402001-A-01 — this copy |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Matrix Side A) | THERES ONLY ONE UM. — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Matrix Side A (very small letters)) | STERLING |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Matrix Side A) | 4 |
| ✓ | Matrix / Runout (Matrix Side B) | EJ 2402001 TB - 1 - 1 - — this copy |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Matrix Side B) | D |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 12 of them
Front cover: standard Powerslave artwork, corner of the outer wrap lifting slightly
IMG_2342, IMG_2343
Back cover, left column, under the tracklist, in Cyrillic: Изготовлено в СП «Апрелевка» — «Саунд Инк». Заказ 172. Тираж 25000 - manufactured at JV "Aprelevka - Sound Inc."; order 172; print run 25,000
IMG_2345, IMG_2349
Back cover, right column: Изготовлено компанией "GALA RECORDS, INC" (Moscow, Russia). Для оптовых поставок тел. (095) 265-20-24. По лицензии EMI MUSIC (London, U.K.) beside the Gala Records logo - manufactured by Gala Records, Inc.; wholesale enquiries; under licence from EMI Music, London
IMG_2348
Back cover, tracklist block: PLAYING TIME: 51.20
IMG_2345, IMG_2348
Inner sleeve: the standard EMI eye/lyrics artwork, printed corner catalogue number 2402001
IMG_2351, IMG_2352
Label, Side A (THIS SIDE lists Aces High … The Duellists): GALA RECORDS, INC. wordmark and ring logo, 1C 064-24 0200 1A / EJ 24 0200 1A, 33⅓ R.P.M. Stereo, foot code EJ 2402001-A-01
IMG_2355
Label, Side B (THIS SIDE lists Back In The Village, Powerslave, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner): same wordmark and catalogue numbers, foot code EJ 2402001 TB-1-1
IMG_2353, IMG_2354
Both labels: Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Martin Birch / All tracks Published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd. / ℗1984 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd. / ©1984 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd. / by EMI Records Ltd. / Original Sound Recording made by EMI Records Ltd.
IMG_2353, IMG_2360, IMG_2361
Run-out, side A, etched: 746 045 1A
IMG_2356
Run-out, side A, etched phrase: …ONLY ONE UM.
IMG_2363
Run-out, side B, etched: EJ 2402001 TB-1-1
IMG_2367, IMG_2368
Run-out, side B, etched: a single D
IMG_2371
The photographs
IMG_2342.jpg1 of 30READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Outer sleeve - standard Powerslave artwork, single jacket. One corner of the shrink wrap is lifted/opened; the sleeve board itself shows no notable wear in the photographs.
- Inner sleeve - the standard EMI-printed lyric sleeve (eye-in-sand design), carrying EMI's own international catalogue number rather than a Gala-specific one.
- Labels - black, the Gala Records, Inc. ring logo in place of EMI's, otherwise following the same this-side/other-side tracklist layout as the Western pressings on this shelf.
- Vinyl - black.
What distinguishes this pressing
- The Gala Records, Inc. label design and wordmark, replacing EMI's own - no other candidate on this shelf or in the fetched version list carries it.
- The bilingual back cover, crediting both
Gala Records, Inc.(Moscow) as licensee/manufacturer andAprelevka — Sound Inc.as the pressing plant, with a Russian order number and print run quoted nowhere else. - Three catalogue numbers printed on the labels -
1C 064-24 0200 1A,EJ 24 0200 1A,EJ 2402001 A- matching release 2325457 field for field. - The etched run-out phrase
…ONLY ONE UM.on side A andEJ 2402001 TB-1-1/Don side B, both matching what Discogs quotes for this release on the portion each photograph actually resolves.
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. Country (Russia), label (Gala Records, Inc.) and all three printed catalogue numbers place this squarely as Discogs release 2325457 - the only Russian/Gala Records pressing of Powerslave in the fetched version list, so there was no second candidate to weigh against it. The run-out evidence goes further than country-and-catalogue matching: Discogs records this release's own matrix strings as THERES ONLY ONE UM. (Side A) and EJ 2402001 TB-1-1- / D (Side B). Side A's photograph shows …ONLY ONE UM. - its final three words, THERES off the edge of every frame - and side B's shows EJ 2402001 TB-1-1, one trailing hyphen short of Discogs' string; neither gap is filled in from the Discogs record, both are left as what the photographs actually show. A quoted phrase and a specific stamper letter surviving from Discogs' description onto this exact copy's vinyl is about as strong as run-out corroboration gets for a single-candidate release.
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 - though here the match is reinforced by run-out strings quoted nowhere else, not by absence of competition alone.
Open, and only for completeness: the 2402001-A-01 half of Discogs' recorded Side A matrix is not independently confirmed in these photographs - it is printed on the label but the run-out frames that approach it are too close to the label edge to read cleanly. Nothing about the identification depends on it; the phrase match alone is sufficient.