Folder 129
UK & Europe
UK & Europe, 1998 enhanced remaster. EMI Swindon pressing, settled against a near-identical twin Discogs listing by comparing the spine's logo spacing against both candidates' own reference photos.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
Mirror ring photographed and read at native resolution across three frames (IMG_2581, IMG_2583, IMG_2584): matrix root 496920 0, plant name in plain words EMI SWINDON, and Mastering SID Code IFPI L041. This exact plant/SID pair is shared by six of the surviving same-catalogue candidates, so it corroborates rather than decides between them - what actually settles this folder is the spine's logo-to-text spacing, compared against both remaining candidates' own reference photos (see dist and settle).
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 4634626. Green: in my collection (0 of 3). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 1, 4, 5, 9) | 496920 0 . 2 EMI SWINDON |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 2, 6, 7, 8) | 496920 0 . 2 : 1 : 10 EMI SWINDON |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Variant 3) | 496920 0 . 2 :1:5 EMI SWINDON |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 7 of them
Front cover: IRON MAIDEN / POWERSLAVE sleeve art; spine reads enhanced CD (icon) above IRON MAIDEN in red, with a clear gap between the logo and the text
IMG_2572.jpeg
Rear inlay tracklist: 1. Aces High 2. 2 Minutes To Midnight 3. Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) / 4. Flash of the Blade 5. The Duellists 6. Back in the Village / 7. Powerslave 8. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
IMG_2573.jpeg
Rear inlay catalogue block at native resolution: barcode 7243 4 96920 0 8 / 7 24349 69200 8, boxed rows I: (blank) / F: PM 520 / UK: 496 9200 / Printed in E.U.
IMG_2574.jpeg
Disc face, printed (not etched): round device reading Bel/Biem over S.I.A.E. as two separate lines, EMI STEREO box, DIGITALLY REMASTERED, barcode 7243 4 96920 0 8 repeated on the disc, mirrored MADE IN E.U.
IMG_2579.jpeg
Mirror ring, etched, read directly off the disc: matrix root 496920 0
IMG_2581.jpeg
Mirror ring, etched: plant name in plain words, EMI SWINDON
IMG_2583.jpeg
Mirror ring, etched: Mastering SID Code IFPI L041
IMG_2584.jpeg
The photographs
IMG_2572.jpg1 of 26READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Standard jewel case, 24-page booklet with lyrics, band photos, a 'SLAVE NOTES' tour timeline page, and enhanced-CD PC/Mac install instructions on the last spread.
- Spine - black,
enhanced CDlogo aboveIRON MAIDENin red block lettering, with a visible gap between the two - the detail that ultimately identified this copy. - Disc - the mummy/'eye of Horus' Eddie label design in blue, gold
IRON MAIDEN POWERSLAVElettering,EMI STEREObox. - No front-cover hype sticker present in these photographs; release 4634626 documents one (
IMC666, 'Special Multimedia CD Features...') but such stickers are commonly lost from the shrinkwrap and its absence here is not treated as contrary evidence.
What distinguishes this pressing
- The rear-inlay price-code block, read at native resolution, matches release 4634626's own documented identifiers exactly: barcode
7243 4 96920 0 8, Price CodesI:none /F: PM 520, UK catalog number496 9200,Printed in E.U. - The disc's two-line rights-society print,
Bel/BiemoverS.I.A.E.- Discogs records 4634626's own rights society as two separate database fields,Bel/BiemandS.I.A.E., where 4001864's is one combined string,bel/BIEM S.I.A.E.. Not treated as deciding between the two: that split could be a cataloguing-entry difference rather than something a photograph of the printed disc can tell apart, so it is corroboration for the pair, not a discriminator inside it - what actually decides between 4634626 and 4001864 is the spine comparison below. Both are nonetheless excluded from four other same-catalogue candidates - 9963349, 16210635, 10846480 and 4008292 - which record only a single combinedbel BIEMmark with no S.I.A.E. wording at all. EMI SWINDONand Mastering SIDIFPI L041, etched in the mirror ring - corroborates rather than confirms: this exact plant/SID pair is shared by six surviving candidates on this catalogue number (4634626, 4001864, 4008292, 9963349, 16210635, 10846480).- The spine's logo-to-text gap, compared directly against both remaining candidates' own Discogs reference photographs (fetched from i.discogs.com): this copy's gap matches 4634626's photographed spine and does not match 4001864's, whose
IRON MAIDENtext sits tight beneath theenhanced CDlogo - the one difference Discogs' own notes on 4001864 name explicitly. - Excludes 380219 (Europe, same catalogue) - glass mastered by Mediamotion with Mastering SID
IFPI LW04, an entirely different plant and SID. - Excludes 7314968 (UK & Europe, 2014) - Parlophone-branded reissue, Mastering SID
IFPI L574, wrong label and wrong era.
Eight tracks, and the recording credits
Tracks 1-4
- 1Aces High
- 22 Minutes To Midnight
- 3Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
- 4Flash Of The Blade
Tracks 5-8
- 5The Duellists
- 6Back In The Village
- 7Powerslave
- 8Rime 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. 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
Confirmed. Catalogue and barcode alone leave roughly eight UK/Europe CD rows live on master 18917. Plant and mastering SID (EMI SWINDON, IFPI L041) cut that to six. The price-code block cuts that to two release ids that are otherwise identical in every field checked - 4634626 and 4001864 - which Discogs itself documents as distinguished only by spine artwork positioning. (4634626's rights society is recorded as two separate database fields where 4001864's is one combined string, but that is treated as a possible cataloguing-entry difference rather than a discriminator read off the object, so it corroborates the pair without deciding between them.) Fetching both releases' own reference photographs and comparing the logo-to-text spacing on the spine directly against this copy's own photograph settled it in favour of 4634626.
Standing caveat: this method cannot exclude a pressing absent from Discogs, and a single surviving candidate after narrowing is not proof by itself - here the case rests on a positive visual match against a fetched reference photo, not merely on elimination.